Dublin eyesores that need to be demolished: name them!

AsianDub

One thing that does bug me though is that the top floors of many very fine old buildings are deserted. It would be great to see these lived in, and would normalise the city a bit at night. I'd rather see an old building used for some purpose, even if it meant altering it substantially, rather than leaving it to rot.

Totally agree. I have been saying this for years. Instead of developing our existing buildings into quality dwellings (like for example Edinburgh), we decided to slap up dog box apartments during the Celtic Tiger.

The stretch of the NCR starting after Portland Row up to the intersection with Lower/Upper Sherrard St. and its streets off it break my heart :mad:

Some buildings look ok but some are either boarded up, not being used or are converted into horrible flat units.

kravmaga

listermint wrote: »

with original glass.

I dont think it should be leveled as it has some historical engineering merit within the capital. But that may because my Grandfather worked on the building i have some affinity to it.

I think it needs some sympathetic restoration completed.

There is plans to demolish Liberty HALL and replace it with a 22 storey building, planning permission has been approved also.

See link to article in The Irish Times in Feb 2012

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2012/0225/1224312371560.html

starviewadams

The building that houses Tesco on Fleet Street is fairly manky looking.

fullstop

Irish Steve wrote: »

Not sure which is worst, Blanchardstown is dire, Liffey valley is not good, nor is Tallaght, Airside is a pain, Dundrum is the pits, and most of the older ones are not much better.

The sort of thing that's wrong is insufficient covered walkways, so pedestrians get drowned when it rains, no sensible design avoiding pedestrian crossings every 10 feet, crazy access to the roads around the area (especially Blanchardstown), the main flow routes of the car parks pass outside the doors of the shops, highly dangerous for parents with small children that are only sort of under control, and so the list goes on.

The mind boggles! Your main problem with modern shopping centres seems to be the lack of covered carparks and walkways and yet Dundrum is the pits?! And the older shopping centres are better how? :rolleyes:

Seanchai wrote: »

I actually love UCD, except for the Science Block, which is (was?) horrendous (I just googled and it seems Bruce Shaw is doing new designs for it here).

The pictures on that site are of the health sciences building, which has been finished about 5 years now, but the science building is now undergoing a major facelift.

Toby Take a Bow

Lapin wrote: »

I'm not saying everyone I disagree with is wrong. I simply referred to what I believe to be one of the eyesores in Dublin, which is afterall, the purpose of this thread. Although the Spire is far from the worst offender in the city.

And apart from the sentence highlighted in red above, I agree with everything else you said.

I quite like the Spire, but not in O'Connell Street. Maybe - maybe - if it was at the top of the street (where the Parnell monument is) it might make sense, but where it is, it seems to dwarf the buildings and the sense of it as a huge avenue. It would - imo - look amazing down by the point: maybe as a counterpoint to the Poolbeg towers.

I kind of feel the same way about the Central Bank. I love the building, but the way it's positioned on Dame Street is bizarre and makes it look very out of place.

face1990

Toby Take a Bow wrote: »

I kind of feel the same way about the Central Bank. I love the building, but the way it's positioned on Dame Street is bizarre and makes it look very out of place.

I'd agree with that. It really breaks up the whole street, and what a street it is. Beautiful architecture (for the most part) along the whole length of it.

George's Street Arcade around the corner is also one of my absolute favourites.

Anyone familiar with DCU; the Henry Grattan building. Its awful 70's utilitarian design is really showing its age (one lecture hall, 'The Pit', has been closed off for the last year or so & sometimes the stairs leak!). Compared to most of the newer buildings, it's a real shíthole! It's a personal peeve though, as I spent 3 years in it while other faculties enjoyed their spacious, modern buildings.

wattlendaub

Dublin has some serious eyesores alright. Seems like there was a massive drought in terms of visionary or even decent architects during the 60s and 70s, leaving us with a legacy of ugly, brutalistically designed landmarks.

Duggys Housemate

Arguably there was a serious surplus of visionary architects in the 70's, but nothing dates more than one generations vision.

Toby Take a Bow

face1990 wrote: »

I'd agree with that. It really breaks up the whole street, and what a street it is. Beautiful architecture (for the most part) along the whole length of it.

I agree with you to a certain extent (on breaking up the street) but my issue with it is more how it's placed where it is. One side has a street running down it, but the other has a building which slightly juts out in front of it. It seems kind of lob-sided in that way.

Marcusm

Red Alert wrote: »

I really like some of our more Brutalist buildings - it would be an absolute shame to demolish Liberty Hall, Busaras or the Central Bank. Poolbeg is totally iconic and should definitely stay as well. We need to realise that our city has a tapestry of different buildings, all built at different times with different architectural influences. What do you want - a city with only Georgian and modernist buildings?

One thing that does bug me though is that the top floors of many very fine old buildings are deserted. It would be great to see these lived in, and would normalise the city a bit at night. I'd rather see an old building used for some purpose, even if it meant altering it substantially, rather than leaving it to rot.

I really wouldn't see any of those as being truly Brutalist; the massing of concrete is not nearly so apparent. The Civic offices scheme at Wood Quay if completed might have approached it butnothing like true Brutalsm (say London's Trellick Tower or te soon to be demolished Heygate Estate). Libert all is more like Lever Building modernism.

kodoherty93

Dublin city skyline has to be the most featureless of any big city in Europe. There is a lack of high rise buildings.

Although some people hate them. If they are properly designed they can be amazing such as any of the new apartment building in manhattan. One is over 1,000 feet height and over looks central park

tricky D

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