You Can't Undo Demolition
The illegal demolition of Archers Garage is a glaring example of the cavalier attitude of some developers, in the height
of Ireland's development boom, to sweep away the city's architectural heritage in favour of new developments. We are in
danger of stripping the city of the remnants of 20th Century Architecture to create a built environment that has more to do
with maximising ‘return on investment’ than it does with architectural integrity. When researching the rebuild of the garage,
I found that media outlets were using grand language such as “reinstate’ and “redevelop” in attempt to erase the shameful
action. The aim of this project is to reveal the narrative surrounding the destruction and reconstruction that occurred, and
how is was ultimately covered up. We developed the concept of a flip-book; with each layer revealing the various aspects of the narrative through mixed media collage. The content would be printed on tracing paper to allow the narrative to become increasingly more apparent to the viewer while also fading into the past with every page turn. We included purely typographic
pages to separate the imagery and highlight the contrasting conversations that occurred as a result of the demolition.
For this project we researched archival material such as photographs and drawings at the Irish Architectural Archive. While at the archive Simon Lincoln showed me a lot of architectural photography which was documented on record sheets. Simon said that the archive shot predominantly in black and white photography even when digital cameras were developed due to its ability to capture the essence of the architectural structure in a more authentic manner. This inspired us to photograph Archers Garage
on black and white film using my film camera which were used within the exhibition on record cards.
We wanted the flip book to engage the viewer in a educational narrative which they could reflect on when looking at the photography displayed. We created postcards for the exhibition using one of my developmental collages so that the viewer
can then take a part of the experience away with them.
