The Irish Architecture Foundation (IAF) is marking World Architecture Day by announcing a new, year-long partnership with The Housing Agency which aims to encourage progressive and innovative solutions and ideas to meet our urgent housing challenges. Details of the partnership and the programme of events will be announced in coming months.

Commenting on the new partnership with the Housing Agency, Nathalie Weadick, Director of the IAF, said: “We are delighted to announce our new partnership with The Housing Agency, commencing at this year’s Open House Dublin and running through to Open House Dublin 2022. The partnership will deliver an ideas competition and public programme to encourage a new housing movement that puts community, the environment, and people at the centre.

“Our programme will be ambitious, creative and people-centred, and aims to encourage progressive and innovative ideas on how we should create homes and communities, meeting the needs of everyone in society. Over the next 12 months, in partnership with The Housing Agency, we will engage with the public, architects, policy-makers, social researchers and economists to create social innovation, through architecture.”

Bob Jordan, CEO of The Housing Agency, said: “New ideas in how we design and build our homes and communities can have lasting impacts. The Housing Agency is excited to be working in partnership with IAF to encourage innovative thinking. The Agency’s vision is to promote sustainable communities that not only rise to our housing and climate challenges, but also meet the needs of our population at all stages of their lives. Ensuring that our homes and communities are planned and designed to accommodate a wide variety of needs requires innovation, creativity, and skill. This partnership aims to generate new ideas that have the potential to transform how we see housing in Ireland.”

Kicking off the start of the partnership will be Bob Jordan’s participation in Open House Dublin’s annual “Big Debate”. Open House Dublin is the IAF’s flagship annual celebration of architecture and takes place from 15^th to 17^th October.

Open House Dublin Highlights

This year’s Big Debate is themed “Living for the City”, and will focus on the value of living in Dublin, the challenges and the opportunities of city living and how the pandemic has influenced or altered the way we think about city life. The event will be moderated by Professor Linda Doyle, Provost and President of Trinity College Dublin and will take place at The Complex Arts venue in Smithfield with a limited live audience and will be live-streamed online at 6pm, Saturday 16^th October.  Also participating in this year’s event will be:

• Andrea Horan, United Ireland presenter & Tropical Popical Founder.
• Andrew Griffin, Co-Founder of Urban Agency.
• A member of street artists collective, SUBSET.
• Bob Jordan, CEO, The Housing Agency.

Other highlights from the Open House Dublin programme include:

• A traditional singing tour of Dublin City, featuring An Góilín traditional singers and Architect Daire Bracken;
• Six open-top Big Bus tours specially curated and led by architects and historians;
• Dublin Port boat tours and Canal Boat tours of Grand Canal Dock;
• Guided and self-guided cycling tours of Dublin City and Dún Laoghaire;
• Guided tours of Dublin’s green spaces such as Iveagh Gardens, Botanic Gardens, Irish War Memorial Gardens and an 8km Dublin Dash running tour of Phoenix Park;
• A second series of “Site Specific” films on subjects such as the Iveagh Market, Cathal Brugha Catering College, the Four Courts and Pigeon House Power Station, which will premiere online and in person at the Lighthouse Cinema at 6pm, Friday 15th October. The films will also be screened all weekend at the Irish Architecture Foundation building on Bachelors Walk and be available to watch on demand on the Open House Dublin website;
• A programme of events for children, including an Imaginative Drawing Workshop at the Chester Beatty, Airfield Junior – a 360 Virtual Time Travel Tour, a Lego Workshop, New self-guided Architreks tours for families, and digital competitions;
• ‘On-Site’ Architect film series – online tours of residential projects by a selection of Dublin’s architects;

All events are free with many requiring advance booking. The full programme of events for Open House Dublin is available here: https://openhousedublin.com/.

IAF