Elegant and Dynamic Winning Entry in Dublin Corporation's Competition for O'Connell Street Monument
Ian Ritchie Architects, London, are the winners of Dublin Corporation's O'Connell Street Monument design competition. The winning design was chosen from an original international field of 205 entries. The majority came from Ireland but entries were also received from Europe, America and even Iran. The competition was administered by the Royal Institute of Architects of Ireland. The winning entry is 120 metres high and is constructed of rolled stainless steel sheet. During the day, the surface will reflect light and the surrounding streetscape. From dusk the lower two thirds of the monument will be softly lit and the tip of the cone will also be illuminated. The circular base at the bottom of the cone will be of Kilkenny black marble.
"This monument will be the key feature on the newly refurbished O'Connell Street" said the Lord Mayor of Dublin, Cllr. Senator Joe Doyle. "It will be erected within the next twelve months and in time, will I hope, become a familiar and well loved symbol of Dublin in the 3rd Millennium. The winning monument will be an important part of the new O'Connell Street. Dublin Corporation has just appointed Ciaran McNamara as project manager for the O'Connell Street Integrated Area Plan to oversee the 30 million plan to restore Dublin's Main Street over the next few years. "
"Finding a replacement for Nelson's Pillar was never going to be easy and the assessors had a very difficult task to judge the 205 entries", continued the Lord Mayor. "Everyone has their own opinion on what kind of monument we should have in O'Connell Street. The standard of entries was extremely high and there was great variety among them. I hope people will like the winning entry and that they will agree it is a fitting monument for the capital's Main Street."
"Elegant and dynamic simplicity - bridging art and technology" is how Joan O'Connor, Chairperson of the Judging Panel sums up Ian Richie's winning entry. "The 120 metre high cone responds well to the scale of the individual, the street and the city. Tangible and enticing at its base, it leads the eye and the imagination upwards, tapering gracefully into an attractively illuminated tip. The jury felt this brave and uncompromising beacon reflects a confident Ireland in Europe and reaffirms the status of O'Connell Street as Ireland's principal urban thoroughfare, creating a new focus for its surrounding streets and buildings."
The panel of assessors were the Lord Mayor of Dublin, Cllr. Senator Joe Doyle, Joan O'Connor, Architect and Chairperson, Jim Barrett, Dublin City Architect, Henri Ciriani, Parisian based architect, Dick Gleeson, Deputy City Planning Officer, Tom Rea, Clerys and Vivenne Roche, Sculptor. Ian Ritchie Architects receive a prize of 10,000 for their winning entry. The original 205 entries were shortlisted to three - Jonathan Bennett (Dublin), Ian Richie Architects (London) and Hunt McGarry (London). The anticipated completion date is late November 1999 and the estimated cost will be IR3 million.
