Is Foster’s plan for Clarence Hotel a threat to Dublin?

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<H1>Is Foster’s plan for Clarence Hotel a threat to Dublin?

19 October 2007
Dublin has already experienced the disastrous effect of signature architecture in the wrong place, says Kevin Duff; while Robert Payne argues that it is a chance for Foster to create a remarkable building


'Yes'



Kevin Duff Dublin City planning officer, An Taisce



Policy for the protection of Dublin’s historic core has reached the point where schemes involving substantial demolition of its fabric are relatively rare, the last major example being the controversial Hilton/Westin College Green hotel proposal of 10 years ago.
In this regard, Foster & Partners’ proposal for the Clarence Hotel on Dublin’s Liffey Quays, entailing the destruction and selective facade retention of protected buildings dating from the 18th-20th centuries, is anachronistic.
This attempt to place a piece modern architecture in the rich and dense historic fabric of Wellington Quay damages that fabric and seeks to create a landmark building where none is needed.
Dublin has already experienced the disastrous effect of signature architecture in the wrong place. Further west along the river from the Clarence Hotel, Santiago Calatrava’s 2003 James Joyce Bridge — a beautiful bridge in itself — was tragically inserted between two existing bridges, destroying the centuries-old order of consistently spaced bridges on the Liffey.
Resulting in a clutter of three bridges in quick succession, it has done great damage to the structural reading of the city. We can have modern architecture that doesn’t compromise the great inherited legacy of our cities. The giant “sky catcher” concept for the Clarence Hotel in Dublin is undoubtedly a cutting-edge proposal. However, its negative implications for the heritage of the city are such that it should not be contemplated in its proposed location.

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A Resposta