Architecture is an art form that we encounter in our everyday lives. Great architecture is emotionally and physically resonant of our time and place, and this ensures architecture's continued importance to our contemporary society and to future generations.

Glucksman Gallery University College Cork. Photo Naryan Van Maele

Architect: Scott Tallon Walker. Photo: John Donat

 

 

Irish architects have won open tenders around the world, and, in turn, the work of many internationally-renowned architects is visible in Irish cities and rural settings. Irish architecture is championed through an ongoing programme of exhibition, outreach and debate, which highlights its aesthetic, artistic and practical value.

The Rue de Lota, Paris apartment designed by Eileen Gray in 1919 which was hailed as a triumph of deluxe modern living.

The focus of today's Irish architectural practice very much reflects the "Better City - Better Life" theme of the Shanghai World Expo 2010. For example, the book New Housing 2 - Building Better Communities , published by the RIAI in 2009, focuses on achieving sustainable communities with high quality of life in small towns and villages, in urban infill and town and city edge communities. The book features 110 key housing projects across Ireland designed by 60 architectural practices.

 

 

These projects endeavour to assess the wider community issues of housing such as:

• integration with existing facilities
• development of new towns and communities which provide for more sustainable lifestyles
• small infill projects which help to regenerate areas
• coherent strategies for developing small towns and villages

Architectural Association of Ireland architecturalassociation.ie

Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland (RIAI) www.riai.ie

The Irish Architectural Archive www.iarc.ie