Dublin's Landmark twin chimneys denied protected status

Cathaoirleach

Poolbeg chimneys 1 (pic)
Poolbeg chimneys 2 (pic)

Saturday March 15 2008

They have featured in numerous postcards and a very famous Guinness ad, but perhaps their most important cameo appearance came when they featured in U2s 'Pride (In The Name Of Love)' video.

However, Dublin City Council does not believe the Poolbeg chimneys are iconic enough to place on their Record of Protected Structures.

They concluded from this that while the Poolbeg chimneys were considered to be of a certain level of architectural, social and historical significance, they were not of sufficient value within the meaning of the Planning and Development Act, 2000.

The twin red and white chimney stacks measure 680 feet in height and were constructed in two phases between 1969 and 1977.

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/landmark-chimneys-denied-protected-status-1318383.html

They're still in use!
Safe for the foreseeable future...
edit: not worth saving, anyway I can't see 'em!

Susannahmia

Imo they are eyesores.

eyesores. Dump them

Raspberry

Well shit. If they were in a U2 video they're sacred ground now.

Mr. CooL ICE

I was gonna say that it would be kinda painful to get impaled on one of them after skydiving, but theyre nothing compared to these things

Xavi6

Raspberry wrote: »

Well shit. If they were in a U2 video they're sacred ground now.

Being in a U2 video is good enough reason to dump them. If they weren't in that then I would've wanted them saved.

mikemac

LordChessington wrote: »

I was gonna say that it would be kinda painful to get impaled on one of them after skydiving, but theyre nothing compared to these things

UL?

Yep, those chimneys are eyesores

MooseJam

They are great, far more of an icon to the city than the spire

WindSock

I like them.

Red Alert

They should be kept.

Our power demand is so tight that any available power station is more or less in use and looks to remain that way for the time being.

cornbb

I vote eyesores.

The fact that a bunch of powerstation chimneys could be considered worthy of preservation is a pretty sad indication of the lack of decent architecure in Dublin/Ireland if you ask me.

johnnyskeleton

cornbb wrote: »

I vote eyesores.

The fact that a bunch of powerstation chimneys could be considered worthy of preservation is a pretty sad indication of the lack of decent architecure in Dublin/Ireland if you ask me.

I agree, but be that as it may, they're all we got. Unless you are into your liberty hall or the central bank, I say keep em.

Remember as well that in the 1970s the government decided to get rid of all those old smelly georgian buildings to be replaced by nice new corpo houses.

cooperguy

LordChessington wrote:

I was gonna say that it would be kinda painful to get impaled on one of them after skydiving, but theyre nothing compared to these things

UL flagpoles. They look good.

Those chimneys however should be knocked tomorrow.

bronte

I like them

Slutmonkey57b

cornbb wrote: »

I vote eyesores.

The fact that a bunch of powerstation chimneys could be considered worthy of preservation is a pretty sad indication of the lack of decent architecure in Dublin/Ireland if you ask me.

Explains why Battersea Power Station is a listed building then.

A lot of the world's greatest architecture comes from practical industrial structures. To deny a structure's beauty of form because of its function is hardly an aesthetic stance to have.

Cuddlesworth

Destroy them, they are a eyesore. Your argument is that they have a aesthetic value but you want them protected as a cultural landmark which they are clearly not.

cornbb

Slutmonkey57b wrote: »

Explains why Battersea Power Station is a listed building then.

A lot of the world's greatest architecture comes from practical industrial structures. To deny a structure's beauty of form because of its function is hardly an aesthetic stance to have.

I've nothing against industrial architecture, by and large its uninspiring and functional, thogh the Battersea power station is one of the rare exceptions. It is architecturally unique and its iconic status has been achieved because its cultural impact has been enormous: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battersea_Power_Station#Cultural_impact

I don't think you could say the same about Poolbeg, its hardly architecturally unique as it looks to me like every other power station in the country (such as those at Tarbert and Moneypoint) and has had nowhere as near as large an impact on the public consciousness as the likes of Battersea.

Wishbone Ash

Edit

Terry

If they are in use, keep them.
If they are not in use, then they are useless. Knock them down and build something in their place.
I'm sick of this nostalgic crap.

Cathaoirleach wrote: »

Poolbeg chimneys 1 (pic)
Poolbeg chimneys 2 (pic)

Saturday March 15 2008

They have featured in numerous postcards and a very famous Guinness ad, but perhaps their most important cameo appearance came when they featured in U2s 'Pride (In The Name Of Love)' video.

However, Dublin City Council does not believe the Poolbeg chimneys are iconic enough to place on their Record of Protected Structures.

They concluded from this that while the Poolbeg chimneys were considered to be of a certain level of architectural, social and historical significance, they were not of sufficient value within the meaning of the Planning and Development Act, 2000.

The twin red and white chimney stacks measure 680 feet in height and were constructed in two phases between 1969 and 1977.

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/landmark-chimneys-denied-protected-status-1318383.html

I believe they appear in three U2 videos.
"A celebration" and "Gloria".
I could be wrong though. It's been a few years since I have seen those videos.

Slutmonkey57b

cornbb wrote: »

I've nothing against industrial architecture, by and large its uninspiring and functional, thogh the Battersea power station is one of the rare exceptions. It is architecturally unique and its iconic status has been achieved because its cultural impact has been enormous: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battersea_Power_Station#Cultural_impact

I don't think you could say the same about Poolbeg, its hardly architecturally unique as it looks to me like every other power station in the country (such as those at Tarbert and Moneypoint) and has had nowhere as near as large an impact on the public consciousness as the likes of Battersea.

Battersea's cultural impact, assuming you're going to base it around "number of LP covers adorned by same", is then based not on its architectural beauty, but around its proportions and stature as a monolithic statement of industrial strength - a solid, rectangular, faceless structure of cold, unbending geometry and hard purpose, created not by man for man, but by purpose eschewing the desires of man completely.

Poolbeg's "impact" on the public consciousness is extremely high in its city - the chimneys are very much part of the visual landscape of Dublin, certainly more so than Battersea since Dublin is a much smaller city and Poolbeg has a much clearer aspect around the city, standing as it does at the apex of the bay. Battersea is a famous building, but Poolbeg certainly holds a much stronger position in terms of defining the urban landscape of its city. The chimneys are hardly unique - but they are most definitely part of the city's heritage and identity, all the more so considering how recently they were built.

JHMEG

They're like Liffey Valley.. they should never have been built where they were built, and for that reason alone they should go.

cornbb

Slutmonkey57b wrote: »

Battersea's cultural impact, assuming you're going to base it around "number of LP covers adorned by same", is then based not on its architectural beauty, but around its proportions and stature as a monolithic statement of industrial strength - a solid, rectangular, faceless structure of cold, unbending geometry and hard purpose, created not by man for man, but by purpose eschewing the desires of man completely.

Poolbeg's "impact" on the public consciousness is extremely high in its city - the chimneys are very much part of the visual landscape of Dublin, certainly more so than Battersea since Dublin is a much smaller city and Poolbeg has a much clearer aspect around the city, standing as it does at the apex of the bay. Battersea is a famous building, but Poolbeg certainly holds a much stronger position in terms of defining the urban landscape of its city. The chimneys are hardly unique - but they are most definitely part of the city's heritage and identity, all the more so considering how recently they were built.

Battersea's cultural impact is about more than LP covers. It is unique and instantly recognisable when taken out of its geographical context (maybe not to the extent of the likes of the Taj Mahal). The same cannot be said about Poolbeg.

You could argue that Poolbeg's impact on the cityscape is high, that it is part of the definition of the landscape, the same could have been said about the Ballymun towers though. Not everyone actually likes the chimneys, as is evident from this thread.

Dudess

Moved from AH. Biko must be on the piss.

carlmango11

You can't deny the fact that they're iconic. So far they're one of the few things that can be used to quickly identify that sprawl of houses as Dublin. If they were cleaned and lit a little better then I think they'd look nice

BendiBus

If anyone tries to take down those chimneys I'm going to do the same as that mad bitch on the M3 yesterday and chain myself into a tunnel under them.

They're part of every real Dubliners psyche at this stage.

Can't believe what people are posting on this thread. Ye must all be culchies or some other form of uncivilised creatures

Cocoon

Xavi6 wrote: »

Being in a U2 video is good enough reason to dump them. If they weren't in that then I would've wanted them saved.

If i could give this kid a thumbs down i would, Your obviously not a Dub. :cool:

Edit then again what would the Kid know. Aussie wanna be.

Gaspode

Deleted User wrote: »

They're still in use!
Safe for the foreseeable future...
edit: not worth saving, anyway I can't see 'em!

Are they? I cant remember the last time I saw steam pouring out of either of them. They were in constant use at one stage.

Edit: I kinda like 'em. not pretty, but part of home.
Plus, someones gone and done 3d models of them in Google Earth, so now they've gotta stay!

lostexpectation

battersea is useful the big cranes in blefast have been kept but you can go up and view from them the towers are of no further use

Charlie

Living near the Seafront in Clontarf I hate the fcukers, a real eyesore and spoiler of what sould be a great view.

If you move about 50 meters west, nearer where the wooden bridge is, you get a fantastic view, especially on a summers evening. If those chimneys weren't there, that view would be much more panoramic.

loyatemu

voted no.

they are iconic in local terms, but in international terms they're just a pair of bog standard chimneys (I think the ones at Moneypoint are taller, but not stripey)

can't see any use for them if the power station was decommissioned.

boneless

I feel they are part of the urban Dublin landscape at this stage, whatever the architectural, or lack of, merits. For that reason I would like to see them kept.

I also think that Liberty Hall should be retained for the same reasons.

Charlie

boneless wrote: »

I feel they are part of the urban Dublin landscape at this stage, whatever the architectural, or lack of, merits. For that reason I would like to see them kept.

I also think that Liberty Hall should be retained for the same reasons.

Crap will always become infamous, because its.....crap. That should not be the reason for keeping things, in fact, its the reason they be gotten rid of. I can't wait for that dog ugly building to go bye byes.

By your reckoning, the Ballymun towers should never had taken a tumble, as they were part of the urban Dublin landscape (sure they even had their own film, Into The West) :rolleyes:

boneless

charlie mchugh wrote: »

Crap will always become infamous, because its.....crap. That should not be the reason for keeping things, in fact, its the reason they be gotten rid of. I can't wait for that dog ugly building to go bye byes.

By your reckoning, the Ballymun towers should never had taken a tumble, as they were part of the urban Dublin landscape (sure they even had their own film, Into The West) :rolleyes:

I actually did argue for the towers to be retained. There was nothing wrong with them. The problem was the lack of infrastructure in the area and the lack of social planning. There was a very good argument for them to be developed as student accomadation for DCU but this was rejected. Just because buildings are modern does not mean they have some merits.

I can imagine what was said in the 18th century about the old Dutch Billies by the Georgian planners...:p

Charlie

boneless wrote: »

I actually did argue for the towers to be retained. There was nothing wrong with them. The problem was the lack of infrastructure in the area and the lack of social planning. There was a very good argument for them to be developed as student accomadation for DCU but this was rejected. Just because buildings are modern does not mean they have some merits.

I can imagine what was said in the 18th century about the old Dutch Billies by the Georgian planners...:p

Ballymun did suffer from bad planing, lack of infrastructure etc. but that still didn't mean that the towers were god awful to look that, and no lick of paint by DCU was going to stop that from being the case.

The concrete architectural design that seemed to prevail in the 60's here and moreso in the UK is horrid and should never be held in regard.

I highly doubt that as time goes on people's opinion of such buildings would change and they would be held in the same regard that Georgian buildings are now.

For example, Cascada's music is utter ****e, it always will be. It wont be the case that in 40 years they will be viewed as some sort of misunderstood geniuses with us all marvelling their work. They will always be crap, much like how buildings such as the baymun flats and Liberty Hall will always look crap.