Sam Stephenson

Sam Stephenson (born December 15, 1933 in Dublin , † November 9, 2006 ) was an Irish architect whose buildings usually caused great controversy among the public.

Life

Sam Stephenson was born in Dublin in 1933, the youngest of Paddy Stephenson's five children. Paddy Stephenson was a historian, city librarian and founder of the Old Dublin Society , in 1916 he took part in the so-called Easter Rising .

One of his brothers - Fr James Stephenson - was Jesuit and Sam Stephenson so went the renowned, from the Jesuit order led, Belvedere College , to school. After finishing school, Stephenson studied architecture, first in Dublin at the College of Technology Bolton Street, then in England , France and Switzerland , and graduated from the Royal Institute of Architects of Ireland .

In 1958 he married Bernadette Flood . The couple moved into a Stephenson restored home in Leeson Close and had two daughters and two sons. In 1960, Stephenson founded an architecture firm ( Stephenson, Gibney & Associates ) together with Arthur Gibney († May 2006 ).

At that time, Stephenson was an active member of the Fianna Fáil , founded by Éamon de Valera (1926-1959) , which had been the government of Ireland since 1957, was good friends with the future Prime Minister Charles Haughey , and provided a. a. wealthy business people - many in the construction industry - donate money to the party.

He also applied for a seat in the Seanad , but gave up when one of his brothers also wanted to get a seat. Like his political friends and contemporaries - Charles Haughey , the young Fianna Fáil ministers Donough O'Malley and Brian Lenihan - Stephenson played a key role in the modernization of Ireland, especially Dublin, in the 1960s: “Dublin has fallen into complete disrepair over the past 150 years. The problems are gigantic, but so are the unique possibilities. An architect has the task of giving testimony about his time and so he should not be afraid to reflect the time in which we live with his buildings. ” (Sam Stephenson)

In 1962, Stephenson, Gibney & Associates won a competition for a new central building for the Electricity Supply Board (ESB) to be built on Fitzwilliam Street. (The ESB, founded in 1927, is a state-owned company for the generation and distribution of electricity).

With the destruction of a large number of them, the construction of the ESB headquarters was still entirely in the Georgian style of the 18th and 19th centuries. Century preserved houses - the so-called " Georgian mile " in Dublin - hand in hand. The houses were broken out of the middle of a previously almost intact ensemble, which led to violent protests from the population. In particular, the Irish Georgian Society and the Old Dublin Society , founded by Sam Stephenson's father , campaigned for the preservation of the historic building fabric and made a front against the construction of the new building.

Alluding to the British occupation, the newspapers wrote that "no London vandal has ever raged so badly" . After the building was erected - despite all resistance - even critics had to admit that it did fit into the architectural environment and that it subsequently found increasing acceptance among the population.

When the Central Bank of Ireland decided in 1965 to visually express its economic importance by building a structure that should tower over the entire financial district, it commissioned Sam Stephenson. The building was to be erected on Dame Street in Dublin . Stephenson was inspired by the Irish-American architect Kevin Roche for this design - as with some of his other designs - and delivered a design that was certainly groundbreaking for this time, on the one hand enthusiastic, but on the other hand also led to massive protests.

The old town quarter, built predominantly in the Georgian architectural style , was now to be dominated and dominated by a building that looked almost like one of those early machines that you thought you could still see what work they were doing. As requested by the Central Bank: Heavy, powerful, symbol for the content of the building. In addition, as was the case with the establishment of the Electricity Supply Board (ESB), old structures that were worth preserving were demolished for the new bank building.

There were other quarrels as well: During construction it was noticed that the building exceeded the total height approved by the planning office by 30 ft. And the company had to pay a fine of £ 200,000 for omitting the originally planned copper roof.

In 1968 the Dublin Corporation planned to build a new headquarters for the City Council Offices in Wood Quay and announced a competition for this. Stephenson, Gibney & Associates won this one. However, the striking, very idiosyncratic design with four bunker-like towers soon gave rise to suspicions that Stephenson's admiration for Albert Speer , Hitler's favorite architect, had spread here.

From the beginning, the building project met with massive resistance from the population, so that only two of the four towers originally planned were actually built (phase I) . During the excavation work, the remains of an old Viking settlement were also brought to light. According to archaeologists, the relics were one of the most important finds from this time and numerous “Save Wood Quay” protest movements tried to stop the construction of the buildings from this aspect by court order. However, the Dublin Corporation did not allow itself to be dissuaded by the protests of the population, the occupation of the construction site, or a court ruling by the High Court , and enforced the continuation of the construction work through a ruling by the Supreme Court . (The archaeological finds were transported to the National Museum and construction work could then continue.)

The protests of the population were successful, however, as the building complex was no longer completed according to Stephenson's designs, but instead phase II was completed by Scott Tallon Walker according to completely new designs by Ronnie Tallon . Despite all the protests, almost all of Stephenson's major projects have been awarded national or international prizes.

He designed a number of other structures: including the Irish pavilion for the Expo 70 in Osaka , the central administration building of Bord na Móna (peat authority / responsible for handling Ireland's peat reserves), the Institute of Advanced Studies, the buildings of Fitzwilliam Tennis Club, Fieldcrest Factory Buildings in Kilkenny , Blooms Hotel in Temple Bar.

However, the 80s brought Stephenson's decline: He lived very extravagantly, dabbled with property speculation. In the 80s, which were meager for architects, this led to financial disaster. His collaboration with Arthur Gibney broke up and Stephenson was now working with the British company Stone Toms . The new company was named Stone Toms Stephenson . The new job meant that Stephenson had to spend a lot of time in London , including traveling. Nonetheless, he occasionally returned to Dublin and tried to get his own architectural firm, Stephenson & Associates .

Under all this stress, his marriage to Bernadette Flood fell apart . Only when he married the much younger Caroline Sweetman in 1991 and started a second family did his life regain some stability. Stephenson moved to Leixlip (near Dublin ) with his new partner . The couple had two children.

In the following years he continued to work as an architect, but this could no longer be compared with the work in his successful days. He also exhibited his well-done watercolors and drawings at the Royal Hibernian Academy .

In later life he regretted that he had disregarded the great architecture of the past so much: “I used to be an apostle of modern architecture but I've given up that religion completely and am now an atheist. I go to bed with Palladio in the evening and get up with Lutyens . ” (I was an advocate / apostle of modern architecture, but meanwhile I have completely given up this sense of mission and am only an“ atheist. ”In the evening I go to bed with Palladio and the next morning I get up again with Lutyens .)

The Times wrote in its obituary: "His best buildings are perfect symbols for the times in which they were made - glamorous and just a little bit dangerous." (His most important buildings are excellent symbols for the time in which they were built - adorable, but also a bit dangerous).

Footnotes

1. ↑ http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/article638441.ece?token=null&offset=12

Web links

• [1] Illustrations, floor plans, brief description of the Central Bank of Ireland
• [2] Pictures and brief description of the Dublin City Council (construction phase I: Sam Stephenson; construction phase II: Scott, Tallon, Walker)
• [3] Pictures and brief description of the ESB headquarters