The Central Courtyard: The Royal Hospital, Kilmainham

Philip Crowe

The Royal Hospital Kilmainham was built on the site of the Knights Hospitallers in the 1680s. Designed by William Robinson, the building is now regarded as the finest seventeenth Century classical building in Ireland. The Hospital cared for the ageing bodies and souls of veteran soldiers and is based on the model of Les Invalides, Paris.

In 1991 the building was extensively refurbished and opened as the Irish Museum of Modern Art, providing a facility for the display of Irish and international contemporary art. Due to problems with surface water retention in the central court, further work was carried out in 2001, dramatically altering the space and prompting the following attempt to briefly rationalise and understand the physical experience of this space and the effect of the recent works.

The central courtyard is an impressive, multi-sensory space in which the body feels a strong sense of resonance and protection. It is a very immediate example of the mimetic capacity of the body � how we mimic a structure with our bones and muscles - where we are aware of a connection and resonance imbedded in the proportions, scale and rhythmic order of the space.

Until recently the courtyard elevations were set on a continuous, even base of sandy gravel that reflected the light from the sky above. This warm light found its way, via the white window boxes of the piano nobile, deep into the galleries. The court acted as a light sink connecting the entire museum, highlighting the movement in the elevations, accentuating the elegant proportions and the quality of cut stone.

Being in the space involved several realms of sensory experience which interacted and fused together. The visual and tactile qualities of the four walls were complimented by the rich and complex aural environment. Key to the aural experience of the court was the contrast of the hard, cut stone flags in the cloisters and the gentle softer crunch of the gravel in the courtyard.

The Royal Hospital court had an inviting, hospitable acoustic intimacy despite its grandeur and scale. In this protective human space the sound gave a sense of connection and solidarity. Walking in the space caused the visitor to create the sound, putting them in direct interaction with the historic and seemingly timeless space.

In 2001 the court was resurfaced, creating a crustaceous swelling of cobbles with a granite cross connecting the four principal entry points to the space. The result is the antithesis of the previous surface. Munoz�s playful figures [illustrated] are no longer elegantly frozen in motion, embedded slightly in the soft gravel. They now sit nervously and precariously with minimal surface connection to the hard grey diagonally laid cobbled slope.

The new sequence of discovery from the city climaxes with the visitor walking through the arch into the stone cloister and, at the same level, proceeding onto the cobbled and flagged stone of the court. From this point the visitor is guided across the space in an orthogonal direction as per the original design of the 1680s. The freedom and multiplicity of the desire lines of the gravel court are gone, as is the subtle change in level from the cloister.

The diagonally laid stone cobbles, with inconsistent batches and mortar quality, distract entirely from the calm, graceful facades, breaking their silence. While the gravel surface was not original, the qualities of contrast and the ability to recede in terms of visual impact and level change allowing the elevations to float or breathe are almost certainly consistent with the 1680s design. The new surface attempts to create a homogeneity with the grey stone walls.

The aural environment and warm light that once bounced off the surface onto the visitor, the walls and into the internal spaces has been stifled. The space is now cold and grey, and the sounds clipped and staccato.

The pre-2001 court was a demonstration of how rich an external built environment can be, providing security, human scale and proportion, while activating all the senses. The result of the resurfacing is a form of sensory deprivation highlighting the existence of a hegemony of vision that has prompted an �aesthetic simulation� of an imagined historical precedent for the space. The cobbles are a kitsch and heavy-handed solution to the surface that is inappropriate for the nation�s flagship institution for contemporary multi-media art.

Philip Crowe is an architect and urban designer currently working with Derek Tynan Architects and Urban Projects