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What would replace the Dublin spire with?

  • 12-06-2009 3:36am
    #1
    civildefence
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 474 ✭✭


    Like may others I hate the spire, IMO I could have come up with hundreds of far better alternatives, so if you had the choice, what would you put there?


Comments

  • #2
    gunhappy_ie
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,076 ✭✭✭gunhappy_ie


    not an alternative but an improvement.... Current line up of government and top bank officials, stacked in spit roast fashion on the spire ! Oh .... Berthie is definatly included in that too !


  • #3
    civildefence
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 474 ✭✭civildefence


    gunhappy_ie wrote: »
    not an alternative but an improvement.... Current line up of government and top bank officials, stacked in spit roast fashion on the spire ! Oh .... Berthie is definatly included in that too !

    You organise the crane, i'll do the rest!


  • #4
    Mayshine
    Closed Accounts Posts: 510 ✭✭✭Mayshine


    Nothing - I like it


  • #5
    Typewriter
    Registered Users Posts: 577 ✭✭✭Typewriter


    I love the spire. What dont you like about it?

    Its the only good thing that ff did.

    attachment.php?attachmentid=82444&d=1244797869


  • #6
    eoin4789
    Registered Users Posts: 68 ✭✭eoin4789


    it is class
    already our american "neighbours" refer to Dublin as having the great spire and then Dublin castle of kilmainham jail.
    Every country in the world has a strange and sticky outy monument and im glad ours is central, simple and effective.


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  • #7
    fricatus
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,081 ✭✭✭fricatus


    What has this got to do with infrastructure?

    Dublin forum maybe?


  • #8
    civildefence
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 474 ✭✭civildefence


    green_jesus wrote: »
    I love the spire. What dont you like about it?

    Its the only good thing that ff did.

    Personally I don't think it's appropriate for a street like O'Connell Street to have something that drastic planted in the middle of it among a fine building like the GPO. If you look closely at it you can see each section of it is a different shade of grey making it look tarnished. I also dislike the fact that we were told it was "self-cleaning" when it is in fact NOT and requires cleaning something like once a year at a huge cost to me and you.
    I reckon erecting a pillar (not unlike Nelson's) instead would have been the way to go, obviously with a more deserving presence on top.


  • #9
    BendiBus
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,074 ✭✭✭BendiBus


    I like the Spire a lot.

    Suggesting a pillar (to replace another pillar from another era) just smacks of lack of imagination.

    The Spire does not in any way conflict or clash with the buildings that surround it.
    fricatus wrote: »
    What has this got to do with infrastructure?

    It's a navigation aid for visitors to the Capital. Hence infrastructure :)


  • #10
    daymobrew
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,523 ✭✭✭daymobrew


    civildefence wrote: »
    I reckon erecting a pillar (not unlike Nelson's) instead would have been the way to go, obviously with a more deserving presence on top.
    +1. I'm a big fan of getting 'aerial' views - such a pillar would generate revenue, something the Spire doesn't.

    In San Francisco the Coit Tower provides great views of the city. Here the Smithfield Chimney is available, though expensive if I remember correctly.


  • #11
    BendiBus
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,074 ✭✭✭BendiBus


    daymobrew wrote: »
    +1. I'm a big fan of getting 'aerial' views - such a pillar would generate revenue, something the Spire doesn't.

    But as you've pointed out, there's already such an attraction in Smithfield. Every time we want a tall monument should we just throw up another pillar with a viewing platform? In time, all you'd be able to see would be other pillars! And other people looking at you from them!

    The Spire is simple yet imaginative.


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  • #12
    Blackjack
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,619 ✭✭✭Blackjack


    There's nothing wrong with the Spire - leave it as it is.


  • #13
    ynotdu
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,817 ✭✭✭ynotdu


    The Spire only looks good from a distance,looks great from T C D area,however it is a gigantic phallic symbol,what about the VAGINA MONOLOUGES,???? Say Nell McCaffertys nude photo spotlighted were Nelson used to be :confused:


  • #14
    siobhan.murphy
    Registered Users Posts: 1,340 ✭✭✭siobhan.murphy


    F.F party on top?


  • #15
    Blackjack
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,619 ✭✭✭Blackjack


    ynotdu wrote: »
    Say Nell McCaffertys nude photo spotlighted were Nelson used to be :confused:

    The Country needs no reminding that either of those originate here. Let's try and put the bad things behind us.....


  • #16
    ynotdu
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,817 ✭✭✭ynotdu


    Blackjack wrote: »
    The Country needs no reminding that either of those originate here. Let's try and put the bad things behind us.....

    Lol Blackjack


  • #17
    bk
    Moderators, Motoring & Transport Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 22,980 Mod ✭✭✭✭bk


    I wasn't crazy about the spire initially but I fell in love with it one day while I was working towards it on Henry St and the sun was setting behind me casting an orange glow on the spire and the moon was clearly visible just to the left of it.

    It was absolutely incredible then, like something out of a sci fi movie. Almost everyone was stopped on Henry St. looking up at it and taking pictures in amazement. I wish I had a camera with me.


  • #18
    Hagar
    Closed Accounts Posts: 16,793 ✭✭✭✭Hagar


    What genius came up with that nondescript piece of scrap metal? It should be replaced with an iconic structure. Something unique. Something that if anybody saw on a postcard would say "Look it's Dublin".


    We need something unique, possibly Celtic, like the Tree of Life sculpture at the BOI.

    DSCF4029.JPG

    At least some thought went into that. But it needs to be on a much grander scale. Something that tourists won't be able to pass without taking a photo.

    Paris has the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe, New York the Statue of Liberty, Piccadilly Circus has Eros, Pisa has it's Tower. Surely we can come up with something better than an upturned nail?


  • #19
    Stark
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 21,034 ✭✭✭✭Stark


    Stick a potato on it like the one in Revolution Square in Romania: http://www.panoramio.com/photo/1843664


  • #20
    Alun
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 21,487 ✭✭✭✭Alun


    Hagar wrote: »
    Paris has the Eiffel Tower ...
    Which, at the time, was hated too ...
    Wikipedia wrote:
    The tower was met with much criticism from the public when it was built, with many calling it an eyesore. Newspapers of the day were filled with angry letters from the arts community of Paris. One is quoted extensively in William Watson's US Government Printing Office publication of 1892 Paris Universal Exposition: Civil Engineering, Public Works, and Architecture. “And during twenty years we shall see, stretching over the entire city, still thrilling with the genius of so many centuries, we shall see stretching out like a black blot the odious shadow of the odious column built up of riveted iron plates.”[10] Signers of this letter included Jean-Louis-Ernest Meissonier, Charles Gounod, Charles Garnier, Jean-Léon Gérôme, William-Adolphe Bouguereau, and Alexandre Dumas.
    Novelist Guy de Maupassant — who claimed to hate the tower — supposedly ate lunch in the Tower's restaurant every day. When asked why, he answered that it was the one place in Paris where one could not see the structure. Today, the Tower is widely considered to be a striking piece of structural art.


    Personally, I like it (the Spire, that is).


  • #21
    Hagar
    Closed Accounts Posts: 16,793 ✭✭✭✭Hagar


    Slightly OT Gustav Eiffel also designed the steel structural framework for the Statue of Liberty.


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  • #22
    Acacia
    Registered Users Posts: 2,816 ✭✭✭Acacia


    BendiBus wrote: »

    The Spire does not in any way conflict or clash with the buildings that surround it.

    Sorry, but it really does, especially with old buildings like the GPO. I think it's quite ugly and much too modern-looking for an old city like Dublin.

    I'd like something that was more 'Irish'- you could plonk the Spire in any city in the world and it wouldn't really add anything to it and or enhance the character of the city because it's so bland. It doesn't necessarily haven't to be a tall pillar / building, a nice simple statue could work just as well if not better.


  • #23
    BendiBus
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,074 ✭✭✭BendiBus


    Acacia wrote: »
    Sorry, but it really does, especially with old buildings like the GPO. I think it's quite ugly and much too modern-looking for an old city like Dublin.

    We'll have to agree to disagree.

    Dublin is over 1000 years old. By your logic we should remove the GPO while we're taking down the spire as most of that building is less than a hundred years old. As is most of that part of the city.

    Old and new can live happily together just as they do in most "modern, old" cities.


  • #24
    Mayshine
    Closed Accounts Posts: 510 ✭✭✭Mayshine


    Actually - I think I would like to replace it with a taller version of itself. Yeah I would like that


  • #25
    carlmango11
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,019 ✭✭✭carlmango11


    What genius came up with that nondescript piece of scrap metal? It should be replaced with an iconic structure. Something unique. Something that if anybody saw on a postcard would say "Look it's Dublin".

    I think it's extremely unique. As you said yourself, it's a scrap of metal :D

    Ireland never leads, always follows. People say build a pillar, it's been done, it looks nice, let's copy it. Personally I don't like that attitude. If someone saw a postcard with the Spire on it there would be no other city but Dublin it could be.

    If we had a pillar there it could be several cities, most likely one would assume London or something.

    I like it :pac::pac::pac:


  • #26
    AlanSparrowhawk
    Closed Accounts Posts: 485 ✭✭AlanSparrowhawk


    I think a spiral or double helix would look way better.


  • #27
    Acacia
    Registered Users Posts: 2,816 ✭✭✭Acacia


    BendiBus wrote: »
    We'll have to agree to disagree.

    Dublin is over 1000 years old. By your logic we should remove the GPO while we're taking down the spire as most of that building is less than a hundred years old. As is most of that part of the city.

    Old and new can live happily together just as they do in most "modern, old" cities.

    Yeah, I don't think we're going to agree. The GPO may not be as old as some of the other buildings but it doesn't clash so violently with, say, Christchurch Cathedral, as the it does with Spire.

    My point is that the Spire looks too modern - i.e. futuristic and space-agey , which imo is totally incompatible with Dublin. The Spire is is just boring-looking to me, and as I say, it wouldn't look out of place in any modern city in the world because it has no character.

    I really hope it's taken down and replaced with something more 'Irish'.


  • #28
    Mayshine
    Closed Accounts Posts: 510 ✭✭✭Mayshine


    AlanSparrowhawk wrote: »
    I think a spiral or double helix would look way better.

    Singapore is doing a double helix bridge. Looks good too

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_Helix_Bridge


  • #29
    Alun
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 21,487 ✭✭✭✭Alun


    With regard to it being too modern looking, in my experience very modern buildings do not clash with nearby classic buildings such as the GPO, in fact the fact that they are so different in appearance somehow makes them clash less if that makes snese.

    What usually does not work are feeble attempts to make new buildings 'blend in with', or be 'sympathetic to' their surroundings, where you end up with some horrible compromise that isn't one thing or another and just ends up as some anonymous blob.


  • #30
    Purple Gorilla
    Closed Accounts Posts: 865 ✭✭✭Purple Gorilla


    Hagar wrote: »
    What genius came up with that nondescript piece of scrap metal? It should be replaced with an iconic structure. Something unique. Something that if anybody saw on a postcard would say "Look it's Dublin".


    We need something unique, possibly Celtic, like the Tree of Life sculpture at the BOI.

    DSCF4029.JPG

    At least some thought went into that. But it needs to be on a much grander scale. Something that tourists won't be able to pass without taking a photo.

    Paris has the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe, New York the Statue of Liberty, Piccadilly Circus has Eros, Pisa has it's Tower. Surely we can come up with something better than an upturned nail?
    But I do think that that is something that Dublin would be known for. My American Uncle says the same thing everytime he's over, Dublin is one of the few places you can see old, historic buildings right along new modern buildings and it actually looks good. We've already gone far enough to protect Dublin's "historicness" by that ban on skyscrapers.

    The Spire looks fine in O'Connell Street and it actually looks good alongside the GPO. It shows how far we've come, from a poor, newly-independent state, to one where we have enough money to blow it on a giant, metal toothpick :pac: And I think that it really is something unique to Dublin :)

    I demand that you like it. Plus it looks cool at night.

    2056002872_1361e2325b.jpg


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  • #31
    bazzer06
    Registered Users Posts: 100 ✭✭bazzer06


    I have to say I like the Spire too, and I think any attempts at replacing it with something more Irish would end up in the erection of awful tack... And I think its a bit silly too that something that was built and exists now in the capital of Ireland is not considered Irish because it doesn't evoke some deep seated part of our culture - the Eiffel Tower wasn't exactly built with reference to some kind of French cultural iconography, and yet today symbolises France; in fact I'd say most structures of this iconic type are new designs that come to symbolise a country/place, not the other way around.

    As for it clashing, to be honest I think architecturally a lot of Dublin simply cannot "compete" with other European cities due to the century of neglect that has just come to a close - the city is not that architecturally rich, and so I think if we can build complimentary modern structures, it can give Dublin a style of its own which should age quite well. In general, structures such as the pyramid in the Louvre in Paris, and the new dome on the Reichstag in Berlin are modern complimentary additions that have met with widespread approval.

    Also, If the OP has hundreds of ideas for alternatives, would s/he care to mention even one?


  • #32
    Hagar
    Closed Accounts Posts: 16,793 ✭✭✭✭Hagar


    New and old don't always mix. As a Dub I'm ashamed of the fast food kip that the main street in our Capital City has become.

    What next? Tara?

    taramcd.jpg


  • #33
    ynotdu
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,817 ✭✭✭ynotdu


    A brown envelope with the remains of a Tiger hanging out stamped by the emigration dept? should we have a vote on it using the electronic voting machines?

    No?

    Oh well just a thought(I would use a crying smiley only boards dont have one,guess they thought tears would not be needed:confused: :P


  • #34
    murpho999
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 28,536 ✭✭✭✭murpho999


    I think the Spire looks great, especially in the right light.

    I get a lot of visitors over from Holland, and every single one of them (at
    least 10 people) had very positive things to say about it.

    What would be the point of putting up a statue of some Irish person, such as Pierce or Dev, for example. No one would notice it and every city has one.

    The Spire is original and innovative, and I think over time will become a very famous landmark for Dublin.

    Don't understand that it doesn't look Irish? What do Irish buildings look like as all the old ones were built by the British.

    Also, don't understand why people complain about the Spire and not comment on ugly things like Liberty Hall!

    Also, don't see it as a clash. It looks a damn sight better than all the McDonald's, Burger King and Dr Quirkey's signs.


  • #35
    spacetweek
    Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators Posts: 5,144 Mod ✭✭✭✭spacetweek


    murpho999 wrote: »
    I think the Spire looks great, especially in the right light.

    I get a lot of visitors over from Holland, and every single one of them (at
    least 10 people) had very positive things to say about it.

    What would be the point of putting up a statue of some Irish person, such as Pierce or Dev, for example. No one would notice it and every city has one.

    The Spire is original and innovative, and I think over time will become a very famous landmark for Dublin.

    Don't understand that it doesn't look Irish? What do Irish buildings look like as all the old ones were built by the British.

    Also, don't understand why people complain about the Spire and not comment on ugly things like Liberty Hall!

    Also, don't see it as a clash. It looks a damn sight better than all the McDonald's, Burger King and Dr Quirkey's signs.
    Some important points here. I've also taken many great pictures of the Spire at night. I love the glow. Particularly good is the approach from Henry St.

    I don't like the thread title because it assumes the Spire isn't good and needs to be replaced. It should be clear that there is by no means agreement on this. I love the Spire and think it is perfect for the new O'Connell St.

    The most important point of all I think is what exactly is the definition of an "Irish building". I don't think Ireland actually has a unique architecture of its own. What exactly could have been built instead? A statue? There's already Daniel O'Connell and Jim Larkin statues on this street. A pillar? Boring, even worse than the spire. The street needed something very tall to suit the width and length of the street, the Spire is just right for that. A pillar could not be safely made 120 metres.


  • #36
    Carawaystick
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,779 ✭✭✭Carawaystick


    One major failing of the spire is that it's not the tallest structure in Dublin, The mast in RTÉ is 4m higher....


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  • #37
    jill_valentine
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,090 ✭✭✭jill_valentine


    I love the Spire. Hated it at first, didn't really understand the point (har!) of it until it was up.

    Wouldn't change it for the world now. Like somebody said, one of the only things the Celtic Tiger got right.


  • #38
    kiffer
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,097 ✭✭✭kiffer


    needs to be bigger... We should have been able to add on sections under ground and jack it up higher so that it's always growing...
    It needs to be at least 300m...


  • #39
    loyatemu
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 15,104 ✭✭✭✭loyatemu


    Carawaystick wrote: »
    One major failing of the spire is that it's not the tallest structure in Dublin, The mast in RTÉ is 4m higher....

    the Ringsend chimneys are substantially higher than either of those, but it hardly matters, the Spire is tall enough for the location its in (you can't even see the RTE mast from the city-centre).


  • #40
    dazzerb
    Closed Accounts Posts: 156 ✭✭dazzerb


    is it supposed to be crooked?! "The tip leans slightly to the east"

    Is this a design thing with some meaning?

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Dublin-Spire_leaning-tip.JPG


  • #41
    Irjudge1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 377 ✭✭Irjudge1


    I like it too and just in the last couple of days I have noticed that the view of the city from the east link bridge provides you with a really new definitve view of the new dublin. All within the frame of view are the spire, Calatrava's new bridge, the conference centre and the sitting in the middle is Liberty Hall. I think it looks great must try to get a photo.


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  • #42
    Purple Gorilla
    Closed Accounts Posts: 865 ✭✭✭Purple Gorilla


    dazzerb wrote: »
    is it supposed to be crooked?! "The tip leans slightly to the east"

    Is this a design thing with some meaning?

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Dublin-Spire_leaning-tip.JPG
    I'm pretty sure it's because it's an obelisk


  • #43
    vektarman
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,923 ✭✭✭vektarman


    civildefence wrote: »
    Like may others I hate the spire, IMO I could have come up with hundreds of far better alternatives, so if you had the choice, what would you put there?

    I like the spire but if I had to change it for something I'd replace it with a statue of a lady lying in a fountain.


  • #44
    sean2504
    Registered Users Posts: 1 ✭sean2504


    The obvious thing to replace it with, would be to rebuild the pillar which was there until 1966. I would make it slightly bigger, such that it could house a lift to take people to the top, and as regards whose statue should be put on top of it, I would leave it to a national vote, such that it would represent the feelings of the Irish People. My personal choice would be James Connolly.


  • #45
    quadrifoglio verde
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,670 ✭✭✭quadrifoglio verde


    sean2504 wrote: »
    The obvious thing to replace it with, would be to rebuild the pillar which was there until 1966. I would make it slightly bigger, such that it could house a lift to take people to the top, and as regards whose statue should be put on top of it, I would leave it to a national vote, such that it would represent the feelings of the Irish People. My personal choice would be James Connolly.

    Why Connolly?
    Why not any of Collins, brugha, ceant, pearse, McDermott, plunkett or mcdonagh.
    Why does it always have to be Connolly. More fought and died for this country and had a bigger influence than Connolly.
    Which is why I think the spire is great. It takes the political symbol of the man away from it, meaning that no party can lay claim to it as "their statue" (if you had collins up there, it'd be a blueshirt statue, if you had Connolly, it'd be a labour/socialist statue etc.)


  • #46
    Morf
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,822 ✭✭✭Morf


    Godzilla.


  • #47
    Victor
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 78,490 ✭✭✭✭Victor


    Blackjack wrote: »
    The Country needs no reminding that either of those originate here. Let's try and put the bad things behind us.....
    Let's leave an old thread die.

    Moderator


This discussion has been closed.
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