Limerick County Council's new headquarters in Dooradoyle, currently under construction, is to be showcased as Ireland's entry for the forthcoming International Architecture Biennale in Venice.
The architects, Dublin-based Bucholz McEvoy, who also designed the Fingal County Hall in Swords, were chosen to represent Ireland at the Biennale in September because their cutting-edge work seemed best suited to its theme, "Next".
Details of their participation in this pre-eminent exhibition of new trends in world architecture were announced yesterday by the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism, Mr O'Donoghue, at a reception in Dooradoyle. Council cathaoirleach Ms Brigid Teefy said the local authority was "justly proud of our association with Bucholz McEvoy Architects in the design and development of our headquarters and would like to wish them every success for the Biennale".
The most striking feature of the new building is its main facade - a vast glazed screen, 75 metres long, shaded by timber louvres, which was designed in collaboration with Paris-based engineers RFR, who also worked with the architects on Fingal County Hall.
Certain components of the building, due for completion next summer, are being brought to Venice to be exhibited with a visual diary or chart of the construction process "so that this new Irish architecture might be experienced and understood in an immediate way".
Bucholz McEvoy, established in 1996, is headed by Chicago-born Merritt Bucholz (36), a graduate of Cornell and Princeton universities, and his Dublin-born wife, Karen McEvoy, who was educated at the UCD School of Architecture.
Ireland first took part in the Venice Architecture Biennale two years ago when its entry, designed and built by Tom de Paor, an award-winning Dublin-based architect, consisted of a small but much talked about pavilion made from peat briquettes.
This year, Ireland's presentation will be located in the Italian Pavilion within Venice's Giardini Publici as, unlike other countries, the State does not have a permanent pavilion in the gardens for artists and architects taking part in the Biennale.
But participation in the event is seen as vital by the Cultural Relations Committee of the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism and by the Arts Council. As in 2000, the Irish commissioner for the Biennale is the architect and critic, Raymund Ryan.
Mr Ryan was also among the panel of experts advising Deyan Sudjic, director of this year's Biennale, on the selection of some 100 architectural projects currently on site or due to be built in the near future in various parts of the world.These include a major building for Bocconi University in Milan, designed by Dublin-based Grafton Architects and now under construction at a cost of €58 million.
The Biennale opens to the public in September and runs until November. The website is at: www.labiennaledivenezia.org