EASA Ireland 2008 May Newsletter

Ron Burgundy says it as it is...

Organisers | National Contacts | Letterfrack | Lectures | Entertainment

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Notes from the organisers

It’s the longest day in the year and I am staring at the front page of one of the national press, ‘vote yes…or leave the EU’. Uncertain times it certainly is in Ireland, and it seems adaptation is one thing that is definitely in the forefront of the minds of every person in the country. Nobody seems to be able to sum up the reasoning behind the national decision, but one can be sure that the recent economic slump, property crash, credit crunch, surging unemployment levels, exorbitant fuel price and spiking food costs have undoubtedly contributed. One thing is for sure though; dark clouds have amassed overhead. Start packing up the basket because the picnic’s over.

Four years ago in the rooms of Dublin castle, and along the quays of the river Liffey, a new age for Europe was heralded with the 10 accession states welcomed with open arms. Ireland held the position of EU presidency at that time and acted as key negotiators in finding an agreement resulting in the EU constitution, which was consequently voted down in France and the Netherlands and replaced with the Lisbon treaty.

On Friday 13th of this month, in those same rooms of Dublin castle, the ballot boxes were opened and out of them came a resounding no from the people of Ireland. Ireland’s decision to vote no to the reforms presented in the Lisbon treaty has proverbially swept the picnic cloth out from underneath the bums of the rest of the EU states. Is seems now that until Ireland gives back the picnic cloth – a complex tapestry that took seven years to knit together – there will be no new members joining the picnic.

Not only is the EU enlargement program now on hold until the treaty is ratified in Ireland, it seems that we, the people of Ireland – the only people in Europe who actually got the privilege to vote on the treaty – will be contemplating a more self sufficient role if we decide to vote no again in what looks to be the Lisbon referendum mark 2 next spring.

In 6 weeks time, the 28th European Architecture Students Assembly, which will be attended by over 40 European nationalities, will be officially opened in those same rooms of Dublin Castle. What a co-incidence, lets just hope no-one fucks with the teleprompter this time!

Remember, for all your posts, questions, and comments, the easa blog is at http://easa.antville.org

Attention NCs

Dear NC’s, we have noticed a small error in the application form that excludes participant’s email addresses from the form. We kindly request that you please send us an email with an excel or google spreadsheets document containing the following information;

Participant’s Name

Email Address

Arrival date

We would hugely appreciate this information as soon as possible.

Letterfrack Attacks!

There is a serious biting midges problem in Letterfrack due to its dense foliage and damp climate. The midges bite from 7pm in the evening all night long; and there are literally millions of them. We encourage participants to bring with them ‘AVON Skin so soft and fresh’ dry oil body spray. It is the best repellent bar none and is used by the Royal British Marines. It even outperforms DEET, and does so without all the DEET toxins going into your bloodstream. Nevertheless, we, the organizers, will minimise the nuisance caused by the midges as best we can.

No better repellant!

Brian Anson - Activist/Architect/Artist

Extract from Kids Book: Brian Anson

The organisers of EASA Ireland are proud to announce the presence of Brian Anson at the Assembly between the 9th and 24th of August. Brian Anson has been an advocator of community inclusion in the process of design and architecture for over fifty years and he promises to play a fundamental role in EASA 2008.

Born into into a working class background in Liverpool, England in 1935, he worked as an urbanist and planner in his native city and the city of Dublin in 1960s. In 1969 and 1970 he worked tirelessly for the preservation of Covent Garden, a small inner city borough of London.The buildings and the community dwelling there were under threat of total annihilation by a group of developers and local planning authorities,instilling a policy which had ripped the heart out of England's post Industrial cities through out the decade. After rounding the local community and after group consultations, a proposition and compromise was reached which was deemed acceptable by the local authorities. Covent Garden was saved and has since been seen as a successful regeneration project, where old buildings and existing communities can be adapted and evolve without their total demise. Its model has served as a precedent for other projects, most notably the Temple Bar regeneration project in Dublin. A book was published in 1981 entitled "I'll Fight You For It", outlining the Covent Garden struggle.

As a result of the Covent Garden success, Brian was accepted by the Architectural Association where he acted as Unit Master from 1972. It was here that Brian was involved with discussions and debates with architects such as Peter Cook, expressing and reiterating the importance of community involvement. Growing slowly disillusioned with the path his colleagues were taking, he strove to create an alternative future to the profession through the founding of the Architects Revolutionary Council (ARC). Brian Anson realised that the problems plaguing the profession, i.e. the pandering to developers and lack of ground roots community communication were a result of a deeply flawed education system. His reaction to this was the foundation of the Schools of Architecture Council (SAC) in 1979.

Extract from Kids Book: Brian Anson

The role of the SAC was a body whose purpose was to show an alternative to the formal education, then on offer in the schools of architecture. Brian Anson was elected president of the organisation by the students as a protest against the established schools. In summer 1979, over 800 students attended a gathering in a tower block in Sheffield. Students from all over England exchanged ideas and created their own educational systems and architectural proposals, independent of a main organisation. The gathering was repeated in Hull the next year but unfortunately, the SAC was dissolved in 1981. The momentum did not dissipate however and its framework was recycled in the form of the Winter Schools, one of which was held in Anson's native Liverpool. The Winter School was such a success that the students, among them Richard Murphy decided to invite students from around Europe and England to investigate the urban blight of decay then ravishing the city. This organised gathering, void of any political agenda or motivation would be later regarded as the first European Architecture Student Assembly. It was the legacynof an idea which had germinated in the winter schools of the late 1970s.

Brian Anson continued his community work. He was invited by the community of Gaoth Dobhair, Donegal to propose suggestions for the retention of a culture and a language under siege by inept planning authorities. A dossier was published, outlining coherent plans for future development. It was a plan which had grown from the roots of the community and despite having a lack of the Irish-Gaelic language, Anson portrayed a deep and profound understanding for the people and their history, with a future full of hope. He envisioned a community that would become self dependent over time, utilising and mobilising it's innate skills and practices. It was rejected however, as being far too radical. Unfazed, Anson took part in the Mobile Unit Scheme between 1983 and 1986. He travelled as part of a team in a converted camper van through Britain and Ireland, uniting community groups and causing a media flurry where ever he went. His journeys brought him form the post-industrial collier towns of Thatcherite England to the war scarred streets of Belfast. It was here that the story of the Divis Street flats came to the fore. Anson unveiled a woefully inadequate housing scheme, where a British Army base was built practically atop the residents dwellings. The case was brought to London and received full media attention at the time. A campaign was instigated which led to eventual demolition of the complex.

Brian Anson has been living in France since 1991 where he has been painting, reading and writing his views on architecture and its possible future. He has run a series of annual modules in the University of Birmingham where students from around the world exchange views and learn from Brian's vast experience of working within a local and community framework. It is the privelege and honour of EASA Ireland to have him as a tutor and speaker at the Assembly this August and without a doubt, he will play an integral part in the proceedings.

The Dead Flags

The Dead Flags are a band. They play both types of music. Rock and Roll.

In the past, THE DEAD FLAGS have acted as a loose musical collective, familiar from high-profile support slots with such stalwarts of the Irish rock scene as The Frames, Bell X1 and Damien Rice. In various configurations the band has graced the stage in sold-out headline performances at venues such as Dublin's Temple Bar Music Centre, Radio City and Whelan's as well as Cork's Half Moon Theatre. They will also be remembered for the raucous solo performances of their lead singer on national TV and radio.

Now trimmed of the excess of that ever-changing line-up, THE DEAD FLAGS have reformed as a lean garage rock combo with a tighter, grittier and more electric sound. This three-piece line-up with drummer Kevin Lowery and bassist Dave Power, forms an energetic backdrop to the soaring vocals of lead singer and guitarist Billy Fitzgerald. Described as a "classic rock star voice" (Robert Cullen, Weekender), the projections from Mr. Fitzgerald's larynx run the gamut from Thom Yorke to Eric Burdon and lend the band's witty, wryly observed lyrics a bluesy and unpretentious edge few in Irish rock can match.

EASA Ireland would like to thank our sponsors and all those helping to realise the EASA008 Summer Assembly;

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