ABSTRACT

This book examines the architectural design of housing projects in Ireland from the mid-twentieth century. This period represented a high point in the construction of the Welfare State project where the idea that architecture could and should shape and define community and social life was not yet considered problematic. Exploring a period when Ireland embraced the free market and the end of economic protectionism, the book is a series of case studies supported by critical narratives. Little known but of high quality, the schemes presented in this volume are by architects whose designs helped determine future architectural thinking in Ireland and elsewhere. Aimed at academics, students and researchers, the book is accompanied by new drawings and over 100 full colour images, with the example studies demonstrating rich architectural responses to a shifting landscape.

chapter |17 pages

Introduction

Irish housing design at the crossroads

chapter 1|19 pages

Housing indigenous industry

Bord na Móna settlements in the 1950s

chapter 2|26 pages

As easy as plugging in a fire

Modernity, morality and the Mespil apartments 1958–1972

chapter 3|27 pages

The high life

Ardoyne house 1962–1967

chapter 4|25 pages

The sharp edge of newness

Situating the Simmonscourt Apartments 1964–1966

chapter 5|19 pages

Shared vision, shared courtyards

Dundanion Court, Cork 1964–1968

chapter 6|25 pages

An architecture of connections

The Ballybrack Cooperative 1969–1972

chapter 7|28 pages

Castlepark

A vernacular architecture for modern Ireland 1969–1972

chapter 8|24 pages

The Coombe North

Roads, activism and an architecture for Dublin’s Liberties 1968–1978

chapter 9|23 pages

The expression of method

Six houses at Herbert Road 1976–1979