To accompany Settlement by Anthony Haughey; a photography exhibition documenting the ghost estates of Ireland, Belfast Exposed is pleased to host a panel discussion which draws comparisons between policies and patterns of urban development in the North and the South of Ireland in recent years, particularly in the contexts of Belfast and Dublin.
Through shared discussion, we are interested in exploring some of the creative alternatives being proposed by contemporary artists and architects in response to residual urban planning and development problems in both cities.
Speakers:
Aidan McGrath, PLACE Architecture and Built Environment Centre, Belfast
Paschal Mahoney, Mahony Architects, Dublin
Mark Hackett, Forum for Alternative Belfast
James Hayes, University College Dublin (Architecture)
The event will take place from 2pm – 3.30pm at Belfast Exposed, The Exchange Place, 23 Donegall Street, Belfast, BT1 2FF.
All welcome. The event is free and light refreshments will be served. To reserve a place please email ciara@belfastexposed.org
About the Speakers
Aidan McGrath, RIBA, assumed post as Acting Executive Director of PLACE Architecture and Built Environment Centre, Belfast, in January 2012. He is the founding director and principal in Belfast-based architectural practice Twenty Two Over Seven. He is also principal for McGonigle McGrath Architects. He has been a judge in numerous international architectural competitions including The Giant’s Causeway Visitor Centre and the West Belfast Expo. He is a former member of the ACNI Lottery panel, member of the RIBA visiting board at QUB and judge/ assessor in RIBA Regional Awards.
Paschal Mahoney is the owner and co-founder of the award winning Dublin-based architectural design practice Mahoney Architecture. He developed the ‘Trees on the Quays’ initiative, a project proposing to radically transform the shell of the abandoned Anglo Irish Bank Head Quarters into an innovative Public Park and Urban Space.
Mark Hackett is an architect and full time director in Forum for Alternative Belfast. He is formerly a partner in Hackett Hall McKnight and was part of the team that built the MAC arts centre in the Cathedral Quarter, Belfast. He is a board member of PLACE.
James Hayes is the author of “Straddled Landscape – A Community Landscape on the Urban – Rural Divide”, a thesis investigating ghost housing estates in Tuam, County Galway. He is a member of Townland, a group researching and mapping Irish rural towns and their extended landscape with the aim of making rigorous and imaginative architectural responses.