Architecture Open House

Last year during the architecture tours, we mainly focused on Temple Bar, but since there is so much to see we only got to about half of it. This year we got to do the other half. Ben and myself on Saturday got tours in the City Hall building to see where city council meetings are held (and where we have some friends getting married there in June); the old Rates Office which is an old haunted bank that has a bit for Easter Rising history to it; and the main Dublin City Council offices. Since all of these buildings we walk by and live by I figured why not get a sneak peek inside. The DCC offices were impressive since the atrium is 5 stories high and is very energy efficient. The architect gave a very informative tour and then for a grand finale, we went into the traffic control office. More than two dozen monitors up on the wall showed current traffic conditions, it is the eye in the sky. It was interesting to see all over Dublin simultaneously.

Sunday we meet up with Tullia and Edell for a river tour around the new docklands. The two tour guides was the president of the RIAI and founder of one of the largest architecture practices in Dublin, and the other guide now works in planning but ran for the Taoiseach (president) so it was sort of like John Kerry of Ireland giving our tour. Although as architects we know most of the buildings, the history was great to hear. How the docklands used to be, and although the docks are quite built up now, it only really happened recently during the Celtic Tiger. The best part was just seeing Dublin from another angle, it is not everyday that we get a boat tour up the river. It was a gorgeous day with the sun shining very brightly that it made us forget that most of the leaves have fallen and winter is well on its way. Since the tide was up to high, we were not able to get back into some of the docklands to see the most current building that we are constructing (I worked on it when I first started and now working on the finishing touches).

After our tour, we crossed the road to the CHQ for the Oktoberfest celebrations. Who can pass up freshly cooked German sausages and yummy beer! I can't. It was a good end to a sunny autumn day.