Month / October 2012

by shannonchance

Added Value–What Happens When You Blog Instead of Tape Record

Máirtín sent me some updates to our conversation today, after reading the blog.  This is the kind of conversation and cultural exchange that I think the Fulbright program is all about.  These are Máirtín’s words:

Order here: Bungalow Bliss. Mairtin downloaded this image from Flicker.

Diane Hamilton (Guggenheim) was the wealthy American that brought Liam Clancy to America, who later appeared on a 20 minute slot on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1961. They achieved fame as ‘The Clancy Brother’s & Tommy Makem’.

It wasn’t just womens’ names, the tradition was that the first child would be called after the mother’s people, giving us names like Bradley, Harrison, Stewart, Rawson, Carroll, and so on and so forth as first names.

This tradition comes from the Ulster Presbyterians, or now Ulster Scots, from the North. There is an Ulster Scots Heritage Park between Strabane and Omagh in Co. Tyrone. In an intersting link to the Blue Ridge Mountains many of the Ulster Scots had the first name ‘William’ after William of Orange, William the Third of Great Britain, victor of the Balltle of the Boyne. So many of them lived in the mountains this is believed to be the origin of the term ‘Hill Billies’.

This is the Book, believed to have brought more shame to Ireland than @Ulysses’.

Bungalow is a Hindi word. In my opinion is that the Irish bungalow is a vernacular version of the traditional cottage. When John Ford made ‘The Quiet Man’ in the west in 1951 he was looking for a perfect Traditional thatched cottage to act as John Wayne’s character’s house ‘White O’Morn’. They found one near Maam Cross. When they were finished, they paid the owner a wedge of money, who used it to build a new house, and demolished the original. What is left has been pilfered by souvenir hunters.

Mairtin sent this image of Dan O Herlihy. IMBD says “Dan O‘Herlihy, Actor: RoboCop. Irish-born Dan O‘Herlihy decided not to follow in his father’s footsteps, forsaking the life of an architect in favour of the acting.”

I also meant to say that another famous (kind of) architect who became an actor was Dan O Herlihy, from Wexford, who qualified as an architect from UCD and went to Hollywood to become an actor. His most famous role is probably ‘The Old Man’ the head of the evil OCP Coproration in ‘RoboCop’ (1987). I hope you’ve seen it, if not I can lend it to you; a biting satire of Reagan era economics.

He is the father of Lorcan O Herlihy, a well known Los Angeles based architect.

The Director of ‘What Richard Did’ is Lenny Abrahamson, who also directed ‘Adam & Paul’ and ‘Garage’. Very good, but not ‘Feel Good’. Don’t watch on a Sunday night when you have the fears……

by shannonchance

Dave Chance–My Award Winning Photographer

Praise from the HRACRE jurors.

I’ve got to brag about my Dave today.

He’s a stupendous photographer. And very dedicated to his craft. To get brilliant architectural photographs, he’s up at sunrise nearly every day.  Literally, he’s on site, at the building, when the sun peeks over the horizon.

He can tell you exactly where the sun’s rays will fall at any given point in time.

Dave’s award-winning photo of Via design architects‘ VIMS ESSL building on the Eastern Shore of Virginia.

And the hard work pays off. For him and his clients.

Last week, Hampton Roads Association for Commercial Real Estate (known as HRACRE) hosted it’s annual awards gala. It gives prizes in 12 categories. FIVE–count em–FIVE of the projects that won awards used photographs by Dave Chance Photography.

At last year’s gala, the speakers emphasized the central role photos play in awards selection. They said the quality of the photos and the entry applications/awards packages has been on the rise.

See what they put in print this year, about one of the projects Dave photographed?  I am so proud!

The new Judicial Center in Portsmouth, Virginia. Designed by HBA and photographed by the one and only Dave Chance.

The new Portsmouth Housing and Redevelopment building. Designed by Via design architects and captured by Dave Chance Photography.

by shannonchance

Awash in Culture–and Wishing I’d Hit Record!

I actually had a voice recording device on me today, but I hadn’t set it up.

I was in Linenhall for a quick, half hour coffee meeting. So, I didn’t think to ask to record until the conversation was too good to stop for something as odd and pragmatic as setting up the iPhone.

I was meeting Máirtin D’Alton (the architect who lead a tour I attended during Open House Dublin, I’ve included a photo to spark your memory).

Following the Tour, I suggested/recommended/fairly much insisted on him for a position at DIT. Sima took my advice, and he’s been working for an hour a week in the 4th year architectural technology studio ever since.

Of course, he’s giving more time than an hour a week to the cause.

He’s being very conscientious in the role–he showed me the prep work he’d done for today.  (I always like to know it’s working out well after I recommend someone!) His prep work must have taken hours.

And, he was also part of a studio crit yesterday that lasted from 9am-7pm. Whew! How exhausting!

He still made time to meet me for coffee before studio today. And, our conversation today was fascinating!  I made a few notes on my phone at the end. They’re below, in rough form but interesting nonetheless.

Typical Irish bungalow. This one located near Killaney. (Photo © Brian Shaw.)

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Bungalows have been the norm for single family detached housing in Ireland–past and present. You’ve been able to buy plan books. There are lots of versions of bungalows out there but they all have basic rectangle with simple hip or gabled roof. They’re getting more complex roofs now. They used to be situated with the gable end toward the SW to capture breeze and solar energy, but by now many town councils have regulated they should face street. Hedgerows have been removed to allow roads to be widened. This has changed the composition of Irish towns greatly. They don’t reflect nature or the social fabric the same way as in the past.

The Irish fascination with the TV show “Dallas” lead to over abundance if houses mimicking that style, especially in the north.

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New-fangled bungalow in Tralee, used as a B&B. Downloaded from property listing website.

We discussed WalMart’s development strategy and how this plays out with IKEA around the globe and with Carrefour and the like in France. In France, the big box stores on outskirts have strangled small businesses, much like in the USA.  (IKEA has been getting big press for plans to go green lately, but they really must address the longevity and up-cycling of their products. Their solar lights are very poor quality and they break with little use.)

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Irish traditional music was almost dead in the 1960s. A Guggenheim sister came and did recordings (i.e., qualitative research).  She brought a group to NYC (she had a close relationship with one of the group). The group was set to play for two minutes on a TV show, but due to a cancellation they ended up with 20 minutes to play. They resorted to playing tunes their mom had taught them. This show brought out American enthusiasm; it was wildly popular in the US. This sparked a revival of traditional music on Ireland. (Interestingly, Fulbright Ireland has a big role in preserving Irish language today.)

Image by John Moore / Getty Images / AAP, from the article Totally green: IKEA pledges to switch to 100% renewable energy by 2020.

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Regarding names: it was popular in the north to use the mother’s last name (surname or family name) as the child’s first name. That’s how names like Kelly and Shannon would have started bring used as first names.
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Jimmy Stewart biography.

In our discussion, I posited that architectural pedagogy is becoming more relevant to society while the architecture profession is becoming less and less relevant (the irony is that education has a big role to play in instilling the types of values that are causing this demise, as well as instilling a sense of curiosity and engagement that makes architecture grads so valuable to other fields).

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Mairtin told me that Jimmy Stewart studied architecture at Princeton. He then bagged it, and went into acting. He played in a film set in the Shenandoah Valley, that Máirtin watched last weekend.
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…Máirtin has offered to show Esther Serchi and me some important sights on the outskirts of Dublin, while she’s visiting in a week.
by shannonchance

Guesses?

You see a lot of these around Europe. They look a lot different in Rome and Switzerland, though, where they’re still in use. Any guesses what they’r for?

This one is located near the Marsh Library in Dublin 2.  It looks so sad and unappreciated. I saw another one in a similar state the other day (in Kilkenny, I think).

I’m going to bed now (it’s 12:33 AM), but I’ll send you a gold-star cookie if you guess right while I’m asleep!

Can you figure it out?

by shannonchance

Upcoming Talks

Richard Hayes engaged with students in a hands-on course at the Dublin Institute of Technology. (Copyright Shannon Chance, March 2012).

I’m giving two talks next week that you’re welcome to attend.

Tuesday I’ll discuss “A View from the Outside: Transforming Pedagogy at the DIT.” It’s part of a College Education Seminar entitled “Building a Student-Centred Programme – A College Case Study.”

Thursday I’ll discuss “Transformational Education at the DIT” to help celebrate the launch of DIT’s 2012-13 Teaching Fellowship program.

The photo I’ve attached shows the types of hands-on learning experiences electrical engineering students get at the DIT these days.

Fulbright Ireland website’s includes full details about the talks.

by shannonchance

Gray Sky Blues

Another rainy day in Dublin.  Here’s hoping the sun breaks through.  It almost always does each day–sooner or later.  I’ve attached an example of sunshine after rain, taken as I was crossing Dame Street on October 2.

Reflection on Dame Street. Copyright Shannon Chance, 2012.

by shannonchance

Lifted!

Steven Best’s lecture on work he did in Norma Foster’s office in 1996 (where he was working with Thomas Leslie from Iowa State, the son of my dissertation advisor David Leslie). I enjoyed this slide of the architect carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. The image has Calvinist underpinnings, Steven Best said.

After a rather weighty lecture at the Dublin School of Architecture–in which my colleague from the States, Tom Leslie, was referenced by name–I bolted over to my yoga class with Joe Saflund at The elbowroom.

On the way home, I decided to “give myself a lift” by stepping into The Cobblestone Pub to enjoy a half-pint and a few songs.  I put in two long workdays in a row and thought I’d blow off some steam.

Once inside, I discovered Tomás is more than a talented bartender… he plays guitar and sings as well.  He’s shown in the photo alongside his uilleann pipe-playing cousin …and, well, any cousin of Tomás is a cousin of mine!

Such a wonderful, small world!

My favorite yoga instructor in Dublin is Joe Saflund, shown here in side angle pose.

Tomás Mulligan hard at work, making music at The Cobblestone.

by shannonchance

Glimpses of Grennan Castle

Shannon and Dave–hot in the pursuit of abandoned castles. We stopped to admire Grennan Castle from a far.

We didn’t get inside Grennan Castle, but did catch a glimpse on one of our castle-hutting-near-Killkenny days. This castle was constructed in the year 1210.

Abandoned Ireland looks like a fabulous site. It includes photos from the inside of Grennan Castle, and explains:

“Grennan Castle measures 20 metres x 13 metres and stands 20 metres tall, the walls at their base are 2.5 metres thick. The ground floor contains three barrel vaulted chambers with an entrance to the second floor on the south side by a staircase built hidden into the thickness of the wall. At the top of the staircase is just a gaping opening down to the floor below. This opening was originally covered by a trapdoor, hence with the trapdoor raised the castle was almost impenetrable.”

Abandoned Ireland also notes that “In 1650 Cromwell’s troops called to the castle. The siege lasted only two days, the garrison marched out leaving all their weapons behind them and promised to never again oppose English rule.” It wraps up by stating, “Grennan Castle survived in good repair until the early 1800s.”

You can click on this image to see a larger version.

You can click on this image to see a larger version.

Grennan Castle in the distance.

by shannonchance

Dashing Between Stories

Sometime this weekend, dashing from the all-day seminar “Conversations on Stories” hosted by Notre Dame and the evening welcome event hosted by the Fulbright Ireland Alumni Association, I managed to capture a few fleeting glimpses of Dublin for you.  These were all taken near O’Connell Bridge.

by shannonchance

Mechatronics and Makers Clubs

Cool!

I’m elbow deep in transcribing an interview tonight (I’m doing a follow up interview with the same teacher tomorrow and  I need to study what he said last time).

Anyway, he referred to mechatronics.  I had to look it up just to spell it. Here’s where Wikipedia comes in handy… since it’s all about the quick social construction of knowledge. It says:

“Mechatronics is the combination of Mechanical engineering, Electronic engineering, Computer engineering, Software engineering, Control engineering, and Systems Design engineering in order to design and manufacture useful products.”

I got this image off Flicker by looking up Makers Fair. It shows a kids’ version of a Makers Faire.

The engineering teacher I was interviewing also explained Makers Clubs to me.  “So, I don’t know if you’re familiar with Makers Clubs,” he said, “but they’re basically hobbyists getting together to work on work on just building kind of electronics and mechatronics, gadgets and stuff. And people just decide they’re going to make something and they just put it together and there’s a lot of camaraderie and so on. But it’s definitely learning by doing.”

He worked in a place like that that specialized in medical rehabilitation.

How fascinating!

I’m off to finish this transcription so I’ll remember all he said about that work before I interview him (on a different subject) tomorrow.

Another shot from Flicker.