This article is from page 4 of the 2012-07-17 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 4 JPG
FOUR architects from the University of Limerick have been living and working in the village of Crusheen for the past week as part of one of the most unique architectural projects ever undertaken in the county.
The four architects will remain in the community until this Sunday, July 22, meeting the local community and immersing themselves in the life of the village. At the end of their stay in the village, the four will complete a design for the Crusheen Community Centre, which is currently being redeveloped by the local community.
The four architects set up outside of mass in the village on Sunday and will host an open evening in the village later this evening – where local people can see how the design is progressing and suggests possible changes and additions. The four are also working in an open office where any member of the local community is invited to call around at ant time and make suggestions for the makeup of the new centre.
This is the first time that this sort of “live-in” approach has been taken to a community project in Ireland. It is hoped that this will produce a unique building, tailored exactly to the needs of the local community.
“A group was set up in Crusheen last March to tackle the situation with the community centre in Crusheen – which is no longer fit for purpose. The community has grown massively in the last 10 to 15 years and the current centre is an old school building, which was first built in 1884. The centre is still being used by the local community but really a new building is needed,” said Keith Walsh of the Crusheen Community Centre group.
“We wanted to come up with a really good design for the centre, something that would produce the best building for the local community, so we approached UL who formed a partnership called ‘Start-Design Crusheen’, which is four, fourth-year architects who have agreed to live and immerse themselves in the local community out there and then design us a community centre that exactly fits our needs.”
The architects of the Start-Design Crusheen group have been living with members of the local community in Crusheen since last Friday, July 13. Part of the inspiration behind the design team is to find a way that they can use their skills in Ireland in the current economic climate and not be forced to emigrate.
“Part of this is about creating a path for us to be employed in Ireland in the future. This project is partly a means for us to overcome our urge to emigrate,” said architect Colin Dorgan. “We all have different approaches to how we work and we jumped at the chance to do this once the Crusheen group got in contact. We are here to get a feel for the place and the people and that will help the design of the centre in the long term. We want to meet with everyone who is using the building now and anyone who might want to use it in the future.
“We met with people after mass yesterday (Sunday) and spoke to anyone who would talk to us about the centre,” he added.
The group are working in an open studio at the site of the old dispensary in Crusheen and would be happy to speak with anyone who would like to have an input into the project. Local people living abroad are also asked to visit their website startdesigncrusheen.tk and give their opinion on the centre.
“It is an open studio and we want people to come in and take part in the design for the centre. We want to show the difference between architects really getting involved in a community project and people maybe paying a visit to the site and doing all the work somewhere else,” said architect Ray McGreal.
“Two of us are staying with the parish priest in Crusheen and two of us are being put up by the Fogarty’s – just next to the studio. So you couldn’t be more in the local community. This is a community centre for the local community and everything we do will have that in mind.”
Ray and Colin are being aided in the project by fellow architects Diarmaid Upton and Ronan O’Dea. The group are also being mentored by Peter Carr, architecture professor at the University of Limerick.
The group will finish their work by completing a full design for the Crusheen Community Centre and to apply for initial planning permission with Clare County Council.
The open evening will take place tonight (Tuesday, July 17) at the Crusheen Community Centre.