fade to grey ( the liffey boardwalk )

Emmett Scanlon

Architecture, in design and practice, oscillates between polar extremes. Public-private, inside-outside, solid-.void, professional design-popular design, art-science ; terms such as these pervade architectural education and media, and a aa a a media, and as a result transfer to architectural practice. The simplicity of these positions and the generic and uncontested definitions which are applied to them, belies the complexity of the reality that a building occupies. In reality, buildings exist in the murky, grey middle-ground of day-to-day existence acting as a kind of backdrop to our lives. At the same time, buildings potentially offer us a means to be taken to a particular emotional, physical or cognitive extreme, to be removed, temporarily, from our everyday world. Oscillating between these positions, the architect becomes a kind of negotiator, as he or she attempts to find a kind of middle ground for building which can exist in the realm of the everyday and yet offer the individual the chance to feel extraordinary.

Much discussion on the idea of architecture as a backdrop to daily life focuses on visual characteristics and aesthetics. Architectural discourse has not, however, been able to develop common criteria or general methodologies for the evaluation cs. Architectural discourse has not, however, been able to develop common criteria or general methodologies for the evaluation of������������ built forms and spaces on visual terms. Such discussions are intensely subjective and have no clear conclusion. The aesthetics and visual appearance of the Liffey Boardwalk have been much debated, but when one walks along it, generally such discussions are postponed, one is less concerned with the visual appearance of the thing, and the physical experience of the place takes over. The decision to drop the level of the boardwalk below the level of the path on Bachelor's Walk and Ormond Quay, so that the riverside railing would not protrude above the quay wall, makes for a more intense transition from Quay to Walk. Ramping down, a physical and mental disconnection from the atmosphere of the Quay is made. Furthermore, this move allows the Walk to develop an identity of its own, to exist as a space, rather than appearing as a literal extension of the narrow Quayside footpath. The Quay wall is now understood as a wall ; high and made of stone, it acts as a barrier between pedestrian and car, as it has done between water and ground. In contrast to other attempts to make linear walks along the Liffey, such as the Campshire development at Customs House Quay, the Boardwalk makes a more exciting spatial connection with the River. On the Campshires, there is still the sense that the River is held at a safe distance and that one's linear walk is in fact related to traffic progress, not water flow. On the Boardwalk, one's movement is gauged in relation to the run of the river. Pace is proposed, suggested, lingering welcome.On the Boardwalk, one's movement is gauged in relation to the run of the river. Pace is proposed, suggested, lingering welcome.

At certain points of the Walk we are given an entirely new experience of Dublin. We are dropped below street level, held over the Liffey, walking without cars, contained in the broad ground between quay walls and riverside railing, sharing the extraordinary experience with others walking in this outdoor space, moving as individuals, yet aware of our civic collectivity. The Boardwalk starts a process whereby the body, and not just the eye, is brought into physical connection with the river and Dublin beyond.

That this can happen is in fact related to the material quality and aesthetic characteristics of the Boardwalk. At a general, conceptual level, the repetitive use of only two materials on the deck itself � steel, painted grey, and timber decking � ensures that the deck is not visually distracting or complex and thus a recognition of the location of the deck and ones physical relationship to the river and the surrounding city is primary. From Capel Street Bridge to the Millennium Bridge and beyond to the Ha'penny Bridge, the Walk is its most successful. Between the Ha'penny Bridge and O' Connell Street Bridge, a curved timber bench attached to the quay wall and a green metal and timber kiosk placed against the quay succeed in some way of changing the current experience of the Walk. Having not seen the kiosk in use it is difficult to assess its full impact on the place, but thus far, its formal and material complexity seem to be at variance with the restrained material nature of the Walk itself. Photomontages which describe the intended use for the Boardwalk show it packed full of people, shopping. What appear to be makeshift stalls and kiosks run along the quay wall and thus it may be, that the current experience of the Boardwalk is momentary and set to change. The Boardwalk may entirely become a facility for commerce. How an architecturally designed kiosk relates to the romantic idea of casual market traders individually occupying the ground of the Walk will be interesting to observe. How such a market will be designed and installed in this location is apposite, considering the current plans to redevelop the existing Moore Street Markets which brings into question the role of the professional architect when intervening or designing informal, unprofessionally organized settlements. If indeed the Boardwalk has a quality which allows it to accept a variety of uses, to invite occupancy and inhabitation by the people of Dublin, to be a backdrop, then it may indeed survive its utilization as a commercial strip, particularly if such a use is temporary or seasonal, or one of many intended uses. The current physical intensity and experience it now allows will however inevitably be compromised. in parts at least. Were it to remain a shopping strip, perhaps the Boardwalk woulllows will however inevitably be compromised. in parts at least. Were it to remain a shopping strip, perhaps the Boardwalk would be grounded in the everyday forever and could no longer succeed in offering the individual the opportunity to journey bodily to the emotional and sensual locations that it now does.

Both at a strategic and detail level, the Boardwalk connects uneasily to its context � viewed from the south bank of the River, its ramps and connections to the quay wall are awkward, and it sits as a kind of apologetic foreground to the traffic which continues to batter Ormond Quay and Bachelors' Quay, on its way to batter the Campshires. However, the Boardwalk should possibly be valued and discussed as an experience, not an object, for it is manifest and formally immutable. What happens to that experience, and what colour the Boardwalk becomes are what matter now. If architectural practice oscillates between polar extremes as suggested above it is partly because there is a kind of security in these places as their meaning, for the most part, is clear, either black or white. To design a building which is grey and everyday is an insecure and vague process, requiring courage � because it is not what architects are educated to do and not what our peers generally appreciate.

Emmett Scanlon works in Grafton Architects and teaches and learns in University College Dublin..