Organised by the Irish Architecture Foundation, with the aim of showcasing the city’s unique architecture, 100 buildings of all types and periods will open up to allow citizens and visitors a chance to explore the architecture of the city, with special tours by hundreds of professionals and enthusiasts, along with 40 other associated events, which are free of charge and open to the public.
With the theme ‘Architecture Alive’, this year’s Open House Festival is an exploration of the vitality of Dublin through its architecture and the people who experience it. Throughout the course of the weekend staff and students from Trinity’s Department of History of Art and Architecture will host tours of the College’s most famous and historic buildings such as the Senior Common Room and Loos Bar, the Anatomy Building, the Fitzgerald Building and the Provost’s House. In addition to this some of the College’s newest building projects including the Long Room Hub, Trinity Biomedical Sciences Institute and the Dublin Dental Hospital will also be open to the public.
Some tours require pre-booking, which can be done through the Open House website but most tours will be run on a first-come, first-served basis on the day.
Details of the tour are as follows:
Provost's House: Friday October 5th, 12pm
One of the most elaborately decorated interiors of its period, the Provost’s House exterior is based on the solid principle of Palladian design. The house still remains the residence of the Provost of Trinity College and retains many of its original features. *Spaces for this tour will be allocated via a lottery.
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Trinity Biomedical Sciences Institute: Saturday October 6th, 10am –12.20pm
One of Trinity College’s most ambitious projects to date, this state-of-the-art research and education facility brings together over 700 researchers from a range of different areas. The building creates a corridor of academic activity and public interaction along Pearse Street in Dublin’s city centre. It also provides new social spaces, commercial areas and improved access to public transport for the local community.
Dublin Dental Hospital: Saturday October 6th, 10am – 12.15pm
The design bring five buildings to life using exciting rooftop pods overlooking the campus and a series of lightwells connecting to an intervention that threads its way through the lower floors.
The Naughton Institute: Science Gallery & CRANN: Saturday 6th and Sunday 7th October 12 noon - 5.30pm
Tours of the Naughton Institute will first visit the latest show at Science Gallery, MAGICAL MATERIALS, which explores the peculiar properties of some of the world's most spectacular materials. Visitors will then visit MAGICAL MATERIALS collaborators and nanoscience institute CRANN upstairs where they will see state-of-the-art facilities, such as the scanning probe microscopes, nanobio facility and cleanroom.
Senior Common Room and Loos Bar: Saturday October 6th, 2pm
Originally designed by Richard Castle, this fine iconic stone building was rebuilt in the 1760s. The award-winning restoration in the 1980s following extensive fire damage includes the clever replica of the famous American Bar by Adolf Loos in Karntner Strasse, Vienna. Tour is led by Dr Edward McParland.
Anatomy Building: Sunday October 7th, 2 – 4.30 pm
A Victorian Era building consisting of lecture theatre, classroom and dissection room.
Fitzgerald Building (Physics): Sunday October 7th, 2 - 4.30pm
The Physics building is complete with a striking Venetian window lighting up the stair hall. Tours include the Fitzgerald Library and Schrodinger Lecture Theatre.
Trinity Long Room Hub: Sunday October 7th, 2 - 4.30pm
Trinity Long Room Hub is a new Humanities research building. Perching on the end of the Arts Building, it closes Fellows Square and frames the view from Front Square over the roof of the 1937 Reading Room. The new building is seen as a powerhouse of ideas; the honeycomb granite surface is broken and imprecise; large rooflights form canons of light and create dramatic tall spaces for work and research. Winner of a 2011 Irish Architecture Award. This building has also been shortlisted for the 2010 World Building of the Year Award.
Details of these and other Open House Dublin events are available online at www.openhousedublin.com
