Dublin By Design

No single book can capture the multifarious characteristics of a city. Dublin by Design, by celebrating the city’s architectural and urban works, reveals a fascinating story of the making and remaking of its fabric. Marking one hundred years since the city’s trajectory shifted as it emerged as the capital of a newly minted free state, the contributors reveal some of the layers of this complex tapestry that provide the back story to its iconic structures, streets and spaces. Lending reason to the haphazard, and clarity to the interplay of culture, science, technology, religion and politics, a new brightly lit capital city is revealed.  Interwoven through this story are images of the significant contribution that architecture has made to the public realm.  If the last one hundred years are a measure, the next hundred will see Dublin impacted by economic, environmental and physical challenges. 

Contributors Dr. Mary Clark (City Archivist), Gráinne Shaffrey, Frederick O’Dwyer, Dr Brian Ward, Anthony Reddy, Dr Ellen Rowley, Frank McDonald, Shane O’Toole, Paul de Freine, Jackie Bourke, Dr Lorcan Sirr, Gerry Cahill, James Pike, Éanna NÍ Lamhna, Dr Denis Byrne, Sean O’Laoire, and Shelly McNamara & Yvonne Farrell (Grafton Architects)

Heavily illustrated with plans, drawings and photographs. In association with The Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland (RIAI).

Table of Contents

Foreword – Mary Robinson 

Introduction – Noel Brady & Dr Sandra O’Connell 

From Whence We Came

• Civitas to Metropolis – Dr Mary Clark 

• Main Street Ireland – Gráinne Shaffrey 

• Victorian Foundations – Frederick O’Dwyer 

• Neo-Georgian Dublin – Dr Brian Ward 

• City of Opportunity – Tony Reddy 

A Phoenix Reborn

• Mid-twentieth-century Architectonics – Dr Ellen Rowley 

• Condemnation, Damnation & Salvation – Frank McDonald 

• A Small But Significant City – Shane O’Toole 

History of the Future

The Movement of People

• Moving Iron and Soul – Anne Kiernan 

• Mobilising an Urbanised Capital – Ciaran Cuffe 

The Foundation for Health

• The Healthy City – Paul de Freine 

• Children in the City – Dr Jackie Bourke 

The Gathering of Community

• Housing Success From Failure – Dr Lorcan Sirr 

• Creating Communities of Care – Gerry Cahill 

• The Polycentric City – James Pike 

The Green City

• Trees, Rivers, Parks, Islands, Shore – Éanna Ní Lamhna 

• Phoenix Park: An Anthropogenic Odyssey – Dr Denis Byrne 

The Place of Culture

• Annalivia – Sean O’Laoire 

• The Measure of a City – Grafton Architects 

Next Generation Architecture 

Notes

Mary Robinson was president of Ireland from 1990 to 1997, and UN High Commissioner for Human rights from 1997 to 2002. She has had many significant roles in international leadership, focusing on climate justice, human rights and women's rights. Earlier in her career, as a barrister, she represented the protesters occupying Wood Quay, the Viking heart of Dublin, and was instrumental in having it declared a national monument.