This €18 million development is sadly one
of the few remarkable buildings to emerge from the glory days
of the Celtic Tiger. Carlow’s VISUAL Centre for Contemporary Art & The George
Bernard Shaw Theatre is a multi-disciplinary arts facility designed by renowned
British architect - Terry Pawson.
Pawson won the open international
competition held by the RIAI in 2004, for which there were over 100 expressions
of interest. VISUAL boasts an area of 3,130m², comprising four principle
gallery spaces, a 300 seat performing arts theatre, a restaurant, bar and spaces
for a craft and a book shop. It’s rather lovely so if you’re ever in the area
be sure to swing by for a nosey.
Unique to Ireland, the
building features an expansive gallery space with a ceiling height of 12m to
accommodate large-scale sculpture and installation, the scale of which has
(supposedly) not been easily accommodated in Ireland to date.
Pawson describes the
building eloquently as “an assembly of different sized volumes clad in opaque
glass raised on a concrete plinth….The muteness of the opaque glass harmonises
with the neutral grey of the town’s local limestone. “
We can attest to this
wonderful soft light, which alters over the course of the day and projects a
more exuberant glow come nightfall. The ‘white box’ gallery spaces are linked
by a landscape of exposed concrete. Wall surfaces have been cast against a
textured board which at this time support an exhibition of more than 100
pieces that illustrate the breadth and longevity of celebrated architect,
designer and artist - Patrick Scott.
The robust industrial
quality of the Visual coupled with the works displayed in ‘Image Space Light’ lent
itself perfectly as the backdrop to our first summer shoot of 2014. We chose an
understated palette of pale blues, navy and white. Culottes have been and remain firmly on our radar as the perfect middle-ground for smart summer dressing.
Thank you kindly to the Visual, to Arnotts for supplying
the beautiful clothes for this shoot and to Coldlilies
for the wonderful jewellery. Items listed are available from
Arnotts Department Store at 12 Henry Street, Dublin 1.
All styling and photography is our own.
Tambi Blouse by Goat
Culottes by Lennon Courtney
Doris Day Knit by Lennon Courtney
Becky wears:
Orla Kiely dress
Zara mules
H&M Trench
Ciana wears:
Jessika Oversized Dress by D.Efect
Sliders by Schuh
Becky wears:
Shirt Dress by Lennon Courtney
Zara mules
Ciana wears:
White Blazer by Tara Jarmon
Navy Culottes by Tara Jarmon
Sliders (as before)
