mcculloughmulvinarchitects

Dublin Projects

The practice has made a long-term investigation of contemporary architecture in Dublin. This is explored through films, books & urban masterplans; in projects for Trinity College, in Temple Bar and in single proposals within the grain of city blocks, plots and back lots. It is an experimental laboratory of form influenced by an interest in place and typology.

    Working in proximity needs a certain background knowledge, without pretending exclusivity. It can be about things, stories, histories which are nearly private to the city. McCullough Mulvin made many (unbuilt) plans for the famous Irish National Theatre - the Abbey, but also restored the shell of Parson’s Bookshop in Baggot Street- a famous bohemia of the 1950’s and 60’s. This project did one tiny thing - opening new windows in a side wall to give a view over the canal into the city it served. This is space for eyes: for observance and contemplation. New opes are placed amidst existing, in a new composition.

    Designing buildings in the same place over time has a magnetic attraction in a globalized world. Architects have little choice in what they get to design - but in small cities like Dublin you occasionally get to build things adjacent to one another- or get to repeat an experiment. Themes develop along an indirect route - form, space, materiality - which tangentially reflect on place and which, with time, build up to a response to the contemporary city.




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