ANALYSIS INCHICORE
INCHICORE THE EVOLUTION OF THE STREET Historically, the infrastructural centre of
likely farm buildings, but with the intro-
the town grew from 18th century de-
duction of various skilled professions,
velopment of the junction of Tyrconnell
a centre began to emerge through
Road and Emmet Road.
building at this junction, st Michaels
Few buildings existed here in 17th
and Golden Bridge.
Century representations of the town,
The above diagrams track the progression of development around the infrastructure. The buildings shown are those from historical maps of the 17th/18th century which are still existing today.
By studying the town centre, it is easy to guage how the street is used as a place of interaction. Its generous footpaths and shop front spaces create common public space that in some areas is being underutilised.
Black Lion Pub/Dry Cleaners/Pharmacy/Ladbrokes////VACANTFoodMarket/VACANTRestaurant////////////River Cammock ////////////T
As a towncentre, generous public space is one of the important factors for thriving economy and cultural expression. How can this potential be maximised in Inchicore?
TajBistro//VACANTRetail//VACANTRetail///Mizzoni//VACANTRetail////VACANTHairdresser////
1745
1846
G S W R THE WALL T H E HOUSE Railway workers in the Great Southern and Western Railway would pass through a small arch in the boundary wall to get to the town. Many of their wives complained that this arch was conviently outside the GSWR House pub, and was the cause of many of their husbands unintentionally going into the
pub as they were passing by. GSWR moved the arch 100 metres further down the boundary wall so the workers could walk to the town without passing by the pub! You can still see the stone and brick arch in the wall that was filled up by GSWR, can you find it?
S T E A M W H I S T L E
The steam whistle in the railworks would go off every morning and evening and at lunch to remind the workers about work. The whistle could be heard from the terraces and organised the rail workers daily routine. It acted as a voice for the railway, but recently has stopped sounding.
1890
2014
THE
WORKS
TIMELINE
Old Archway GSWR House New Archway
A DÉRIVE IN INCHICORE WHAT
IS
A dérive is a form of psychogeographical journey which can yield very intersting discoveries about places that you know or unknown territories. The dérive can be achieved in many ways: purely exploratory without a physical map while recording one’s path; following the pattern’s of people’s movements; imagining a route
A DÉRIVE? and applying it to a different landscape, or picking a feature withing a landscape (topography, skyline, etc) and uing this as a navigation tool. The purpose of the journey lies mainly i how it is recorded, either by hand or digital media. Many are executed by hand drawn maps, as shown opposite, but can also be executed with photo or video.
A DÉRIVE OF SECTION The opposite journey was taken in the early stages of our research into Inchicore. I dismounted my bicycle at the Grand Canal and began navigating the territory by investigating section of the landscape and any open buildings in order to figure out how the
land falls and rises to meet the river, canal and main street. The thick centre line records my main passage and each section relates to accessible routes that have an interesting section.
The Naked City:
TRY YOUR OWN: What you’ll need: A recording device (paper/pencil; phone camera, video recording device, sound recording device, etc) A Route: this can be imagined or calculated (‘take two rights then a left for as long as possible’; ‘follow a street occupier to their destination’; ‘take a turn at every second junction’; ‘looking only above eyeline, follow the directional pattern of the skyline’) The most effective exercises are often completed in the shortest time so a limit might be necessary to yield a high number of studies in a small time.
We are part of an architectural thesis group in UCD, entitled ‘Expanded Practice’. We are currently undertaking a reading of the landscape of Inchicore, it’s social history, architectural legacy and close relationship to important landscape features such as the Cammock River and the Grand Canal. Expanded Practice is a methodology of analysis, research and design that supplements the traditional design process, exploring modes of reading a place and designing architecture for it, which is associated with a more fluid set of processes and social conditions. The daily methodology of our work involves consultation with resources in both Inchicore and UCD. It is a collaboration, a sharing of information in order to plug this into the design process. It is of the utmost importance to the process that while practicing in an expanded field, the approach to analysis and representation is equally expanded, or expanding. We endeavour to use as many varied methods of representation and analysis as possible in order to achieve a more expanded analysis of Inchicore. This methodology is developing as it is being applied, it is a learning and absorbing process that requires testing, experimentation and tweaking. It is our hope that this analysis will contribute to the on-going discussion of how space and resource is used, in Inchicore and in a wider field. This is a collection of thoughts, drawings, ideas , suggestions, interventions and history.
W H O ARE WE? We are a group of five UCD architecture students called Expanded Practice. We are doing a collaborative project with the people of Inchicore. Our goal is to generate a public discussion about how space is used in the area and what could potentially happen there to tap into its potential.
JOIN IN THE DISCUSSION! Visit us for a chat and some tea! Give us your thoughts or stories, learn a bit more about Inchicore’s history and development, see some old and current photos of the railway works or propose your own changes in the town. We will be in: Common Ground, 15 Tyrconnell Road. Monday - Wednesday 10am-5:30pm (24th March - 2nd April) Inchicore Sport and Social Club, Inchicore Square 2-5pm, 5th April See exhibition boards in Inchicore Public Library Library opening times, 7th - 17th April
CONTACT expandedpractice@gmail.com
SUBMIT YOUR IDEAS!
Tear out this page, draw or write down your ideas or comments and drop them off at : Expanded Practice Common Ground, 15 Tyrconnell Road Pop into our Ideas Exhibition for a chat and some tea and biscuits! Saturday April 5th 2-5pm Inchicore Sports and Social Club (Former CIE Hall) Inchicore Square