Donegal Greenway

Rory Brogan (A&R)

Architectural Intervention- To come between two points of time and create a dialogue by process of understanding.

Research: Architectural Intervention, Irish Architectural Identity, Sustainability, Greenways

Question: Can the Donegal Railway Heritage be saved by an Architectural Intervention?

 

                “Every new work of architecture intervenes in a specific historical situation. It is essential to the quality of the intervention that the new building should embrace qualities that can enter into a meaningful dialogue with the situation. For if the intervention is to find its place, it must make us see what already exists in a new light. We throw a stone into the water. Sand swirls up and settles again. The stir was necessary. The stone has found its place. But the pond is no longer the same.”

                                                         Peter Zumthor, Thinking Architecture

Research Context: Through the collective memory and a compassion towards an intervention approach, one can start to know the story before we can interpret any sense in its new life. By uncovering these layers you unravel the host history and interpret a discussion between the past, present and future. This process is a way to establish a significant relationship between the new and old, never confusing where one is in history and helping the building/place be seen in a new light.  Through this method I plan to adapt part of the decaying ‘Finn Valley Railway Line’ (FVR) into a Greenway (a strip of undeveloped land near an urban/rural area, set aside for recreational use or environmental protection) and create a memory in the landscape before a significant heritage is truly forgotten. Consequential through the Architecture there is a secondary objective in regenerating a culture and encompass a positive impact on the local tourism and the health of the residents. Sustainability will also be a key part in the planning of the project, as this is staged in a rural setting in the remote part of Ireland which will be without most services and a strong attitude towards nature will strengthen the architectural expression.

Research Methods:

• Study of the Irish and Donegal Railway History
• Feasibility study of the Donegal Railway Network
• Mapping out of the FVR line
• Precedent Studies (eg. Norway National Tourist Routes, The Great Western Line)
• Researching into the works of ‘Carlo Scarpa’
• Dividing the line into sections taking considerations of typology, towns, landscape, residents, distance, in order to have holistic approach and create a brand
• Explore Ballybofey, Fintown & Glenties urban edge
• Educate myself in ‘Greenways’, Walking/Cycling/Fishing culture
• Taking each section week by week to design the appropriate building or structure and create an Individual attire considering the lines surrounding context
• Seeking sustainability systems and introducing a biodiversity strategy

Gdansk Shipyard : The Artists’ Colony

The Gdansk shipyard is a prime example of adaptive re-use versus gentrification. The Independent Self-governing Trade Union ‘Solidarity’ founded there made the shipyard internationally renowned with the strike by 17,000 shipyard workers regarded as one of the most important civil resistance campaigns in Europe, contributing to the collapse of the communist dictatorships in Central and Eastern Europe. However, after falling into disrepair, an urban strategy was put in place to regenerate the area, creating a modern waterfront district. In spite of the area’s rich cultural, social and political past, only 17 buildings out of around 100 were to be kept. As part of this strategy artists were invited to live in and use the shipyard as inspiration in order to gain a positive response towards the regeneration plans.

Photo by Michał Szlaga

The “Artists’ Colony” however, began to advocate for an alternative use of the shipyard, recognising the inherent value and embodied history of the place as a whole. Through various forms of media, including murals, photography and video installations, they began to change the local community’s perception of the shipyard as a derelict wasteland to a place of social, political and historic value worth saving.

“It will be hard for me to leave this place and the people that work here. You don’t know if you will make it to retirement, but you have to be optimistic. Sometimes it’s better not to think about that, because you may break down. It’s hard to leave, you feel so redundant, especially when you don’t have any other activity like keeping a garden or something, when you don’t have any additional entertainment, you feel really sad. In 1997 when they fired us and we didn’t know how it was gonna be with the shipyard, it was scary. I was worried I was too old and not in good health. Was I supposed to go on a dole? What money is this – a few pennies? And then where…? I can’t imagine anything other built in this place. There is a canal close to here, the open sea is close, there is no other way but to build ships non–stop, bigger or smaller but keep on building.”

Photo by Justyna Orłowska

Iwona Zajac, one of the artists residing within the shipyard, created a mural along the perimeter wall of the shipyard inscribing quotes from shipyard workers of their memories, emotions and dreams relating to the shipyard. These individual quotes show singular elements of the embodied memory of the shipyard and by focussing on the individual, Zajac distils the collective memory to a personal scale to which visitors and passers by can relate. Zajac also gives voice to the shipyard workers who were part of significant events in European history yet, like the shipyard itself, have been abandoned and forgotten.

The plans to regenerate the area led to protests by both the Artists’ Colony and local citizens against the gentrification of the shipyard. Zajac was offered the opportunity to remove the wall before the regeneration process began, however she refused, believing that the mural would lose its integrity and become an empty gesture. The work of the Artists’ Colony in Gdansk shows an alternative solution to gentrification by reactivating the values of a place through the changing of the local community’s perception.

Photo by Justyna Orłowska

“The Shipyard Nike Is Leaving” : http://vimeo.com/68158510

Homeless, not hopeless

Since 2012 there has been a 12% rise in homelessness in London.

There are various charities and organisations run to tackle the problem of people sleeping rough in the city, some of the most successful include No Second Night Out and C4WS rolling shelters. Thanks to schemes like No Second Night Out 70% of rough sleepers are only seen once. However the biggest problem is not getting people off the streets and into shelters and hostels, it is providing medical care and offering people the opportunity to get their lives back on track. St Mungo’s survey from 2013 showed that 64% of their residents have issues with substance abuse and 60% suffer from mental health problems. Giving people the chance to take control of their own lives and to regain their independence  is incredibly important for regaining confidence.

St Mungo’s Endell Street. Photograph by Kate Miller

St Mungo’s homeless charity runs several projects within London that aim to rehabilitate its residents and create opportunities that encourage people to learn new skills. The Endell Street shelter and studio, redeveloped by Peter Barber Architects, was once a school on what was an incredibly deprived street in Covent Garden. In recent years it was the cause of much antagonism for local businesses and residents of Covent Garden as the hostel was blamed for attracting drug related crime. At that time St Mungo’s operated a maintenance approach to its residents, with no long term plan to encourage residents to move on and get their lives back on track.

St Mugo’s Endell Street. Photograph by Kate Miller

 

With the new development St Mungo’s changed their approach to their residents, introducing a 12 month cap to encourage residents to look for work. The music studio attached to the hostel is open to both residents and the general public to develop interaction between the two. Breaking down barriers and stigmas the general public might have of the homeless population is really important for the confidence of residents. Giving them the opportunity not only to learn technical skills in the studio but social skills with the public that also use the studios.

The layout of the building reflects how long the residents have chosen to stay in the hostel, the newcomers are given a bed on the first floor. There are communal bathrooms and laundry services, the longer the residents chose to stay the further up the building they move with the rooms on the top floor having en-suite bathrooms and views across Covent Garden. Barber has designed several hostels for St Mungo’s and they all aim to reduce the amount of corridor space where possible. The lower floors include educational spaces, IT suites and areas for group sessions like Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous to take place.

http://endellstreetstudio.com/index.html

The Loss of a National Identity

National identity is a complex of history, culture, art, traditions and daily rituals by which nations distinguish each other. Architecture is one of the most pictorial and a recognisable aspect of a national identity for its longevity as same building is used for a several generations. Hense, the more accessible world became, the less perceptible the differences between nationalities become and numerous national identities merge into single global identity. This tendency is well tracked in a collage of Rem Koolhaas which he prepared for the Venice Biennale 2014.

Another two collages represent traditional architecture of the same countries: first collage shows vernacular residential architecture, second – public buildings built in 1914 when national architecture was still recognisable.

Nevetheless, before discussing loss of national identity, it is important to understand how it is created. Two types of national identities can be distinguished: organic and official. Organic national identity grows out of enironmental circumstances such as climate, geography, culture and religion; and once developed, remains unchanged for centuries. The political national identity comes is an artificially created by governments by developing masterplans, building regulations and establishing National venues (national museums, national theatres, national libraries etc.). This type of national identity reflects rulings powers’ achievements and ambitions.

It is in a human nature to mimic someone more successful in his way to success. Architecture-wise it means to uptake architecture of a more prospering country.

Nowadays government and architects have the same tendency – they replicate the architecture of prospering countries where shiny skyscrapers dominate not only city-scape, but human hierarchical aspirations. As a result we have identical buildings across the world and single global identity as seen on first image.

My goal would be finding a way how national identity can be recovered and reflected through a contemporary architecture. Following examples shows attempts to reintroduce vernacular to contemporary architecture, some of them are successful, other not, but all countries can be clearly identified.

P.S.      Cartoon       https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHdFd2RKRSI