Sir, – I have to agree with Dublin City Council's chief executive Owen Keegan that city planners need to allow for taller apartment buildings to make better use of the available space in the city, but just as importantly to allow some diversity in the cityscape that surrounds us ("Dublin councillors seek to restrict apartment heights", May 30th). If we continue to build low-rise buildings that are "sympathetic" to only their Georgian neighbours, we will end up with a bland and characterless city in the future.
Architects should be allowed to express a different aesthetic to what already exists so that we have a cityscape that is exciting visually; this means going up where possible to break up our skyline, which will create an environment that is beautiful in the future too.
Prohibitively basing the housing needs of our future on the centuries-old architectural style we seek to protect will result in ghastly “mock Georgian” facades that destroy the beauty of the original buildings around them. By continuing to allow shortsighted and unqualified politicians to hamper the future of the city, we will kill the diverse architectural heritage that we currently enjoy. – Yours, etc,
PHILIP AUSTIN,
Dublin 8.