Exhibit A

Type: Exhibition & Public Engagement

Client: Irish Architecture Foundation

Exhibition: IAF House, Charlemont Square, Saint Kevin's, Dublin

Exhibit A, commissioned by the Irish Architecture Foundation for Open House Dublin 2025, tackled our ongoing conceptual concerns of value, memory and erasure through a curated triptych of works and a public Open Table discussion.

This exhibition & supporting discussion prompted collective local action against our self-destruction.

People are reading displayed information at an exhibition with bright yellow informational walls, a large screen showing a video or presentation, and a wooden table with papers in a spacious room.
A woman browsing pamphlets on a wooden table in an industrial-style space with high ceilings, exposed beams, and a yellow painted pillar.

Leading the way for sustainability?

Exhibit A, presented a table of evidence, demonstrating the dangers with speculative development for our built environment. This evidence highlights the risks with building anew as opposed to renovating existing buildings or adapting them for new uses. To demolish and rebuild requires exposure to a volatile real estate market.

This case study, advertised today as ‘Camden Yard’ is located at the heart of Kevin Street Lower, New Bride Street, Camden Row and Wexford Street. In August 2019, this 3.57 acre site was purchased by a developer for €140 million (guide price €80 million). The 50 year old former DIT Kevin Street Campus was demolished to make way for a mixed-use development of offices/retail for 4,000 people and 299 residential units. Site works commenced in 2022, €65 million was spent on demolition, excavation and construction. Works halted in 2024 and receivers were appointed. It is now up for sale, in its partially completed state, boasting that the development is ‘an exemplar in sustainability with NZEB standards, with a reduced carbon footprint..’

Its current condition, between rubble and regret, is evidence that there are buildings emerging from the ground today that are already becoming empty, unused, and are more likely to be demolished in the near future.

Historical site plan of Kevin Street, showing demolished fabric in red, from 1906-1909.
A city map showing the outline of buildings, streets, and blocks. Some areas are shaded red, indicating demounted fabric. There are no color details beyond black and red. The map is labeled with "Year 2020" and includes a north directional compass.
Site plan of a proposed development, showing existing and new structures in black and red outlines, surrounding streets and neighboring buildings, with a north directional arrow.
Several stacks of printed pages bound with red and white string, with one page turned to reveal a photo of a room with chairs, tables, and large windows.

Mapping Erasure

These three site plans represent the changes to the site layout over a period of 120 years. They chart the scale of demolition that has impacted the built and cultural environment that surrounded this city centre site. Also shown is the current as-built condition left by the developer last year.

We invited visitors to flick through the A4 evidence presented. The former and current conditions of the site have been documented through photography, from the State commissioned archive (Paul Tierney, 2020) and the site’s current condition today (Paul Tierney & Islander, 2025).

These images are obscured by layers of quotes and redactions. The quotes are taken from a series of interviews from Islander Architects' Demolition Take Down project along with selected excerpts from the Camden Yard planning application documents and public observations.

Key words are left visible, a prompt to consider your experience of erasure, memory, change and the unknown futures of our city.

A display of printed pages with red bar graphs and some text, arranged on a wooden surface, connected with red and white string.
Nighttime construction site with concrete pillars and a large blue banner that reads 'The Way for Sustainability' and features various certification logos.
City street with old brick building on the left and a construction site with concrete framework behind a green barrier. Pedestrians walking along the sidewalk and a horse-drawn carriage on the road, with a bike lane on the right.
Construction site with incomplete building and exposed steel reinforcement, green fence with a banner that says "The Way for Sustainability," city street in the foreground.
Night scene of a modern building with large glass windows reflecting street lights, with people walking outside and urban buildings in the background.
Person with curly hair and gray shirt standing in front of a mirrors wall reflecting trees and apartment building.

A large format photograph (by Rich Gillian) depicts a building on O’Connell street, which is due for demolition along with 22,500 square meters of buildings on the street in the near future.

This image has been divided up into postcards, encouraging visitors to takeaway a portion of the building home with them.

Over the course of the Open House Dublin festival, the image will be erased leaving people with a distorted perception of what it once was, while feeling a sense of loss for what is no longer there.

A woman observing an art installation titled "House Europe!" at an exhibition, featuring a large, segmented image of a European street scene with buildings, trees, and a tram, displayed on a yellow wall.
The image shows a mosaic of small, curved mirrors reflecting an urban scene with trees, building windows, and a sign that reads 'TERRACE BUFFET'.
Group of people sitting at a long table during a meeting or celebration, with food and drinks, in front of a wall decorated with various architectural and city maps and photos.
A diverse group of people gathered around a long table in a modern indoor space, clapping during an event or celebration, with large windows showing outdoor posters and people walking outside.

Open Table: Demolition was hosted by Islander Architects and Ludwig Engel- a spatial researcher and fellow HouseEurope! Campaigner.

The discussion asked:

Does it matter if we demolish buildings? What do we lose versus what do we gain? We unpacked the myths behind the need for demolition in cities and showed how reusing what we have is better value for money and our future heritage.

Open Table 2025 empowered people to participate in expert-led discussions on the topics of Diaspora, Diversity, Design, Demolition and Democracy.

A woman with long, wavy red hair holding a microphone and speaking at a panel discussion, sitting next to a woman with dark hair and glasses.
A man with a beard and a woman with curly red hair sit at a table during a discussion or meeting. The man is speaking into a microphone, gesturing with his hand, while the woman listens attentively. The table has glasses, a water pitcher, and food items. There are blurred people in the foreground and a large window in the background.

Drawings: Islander Architects

Event Photography: Ste Murray (Exhibition) & Myles Shelly (Open Table)

Photography used in exhibition: Rich Gilligan & Paul Tierney