Madam, - Rubbing my eyes with disbelief, I read the results of the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland's Gold Medal Award, in today's Irish Times (Nov 11th).
What appeared to be a decapitated old block of flats from Dublin's 1950s had just won the gold medal. I searched the internet to see how I had missed the point in our President's acclamation speech. No luck, it was much the same picture.
Reading further I saw that the Liffey boardwalk had been shortlisted!! Is this the best we can do?
Some modern buildings, like the Fingal County Hall and Niland Gallery in Sligo, look good, but, much the same as you see all over Europe.
The flowery language used to describe the experience and design features of these buildings deserves a much bigger prize. Small wonder that the gold medal is presented only every three years!
Architects of Ireland - get on a plane to Valentia, Spain, and go and study real architecture, from someone who really knows what it is about: Santiago Calatrava. The language used by the President would be apt for his creations.
At least we have a little of him in the Joyce bridge on the Liffey. -Yours, etc,
BRENDAN FLINTER, Parkmore, Pecks Lane, Castleknock, Dublin 15.