Dublin

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architect: patrick shaffrey architect, where reenie (karin) elliott worked as an urban designer and architect
building type+location: urban design proposal for o’connell st, dublin
invisible elements: a schedule of the monuments along the street revealed a series of political upheavals in microcosm:

1. nelsons pillar bombed to destruction by the ira in the 60s
2. general post office occupied by the ira during the easter rising and still bearing the bullet wounds of the british army
3. sackville place bombed in the late 60s
4. minor clerics, saints, poets, and british military leaders on horseback jostled for attention on the central traffic island.

this loaded family of statues has been joined by some unlikely newcomers, much ridiculed in the local press. a fountain of anna livia is known as ‘the floosie in the jacuzzi’, the stainless steel futuristic needle is known as ‘the spire in the mire’, while nearby molly malones wheelbarrow is know as ‘the tart with the cart’.
client: dublin city council
completion date: 1987