More than concrete blocks: vol. II, 1940–72
Dublin city's twentieth-century buildings and their stories
Ellen Rowley, editor
More than Concrete Blocks: Dublin City’s twentieth-century buildings is a three-volume series of architectural history books which are richly illustrated and written for the general reader. Unpacking the history of Dublin’s architecture during the twentieth century, each book covers a period in chronological sequence: Volume I, 1900–40; and Volume II, 1940–73 are both available in all good bookshops and via Four Courts Press. The series considers the city as a layers and complex place. It makes links between Dublin’s buildings and Dublin’s political, social, cultural and economic histories.
The series comes out of a pioneering research and survey project commissioned and funded by Dublin City Council' Heritage Office and has received grant support from the Heritage Council and the Department of Housing Local Government and Heritage. Edited by Dr Ellen Rowley, the series considers the city as a layered and complex place. It makes links between Dublin' buildings and Dublin' political, social, cultural and economic histories. By focusing on architecture as the central thread in the story of the city in formation, 1900-2000, More Than Concrete Blocks is about the relationship between architecture and people in Dublin City.
Volume II explores Dublin’s architectural history from 1940 to 1972. There are 36 case studies, markedly mixed in terms of building type and public awareness, from city-centre schools to the nation’s bus station (Busáras); from a suburban Catholic church and flat schemes to radical office buildings. Volume II covers the middle of the twentieth century, including the largely overlooked 1940s and 1950s. It presents a contentious built history which saw the not-always-welcome rise of architectural modernism, at the service of a modernizing Ireland.
Contributors: Natalie de Róiste, Merlo Kelly, Shane O’Toole, Carole Pollard and Ellen Rowley, photography by Paul Tierney.
