Architecture puts on a show for the public

Two exhibitions - one at the V&A in London, the other at the Irish Architectural Archive's new home in Dublin - show what architecture through the ages is all about. Emma Cullinan reports

There's a thrill to be had in opening a drawer and glaring down at a drawing by Inigo Jones; shut that and open up a Le Corbusier; then Mies van der Rohe; now Palladio: and then have Frank Lloyd Wright's All-steel house slide beneath your eyes.

Architecture is becoming more accessible and this set of drawers, near the entrance to the Architecture Gallery in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, is just one of the many ways all comers can look at models and drawings, listen to lectures and perhaps engage in debates about urban design and country living.

Architecture centres around Europe (including the recently opened Place in the centre of Belfast) are opening up the profession to passersby - although in reality it's probably those in the profession who would be most interested.

The V+A, in partnership with the RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects), has catered for everyone, offering information about architecture and design to novices, while providing ample resources to those in the know.

There are even child-enticing exhibits, such as an interactive screen game in which buildings are flashed before you and you have to name the style from options that include Gothic, Gothic revival, Classical, neo-Classical, Modern and Post-modern.

Those who didn't know the difference before they came into the museum would have a much better idea after playing this game.

There are models here that work on all kinds of levels, for all sorts of people: the Lloyds Building by Richard Rogers Partnership; the De La Warr pavilion in Bexhill by Chermayeff and Mendelssohn; Le Corbusier's Villa Stein and the eco-friendly BedZed housing scheme by Bill Dunster.

There's also a computer fly-through of Zaha Hadid's Phaeno Science Centre in Wolfsburg, Germany (due to be completed next year). This is in a section that looks at how buildings are presented. While novices will be interested in the fly-through in itself; architects who are used to such ways of presenting work will have an opportunity to appraise the proposed building and give it a good grilling with fellow architects, who are never short of an opinion.

The main gallery is a people-friendly space whose exhibits can be enjoyed on a number of levels, as can the exhibition room beside it. The gallery opened with "Great Buildings" whose exhibits included the Sydney Opera House and St Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. It's now showing "Inside Out: British Architecture and Garden Design since the Renaissance".

For those who want to engage with architecture more deeply there are lectures, evening courses (the latest was called "Drawing from Architecture", and involved assessing the work of Andrea Palladio, Frank Lloyd Wright, Alberto Giacometti plus others and drawing parts of the museum and collections in a variety of styles). There's also a reading room in which you can view architects' drawings, personal papers, sketchbooks, travel journals, contracts and letters about design.

These came from the RIBA's collection in the Heinz Gallery in London, whose display room has now been dismantled and moved to the Irish Architectural Archive's recently-opened new home at 45 Merrion Square, Dublin (following the Francis Bacon Studio across the Irish Sea). The Heinz room in Dublin now displays exhibits from the Irish archive. While the room looks the same, the technology has been upgraded, with state-of-the-art air conditioning and glazing.

There are gems in the IAA too: its current exhibition, called "Collection Building", displays two drawings acquired in each year since the archive opened (across the square) in 1976. Exhibits include a 1790 design for the entrance to Emo Court in Co Laois by James Gandon; the shamrock-shaped pavilion for the 1938 New York World Fair by Michael Scott; Desmond Fitzgerald's drawing of a proposed extension to Dublin Airport in 1953; and a scheme by Sam Stephenson in Wilton Place, Dublin. (The exhibition runs until the end of May in the IAA, which is open from 10am to 5pm, admission free.)

Upstairs in the Irish Architectural Archive there are lecture areas and a room full of models, among them the model for the rebuilding of Clery and Co in 1921 and Ahrends Burton and Koralek's 1973 model for the arts building at Trinity (apparently, other Trinity buildings are also hidden among the stacks of models).

As well as housing a huge collection of drawings and files from architectural practices, models, books, pamphlets, files and photographs, the Irish Architectural Archive building itself is an impressive example of an 18th century townhouse. Refurbished by the OPW (Office of Public Works), 45 Merrion Square now has a glazed extension to the rear offering lift access and an underground archive.

The glass and steel structure is a good example of how to match new with old and the extension sits lightly against the rear of the building except on the first floor where a cantilevered floor penetrates its 18th century neighbour to allow disabled access. The floor is set in from the plasterwork, leaving it intact.

The underground archive has used green technology to create the perfect environment for the stores without the need for air conditioning. Humid humans disrupt the air quality in the room which is why those who request documents must wait until the staff make their twice daily visit to the archives.

While archive staff feel that they are not on the right side of Merrion Square to gain from passing traffic, the number of visitors has actually risen since they've been here.

They are also able to tap into the growing cultural quarter that is Merrion Square, especially as this building is set to house staff of the new Irish Architecture Foundation.

The Irish Architecture Foundation will organise architectural events to coincide with "World Architecture Week" at the beginning of October, with the aim of bringing architecture to a wider audience.

'In the future it is hoped this could lead to a new dedicated architecture centre building in Dublin.

The Irish Architecture Foundation has input from Dublin City Council, the OPW, the Irish Architectural Archive, the AAI (Architectural Association of Ireland), the RIAI (Royal Institute of Architects of Ireland) and the Arts Council (the latter four organisations are all based in Merrion Square).

Another initiative that will encourage more people into the AAI and RIAI building at 8 Merrion Square will be the expanded architectural bookshop opening after Easter. The RIAI has also put in for planning permission for a coffee shop at the front of the building. It won't be a drink-and-go outlet, says RIAI president John Graby. "It'll be a high quality café where you can sit and read the newspaper, and discuss business. It'll have the feel of a Viennese coffee house, in sympathy with the building."

As any parent knows, that'll make it easier to drag the kids to culture and it's good to start them young. "Education in architecture begins in childhood. It's not until later we realise what a significant part it plays," says Irena Murray, the RIBA's new librarian.

All of these initiatives, along with the pulling power of the National Gallery extension, are set to make Merrion Square the architectural hang-out for more and more people.