Rather than the monuments, places and things that dominate most accounts of architectural modernity, INFRA ÉIREANN – Infrastructure and the Architectures of Modernity in Ireland 1916–2016 shifts attention to less visible net works, systems and connections. Emphasizing the effects of Ireland’s rurality, and of its position midway between Europe and the USA, it makes the case for stuff like electrification, telephone networks, highways, airports, and data storage as being most symptomatic of the Irish experience of the modern. This is fresh research, and a valuable contribution to the now growing number of alternative narratives of modernity. – Adrian Forty

La Cathédrale Saint-Pierre de Beauvais consists only of a transept and choir, an apse and seven chapels, all connected by an ambulatory. Although incomplete it is, in some respects, the most daring achievement of Gothic architecture. Standing 48 metres tall, Beauvais Cathedral has the highest vault of any cathedral in Europe. Construction eventually came to an end following the collapse of a tower that would have made the cathedral the tallest building in the world at the time. Even in its unfinished state the choir became known as “the Parthenon of French Gothic.”

Spatial Poetics is a new series at SAUL curated and run by Lytle Shaw (SAUL and New York University). Investigating the terrain shared between contemporary poetry and architecture, this series of seminars and public poetry readings is sponsored by the School of Architecture and the School of Languages, Literature, Communication and Culture at the University of Limerick.

Five Irish architects have been included in the shortlist of 40 projects on show including Grafton Architects’ School of Advanced Medicine at UL. Pulp Press, Kistefos, Norway by SAUL’s Peter Carroll was one of eight Irish projects nominated for this year’s award.

The recent violent destruction of the ancient city of palmyra in Syria is an assault on the very idea of civilisation. The theme of this lecture is architecture’s power to express cultural values and unite disparate believes. Through architecture we establish a common ground for appreciating past achievements and building a shared future. This is discussed against the background of a changing political landscape, recurrent conflicts, destruction and re-building with the ancient city of Palmyra as the focal point.

Hazel Dogde is the Louis Claude Purser Associate Professor in Classical Archaeology at Trinity College Dublin. With degrees from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne she previously held a fellowship of the British Academy at the University of Oxford. In 2010–11 she was Samuel H. Kress Lecturer of the Archaeological Institute of America, of which she is also a Corresponding Member. In 2013 she held the Frederic Lindley Morgan Visiting Chair in Architectural Design at the University of Louisville, Kentucky. Her research expertise is three-fold: Roman construction and building technology, ancient spectacle and buildings for entertainment, and urbanisation in the ancient world, particularly the development of the City of Rome.

“Futures of the past” looks at buildings of the past and how we think about their future. Aware of the necessarily creative and destructive role of architecture we hold a deep interest in what exists.

These series of talks are a public forum intended to address a range of questions on role, past and present.

Under the current Development Plan is scheduled for demolition. Why shouldn’t it be? A museum curator and a practicing architect debate the value of Modern architecture: Why and how should a generic concrete structure be spared and adapted for new uses? Beyond individual buildings, ideas of collecting, preserving and curating the city for future generations will be discussed.

Hugh Maguire is now one of the longest serving directors of the Hunt Museum, having joined the Museum in late 2009. Before that, he was the Museums and Archives Officer in The Heritage Council. A graduate of Trinity College, Dublin and the Courtauld Institute of Art, London he previously held numerous lecturing and publishing positions in Ireland and overseas. In addition to the day-to-day administration of the museum as its director, together with the Board, Hugh accounts for strategic directions as well as being the public face of the museum.

Michael O’Connor is an architect in private practice in Limerick and London, as O’Connor + Shanahan for public work contracts and some corporate clients and as ‘praxis architecture’ for private commissions. A graduate of UCD and member of the RIAI, Michael is also a registered Conservation Architect both in Ireland and the UK. Parallel to his work in practice Michael has undertaken extensive research on viable ways to adapt Sarsfield House to future uses. ‘Praxis architecture’ was commended at the 2015 RIAI Awards for Best Emerging Practice.

“Futures of the past” looks at buildings of the past and how we think about their future. Aware of the necessarily creative and destructive role of architecture we hold a deep interest in what exists. This series of talks is a public forum intended to address a range of questions on architecture’s role, past and present.

“Our concern is about how the past plays itself out in the present, and how past and present recur into the future. If ‘imagination is working over the remembered,’ as James Joyce says, we are interested also in what one might call ‘memories of the future’.”

Kieran Keohane is Senior Lecturer in Sociology at UCC’s School of Sociology and Philosophy, recognised as a Teaching Hero by his students. His current work covers areas such as urban culture, the generation and legacy of cultural capital and the cultivation of cosmopolitanism. Kieran Keohane published “Collision Culture” (2004) on transformations in everyday life in Ireland and “Cosmopolitan Ireland” (2007) on globalisation and quality of life, both together with UL sociologist Carmen Kuhling.

“Futures of the past” looks at buildings of the past and how we think about their future. Aware of the necessarily creative and destructive role of architecture we hold a deep interest in what exists. This series of talks is a public forum intended to address a range of questions on architecture’s role, past and present.

“Mies’ work stands proud – and still relevant. His work, even today, is a yardstick to measure our understanding of Modern architecture.”

Shane O’Toole is an architect, historian, author, editor, curator, broadcaster and campaigner for threatened buildings. He was one of the founding directors of Group 91Architects. He guided the framework plan for the regeneration of Dublin’s Temple Bar district during the 1990s, work that has been honoured with several awards. He commissioned and curated highly acclaimed national and international architecture exhibitions. Since 2012, Shane has been a member of the Expert Committee for the European Prize for Urban Public Space. He is recognised for his regular contributions in The Sunday Times and Building Design.

“Futures of the past” looks at buildings of the past and how we think about their future. Aware of the necessarily creative and destructive role of architecture we hold a deep interest in what exists. This series of talks is a public forum intended to address a range of questions on architecture’s role, past and present.

“Talking to my Father” features two voices from two eras each concerned with how we as a nation understand the architecture that surrounds our lives. Modern architecture in Ireland reached a high point in the early sixties and one of its most celebrated and influential figures was Robin Walker. Robin Walker studied under Le Corbusier in Paris as a young graduate and later worked alongside Mies van der Rohe in Chicago. His return to Ireland in 1958 coincided with the emergence of an aspiring modern nation recovering from years of stagnation and emigration. Robin Walker became a key agent in this nation-building process. “Sé Merry Doyle’s documentary follows Simon on his journey back through his own life and relationship with his father, Robin Walker.

Robin was a remarkably talented and prolific figure in the reformation of Ireland’s architecture in what was an emerging, modern nation. Simon, also an architect, traces his memory with his father’s architecture as his guide, travelling Ireland from building to building, conversing with each across what Robin Walker understood to be a breathtakingly beautiful landscape, recognised in his work. The documentary is in large part about that – the relationship we have with our environment and how architecture, particularly that of Robin Walker, contributes to that relationship.”

SAUL Autumn 2015 lecture program with Simon Walker, Elizabeth Hatz, Shane O'Toole with Elizabeth Hatz, Kieran Keohane with Tom Moylan, Merritt Bucholz, Hugh Maguire and Michael O'Connor.