urban space urban action
Deirdre A Power
Projects
brokenland
Brokenland project presents an intense engagement focused on a piece of land on the outskirts of Limerick which houses an urban community, a huge (spectacularly blunt), failed/stalled commercial development, existing commercial enterprises, an urban road network and traces of history of previous uses of this place. Presenting images of buildings abandoned, half built, give just one strand in the complex narratives that fuel our perception. The abandoned forms of concrete and steel, which until recently were accompanied by rusting cranes are incredibly compelling as objects and thus are much photographed. Maybe these beautiful ruins identify our love of failure or create a type of contemporary nostalgic. These elegant emblematic ruins serve as ‘perfect images’ of our failed economy, wonderful follies of the recently held belief in never ending demand for growth and consumption.
re-imagining reboge meadows
The project Re-Imagining Reboge Meadows began by examining the failed Park Valley Shopping development that is situated on the urban fringe of Limerick City and County. The project has grown to engage with the communities living in the surround of the townlands of Reboge Meadows and Singland. The defunct development is juxtaposed next to the estates of Castletroy View and Chesterfield estates who aim to preserve their green area despite this overwhelming eyesore on their doorstep.
When Castletroy View was first populated there was a beautiful expanse stretching across Reboge Meadows which buffered us from the perpetual urban developments around. Now we are caught in a zone between a failed commercial development and ever expanding retail parks and estates.We would love to see our Green Area restored to some natural beauty by the addition of mature trees to shield us from the industrial “eyesore” beyond our border. Maggie Jardine 2011
groody walkway
Groody Walkway is a construct drawing upon the proposed plan by the County Council ( to ensure the area of the Groody Basin could become a walkway and cycleway for leisure). The objective is to secure and construct a pathway, a simulated wood like structure that will withstand water damage as this area is prone to flooding. In 2009 the basin was engulfed by flood waters from the nearby Shannon River.