A recent phenomenon in Northern Ireland has been an all show and no substance approach to imposin... more A recent phenomenon in Northern Ireland has been an all show and no substance approach to imposing visual veneers on the commercial cityscapes of run-down parts of the city. Many of these initiatives have been initiated prior to a major tourist or public interest event both in small towns and in key arterial routes into the city. For example, the G8 summit in rural County Fermanagh initiated a government-backed campaign of covering over empty shop fronts with fake printed facades in order to present an impression of thriving commercial activity to the world’s press. Similarly, the 2014 Giro D’Italia cycling race routes were a key government priority for the same visual cleansing treatment while the world’s sporting press broadcast images of Belfast worldwide. Often, disused and decaying shop fronts are covered over by imagined facades displaying static commercial activity via lettering and images. This has the bizarre effect of creating an environment in keeping with movie sets like...
Belfast, divided by geographical, architectural, and cultural interfaces and defined as by its ed... more Belfast, divided by geographical, architectural, and cultural interfaces and defined as by its edgy interfaces, politics, and resilience offers a stark contract of graphic forms in the environment. This article discusses the impact of graphic degeneration/regeneration in interfaces, the pathology of which is often rooted in historical events and demographics in the modern day city. The postmodern architecture of a culturally neutral city centre stands in opposition to the edgy/often disintegrating interface environments. Redevelopment initiatives since the 1960s have sectioned off the city into exclusion zones exacerbating pre-existing cultural divisions. Peace Walls, constructed to separate interface areas known for civil unrest, are longer, stronger and higher than when initially erected and show no sign of being removed, despite the relative peace contemporarily observed. Cultural boundaries in the city are clearly indicated within the communities through graffiti, murals, and ot...
International Journal of Architectural Research: ArchNet-IJAR, 2015
From the late 20th into the 21st centuries, the private market increasingly gained control from p... more From the late 20th into the 21st centuries, the private market increasingly gained control from public authorities over strategic decisions affecting the quality of, and accessibility to, new urban development. This paper argues for architects to act more explicitly to promote greater open-ness and use-value, rather than more objectified and controlled exchange-value approaches to the public domain in private-led development. The paper analyses two London-based residential case studies and interviews with the architects about perceptions of, and approaches to, private-led development decision-making processes. It compares the individual practitioner’s experiences of architecture practice with explicit intentions to influence better quality shared city space, examining professional norms vis-à-vis commercial clients and wider society. The paper concludes that greater awareness of architects’ knowledge, skills, and a range of tactics to influence future shared environments can contrib...
Belfast, perhaps despite, perhaps because of its ‘troubled’ past, is a city with culture, memory,... more Belfast, perhaps despite, perhaps because of its ‘troubled’ past, is a city with culture, memory, history and myth at its core. Now architecturally and geographically permeated the city has, since the ‘Troubles’ of the 1960s, seen a prescribed solution of walls concentrated in the city’s most socio-economically deprived areas. The duality of the walls continues to ensure isolation of communities in social housing estates located on the city’s arterial routes, while major roads initiatives further redefine its boundaries. Currently the city centre is seeing unprecedented redevelopment to create a culturally neutral commercial and tourist hub, underpinned by a narrative of carefully selected stories, reinforced by appropriate ‘visual and architectural representation’. With construction at its highest level since 2008 and 30 development schemes underway or recently completed #BelfastCraneCount, currently trending on twitter, reports 27 cranes in the Belfast skyline. The city is has b...
A recent phenomenon in Northern Ireland has been an all show and no substance approach to imposin... more A recent phenomenon in Northern Ireland has been an all show and no substance approach to imposing visual veneers on the commercial cityscapes of run-down parts of the city. Many of these initiatives have been initiated prior to a major tourist or public interest event both in small towns and in key arterial routes into the city. For example, the G8 summit in rural County Fermanagh initiated a government-backed campaign of covering over empty shop fronts with fake printed facades in order to present an impression of thriving commercial activity to the world’s press. Similarly, the 2014 Giro D’Italia cycling race routes were a key government priority for the same visual cleansing treatment while the world’s sporting press broadcast images of Belfast worldwide. Often, disused and decaying shop fronts are covered over by imagined facades displaying static commercial activity via lettering and images. This has the bizarre effect of creating an environment in keeping with movie sets like...
This paper seeks to further our understanding of the affective impact of lettering and typography... more This paper seeks to further our understanding of the affective impact of lettering and typography in the environment. This research is predicated in the relationship between physical environment and semantic (in this case, typographic) codes. Two contrasting urban areas are used to elucidate the concept of visual appropriateness and meaning and are investigated in order to elucidate the theory that lettering is significant to communicating feeling, identity and social status. This research presents evidence of how feelings towards lettering in relation to place are measured. A set of visuals from each of the two environments was tested using participant groups in order to investigate the concept of semantic understanding. The results are used to present a range of findings about perception of lettering and typography in the urban environment.
In the design sector knowledge transfer partnerships are multifaceted collaborations which impact... more In the design sector knowledge transfer partnerships are multifaceted collaborations which impact on organizational structures and operations, offer opportunities to develop applied research, and facilitate the development of skills for the individual. This paper discusses the project development of a KTP programme between a Belfast commercial and advertising photographer and the University of Ulster design school: from initial placement visits, through the project definition process, the subsequent running of the project (its strengths and weaknesses), and its long-term effects. The project focuses predominantly upon the integration of digital imaging technologies into a traditional film-based creative commercial practice. It does this by looking at the sequencing of processes involved: purchasing equipment, developing new working methods, adopting new processes and ultimately offering a broader range of services. It also looks at personnel retraining, the inevitable redundancy of old technologies, and the threats posed by rapid change. The paper concludes with an impact assessment on: the development of the ‘digital darkroom’, the expansion of imaging services, the effect of technology on archiving and photo library operations, the integration of e-commerce solutions, and the potential for future development.
Commercial signage has a greater presence than any other type of sign in the built environment of... more Commercial signage has a greater presence than any other type of sign in the built environment of cities, conveying a rich tapestry of semiotic codes. While designers are concerned with good practice, invoking semiotic principles, independent retailers with no formal training often create vibrant local signage. Interpreters of signs decode visual information according to their abilities, experiences and needs, but are likely to recognise familiar cultural codes. Signage located within communities, in order to be productive, must speculate the probability of adequately communicating with those who will purchase goods or services, most likely people living nearby. Consequently, commercial signage is often representative of informal community relations, with the spoken language of place gaining physical form through letterforms and cultural connotations expressed through colour and other associated codes. This paper examines signage in the built environment of Belfast’s arterial routes...
Belfast, Northern Ireland is a city permeated by structural divisions, echoing underlying and dee... more Belfast, Northern Ireland is a city permeated by structural divisions, echoing underlying and deeply rooted societal divisions, which no amount of architectural intervention, even Tabula Rasa, can completely eradicate. In a city where, from the late 1960s, civil unrest prescribed a solution of walls, these once temporary structures are now permanent, having increased in size and number since the signing of the Belfast Agreement of 1998. The duality of the walls ensures that on one side communities are isolated in social housing developments where the British Army historically approved planning measures dictated by security issues. On the other, a culturally neutral postmodern city centre, re-imagined as a global tourist destination, a free and inviting environment of consumption. This city’s built environment is further fractured by major roads initiatives. Without sufficient, organized or effective opposition, such as was seen in Manhattan, Belfast’s motorway planning has ensured d...
A recent phenomenon in Northern Ireland has been an all show and no substance approach to imposin... more A recent phenomenon in Northern Ireland has been an all show and no substance approach to imposing visual veneers on the commercial cityscapes of run-down parts of the city. Many of these initiatives have been initiated prior to a major tourist or public interest event both in small towns and in key arterial routes into the city. For example, the G8 summit in rural County Fermanagh initiated a government-backed campaign of covering over empty shop fronts with fake printed facades in order to present an impression of thriving commercial activity to the world’s press. Similarly, the 2014 Giro D’Italia cycling race routes were a key government priority for the same visual cleansing treatment while the world’s sporting press broadcast images of Belfast worldwide. Often, disused and decaying shop fronts are covered over by imagined facades displaying static commercial activity via lettering and images. This has the bizarre effect of creating an environment in keeping with movie sets like...
Belfast, divided by geographical, architectural, and cultural interfaces and defined as by its ed... more Belfast, divided by geographical, architectural, and cultural interfaces and defined as by its edgy interfaces, politics, and resilience offers a stark contract of graphic forms in the environment. This article discusses the impact of graphic degeneration/regeneration in interfaces, the pathology of which is often rooted in historical events and demographics in the modern day city. The postmodern architecture of a culturally neutral city centre stands in opposition to the edgy/often disintegrating interface environments. Redevelopment initiatives since the 1960s have sectioned off the city into exclusion zones exacerbating pre-existing cultural divisions. Peace Walls, constructed to separate interface areas known for civil unrest, are longer, stronger and higher than when initially erected and show no sign of being removed, despite the relative peace contemporarily observed. Cultural boundaries in the city are clearly indicated within the communities through graffiti, murals, and ot...
International Journal of Architectural Research: ArchNet-IJAR, 2015
From the late 20th into the 21st centuries, the private market increasingly gained control from p... more From the late 20th into the 21st centuries, the private market increasingly gained control from public authorities over strategic decisions affecting the quality of, and accessibility to, new urban development. This paper argues for architects to act more explicitly to promote greater open-ness and use-value, rather than more objectified and controlled exchange-value approaches to the public domain in private-led development. The paper analyses two London-based residential case studies and interviews with the architects about perceptions of, and approaches to, private-led development decision-making processes. It compares the individual practitioner’s experiences of architecture practice with explicit intentions to influence better quality shared city space, examining professional norms vis-à-vis commercial clients and wider society. The paper concludes that greater awareness of architects’ knowledge, skills, and a range of tactics to influence future shared environments can contrib...
Belfast, perhaps despite, perhaps because of its ‘troubled’ past, is a city with culture, memory,... more Belfast, perhaps despite, perhaps because of its ‘troubled’ past, is a city with culture, memory, history and myth at its core. Now architecturally and geographically permeated the city has, since the ‘Troubles’ of the 1960s, seen a prescribed solution of walls concentrated in the city’s most socio-economically deprived areas. The duality of the walls continues to ensure isolation of communities in social housing estates located on the city’s arterial routes, while major roads initiatives further redefine its boundaries. Currently the city centre is seeing unprecedented redevelopment to create a culturally neutral commercial and tourist hub, underpinned by a narrative of carefully selected stories, reinforced by appropriate ‘visual and architectural representation’. With construction at its highest level since 2008 and 30 development schemes underway or recently completed #BelfastCraneCount, currently trending on twitter, reports 27 cranes in the Belfast skyline. The city is has b...
A recent phenomenon in Northern Ireland has been an all show and no substance approach to imposin... more A recent phenomenon in Northern Ireland has been an all show and no substance approach to imposing visual veneers on the commercial cityscapes of run-down parts of the city. Many of these initiatives have been initiated prior to a major tourist or public interest event both in small towns and in key arterial routes into the city. For example, the G8 summit in rural County Fermanagh initiated a government-backed campaign of covering over empty shop fronts with fake printed facades in order to present an impression of thriving commercial activity to the world’s press. Similarly, the 2014 Giro D’Italia cycling race routes were a key government priority for the same visual cleansing treatment while the world’s sporting press broadcast images of Belfast worldwide. Often, disused and decaying shop fronts are covered over by imagined facades displaying static commercial activity via lettering and images. This has the bizarre effect of creating an environment in keeping with movie sets like...
This paper seeks to further our understanding of the affective impact of lettering and typography... more This paper seeks to further our understanding of the affective impact of lettering and typography in the environment. This research is predicated in the relationship between physical environment and semantic (in this case, typographic) codes. Two contrasting urban areas are used to elucidate the concept of visual appropriateness and meaning and are investigated in order to elucidate the theory that lettering is significant to communicating feeling, identity and social status. This research presents evidence of how feelings towards lettering in relation to place are measured. A set of visuals from each of the two environments was tested using participant groups in order to investigate the concept of semantic understanding. The results are used to present a range of findings about perception of lettering and typography in the urban environment.
In the design sector knowledge transfer partnerships are multifaceted collaborations which impact... more In the design sector knowledge transfer partnerships are multifaceted collaborations which impact on organizational structures and operations, offer opportunities to develop applied research, and facilitate the development of skills for the individual. This paper discusses the project development of a KTP programme between a Belfast commercial and advertising photographer and the University of Ulster design school: from initial placement visits, through the project definition process, the subsequent running of the project (its strengths and weaknesses), and its long-term effects. The project focuses predominantly upon the integration of digital imaging technologies into a traditional film-based creative commercial practice. It does this by looking at the sequencing of processes involved: purchasing equipment, developing new working methods, adopting new processes and ultimately offering a broader range of services. It also looks at personnel retraining, the inevitable redundancy of old technologies, and the threats posed by rapid change. The paper concludes with an impact assessment on: the development of the ‘digital darkroom’, the expansion of imaging services, the effect of technology on archiving and photo library operations, the integration of e-commerce solutions, and the potential for future development.
Commercial signage has a greater presence than any other type of sign in the built environment of... more Commercial signage has a greater presence than any other type of sign in the built environment of cities, conveying a rich tapestry of semiotic codes. While designers are concerned with good practice, invoking semiotic principles, independent retailers with no formal training often create vibrant local signage. Interpreters of signs decode visual information according to their abilities, experiences and needs, but are likely to recognise familiar cultural codes. Signage located within communities, in order to be productive, must speculate the probability of adequately communicating with those who will purchase goods or services, most likely people living nearby. Consequently, commercial signage is often representative of informal community relations, with the spoken language of place gaining physical form through letterforms and cultural connotations expressed through colour and other associated codes. This paper examines signage in the built environment of Belfast’s arterial routes...
Belfast, Northern Ireland is a city permeated by structural divisions, echoing underlying and dee... more Belfast, Northern Ireland is a city permeated by structural divisions, echoing underlying and deeply rooted societal divisions, which no amount of architectural intervention, even Tabula Rasa, can completely eradicate. In a city where, from the late 1960s, civil unrest prescribed a solution of walls, these once temporary structures are now permanent, having increased in size and number since the signing of the Belfast Agreement of 1998. The duality of the walls ensures that on one side communities are isolated in social housing developments where the British Army historically approved planning measures dictated by security issues. On the other, a culturally neutral postmodern city centre, re-imagined as a global tourist destination, a free and inviting environment of consumption. This city’s built environment is further fractured by major roads initiatives. Without sufficient, organized or effective opposition, such as was seen in Manhattan, Belfast’s motorway planning has ensured d...
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