V I S U A L

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.

Ciana wears:

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)

A L W A Y S P U S H

Concrete Collar X Always Push from concrete collar on Vimeo.

In collaboration with the know-how of our good friend Avril Delaney, Concrete Collar ventured down the unfamiliar road of film to give you an up close and personal on all things PUSH.

PUSH watches are more than just arm candy. They signify the start of a movement which is the brainchild of Irish architects Andrew Griffin and Michael Bannon. The idea, born from a debate which questioned why good design is often exclusive, is embodied in their term 'massclusivity'. Cutting out the middleman and side tracking expenses and profit, PUSH aims to bring the product straight from the designer to the consumer.

These watches are the first product in this massclusive movement.  Economic and minimal in their execution they are refreshingly affordable with prices starting at €35 and 10% of proceeds going to Irish Cancer research. The sense of economy is carried through to the carefully crafted packaging which excited the design nerds in us almost as much as the watches themselves. No surface is left unused ensuring that there is no need for loose guarantee slips or lengthy instruction manuals.

The importance of economy rings through again on the watch face; PUSH one button to read the time, PUSH another to see the day's date. When dormant, the watch face is reflective giving you a discreet mirror with which you may subtly check yourself out in... although we are unclear whether that is intentional. Our secret's out. 

Available in a wide range of colours from lemon to our seasonal favourite, grey, our top picks are the black on black, gold on black or pure white versions.

The campaign, styled by the eternally-spot-on Aisling Farinella, has us wanting to leave all accessories on our vanity tables, adorning ourselves instead with PUSH watch goodness. 

All in all, from concept to execution, this is one deliciously seamless production and is pure music to our architecture and fashion loving ears. 

Head over to www.alwayspush.com for more information and find Avril here @avril_delaney