MINISTER FOR Arts, Sport and Tourism Martin Cullen was prevented by “pressing Government business” from flying to Italy to open Ireland’s exhibition at the 11th International Architectural Biennale in Venice last night.
It is believed his need to stay in Dublin was related to a range of cuts in his Department’s budget for 2009. As a result, the exhibition at the Palazzo Guistinian Lolin was officially opened by Ambassador to Italy Seán Ó hUigínn and chairman of Culture Ireland Prof Micheál Ó Suilleabháin. The Irish entry, entitled The Lives of Spaces, is competing with 64 other national exhibitions being held all over Venice for the coveted Golden Lion award for the best national pavilion.
Irish commissioners Irish Architecture Foundation director Nathalie Weadick and Dr Hugh Campbell, selected nine responses for inclusion at this key international showcase. Artist Dara McGrath, in association with Belfast-based architects Robinson McIlwaine, is presenting his stark photographs of the deconstruction of the Maze/Long Kesh.
Also in the exhibition is An Gaeláras, a cultural centre in Derry designed by Dublin architects O’Donnell and Tuomey and a proposed “picture palace” in Galway by DePaor Architects.
Patrick Lynch and Simon Walker’s contribution documents the life of Bóthar Buí, the West Cork holiday home of the Robin Walker, the noted architect.
The character of the recently opened Brookfield Youth Centre in Tallaght is illustrated by its architect Gráinne Hassett, while Gerry Cahill Architects examine the changing use of “sacred space” – a courtyard in the former Mercy Convent on Dublin’s Cork Street.
McCullough Mulvin show the transition from space as designed to space as used in Waterford’s new library, while Grafton Architects are illustrating the different relationship between outdoor and indoor spaces at the Bocconi University in Milan and the Department of Finance in Dublin’s Merrion Row. Finally, Cian Deegan and Alice Casey from TAKA use a series of domestic projects to consider the “ritual character of home space”.