Shifting Ground

I was lucky enough to travel home to Galway at the weekend during which the excellent Galway Arts Festival was in full swing. One of the standout exhibitions is without a doubt Irish architects Heneghan Peng's Shifting Ground. Situated in the gargantuan (30,000 sqm) Absolut Festival Gallery on the Headford Road it sits in the context of work from other Irish architecture studios Grafton Architects and O'Donnell & Toumey Architects, making up an exciting trio of my favorite Irish practices. The work on show made up the Irish pavillion at last years Venice Biennale which was curated by David Chipperfield. It is testament to a small but vibrant Irish scene and is promising from a personal point of view. Especially given the negative soundings coming from the country on a regular basis. Maybe I can go home some day! The great thing about the exhibition is its obvious appeal to people who would not know what an architect actually does. The process itself is a hard thing to explain to people who have never studied architecture so to see a collection of art works and sketches that come out of good architecture studios is refreshing. I would urge anyone who has ever wondered why an architect spends so long at work to go and see what we are about. 

Grafton's 'Architecture as New Geography', which won the Silver Lion (most promising practice) at the Biennale, is a kind of homage to Paulo
 Mendes
 da
 Rocha. It consists of a series of large papier mache models of da Rocha's buildings. They are accompanied by a series of images of Skellig Michael and Machu Picchu which together start to hint at architecture being viewed as geography and not just a building. I am unfamiliar with da Rocha's work but the idea reminded me a little of Michael Cadwell's description of architecture as a 'reconfiguration of the earth'.

O'Donnell Toumey's work is a series of development sketches and models that contributed (I think) to their 'Vessel' exhibition, again, from the Biennale. I was a little disappointed the work itself was not on show but I suppose its scale would make it difficult to move around. They do however, have an incredible array of development work on display in a 4 meter long glass topped cabinet. I was particularly taken aback by the sketching style. It was very similar to that of Peter Salter. The models are intricately made and hint at the kind of time and effort the practice put into exhibitions. Which leave the piece de resistance. Heneghan Peng's seesaw. Forget architecture. Forget art. This is simply a fun and engaging piece of work that turns us all into children again. There are endless articles on their work but to see all ages and creeds interacting in such a simple way is heart warming. Great exhibition.

Although not part of the architecture section, I must give a special mention to the work of John Gerrard's Cuban School. I am a big fan of unorthodox scale in art and this ticks the box with two gigantic projections of what look to be dilapidated socialist schools/ hospitals. The buildings take centre stage and appear motionless but on closer inspection the camera is in fact panning around the building, creating a mesmerising kind of lateral crash zoom/ pan effect. A brilliant utilising of this massive space. Maybe it is architectural after all.

George Square Chapel

It is often quite hard not to be overly cynical about the catholic church and their mountains of cash but a few seconds on the grounds of this chapel and its clear you are in a peaceful place. Simpson & Brown Architects have managed to create a damn fine building on a world heritage site working for the church. Inside is a little like some of Liam McCormick's work in Ireland or even some of Tadao Ando's work (with less iconography) in how delicately it considers light. I will admit I have only visited twice and both times in fine weather so it would be interesting to see how well it works on a cold dark Tuesday in winter. At the moment it is singing. Its located here, on Edinburgh's George Square but its a lot more fun to find from Meadows walk. Its sharp edged roof peeks just above the wall adjacent to the walkway and George Sq. Lane. There is a rear entrance here through the gardens that seems to be open late into the evenings. The garden itself feels like it grew up around the church. Testament to the structure's contextual sensibilities. Its really such a tiny site but the chapel feels grand inside. The roof appears to float thanks to some very clever detailing.

The north facing wall, forged from Hazeldean sandstone, never touches the curved oak roof. Instead, a barely visible sliver of glass keeps things water tight. The roof itself is supported by a beautiful series of pre-weathered corten steel tree like beams Their organic shape and earthy finish help them melt into the substantial old trees at the end of the garden. In fact it is this garden, that serves as a backdrop to the alter and for a moment you could be anywhere.

 

But we are in the city centre and alas the church needs a lobby and secure entrance and this is the only real place it felt a bit forced. There is, I think, scope to open a large sliding door once inside the lobby that would probably make it feel more welcoming. The architect has obviously tried hard to fit it into the overall design with a very generous use of oak but it is essentially a glass box and the air feels stale. A far cry from the cool air once inside that radiates from the stone and fades into the private quarters to the rear. A small gripe in what is easily the coolest new build I have seen in the city in years. Go visit!

Quartermile Edinburgh

Looming like some sort of deathstar, cobbled together as the wheels came off an entire industry, the Quartermile development of Edinburgh has contributed to a large chunk of the city centre being turned into a privatised ghost estate. Desperately struggling to form an identity of its own. Straddling the beaufitul meadows, it has turned its back on a town that grew into a UNESCO city. A city that, through the vision of 18th century mavericks, re-invented urban planning the world over. Foster + Partners claim to have carried out "investigations into the creation of sustainable, mixed-use urban communities" while working towards the current shambles. It is magazine talk and is so far off the mark as to indicate what is in fact a considerable failure of design. Quartermile is unsustainable, narrow-use and lacking in a community. The only way to save it from its faith lying solely in the passage of time would require a guile not found in many developers these days. The fantastic people who once occupied the British empire's largest voluntary hospital have relocated to little france via a diabolical PFI scheme running 34 million over budget. City officials need to make big decisions in such scenarios. They obviously haven't. A Wander through the buzzing food markets of Berlin or a pint in a Tokyo urban village quickly reminds one of the great possibilities inherent in a development this large done well. A pooling of talent and expertise rowing towards a better future. Instead, Quartermile leaves us wondering what could have been. The fake steel beams of the flagship office block leave a bitter taste. Saved from sure death by the energetic occupying of space by skyscanner. But what to do now? 

It is abundantly clear that the apartments are not selling. There is a slow but steady uptake of office space that shouldn't mask the complete lack of community and identity needed to stop it becoming another Fountainbridge. The hideous blue hoarding displays a woman sitting on a piece of ikea furniture. A lone record player hinting at a kind of existence so gray that you wonder if Quartermile has in fact hit the nail on the head with its choice of cladding. Instead of bitching though, I am writing this to try to at least suggest a way forward. In basic terms, there aren't enough people there. One shudders when imagining the promises made to the few brave businesses currently fighting the good fight. A bit of healthy competition will have people flocking there. The smallest hint of insight would have involved the festival. One million new people arriving every year to act like culture vultures for a month. The kind of person who decides to start a new business, buy a new apartment and consider Edinburgh as a place that might play host to a new life. The kind of person who would happily attend an obscure stand up gig in the unoccupied cafe and restaurant spaces. Standing on an unfinished screed adds an 'edge' don't you know. Customers. Cities are constantly selling themselves. Edinburgh does it better than most. Thats a whole group of dedicated workers constantly coming up with new ideas and ways to keep this place fresh. The capital of a country considering the bravest of all moves in 2014. I am guessing they weren't involved in the deign process. Instead, a group of underpaid and over skilled workers made decision after decision knowing its ultimate faith was being played out by a group of accountants in a board room in another time zone. Sell sell sell. But that is where we find ourselves. So, for the sake of the city, lets don a moneyman's hat and get out of the current malaise as best we can. 

Within the next few moths, Quartermile needs to make a public announcement offering 6 months free tenancy to potential business owners. Tollcross and Broughton street are just two examples of the vibrant new wave in Edinburgh. Entrepreneurs breaking new ground while trying to redefine urban life. They are out there. "If you build it they will come" kind of thing. It will involve a few headaches and probably get one or two people fired but in monetary terms makes sense. It is akin to a kind of shock therapy often spouted by the Chicago school. The kind of power point presentations that snap an investor out of his monday blues. This would create a small rush on the property. In turn attracting attention from potential residential customers. The current apartment pricing, a well known joke amongst inner city Edinbrights, would align itself sufficiently to friends and associates of the business owners keen to invest. Within 2 years the entire district would become self sufficient and just another cog. Kinda. What they cannot take back is their choice of materials. Their scrimping on diversity in design and general form making. Their complete lack of conviction while dancing around the protected buildings. They can not take back the landscaping. Or the anti-porous attitude towards Lauriston Place's meadows history. That stuff is lost until we find ourselves riding high once again on the chaotic wave of boom and bust. It looks like it might last 30 years at best. It could very well be gone by then. Imagine the havoc the Edinburgh winter will wreak on the flimsy finishing. Pretending things don't stain is fine in render land. Mother nature wont be so understanding. Until then, we need to make logical decisions based on occupancy levels because the city depends on people. Its a living breathing thing that suffers when it is wounded. Suffers from the trams fiasco. Suffers from stagnation. Suffers when another city can suddenly offer more. Welcome to the game baby.