"We have lost the habit of looking up. We hurry along, locked in our cars, prisoners of our own troubles or victims of our desires. We race from one end of the city to another, forgetting the beauty of a cloudless sky, the gracefulness of a slender belfry, the delicious taste of reality."

Passeggiate Romane, Armando Ravaglioni, 1970

‘Graham, A.; Ryan, J; Matthew, B., Kelly, E.; Doran, C.; Pierse, S.; Ramadan, H.; Cefyn, J.; Hinedi, K.’ … Perhaps its my raw political instincts, but it was only when I saw the names on this year’s electoral register that I really believed that the West End was being re-inhabited after decades of decay. Of course the Casey family were there all along, and in a vault under Michael and John’s Church the remains of the man who betrayed Robert Emmet lay in wait, keeping vigil over a neglected quarter. The mobile library lorries huddled together there at night, behind palisade fences, pressing down on a thousand years of history.

It takes time for neighbourhoods to establish themselves. Rooms feel lived in after a week or two, but a city quarter can take years to establish itself. Certainly, the first signs are encouraging. Sounds are a good indicator. Conversation; the crackle of a courier’s radio; the cry of children on their  way to the crèche; footsteps on stone. All of these are city sounds.

Back in the late 1980’s it seemed slightly untoward to be taking on a city quarter as architectural thesis material. Buildings were  fine, but blocks? Then a few years later, studying planning on the other side of the quadrangle in UCD, you also felt slightly ostracised, urban design, isn’t that … architecture. Thankfully times moved on, the plethora of Integrated Area Plans and Town Renewal Plans all reflect a new interest in design issues that brings together the planning and architectural professions. That’s not to say that all  is sweetness and light, we still need to listen carefully to what the other side is saying. However urbanism is on the agenda, and high density housing requires a new array of skills to produce excellence.

Getting the balance right between public and private space is important within the city. It is difficult to reconcile the needs of those who would spend their lives there with those of a peripheral population who might come to the area for work or relaxation, or who might simply pause to rest, while passing through the city. Perhaps it’s the heightened emphasis on Temple Bar as a focal point for tourism, culture and retail activities that has led to the courtyards becoming gated communities.  In Venice there’s a half hour in the mid-evening when tourists have gone to their hotels and restaurants, and the Venetians have the chance to reclaim the public spaces and meet their neighbours in campi . Perhaps the residents of the West End could do the same. Sadly, the proposal for a hard-surfaced Market Square disappeared at an early stage. Without a Placa del Sol the quarter seems slightly incomplete. The travesty of a half-buried Viking Ship on Essex Quay does nothing to encourage you to slow your pace. However the  Café Italia catches your attention, though, and its west-facing terrace may well become our very own Placa Trilla, despite the Traffic.

A mixture of housing tenure was crucial  in Temple Bar. In the West End the fifty apartments in Smock Alley Court are home to ‘empty-nesting’ Local Authority tenants who gave up their houses to move to the middle of town. Perhaps this housing mix should have occurred within the individual blocks, as is common in Northern Europe. However the 20% commitment to Social Housing laid down by Dublin Corporation was a strong precedent that has now entered the statute books through Part V of the new Planning Act.

The apartment types are mostly unremarkable. McGarry NiEanaigh’s scheme with its tapering light-well  responds well to the challenge of a difficult site. It is similar to the device used in Crampton Buildings to draw light into the centre of the block. De Blacam and Meagher’s Wooden Building throws down the gauntlet to those who feel that towers belong on street corners. Some of the materials are magical. Stone, wood and brick, carefully detailed and proud. Roof terraces offer the opportunity for residents to encounter each other when the temperature rises. Perhaps that will encourage a sense of community. The courtyards seem to suffer from an overkill of landscaping that detracts from a sense of clarity. The North face of Des McMahon’s apartments is sublime. The decision to demolish the Georgian buildings on Essex Quay was inexplicable, but the new façade facing the River Liffey is a delight.

The Old City development helps to link Temple Bar with the rest of the South inner city. The East-West pedestrian route is an egalitarian route that extends through the Civic Offices as far as Cook Street. Perhaps some assistance from the new breed of environmental traffic planners is still required to make stronger pedestrian links to the surrounding communities.

In 1989 I wrote that ‘Urban Life enriches individual experience and reduces conservatism and prejudice’. I have high hopes that Temple Bar West will, in time reinforce this belief.                        April 2001

Ciarán Cuffe is an architect, planner and city councillor. His architectural thesis in 1989 proposed a new community in the West end of Temple Bar.