IRELAND IS to be represented at the world’s largest architecture event this year, the Venice Biennale, by the long-established and multiple award-winning Dublin architects, deBlacam and Meagher.
The official launch of their participation in the 12th international architecture exhibition in Venice during the autumn took place yesterday in the Atrium of Trinity College’s Dining Hall.
Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sport Mary Hanafin said the decision by Culture Ireland and the Arts Council to continue to support Ireland’s participation at Venice was “an important one, particularly in the current climate” for architects throughout Europe.
Eugene Downes, chief executive of Culture Ireland, hailed deBlacam and Meagher for having created "a deeply considered and influential body of work" since they set up practice in 1976. Architects Todaycalled them "the godfathers of contemporary Irish architecture".
Known for making elegant buildings from sustainable materials, some of their best-known works in Ireland include Cork Institute of Technology, the Chapel of Reconciliation in Knock, the Samuel Beckett Theatre in Trinity College and the Wooden Building in Temple Bar.
The exhibition, which is being curated by architects Tom de Paor, Peter Maybury, Alice Casey and Cian Deegan, will feature deBlacam and Meagher’s built and unbuilt portfolio of the last 33 years, which will then be donated in its entirety to the Irish Architectural Archive.
De Paor Architects, headed by Tom de Paor, will also be showing a folly at the exhibition.
The exhibition is sponsored by the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland, the Department of the Environment and the Irish Embassy in Rome. It will run until November 21st and is expected to attract more than 130,000 visitors from around the world.