Statement of Intent

Preliminary Statement of Intent

No-one can ignore what has happened in Ireland as a result of the economic downturn in recent years. Architecture has had to adapt with changing conditions, almost suddenly. When I started studying in 2005, the country was a very different place to that in which we find it in 2010. So many homes are left unoccupied and I wonder if they were well designed in the first instance? Did it matter to the great number of developers? If we had the chance to recreate with a clean slate for the future, what types of accommodation could be created?

For me, the question of what we require and what we desire in order to inhabit/occupy/dwell/live in a space is one of the most fundamental in architecture. Every individual has a right to shelter, but how can one as an individual or as part of a group fulfil their wants and needs to enable themselves to feel at home in the place they are staying? How do we as architects ensure the different qualities necessary to fulfil so many different aspects of life in the home can be achieved?

Many questions need to be asked. How big or small in area and volume does a space we inhabit actually have to be? How do darkness and light, and the sounds/sights/scents of the elements affect the design? How does a person move through/link/occupy different spaces?

As somebody who has lived in many different urban places and through many different experiences in the last decade, it seems to me that a person can settle into their accommodation without much regard to quality of life. Most basic considerations may never be featured in design specifications... a place to store bikes, a room for drying clothes, an area for a work table, space to hang photos, a shelter to eat outdoors – these design fundamentals are paramount in my opinion. Rather than endless lists of rooms and room sizes that may not even be used for their specific function, attention should be drawn to the realities of everyday living for the occupant.

I intend to look at many different examples of living, both in Ireland and abroad to create a place called home; housing for a group or an individual to integrate into the society that we all are a part of. I will attempt to provide a home for whoever may live here, that responds to the needs and wants of everyday living. Architecture need not be some grand visual scheme, but can manifest itself at its most basic in the dwelling.

Fergal Joyce

5^th Year Architecture

17.09.2010