Celebrating Trinity College Dublin's brutalist gem #berkeley50
One of the interesting points about the Berkeley is that many elements were almost artisanal in their construction, being undertaken by what today would be seen as small family firms of craftsmen, such as our friends in the Ardee Chair Factory.
A full list of these firms was included in the launch brochure published in 1967:
As we saw last time, the Iveagh Hall was crammed to bursting before it was refurbished. In truth, the publicly accessible areas of it were still crammed *after* refurbishment; the years since 2002 have seen a steady stream of moves of material into, out of, and around the Iveagh Hall. We’ll look at that, and the future of the space, later!
Here’s the architects’ vision of the Hall – which users of the Berkeley of the last 15 years will recognise.
The Iveagh Hall – the main place of interaction between Library staff and our readers on a daily basis – features in very few of our period photographs.
It’s named after the Iveaghs (they of the lovely Iveagh Gardens off Earlsfort Terrace) – that is, the Guinness family. Yes, *that* Guinness family. Continue reading “#17 My Goodness, My Guinness”
From 1967 up until 2002, when entering the Berkeley’s foyer, to your right was the Librarian’s Office, and that of the Deputy Librarian, behind a wall and door. Before the Berkeley was built, the Librarian’s Office was in the west end of the Old Library, in what is now called the Henry Jones Room. We saw this in the video of students swearing the Library oath in the last post.
There are very few images of the interior of the Librarian’s Office, but former Librarian Peter Fox took a video of it before he left in 1994 to become Librarian of Cambridge University Library:
A brief interlude. Do you know the Library Bond, signed by new staff? Without signing it, staff are not allowed to borrow our material. It states if you damage or lose our books, we will find you and, er, fine you. Continue reading “#15 My Word Is My Bond”
Last time we took a quick look at some of the changes that accompanied the refurbishment of the Berkeley’s lower floors in 2002. Here we continue with more of the dramatic changes in the foyer. Continue reading “#14 Let There Be Light”
On 11 April 2003, the Ussher Library (technically, the James Ussher Library & Glucksman Conservation Department) was opened by the then President, Mary McAleese. Like the Berkeley, it had been the subject of an international competition, launched in 1997. Construction had begun in 1999.
Students sat at the chrome-and-leatherette desks in the Berkeley may be interested to know that these are original features, built at the Ardee Chair Factory in 1967 and then assembled on site, as the library began operations.
Last week we were delighted to welcome two of the craftsmen responsible for the construction and installation of the desks.
Continue reading “#12 Meet the Chair-men”
One of the key hopes of this site was to pull together images and stories from the public around the Berkeley. This week we are delighted to feature photography from Alan Harrison (varjakpaul on Instagram). His other shots, many of which feature Dublin and Trinity, are well worth viewing. Continue reading “#11 A Soft Day”
Fire is the traditional enemy of books – from the repeated destructions of the Great Library of Alexandria, up to modern disasters such as the second Gulf War. No wonder then, that the Bodleian Library in Oxford requires readers to swear:
not to bring into the Library or kindle therein any fire or flame, and not to smoke in the Library.
