SCOTT TALLON WALKER ARCHITECTS — 100 buildings + projects, 1960-2005

ed. John O’Regan

essays by Deyan Sudjic, Arthur Gibney; interview with Ronald Tallon by Shane O’Toole; afterword by Ronald Tallon

ISBN 978 0946641 529      392pp (hb)     29 x 28.5 cm     1,312 illus (818 photos, incl 757 colour, and 494 drgs, incl 193 col)     illustrated listing of 228 works     index

This is a magnificent large-format monograph on the architects who shaped modern Ireland, featuring over 100 projects and buildings from the 1960s to 2005. Ireland’s most distinguished architectural practice, Scott Tallon Walker have been responsible for many modern classics of Irish architecture, such as Carroll’s Factory in Dundalk, the entire RTÉ complex in Donnybrook, Bank of Ireland’s headquarters on Baggot Street, and Dublin City Council’s Civic Offices. Now a third-generation architectural practice, this glorious celebration of forty-five years in practice clearly demonstrates why Scott Tallon Walker have maintained their position as one of the most dominant forces in Irish architecture.

EXTRACTS

"Scott Tallon Walker is both a large-scale professional consultancy, and an aesthetically ambitious studio, operating at both ends of the scale. There are very few firms that could simultaneously be working on producing the polite, suave offices of the lawyers and brokers and technologists who are fuelling the country’s economic boom – typified by A&L Goodbody’s Dublin headquarters (1997-1999), with its carefully proportioned spaces, and its sense of lightness – where the architects have created buildings with a scale to create a sense of urbanity, at the same time as designing such a highly charged and sophisticated monument to the past as Tulach a’ tSolais. It is a range that is a measure of where Ireland has come from, but also of how far it has come."

— from the introduction by Deyan Sudjic

 
"Scott Tallon Walker have established a unique and special dominance within the Irish architectural profession. For part of the twentieth century they were the only architects in Ireland to gain international recognition for the continuous excellence of their buildings, and for young Irish architects in the 1960s they symbolised the emerging cultural aspirations of changing political structures and national economic ideals. Ireland has experienced much social and cultural modification since, and in recent decades more Irish architects have become acknowledged abroad. STW still retain a special pre-eminence however, not just for landmark buildings of distinction, but for a large corpus of work of consistent and continuous quality produced over a period of four decades."

— from the essay by Arthur Gibney

"We were, of course, especially aware of the work of Mies van der Rohe. It would be stupid to say we were not influenced by the work of these people. We travelled a lot in those days. Every couple of years we’d go to Chicago and look at the latest developments there. We’d discuss the details. We also looked very carefully at the work of Pier Luigi Nervi, how he handled concrete. We were searching for quality in architecture. You might say that we were very much influenced by Miesian architecture but we never took it as a style. That was a corruption in Modern architecture. We might end up with a building that looked very Miesian, but we ended up with it having come through all the principles of design that also led Mies to his solutions. Today, there’s no way I could say he wasn’t a great influence on our work, but it wasn’t the end, the only goal in life. All the great architects, all the good serious architects in the world are influenced by people; it’s only natural that they are. Maybe not consciously, but, sub-consciously, they have to be influenced by what they see and what they admire. Anyone who claims they’re not influenced by others is not being truthful, I think."

— Ronald Tallon, from the interview by Shane O’Toole

REVIEWS

No architectural practice in Ireland has been around for so long and built as much as the firm founded by Michael Scott. So it is entirely appropriate that President McAleese  launched this sumptuous book celebrating the firm’s work over the past 45 years. It is a breathtaking book.  — Frank McDonald, Irish Times

 
 When the editor of this sumptuous volume, John O’Regan, says that the firm of Scott Tallon Walker reflects the developement of Ireland in a way perhaps no other architectural practice anywhere can represent a country’s recent history, he speaks no less than the truth. The partnership is unique. Its standards of excellence have been matched by a consistency of style that is hugely impressive ... the book is a record of Irish physical history, impressively captured and presented as a record of how far we have come since 1960.  — Bruce Arnold, Irish Independent

 
This book is a magnificent memorial to the partnership that is responsible for a great part of our built environment...  — Books Ireland