Architecture

I felt some excitement at a long overdue first trip to Barcelona to see the works of Antoni Gaudí and the other architects associated with the Modern Movement in Barcelona. As an architectural student in Dublin there was little exposure to this movement. True, we had the example of Michael Scott and Busáras (the Central Bus Station) and the architects own house at Sandycove but these were post-war and isolated and we knew little of the Irish designer who was at the very vanguard of the Modern Movement, Eileen Gray and the wonderful E1027 at Roquebrune in the South of France (http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2008/09/e-1027-roquebrune-cap-martin.html ). Instead we tended to associate the movement with disciples of Berthold Lubetkin and Tecton in England who were at the more brutalist end of the International Movement. So seeing the work of Charles Rennie Mackintosh and the Glasgow School (http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2008/07/charles-rennie-mackintosh.html ) emphasised both how far adrift Ireland had been from the zeitgeist of European Architecture in the late 19^th and early 20^th centuries due to political turmoil and the conservatism after independence. Mackintosh also showed how he was part of a “Glasgow School” of fellow architects, artists and crafts people and showed how this was a great opportunity lost for an independent Ireland to establish its own identity, a point further reinforced when you see how an independent Latvia embraced Art Noveau during its remarkable period of independence between the wars (http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2007/08/riga-capital-of-country-in-transition.html ).

Like many visitors before me I had come to Barcelona to experience the animal-, vegetable- and mineral-like buildings that have made this architect's work synonymous with the city they adorn. Barcelona equals Gaudí. This makes sense, because Gaudí was a fervent Catalan nationalist, and an equally fervent Catholic, whose architecture has been a rallying point in stone, concrete and his hallmark broken glazed tiles. The Modernist architects expressed themselves in different ways, some wanted to revive Romanesque architecture, others imported the French neo-Gothicism of Violet le Duc, others still searching for a modern style in Germany, Austria or France. What seems to be characteristic is the use of nature-forms: flowers, plants and animals, decorative forms in ironwork, ceramics and stained glass. The aim was to create a modern art based on Catalan traditions, mixed with the use of new materials, like cast and wrought iron.

Three buildings of the early 1880's seem to mark the beginnings of Modernism : The publishing house of Montaner i Simon(1880), Josep Vilaseca's factory for F. Vidal (1884) and Gaudi's Casa Vicens (1883- 5). All three flow from a revival of a Spanish style: the neo- Mudéjar, with the use of Moorish decorative forms and techniques as characteristics. Modernism seems to have begun earlier and ended later than in most countries in Europe. Modernismo was the term which in Spain described the fin-de-siècle style which in Germany and Austria was called Jugendstil, and in France Art Nouveau. For this reason Gaudi's work is never at the “form follows function” end of modernism but incorporates colour in the Moorish manner as transferred to Spain and reflects his obsession with natural forms which gives his designs an organic feel which gives them a feeling of humanity which transcends architectural conceit or grandiosity.

The son of a coppersmith, Antoni Gaudí was born in Reus, Spain in 1852. He studied at the Escola Superior d'Arquitectura in Barcelona and designed his first major commission for the Casa Vincens in Barcelona using a Gothic Revival style that set a precedent for his future work.  Antonio Gaudí was a unique architectural talent, not easily compared with other architects in the terms used by architectural historians. Not only was his work strongly individualized, but Antonio Gaudí was fortunate to have loyal clients to support him. From early in his career, wide attention was given to his work, although Gaudí shunned publicity becoming almost hermit like in later life.

Antonio Gaudí has been identified with the Catalan Modernisme movement of the late nineteenth century and, by extension with the international art nouveau style. His strong personality drew like-minded people of talent to him, and the collaboration of structural engineers, sculptors, and metalworkers was needed to carry out his ideas. It is often possible to identify the artists and engineers involved.

The nationalist desires of Catalonians had been a problem of long standing for Spain. By the late nineteenth century, Barcelona had developed strong trade relationships with the UK and Western Europe. The wealth created contrasted with the difficult economic times in the rest of Spain and the loss of its last possessions in the war of 1898. The artistic activity in Barcelona was supported by business clients who by their travels were well acquainted with other countries, particularly with the arts and crafts movement in the United Kingdom. The development of illustrated periodicals further spread the art news to Barcelona. The cafe Els Quatre Gats, where Picasso's early work was shown and for which Antonio Gaudí designed menus in 1899, was an example of the international influences of the time.

Over the course of his career, Gaudí developed a sensuous, curving, almost surreal design style which established him as the innovative leader of the Spanish Art Nouveau movement. With little regard for formal order, he juxtaposed unrelated systems and altered established visual order. Gaudi's characteristically warped form of Gothic architecture drew admiration from other avant-garde artists. Although categorised with the Art Nouveau, Gaudí created an entirely original style. He died in Barcelona on July 10, 1926 after he had been knocked down by a tram three days before. He was buried in the Crypt of the Sagrada Família on the 12^th July and it is said that the whole city turned out to honour Gaudí.

After the traumatic Civil War Franco despised Barcelona and Catalonia, where even the speaking of the Catalan language was outlawed. Not only was it one of the key centres of opposition to his petty and spiteful fascist regime, but the city was a commercial and cultural rival to Castilian Madrid. It suffered during the Franco years, yet Gaudí's architecture gave it a mystery, a swagger and a wilfulness that helped to keep its head held high.

From the very beginning Gaudi's designs were different from those of his contemporaries. His work was greatly influenced by forms of nature and this is reflected by the use of curved construction stones, twisted iron sculptures, and organic-like forms which are traits of Gaudi's Barcelona architecture. Gaudí's style of architecture went through several phases. On emergence from the Provincial School of Architecture in Barcelona in 1878, he practiced a rather florid Victorianism that had been evident in his school projects, but he quickly developed a manner of composing by means of unprecedented juxtapositions of geometric masses, the surfaces of which were highly animated with patterned brick or stone, gay ceramic tiles, and floral or reptilian metalwork. The general effect, although not the details, is Moorish - or Mudéjar, as Spain's special mixture of Muslim and Christian design is called. Examples of his Mudéjar style are the Casa Vicens (1878-80) and "El Capricho" (1883-85) and the Güell Estate and Güell Palace of the later 1880s, all but "El Capricho" located in Barcelona. Next, Gaudí experimented with the dynamic possibilities of historic styles: the Gothic in the Episcopal Palace, Astorga (1887-93) and Casa de los Botines, León (1892-94) and the Baroque in the Casa Calvet at Barcelona (1898-1904). But after 1902 his designs elude conventional stylistic nomenclature.

Except for certain overt symbols of nature or religion, Gaudí's buildings became essentially representations of their structure and materials. In his Villa Bell Esguard (1900-02) and the Güell Park (1900-14), in Barcelona, and in the Colonia Güell Church (1898-c. 1915), south of that city, he arrived at a type of structure that has come to be called equilibrated - that is, a structure designed to stand on its own without internal bracing, external buttressing, and like, as Gaudí observed, as a tree stands. Among the primary elements of his system were piers and columns that tilt to transmit diagonal thrusts, and thin-shell, laminated tile vaults that exert very little thrust. Gaudí applied his equilibrated system to two multi-storeyed Barcelona apartment buildings: the Casa Batlló (1904-06), a renovation that incorporated new equilibrated elements, notably the facade; and the Casa Milá (1905-10), the several floors of which are structured like clusters of tile lily pads with steel-beam veins. As was so often his practice, he designed the two buildings, in their shapes and surfaces, as metaphors of the mountainous and maritime character of Catalonia.

Gaudí also adorned many of his buildings with coloured tiles arranged in mosaic patterns. This added another important dimension to his buildings which is so often overlooked by architects - the use of colour. The combination of original design, interesting shaped stonework, and vibrant colours in Gaudi's work give the viewer a truly breathtaking visual experience.

One of Antonio Gaudí’s loyal clients and friends was Count Eusebio Güell, for whom Antonio Gaudí designed many projects. For the housing development near Barcelona, Antonio Gaudí designed his famous park (1900-1914) on a sloping site. The Park Güell extends over a market area and is supported on columns sloped to reflect the transfer of loads from the plaza above. The use of coloured tile is most remarkably evident in the curving bench at the edge of the plaza. The tile work was designed by Antonio Gaudí’s collaborator, Josep Maria Jujol I Gibert (1879-1940) and is considered an important work of art. The park was left incomplete because the development project failed to attract investors, particularly with the start of World War I.

This park is a place of great plastic beauty. A grand stairway divided by a mythological dragon or lizard leads to the large hypostyle hall. Originally intended to act as a “market place” for the planned community, this is built with 84 inclined columns. These in turn support the great upper plaza, a fine balcony over-looking the city and the sea and feature superb tiled circular designs on the underside. The large plaza is delimited by an extraordinary balustrade-bench which twists in serpentine manner to form winding course, recesses and small semi-enclosed areas where the facing of brightly coloured ceramics creates a spectacular collage which seems to have anticipated a vein explored later avant-garde artists.

Casa Milà has become known in Catalan a "La Pedrera—'the quarry'— which was the name an astounded Barcelona population gave to this completely unique building. It could be compared with the steep cliff walls in which African tribes build their cave-like dwellings. The wavy facade, with its large pores, reminds one also of an undulating beach of fine sand, formed, for example, by a receding dune. The Casa Mila apartment house is a late example of Antonio Gaudí’s apartment house was a late example of Antonio Gaudí’s commercial design. On a corner site, the building facade is curvilinear in form and based on organic concepts. The heavy facade is tied to the floors behind. The most successful portions of the design were the roof vaults, clustered chimneys, and balcony railings designed by Jujol. This design caused much public comment, and Antonio Gaudí was forced to defend his organic forms in general terms. Apartment block built between 1906 and 1910 in Barcelona for the Milà family.

The façade is an impressive wave-like mass of rough-shipped stone. The windows and doors seem to be dug out of this stone mass and are trimmed in exquisitely crafted wrought iron work with vegetal forms on the balconies and astonishing grilles on the two street-doors. On the stepped terrace, coming as an elegant surprise are the huge stair exits of sculptured spirals and faced with broken ceramics and marble. The chimneys bring to mind knights wearing visors. All of this makes up a fantastic and futurist space. The interior marine decoration - ceilings, columns and the furniture designed by Gaudí for this house are extremely modern.

Casa Batllo has been described as “Mighty pillars that appear to resemble the feet of some giant elephant are the first thing to meet the eye of the passer-by from street level. The roof reminds him of a completely different animal: it is bordered by a jagged line similar to the backbone of a gigantic dinosaur.” Apartment block totally renovated by Gaudi between 1904 and 1906 in Barcelona for the Batllo's family. One of the architect's most complete works, it produces an indefinable sensation of lightness in spite of the profusion of forms and motifs.

At the first floor level of the undulating façade is a striking stone structure in the form of loggia supported by columns which frame fine windows decorated with stained glass.

The ceramics and multi-coloured glass mosaics of the upper part are interrupted by iron balconies in the form of Venetian masks. Crowning the whole is a suggestive tile roof over double garrets, which evokes the back of a fantastic dragon. The first floor was decorated by Gaudi who created some of his best interior design pieces for it, a magnificent built: fireplace, plaster whirling ceilings, stained glass, wrought iron elements, wooden doors and "avant garde" furniture.

The Palau Güell is a town mansion (translated literally a "palace") in Barcelona, Catalonia, designed by the Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí for his great patron industrial tycoon Eusebio Güell. The house was greatly expanded and remodelled from Antonio Gaudí’s designs from 1885 to 1890. The facades are more severe than in Antonio Gaudí’s other works, except for the extensive wrought-iron work, the polychrome roof forms, and the principal internal event, a central space rising up through the house to the capping cupola. Drawings of sections of the palace were displayed in Paris in 1910.

This was the first large-scale work by Gaudi to clearly show the search for new ideas in construction as well as a totally personal, innovative interpretation of historical styles, with Moorish elements. The building is centred on a grand vertical space crowned by a large parabolic dome with star-shaped windows. The others areas: salons, corridors, living rooms are organized around this space which constitutes the main salon. The luxurious interior decoration is a magnificent compendium of the taste of the time- marble columns, ceilings panelled in precious woods; elaborate iron work, incredible stained glass windows, paintings and astounding furniture. On the roof there are eighteen chimneys in various suggestive forms covered with broken pieces of ceramics. UNESCO classified the Güell Palace as World Heritage in 1984.

Casa Amatller is a building in the Modernisme style in Barcelona, designed by Josep Puig i Cadafalch. Along with Casa Batlló and Casa Lleó-Morera, it makes up the three most important buildings in Barcelona's famous "Mançana de la Discòrdia" ("Block of Discord"), noted for its unique modernist buildings. The building was originally designed as a residence for chocolatier Antoni Amatller and was constructed between 1898 and 1900. The Casa Amatller is beside the Casa Lleó Morera and the Casa Batlló. This building with its stepped gable (more reminiscent of northern Europe than Spain) is Puig i Cadafalch's most elaborate creation. The facade is largely influenced by religious Catalan Gothic (especially the window surrounds on the lower floors) but the architect has added some playful touches. The facade is covered in ceramic tiles with a slight metallic sheen.

Gaudí had a bad temper (there is a Catalan saying: "Gent de camp, gent de lamp," which means "People from the country are quick-tempered people"). He said that his bad temper was the one thing he was never able to control in his life. On the other hand, Gaudí took interest in the social problems of the workers, and felt attached to the people.

In his old age, Gaudí was a man who conformed to little in the way of convention and dressed without much care; so much so that the day of his accident nobody recognised him as he lay on the ground. On June 7, 1926, he was run over by a tram at the intersection of Carrer de Bailén and the Gran Vía, and the taxi drivers refused to take a poor vagabond to the hospital (the municipal police fined them later for not assisting an injured man). He did not seek out contact with journalists and he avoided cameras, so there are few photographs of the architect.

This change in attitude may have been caused by a series of events that took place beginning in 1912. That year, his niece, Rosa Egea, who lived with him in Barcelona, died. In 1914, his faithful collaborator, Francesc Berenguer Mestres, died, and for matters of professional fees, he was involved in an acrimonious legal case with the Milà family. In 1915, the continuity of the construction of the Sagrada Familia was endangered by a serious economic crisis. En 1914, construction of the Colonia Güell was interrupted by the war. Two years later, his friend, Doctor Torras i Bages, Archbishop of Vic, died. In 1918, his best friend and patron, Eusebio Güell, passed away. They were sad events that affected him but did not limit his energy and desire to see his greatest work, the Sagrada Família, come into being but from his appearance and behaviour it probably left him without a sense of balance in his life.

Gaudí died at the age of 74 (June 10, 1926), but if it hadn't been for the tram he may have lived many more years, since his father had lived to the age of 93, with all his vigour. Half of Barcelona dressed in black to give final homage to a man that had become very popular, although few had ever met him personally. His body was buried in the crypt of the edifice where he had worked for the last 43 years of his life, the Sagrada Familia.  Gaudí himself was unlike other architects before or since. An intensely religious celibate vegetarian ascetic who lived increasingly like a hermit and dressed in what seemed to his contemporaries like rags, he nevertheless designed some of the most highly charged, highly wrought buildings yet known.

For me on this journey to Barcelona it was better to arrive as to travel for the legacy of Modernisme and of Antonio Gaudí is a remarkable statement of design, of craftsmanship and of the spirit of Barcelona and Catalonia. This is even more remarkable as this was the architecture of a wealthy elite in a city riven with class tensions which were often expressed violently. However with the resurgence of Catalan identity this unique legacy is the patrimony, not of an elite, but of all the citizens of this unique and artistic city and of a proud and dynamic Catalonia.

Original (with photos) on Blogger;

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2008/11/antoni-gaud-and-barcelona-modernisme.html

The Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Familia or simply Sagrada Familia, Antoni Gaudí's unfinished masterpiece, is one of Barcelona's most popular tourist attractions. Construction on this church will continue at least until 2014, but it has already become Barcelona's most important landmark.

Gaudí devoted more than 40 years of his life to this great and still unfinished masterpiece, in fact he dedicated the last 12 years of his life exclusively to it from 1914 – 1926 declining any other work he was offered. He even moved within the precincts of the church to devote himself to this project. Funded by private donations the church you see today transcends Gaudí representing the separate identity of Catalonia and the many people, craftsmen, designers and architects and in this is far more a medieval building in character representing the will of the people to rise above the mundainity of their surroundings and build a breathtaking expression of their belief. Indeed in its abstraction (for all its figurative sculpture) I’m not sure that a cathedral is the best comparator; maybe it should be compared to something from outside the Catholic world such as the Mezquita (Spanish for "mosque") of Cordoba or the Shah Mosque of Isfahan as buildings which completely transcend their surroundings.

When Antoni Gaudí met his untimely death under the wheels of a Barcelona tram in 1926, he took with him to the grave his vision for his masterpiece, the church of the Sagrada Familia. Since then, a succession of architects has laboured to finish the fantastical spired building which has come to symbolise the city. Hampered by Gaudí's eccentric way of working, not to mention the efforts of anarchists to destroy the original plans for the turreted temple, their job has been far from easy.

But as the work finally draws somewhere close to an end - 125 years after it began - an influential group of Spanish artists, architects and art gallery directors are increasingly concerned the result will bear little resemblance to Gaudí's original vision of an architectural homage to God. Instead, they claim, millions of tourists visiting the surrealist structure will find it impossible to tell "where Gaudí's work begins and ends".

Manuel Borja-Villel, the influential director of Madrid's Reina Sofia art Museum, leads a group of 100 members of the Barcelona artistic and architectural establishment who have signed a manifesto protesting at what they see as a betrayal of Gaudí's spirit. They claim those entrusted with finishing off the temple are putting their own stamp on the works instead of faithfully following the ideas of the architect who devoted much of his later life to the Sagrada Familia.

In a statement, the group said: "What stands out is the mediocrity of a group of technicians and developers who are well-meaning but full of an anachronistic paternalism in the best of cases and are once more using Gaudí to leave their personal mark on the building to the detriment of the original work."

Sagrada Familia or the Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Familia was begun in 1882 by public subscription. A year later Gaudí became director of the project, a post he would hold for more than 40 years until his death in 1926. After the completion of Parc Güell in 1911, he vowed that his architecture would not be devoted to secular aims. His commitment to this project is indicated as well by the fact that he lived in a studio on the site. "He was assisted by architects Berenguer, Rubió, Jujol, Canaleta and Ràfols, and in the last stage, by Sugrañes and Quintana; these last continued with the work after his death in 1926, until the towers of the Nativity facade were completed. After the Civil War, progress continued under Quintana, Puig i Boada and Bonet Garí, with the help of Bergós, Martinell and Dapena. In most recent decades, it has been Cardoner and Bonet Armengol assisted by architects Margarit, Buixadé and Gómez"

Work continued on the church based on Gaudí's general plan and studies. Unlike many churches, it survived during the Spanish Civil War, when many churches were burned; it was and is seen as a kind of symbol for the city of Barcelona. Although it is not the cathedral of Barcelona (which dates from the 13th century), it is sometimes called Barcelona's third cathedral. It is still unfinished today and it is anybody's guess when it will be completed, although 2014 is the official date. It is a combination of Modernista elements and a unique version of the Gothic style - seen primarily in its height, use of rose windows and arches, triple portals, and architectural sculpture.

The Sagrada Família is a temple of basilica type with a shape of Latin cross in which the central axis is occupied for four lateral naves of 7.5 meters wide each one and a central nave of 15 meters wide, a total of 45 meters. The total length of the temple, including the nave and the apse is of 95 meters. The transept is formed by three naves with a total width of 30 meters and a length of 60. This transept has two exits, one to the Nativity façade and the other to the Passion façade. The main nave has the exit to the Glory façade, the most important one and still not built, the Glory façade will be the main gate of the temple and will be located on the Mallorca street. These façades have the mission to illustrate in a understandable way the mysteries of the birth, passion and resurrection - glory - of Jesus.

The first sight to greet tourists as they approach the cathedral's spires is the original Nacimiento facade which Gaudí lived to see completed. But since his death, the Sagrada Familia has tripled in size. A 170-metre dome which is to crown the building and an elevated flight of stairs are the biggest challenges ahead for those finishing Gaudí's masterpiece. As if that were not enough, the planned route of a high-speed rail link between Madrid and Barcelona lies within metres of its foundations, raising fears it could be damaged.

There are two things to be said about the Sagrada Família. Firstly it is a miracle that it exists at all let alone become a great symbol of Barcelona and Catalan identity for this is a city which lived through a troubled and often anticlerical 20^th Century. Tragic Week (in Catalan la Setmana Tràgica, in Spanish la Semana Trágica) (July 25-August 2, 1909) is the name used for a series of bloody confrontations between the army and the working classes of Barcelona and other cities of Catalonia, backed by the anarchists, socialists and republicans. Many of the rioters were antimilitarist, anticolonial and anticlerical. The rioters considered the Church to form part of the corrupt bourgeois structure whose sons did not have to go to war, and the flames had been fanned against the Church by anarchist elements within the city. Thus, not only convents were burned, but sepulchres were profaned and graves were emptied, with many of the rioters dancing with the corpses taken out of them.

Barcelona was peopled by the rural poor who had come there to work in its burgeoning industries and their poverty made them highly politicised. The power and wealth of the Catholic Church was greatly resented by many. It was closely identified with the wealthy classes and was seen as an enemy of change. Although the majority of Spaniards did not go to mass it had a strong following in the countryside where religious devotion was strong. It had a virtual monopoly of education. Curbing the power of the church was seen as essential if a fairer Spain was to be created. The Republican government of 1931 brought in a series of anti-clerical measures e.g. the Jesuits were dissolved and Church and State were separated. Civil marriage was instituted and divorce was allowed. It granted Catalan autonomy.

In May 1937 the divisions on the Republican side were clearly shown by events in Barcelona. This civil war within a civil war saw the Socialists and Communists fight street battles with the Anarchists and Trotskyites. The former won and a bloody purge was carried out against enemies of the communists. Also at this time the original drawings and models of Sagrada Família were destroyed by the anarchists. The models were to be of particular importance as the church is very much a 3 dimensional building with much of Gaudi’s design being three dimensional, replicating natural forms and very plastic.

Since work began again on the church in 1954 on the Passion Façade there has been much carping from Gaudí purists about his vision being lost. I think this criticism misses the point because the scale and vision of Sagrada Família is greater than any one man and indeed any one generation. Walking through the church in progress you can see Gaudí’s vision of an interior which reflects the natural world in being a forest and widespread use of natural forms to reflect God’s creation; the one-leaf hyperboloid reflected in the vaulted ceiling encrusted with stones to give the vaults a jewel like quality or the helix of the snail’s shell in reflected in the stairs to the crypt. There is also the sheer scale of what is proposed, the 18 towers with the central five representing Jesus (rising to 170 metres) surrounded by the 4 evangelists; Or the bell towers emerging from the vestibule and rising to 100 metres in a spiral structure where Gaudí foresaw placing tubular bells to combine with the 5 organs and the 1,500 voices of the choir that would extend along both sides of the nave and the Glory façade.

Truly this is a monumental undertaking on a scale not seen in the modern world but which strikes a deep resonance with the people of Barcelona and Catalonia as an assertion of their identity. As such it is wholly appropriate that it is an organic building which, whilst it will always be associated with the genius of Antoni Gaudí, is the result of the efforts of many people, designers, masons and architects but will belong not to them when it is complete but to all the people of Barcelona. And in its conception, execution and scale when it is finished all the debate will peel away as people continue to travel in their thousands to marvel at Sagrada Família, one of the greatest buildings in the world and one of the finest expressions of mankind’s longing for something beyond ourselves.

Original on Blogger;

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2008/11/sagrada-familia-barcelona.html

At the centre of Dublin College Green provides a fine public space with the well mannered Corinthian façade of Trinity College looking down Dame Street, the ceremonial road to the former British centre of power, Dublin Castle, and the fine bank head offices and on its left the building known today as the Bank of Ireland but originally the world’s first purpose built parliament building. Original this was known as Hoggen Green deriving its name from the Scandinavian word for mound and the nearby nunnery of Blessed Virgin Mary del Hogges founded in 1156. Nearby was the Thingmote, which was the Viking assembly place. It was renamed College Green after Trinity College in the 1600s.

The Irish Houses of Parliament (Irish: Tithe na Parlaiminte, also known as the Irish Parliament House, today called the Bank of Ireland, College Green due to its modern day use as a branch of the bank) is the world's first purpose-built two-chamber parliament house. It served as the seat of both chambers (the Lords and Commons) of the Irish parliament of the Kingdom of Ireland for most of the eighteenth century until that parliament was abolished by the Act of Union in 1800 when the island became part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

Edward Lovett Pearce, who was himself a Member of Parliament and a protégé of the Speaker of the House of Commons, William Connolly of Castletown House was the architect of the original building, now the centre portion of the bank. While building begun, parliament moved to the Blue Coat Hospital on Dublin's north side. The foundation stone for the new building was laid on 3 February 1729.

This was the first purpose built Parliament House in the world and was constructed at a great time of public confidence in Dublin. The original building designed by Pearce was constructed between 1729 and 1739 is only part of the existing structure. This consisted of the central section with its huge colonnades. Pearce was actually knighted in the building on the 10 March 1731.

Pearce's design for the new Irish Houses of Parliament was revolutionary. The building was effectively semi-circular in shape, occupying nearly 6,000 m² (1.5 acres) of ground. Unlike Chichester House, which was set far back from Hoggen Green, the new building was to open up directly onto the Green, as the above photograph shows. The principal entrance consisted of a colonnade of Ionic columns extending around three sides of the entrance quadrangle, forming a letter 'E' (see picture at the bottom of the page). Three statues, representing Hibernia (the Latin name for Ireland), Fidelity and Commerce stood above the portico. Over the main entrance, the royal coat of arms were cut in stone.

Like other buildings in Dublin notably the Custom House, the Bank of Ireland is graced by sculptures by Edward Smyth. These statues are placed over the portico to the House of Lords and symbolise Wisdom, Justice and Liberty.

In the last thirty years of the Irish parliament's existence, a series of crises and reforms changed the role of parliament. In 1782, following agitation by major parliamentary figures, but most notably Henry Grattan, the severe restrictions such as Poyning's Law that effectively controlled the Irish Parliament's ability to control its own legislative agenda were removed, producing what was known as the Constitution of 1782. A little over a decade later, Roman Catholics, who were by far the majority in the Kingdom of Ireland, were allowed to cast votes in elections to parliament, though they were still debarred from membership. The crisis over the 'madness' of King George III produced a major strain in Anglo-Irish relation, as both of the King's parliaments in both of his kingdoms possessed the theoretical right to nominate a regent, without the requirement that they choose the same person, though both in fact chose the Prince of Wales.

The British government decided that the entire relationship between Britain and Ireland should be changed, with the merger of both states and parliaments. After one failed attempt, this finally was achieved, albeit with mass bribery of members of both Houses, who were awarded British and United Kingdom peerages and other 'encouragements'. In August 1800 parliament held its last session in the Irish Houses of Parliament. On 1 January 1801 the Kingdom of Ireland and its parliament ceased to exist, with the new United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland coming into being, with a united parliament meeting in Westminster, to which Ireland sent approximately 100 members while Irish peers had the constant right to elect a number of fellow Irish peers as representative peers to represent Ireland in the House of Lords, on the model already introduced for Scottish peers.

The Parliament of the eighteenth century was largely controlled by the wealthy ascendancy. With the Act of Union the centre of power shifted to London and with it the desire for improvements to Dublin as many of the ascendancy moved to London when not living on their country estates. After this, Dublin began its slow slide into disrepair with the famous Gardiner Estate going bankrupt and the decay of many of the glorious Georgian streets as the houses were split up into tenements. The Parliament building was sold to the Bank of Ireland under the condition that it should not be used for political assemblies.

The abolition of the parliament in 1800 had a major economic impact on the life of the city. Within a decade, many of the finest mansions (Leinster House, Powerscourt House, Aldborough House, etc) had been sold, often to government agencies. Though parliament itself was based on the exclusion of Irish Catholics, many catholic nationalist historians and writers blamed the absence of parliament for the increased impoverishment of Dublin, with many of the large mansions in areas like Henrietta Street sold to unscrupulous property developers and landlords who reduced them to tenements.

The draw of the vice regal court and its social season was not enough to encourage most Irish peers and their large entourage to come to Dublin anymore, their absence and that of their servants, with all their collective and previously excessive spending, severely hitting the economy of Dublin, which went into dramatic decline. By the 1830s and 1840s, nationalist leader Daniel O'Connell was leading a demand for the Repeal of the Act of Union and the re-establishment of an Irish parliament in Dublin, only this time one in which Catholics like O'Connell could now be elected to and sit in, in contrast with the entirely Protestant assembly that had met in the old Houses of Parliament.

The Parliament consisted of two houses, the House of Commons and the House of Lords. The Commons is now the banking hall while the Lords remains intact. The interiors designed by Pearce exist intact except for the original Commons which was destroyed by a fire.

Pearce's revolutionary designs came to be studied and copied both at home and abroad. The Viceregal Apartments in Dublin Castle copied his top-lit corridors, through with minor alterations that undermined the effect somewhat. The British Museum in London copied his colonnaded House of Commons entrance for its own facade. The Prints of Dublin by James Malton in the 18^th Century employed Robert Smirke the Elder to sketch in the people in the pictures. His son, Robert Smirke the Younger, was the architect of the British Museum and is thought to have been inspired by the colonnade in the prints his father worked on. The impact of his designs stretched as far as Washington, DC where Pearce's building, and in particular his octagonal House of Commons chamber, was studied as plans were made for the new United States's new Capitol building. While the shape of the chamber was not replicated, some of its decorative motifs were, with the ceiling structure in the Old Senate Chamber and old House of Representatives chamber (now the Statuary Hall) holding a striking resemblance to the original Pearce-designed ceiling in the original House of Commons. Ironically, while the Capitol was copying aspects of the Irish parliament's design, the White House was being modelled on the ground and first floors of Leinster House, then the residence of one of the leading peers in the Irish House of Lords, the Duke of Leinster, and now the seat of the modern independent Irish parliament, Oireachtas Éireann.

At the side of the building is an attractive tree lined close named after John Foster (1740-1828), a Wide Streets Commissioner and the last Speaker of the House of Commons in the Irish Parliament. Prior to widening by the Wide Streets Commissioners, this was known as Turnstile Alley. Foster Place is a cul-de-sac leading to the former Central Bank building and dominated by the curving screen wall and portico of the former Houses of Parliament. Cobbled and tree-lined, it is a popular street for filming, as it required little work to create a scene for period drama. The Bank of Ireland Arts Centre occupies the former armoury of the bank at the end of Foster Place and was designed by Francis Johnston in 1803 as part of his brief to convert the old Parliament House.

The Armoury now contains “The Story of Banking”, an interactive museum which reflects both banking and Irish history over the past 200 years. It also traces the history of the adjoining Bank of Ireland building from its earliest days as Parliament House. Since 1995 the Arts Centre has become a significant venue for the living arts and hosts a variety of events from free classical recitals to exhibitions, theatre, launches and conferences.

On the other side of Foster Place there is the former AIB Bank with its magnificent banking hall. Since this closed and was acquired by Trinity College there is sadly no public access. Daly’s Club, which was the “Gentlemen’s” club for the Irish Parliament was also here. This was a favourite meeting place was for the notorious “Hellfire Club”. Here the shutters were closed in the morning so that members with hangovers could gamble by candlelight. One gruesome incident occurred when a member, said to be 'Buck' Sheely was caught cheating at cards. A 'court' was convened presided over by 'Buck' English who dressed for the part in the skin, tail and horns of a bull. His verdict was that Sheely was to be hurled through the window of the third floor gaming room. When honour had been satisfied, gambling was resumed. Sheely died in the fall.

The Bank of Ireland has conserved the heritage of the building admirably. Today attendants lead tours that point out the coffered ceiling and oak panelling. There are also huge tapestries of the Battle of the Boyne and the siege of Derry, and a splendid 1,233-piece crystal chandelier dating from 1788. The present building also known as Grattan's Parliament was completed in 1808 after additions were made.

For whatever reason however the 'Bank of Ireland' as it was generally called, remained untouched. When in 1919, Irish republican MPs elected in the 1918 general election assembled to form the First Dáil and issue a Unilateral Declaration of Independence, they chose not to seek to use the old Irish parliament house but instead the Round Room of the Mansion House, the residence of the Lord Mayor of Dublin. (Ironically the Round Room had more royal connections than the Houses of Parliament; it had been built for the visit of King George IV in 1821).

When it came to choosing a permanent parliament building after Independence in 1922 the Free State Government purchased Leinster House, the headquarters of the RDS, The Royal Dublin Society, as the home for the Irish Parliament. While in the eighteenth century the fact that one of its House of Lords entrance opened directly onto a street caused little worry, in the Ireland of 1922 with a civil war raging it building was simply too insecure to be used as a modern day parliament building. While the House of Commons entrance was surrounded by railings, it offered only minimal parking space and minimal security from attack, and practically no means of escape in the event of an attack. In contrast Leinster House was located well in from the streets that surrounded it, had considerable parking potential and was far more secure in the event of an anti-treaty republican attack on the Free State Dáil and Seanad.

However this would be a decision well worth revisiting in the 21^st century. Leinster House is bounded by the National Museum, Art Gallery, Library and Natural History Museum (all founded by the RDS) and its vacating by the Irish Parliament would allow these to be integrated into an outstanding cultural amenity. Because of the site restrictions facilities cannot be developed at Leinster House. However The College Green buildings could easily be reinstated as a Parliament at the very heart of Dublin and there is now ample scope to develop the surroundings to provide the modern office and support facilities such a parliament would need. Ireland has taken great strides in the past decade and the return of parliament to this great purpose designed parliament building and the development of a superb cultural facility at Leinster House would show that Ireland has regained the confidence lost at the Act of Union and is prepared to create a great legacy for the future.

Ultimately the old Irish Houses of Parliament, the world's first purpose-built two-chamber parliament building, has remained a curiously contradictory symbol for Ireland: a parliament based on discrimination and exclusion that nevertheless, through producing radical leaders like Henry Grattan, is seen generally with affection by a people whose ancestors were debarred from membership. A parliament that, though Protestant establishment in membership and loyal to the Crown, in 1782 produced the first real attempt at Irish independence, achieving the 'Constitution of 1782' that stressed its loyalty to the King by virtue of his Irish, not British Crown.

Although flawed in its working, discriminatory in its membership and powerless in its ability to control the executive, it was used as a symbol by generations of nationalist leaders from O'Connell to Parnell and Redmond in their own quest for Irish self government. It is particularly ironic that Sinn Féin, which as a republican party fought for Irish independence during the Anglo-Irish War, was founded by a man, Arthur Griffith, who sought to restore the King, Lords and Commons of Ireland and the 1782 constitution to the centre of Irish governance, and the College Green Houses of Parliament to its position as the home of an Irish parliament.

Original on Blogger;

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2008/10/irish-parliament-building.html

The Temple of Sam Po Kong was one of relic. That is the former place of the stopover and the first landing of a China Admiral named Zheng Ho (Cheng Ho) or more usual was known as Sam Po Tay Djien. Was located in the Simongan area, next west the Semarang City. Klenteng Sam Poo Kong that has been close on Semarang ears of the City community. Besides keeping the legend Cheng Ho of the Admiral's power. Klenteng this also was visited by the community from various religions, including the Islam religion. Klenteng Sam Poo Thay Jin or was acknowledged also as Klenteng Sam Poo Kong possibly more was known with the Batu Mansion term by the Semarang resident, was the place of the worship to a Admiral the Ming Dynasty (1368-1643) in the government's period of Emperor Yung Lo, that was delegated to the emperor's envoy to the Indonesian Archipelago to be precise to the Javanese island, and landed in the Semarang coast during 1401. The core building from klenteng this beforehand was a cave batu,yang was believed as the place of early landed and the Admiral's post Cheng Hoo as well as his subordinate when visiting to the Javanese Island.

Now this place more often is made the place of the warning and the place of the worship or worships as well as the place to berziarah. For this need, in this stone cave was despised an altar, as well as statues of Sam Po Tay Djien. Or also could do ciamshie to be able to see an of the pilgrim's luck in the period depan.Untuk carried him out the pilgrim burnt hio/incense in the stone cave and threw the fragment in front of the prayer altar that was marked with “Im” and “Yang”. When results of this throw of one of the slivers were open and his one still is closed, then was believed will receive luck. Another thing, the pilgrim could throw a collection rods of bamboo randomly and if being gotten the stick of bamboo that fell opposite the prayer altar, then the stick of this bamboo was kept being handed over to the official. Eventually, the official/juru the key will take a sheet of numbered paper 1 was up to 28 matched with the stick of bamboo that fell. This paper contained poems with his meaning will be translated by juru this key that was part of our fate fortune in the future.

In this location also we could encounter the altar and confidants's grave the Admiral Cheng Hoo during in Java. But also could see relief - relief that decorated the wall with various paintings and statues that depicted the Cheng Hoo trip down to Java. According to the story, the China Admiral named Zheng Ho that was holding the voyage followed the Javanese sea coast to a gulf or the peninsula. Because of having his crew that was sick, he ordered casted anchor. Afterwards he followed the river that now is known with the Kaligarang river, Ia landed disebuah the village, Simongan. After until didaratan, he found a stone cave and was utilised for the meditating and worshiping place. Because he be interested and felt calm ditempat that, he decided for the time being to rest and reside ditempat this. Whereas his crew that was sick was treated and given medicine from the available foliage ingredients around the place.

It seems, after Zheng ho left this place because he must continue his voyage, many of his crews that lived in the Simongan village and married the local inhabitants. They bersawah and berladang ditempat that. Zheng Ho gave the farming lesson and dimalam their day gathered in the stone cave and Zheng Ho gave the lesson as well as conduct teachings of the association of the life in the world. The method was grateful to Pencipta as well as honored the ancestors - the ancestors. Possibly most people wondered. Who Zheng Hoo in fact? In the book Amen Wise ‘Semarang the Story Previously I’ hal.10 was written that Zheng Ho was a person of Islam, that was born in the area K’un that in the Yunnan region middle. From a stone bersurat yeng was carved on his father's grave that was didaerah that could be learnt that his father was a person Ha-tche, while nam his family was Ma. Like also his father, his grandfather was also mentioned Ha-tche. As for the name Ha-tche simply was to be the copy from the Pilgrim's words. Therefore very clear, that both the father and the grandfather Zheng Ho were the person Islam and fulfilled harmonious Islam that was fifth.

Regards, Santy

Growing up in Dublin Martello Towers were like old friends which beaded the coastline around the city like a string of pearls. Dublin City has a wonderful maritime location with a sweeping bay with to the north the rugged promontory of Howth with its cliffs and fishing harbour and to the north the dunes of Portmarnock and the port of Malahide with the Donabate peninsula beyond. To the south of the harbour you have the magnificent South Bull Wall designed by Captain Bligh of Mutiny on the Bounty fame and the sweep of the bay towards Dun Laoghaire, Sandycove and beyond Dalkey the heights of Killiney Hill with beyond a deep water and flat strand before you arrive at Bray Head. (http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2007/08/dublins-fair-city.html )To protect the city from invasion by the French 12 towers were built to the North and 16 to the South along with complementary artillery batteries, signal towers and inland camps. Over the years many of these towers have been disused or fallen into other uses so their purpose is not clearly understood. That is why the authentic restoration of Tower No. 7 on Killiney Hill along with its glacis, musket points and artillery battery is an exciting event, all the more laudable due to the restoration being completed by an altruistic private individual. 

Martello towers (or simply Martellos) are small defensive forts built in several countries of the British Empire during the 19th century, from the time of the Napoleonic Wars onwards. They stand up to 40 feet (12m) high (with two floors) and typically had a garrison of one officer and 15-25 men. Their round structure and thick walls of solid masonry made them resistant to cannon fire, while their height made them an ideal platform for a single heavy artillery piece, mounted on the flat roof and able to traverse a 360° arc. A few Martello towers were surrounded by a moat for extra defence. They were used throughout the 19th century, but became obsolete with the introduction of powerful rifled artillery. Many have survived to the present day, often preserved as historic monuments.

Martello towers were inspired by a round fortress, part of a larger Genovese defence system, at Mortella Point in Corsica. Since the 15th century, similar towers had been built at strategic points around Corsica to protect coastal villages and shipping from North African pirates. They stood one or two stories high and measured 12-15 m (36-45 ft) in diameter, with a single doorway 5 m off the ground that could only be reached by climbing a removable ladder. The towers were paid for by local villagers and staffed by watchmen (known as torregiani) who would signal the approach of unexpected ships by lighting a fire on the tower's roof. This would alert the local defence forces to the incoming threat. Although the pirate threat subsequently dwindled, the Genovese built a newer generation of circular towers which were used to ward off later foreign invasions.

On 7 February 1794, the tower at Mortella Point was attacked by two British warships, HMS Fortitude (74 guns) and HMS Juno (32 guns), and was eventually captured by land-based forces under Sir John Moore after two days of heavy fighting. Vice-Admiral Lord Hood reported:

"...The Fortitude and Juno were ordered against it, without making the least impression by a continued cannonade of two hours and a half; and the former ship being very much damaged by red-hot shot, both hauled off. The walls of the Tower were of a prodigious thickness, and the parapet, where there were two eighteen-pounders, was lined with bass junk, five feet from the walls, and filled up with sand; and although it was cannonaded from the Height for two days, within 150 yards, and appeared in a very shattered state, the enemy still held out; but a few hot shot setting fire to the bass, made them call for quarter. The number of men in the Tower were 33; only two were wounded, and those mortally."

The British were impressed by the effectiveness of the tower against their most modern warships and copied the design. However, they got the name wrong, misspelling "Mortella" as "Martello". The ancient tower of Punta Mortella guarded the Gulf of St - Florent since the second half of the 16th century, when it was built (around 1563) according the plan of Italian architect Giacomo Palearo as a part of the Genoese defensive system.The tower had two 18-pounder guns on top and made the bay impossible for the British to use in their invasion of February 1794. The British later blew up the tower but were so impressed that from 1805 they based their own Martello tower coastal defences against Napoleon on it. They corrupted the Italian name "mortella" (myrtle) into "martello".

A similar purpose lies behind another of Britain's great, and much misunderstood, Napoleonic defences - the chain of 103 Martello Towers stretching from Seaford in the west to Aldeburgh on the East Anglian coast built between Spring 1805 and 1812. These squat, ovoid-shaped brick-built towers are immensely strong.

Essentially their structure, with or without the central pillar in the larger towers, plays to the structural strength of the material by having a parabolic shell structure so all forces from inward munitions are resolved by the material being in compression where it is at its strongest. Often there is a protective glacis, or grassed ramp, in front of the tower to deflect incoming cannon and provide a clear field of fire for the tower’s muskets. In addition the circular tower with its cone like angle backwards as you go up in height deflects incoming shot minimising damage to the tower which is normally oval rather than circular with the walls thicker on the sea-side. Also due to their sitting incoming cannon fire was normally in an upward trajectory losing much of its velocity in the process. Conversely the cannon on the cradle of the Martello had a clear 360° line of fire in a downward angle gaining velocity in its trajectory. Taken in conjunction with the sophisticated ventilation and drainage / water storage systems built into the towers it will be appreciated that these were a deceptively cleverly engineered piece of military engineering which gave considerable protection and autonomy to the defending garrison.

In Britain these tended to be constructed in dense overburnt engineering brick and in Ireland in dressed granite. Whatever the materials used the construction was substantial and of the highest standard which is why so many are still extant.

Martello Towers were the idea of Captain William Ford of the Royal Engineers and they were sited roughly 600 yards apart and each mounted a long-range 24 pounder cannon. The aim was to cover the most likely landing beaches and to confuse any French landing while British reserves and Royal Navy ships were rushed to the area. These towers were never tested which is a great tribute. The best defence is that which deters attack and certainly the French regarded these little 'bulldogs' as a formidable barrier. With hindsight it appears that all these defences were, essentially, pointless since Nelson's victory at Trafalgar in October 1805 - at the very moment the construction of the Martello Tower system was getting under way - made a French invasion of Britain a virtual impossibility.

But in late 1805 the picture was not quite so clear. After the destruction of his fleet at Trafalgar Napoleon went on to win, in December 1805, the vastly important victory at Austerlitz that confirmed the French as the military and political masters of Europe. A French fleet could be reconstructed and, as far as the British could see, it was just a matter of time before the French were again in a position to invade. It was not until 1812 when Napoleon and his allies were smashed in Russia that the invasion of Britain was clearly beyond the French - and in this year the construction of the chain of Martello towers ceased.

After a short truce, war again broke out between England and France in 1803 and in view of past invasion attempts by the French, the British drew up plans to fortify likely landing places in Britain and around the coasts of Ireland. British spies could again report that Boulogne had become an enormous Camp for a French Army of over 130.000 men and 22,000 landing boats poised ready to invade Britain. The Royal Navy also made known their presence to the French and was ready to prevent the invasion force from leaving French waters.

A comprehensive plan of fortifications was approved by the enactment of the National Defence Act 1804  to protect the English coasts from invasion and this plan was also extended to include Ireland. The principal feature of the network of fortifications being constructed on the Coasts of England and Ireland was The Martello Tower. 74 Towers were built between Folkestone in Kent and Seaford, 12 miles west of Eastbourne. These are described as the South Coast towers and numbered (1-74) from east to west.  A further 29 towers were built on the East coast between Point Clear in Essex and Aldeburgh in Suffolk. 50 Towers are known to have been built in Ireland. In Ireland the thought of a French Invasion had not been entirely theoretical. There had in fact been one actual and two abortive invasions in support of the United Irishmen and Irish Independence. (http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2008/03/years-of-french.html )

The interior of a Martello tower was divided into three stories (sometimes with an additional basement). The ground floor served as the magazine and storerooms, where ammunition, stores and provisions were kept. The garrison of 24 men and one officer lived in a casemate on the first floor, which was divided into several rooms and had fireplaces built into the walls for cooking and heating. The officer and men lived in separate rooms of almost equal size. The roof or terreplein was surmounted with one or two cannon on a central pivot which enabled them to be turned through up to 360 degrees. A well or cistern was provided within the fort to supply the garrison with fresh water. An internal drainage system linked to the roof enabled the cistern to be refilled with rainwater.

A number of Martello towers were built around the coast of Ireland, especially along the east, from Millmount (Drogheda), to Bray, around Dublin Bay but also around Cork Harbour on the south coast. On the east coast, concentrated mainly around Dublin Bay, the towers were in line of sight of each other, providing the ability to communicate with one another, or warn of any incoming attacks. Possibly the most famous is the Martello tower in Sandycove, near Dún Laoghaire, in which James Joyce lived for a few days. Joyce shared the tower with Oliver St. John Gogarty, then a medical student but later to become famous in Irish history as a surgeon, politician and writer. The fictional character Stephen Dedalus lives in the tower with a medical student, Malachi "Buck" Mulligan, in Ulysses. The character Buck Mulligan was based by Joyce on Gogarty. Known as the James Joyce Tower, it is now a museum dedicated to Joyce. (http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2008/06/james-joyce-and-me.html )A number of other Martello towers are extant nearby at Bulloch Harbour, Dalkey Island, Williamstown Seapoint and Sandymount and Martello towers feature in many literary works set in Dublin. On the north side of the city, Martello towers can be found in Portmarnock, Howth, and Sutton and on both Ireland's Eye and Lambay Island. During the 1980s Bono owned the Martello tower in Bray, County Wicklow.