High-rise, in the right place, is a good thing, and urban sprawl is bad, say TDs with an interest in architecture, arts and the environment. Emma Cullinanreports
Dick Roche Minister for the Environment
"We have seen failures in the past in the huge soulless housing estates on the edge of some of our towns and cities, or the Corbusier-style housing project that just didn't work in Ballymun, and which is now being replaced at enormous cost.
"On the other hand, we are seeing some real interesting and quality designs coming through in both public and private developments. Developments such as Adamstown have generated a lot of interest as well as the revival of the Docklands. In some of the regeneration projects, like the Fatima Mansions area, residents who are being rehoused are absolutely delighted. I have seen this delight repeated up and down the country in the new smaller and high quality designed estates which have been built in recent years.
"During the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s the only thing we built in Ireland was three-bedroom semis. The conventional wisdom was that was the only design which would satisfy Irish people. But that is not the case. There has been a huge rise in the population in inner city Dublin - mostly in apartments. In newer areas of our towns and cities, the application of the residential density guidelines mean that most new developments come with a mixture of apartments, townhouses, as well as more traditional semis. The semi is not dead but it is no longer ubiquitous. That is how it should be.
"My favourite building is the office! Not many people can say that but not many work in Dublin's Custom House, which must surely be the most aesthetically pleasing building in the capital. It's not just the building itself but its setting on the Liffey, and the arc around Beresford Place, that really sets it off from all sides.
"My least favourite? I hope my colleague, the Minister for Health, doesn't take offence if I suggest that her HQ - Hawkins House - must rank as the worst of 1960s' brutalism in Ireland!
"I would love to see a strong architectural aesthetic in Dublin's new Metro. The Luas makes a beautiful statement of a modern progressive city.
"We have seen a vast improvement in all our towns and cities over the years of the Celtic Tiger. I like the clean lines of much of what has been built - for example the National Gallery extension, the new Italian quarter, the extension to Cork City Hall and so on. Not everything has worked, but I think future generations will be much more pleased with the product of the last 20 years than those of the 1960s and 1970s. The more 'Americanised' appearance on the edge of some of our larger towns is less attractive.
"Ribbon development is not something I would favour but this does not mean that there isn't plenty of room in the Irish countryside for well designed houses.
"I do not think that we need be overly doctrinaire in our approach to design. There should be room for individual expression. On the other hand some local authorities have come up with very good design guidelines. These can offer a flexible approach to design while still respecting a local aesthetic.
"In appropriate circumstances high rise and high density have a role to play in support of high capacity transport system such as the Luas and Metro. It's a matter of the appropriate location.
"I love Santiago Calatrava's bridges and his airport in Bilbao shows the value of having an architectural statement when you arrive in a major city - and not just a standard warehouse as some would suggest for Dublin!
"I also love Norman Foster's architecture and his recent bridge at Millau in France must surely rank as one of the architectural wonders of the past century."
Liz McManus
The Labour deputy leader and health spokesperson worked as an architect in Derry in the late 1960s before going into politics
"I wasn't a very good architect but I found the training useful, especially when working on city regeneration schemes as the Minister of Housing and Urban Renewal.
"Design, in general, has improved enormously in terms of building standards and layout of estates.
"When I was a student in the 1960s, in Derry and Dublin, they were putting up really crass buildings, such as O'Connell Bridge House. It was purely for profit.
"Building design does need to be subject to greater planning control. This is a big challenge for local authorities. I don't believe they have the correct powers to achieve best practice for good design. Planning permission may be given for perfectly good reasons, in terms of building type and placement, and yet at the same time be of such poor design that they become an eye sore.
"There is a place for high rise. We need to ensure that the cores of cities are living places. I get worried about the sprawl out from the centre of cities. In provincial towns, where you get out-of-town shopping centres and housing estates tacked onto the edge, it rips the heart out of the town centre.
"My favourite building is the civic offices in Dublin by Scott Tallon Walker. It is a very classy and beautifully designed with no pretension. It is a public service building which people feel comfortable walking through."
Ruairi Quinn
The Labour TD studied architecture at UCD and worked with Dublin City Council and Burke-Kennedy Doyle architects before becoming a politician
"I think we should learn from the planning process in the Docklands where there is an overall masterplan and local area action plans - although I realise that it is easier to be more specific in that type of brownfield site.
"The local area action plan approach sets standards in physical height, appearance, and broad usage, and anyone going for planning permission in that area should conform with it. It is one area where the 20 per cent of social and affordable housing has actually been allocated. The DDDA hasn't accepted money in lieu of it and it works very well.
"The number of people in the area staying on to do the Leaving Cert and going on to third-level has risen substantially.
"The three-bed semi is on the way out. It is too low a density to meet our needs. We have a very poor transport infrastructure in the greater Dublin region due to a disaster in planning by central government but it is never to late to change. We can accelerate the provision of infrastructure in Dublin and need to look at how we can densify some of the existing 25-year-old housing estates.
"The way we are building now has an impact on climate change and energy conservation. Ribbon development is highly energy dependent but, in fairness to planners, they have always opposed such schemes but have come under pressure from councillors representing the interests of landowners.
"The most elegant building in Dublin is still the Custom House - which I was responsible for getting refurbished in 1982 - although I wonder if it should continue to be used as government offices as it is not efficient with today's technology. It should probably have some kind of civic, cultural use."
Ciaran Cuffe
The Green Party TD studied architecture in UCD before going into politics
"Design is hugely important. The best example is old Ballymun and new Ballymun: simply providing housing is not enough. Bad design can have a terrible impact on people's lives while good design can lift the spirit. Defensible space is important: spaces that are overlooked can stop graffiti and give people an interest in the community they live in.
"People are given very few choices of home: semi-D, shoebox apartment or one-off house in country. The trick is to give people more choice.
"My least favourite building is the Four Seasons hotel in Dublin - apologies to the architect - it is dross and a pastiche of the worse kind, surrounded by a sea of car-parking. There is nothing there to lift the spirit.
"One of my favourite buildings is the Daintree Building in Camden Street. It is very modern and there is lots of sustainable technology in there. It's also mixed-use: the idea of a shop, café, offices and housing all together in one building is a good signpost for the future, so hats off to Solearth.
"My favourite architect is Vazquez Consuegra who has been operating out of Seville for 20 years building decent housing. He has been an inspiration since my college days.
"A major new building I would like to see is a new city library for Dublin - whether we convert the Parliament House in College Green or have a new building in the Docklands. For a city that has produced so many authors, from James Joyce to Maeve Binchy, we should provide a suitable building to honour them. I was in Nashville a few years ago and they have a fantastic new city library that everybody talks about and it's a real focus for the city. Libraries have a capacity to reach out to everybody.
"We need to stamp out ribbon development because it is completely unsustainable. Every town and village should work out where new housing can be built. Local authorities can lead here rather than letting the market decide.
"Design is rarely used as a reason for planning refusal and I think it should be. There are eye sores that will be with us for hundreds of years.
"I am not opposed to high rise in principle but, for a building to be much taller than its neighbours, it must be of a much better design. Many of the designs I've seen are not brilliant. We are seeing some decent enough proposals in the Docklands but they are few and far between. Some recent proposals would hugely overshadow local communities. I actually supported Paul Keogh's building at Heuston: I think it will be a good building.
"The move towards more sustainable construction in the last year or two is fantastic. There is no reason why every new home can't be energy sufficient in the next few years."
Fiona O'Malley
The Progressive Democrats energy and arts spokesperson studied western European art and architecture at college
"We really need to think about energy efficiency in terms of design and not put up buildings any old way with no reference to maximising light and shading in the summer.
"The three-bed semi is on the way out and, thank God, we have to move away from that model. The way planning has gone in the country has led to urban sprawl. Part of our plan for Dublin is to build a new heart in the Docklands and plan it right with appropriate high rise, green spaces, transport and social infrastructure.
"Ribbon development is not sustainable. When you look at the British countryside, the villages are lovely because they stick together rather than develop any old way. I do believe in high rise, which every other capital has. We need to agree where that development would take place and confine it. It's a worry what is happening in urban centres where people are knocking two or three houses down and building apartments, this is happening in a piecemeal way.
"The design of buildings should be subject to greater scrutiny because they might look all right but they don't weather well. The details are important. I know people who work in the Department of Health building and some can't open their windows while others can't close theirs. The sooner it is knocked down the better. It is hideous.
"Two buildings I really love are the Gherkin in London and Oscar Neimeyer's museum in Rio de Janeiro. It's amazing and looks like a 1950s flying saucer. And the Guggenheim in Bilbao by Frank Gehry is gorgeous.
"There are an awful lot of good county offices in Ireland. I saw the one in Swords recently which is beautiful. Last time there was a lot of municipal architecture in the 19th century the town hall would be one of the nicest buildings in any town and it's nice to see that happening again now we are prosperous.
"Another really good building is the new addition to Leinster House which has married old and new successfully without being a pastiche. I would like to see a new conference centre, that would hopefully be an amazing building of a very high standard. I like Mies van der Rohe for the simplicity of his modern classic, most beautiful high-rise buildings, of which there is a copy in Baggot Street. I would choose Le Corbusier in terms of domestic architecture."
Fergus O'Dowd
Fine Gael front bench spokesperson on environment. He fought a court battle to restore Drogheda Grammar School, which was demolished by a developer in the 1980s
"As urban areas face high density, we need high quality and a great emphasis on green spaces and amenities. High density with low quality equals slums and trouble-spots because there will be too many people in too small a space. Apartments are often designed without families in mind. As developments proceed, part of the process will have to include education, recreation and having workplaces nearby, to do away with commuting. We don't need developments like those in the song, Little Boxes, where they all look just the same. You can't put people in boxes. The three-bed semi is obsolete in terms of available space and urban sprawl. And the gated development idea is the wrong way to go. We need to import best ideas from Europe into Irish planning.
"Dublin Docklands is doing a great job and I'm attracted to the idea of a proper social mix. Amenities and recreation is one issue I feel strongly about. There is a lot of pressure on green space and I'm concerned that a lot will be developed: developers come in and offer a fortune to sports clubs. The presumption should be against the development of those.
Daithi Doolan
Sinn Fein TD who chairs the Dublin City Council Economic Development, Planning and European Affairs Strategic Policy Committee
"Building design is crucial to the quality of life of ordinary people.The challenge for us is to show that Dublin is a sustainable, living, working city that keeps people in it. The surrounding counties are saying, hang on, you can't keep building into our green fields. We need to build a family-friendly community and part of that includes apartments of a better standard, are more spacious, with more storage and more study space for children. They need to be designed for families rather than just couples and single people who will be tenants. If we are to keep Dublin working then there has to be some high rise. The focus needs to be on good design. If they are not sustainable they will kill the city.
"I would like to see the Poolbeg Peninsula developed as a community that is socially and environmentally sustainable, with social and affordable housing and crèches and schools, parks, good transport - where people could live from the cradle to the grave - that would set a standard for developments across Ireland. This is the last serious bit of land we have in the city and if we drop the ball on this there will be serious side effects. My least favourite building is Stephen's Green shopping centre. It is soulless. There is nothing about Dublin or Ireland in it. What it replaced, the Dandelion Market, was uniquely Dublin."
