Describing Architecture is an annual exhibition which looks at how buildings and spaces are designed and documented.
The exhibition explores unseen aspects of architectural practice, alongside its critical relationship to the visual arts and the work of artists. This year the exhibition will explore the theme ‘Memory and Place’ and will be installed in the City Assembly House (home of the Irish Georgian Society) and Powerscourt Townhouse Centre, running from 17 October to 8 November. DublinTown are proud to be one of the sponsors of this event and we went along to the launch last night.
When you think about describing something our host, curator and architect Professor Elizabeth Hatz reminded us not to confuse describing with explaining. How could you explain architecture? Sure its buildings and public space but it’s also far more, it’s light and shadow, it’s how a space makes us feel, it’s how the built world creates an image of a town or city. You would be hard pressed to explain Dublin through architecture but you could certainly describe it, crossing the ha-penny bridge, the spires of our Churches and Cathedrals, the grandness of the Georgian Squares meeting the hyper modernity of Grand Canal basin. Designing Architecture makes you think about architecture through poems, prose, paintings, models and sculptures. There is nothing dry or technical about the pieces on display, instead they are full of vibrant creativity.
It’s no coincidence that Designing Architecture is beginning around the same time as Open House, the exhibit itself is taking place in the great assembly room in the Irish Georgian Society Building on South William Street and also next door in the beautiful Powerscourt Shopping Centre, two fine examples of Georgian Architecture, and runs until November 8th. Take the time to have a look around these two fine buildings while you visit the exhibition, and take a minute when you walk down the centuries old granite steps to look around the Creative Quarter, we think you’ll agree it’s a suitable home for an exhibition like this. It was early on a Thursday night when we left but already the areas bars and cafes were buzzing despite the wet night. The type of cleverness and creativity on show in the stunning surrounds of the Georgian Society felt very much at home in this part of the city.
