W.B. Yeats once dreamed that he would “a small cabin build there….of clay and wattle made”. Now, it may actually happen…
A new International Architectural Competition is set to temporarily transform the appearance of the Lake Isle of Innisfree on Lough Gill for Yeats Day this June. Submissions are now being invited for a conceptual interpretation for this beautiful island, immortalised by the poet in his famous poem.
The Yeats2015 Architectural Competition has been devised by the architecture staff at The Institute of Technology Sligo in collaboration with the Model, Sligo and the organisers of the year-long Yeats 150 celebrations in conjunction with Sligo County Council.
“The competition is open to regional, national and international practitioners of architecture and art,” explains Bernadette Donohoe, Programme Chair of the BA (Hons) in Architectural Design at the Institute, and one of the competition authors alongside Cliona Brady and Michael Roulston.
“The competition is for the design of a temporary architectural intervention for the island of Innisfree which will mediate between Yeats’ poetic vision and contemporary architectural ideas. It will present a unique opportunity to design and build in a highly sensitive and protected location, beyond the constraints imposed by a permanent building. The temporary status of the intervention is a crucial consideration as it is envisaged that the harmony of the island remains uninterrupted.”
“The story goes that Yeats himself once rowed up Lough Gill with his wife George in search of the Lake Isle and apparently failed to find it,” says Senator Susan O’Keeffe, Chair, Yeats 2015. “This project provides a unique opportunity to celebrate a Yeats landmark in a creative way on Yeats Day.”
The project has the financial backing of IT Sligo, the Model (Sligo) and Hazelwood Demesne Ltd.
An independent judging panel of design and environmental specialists will meet in March to select the winning entry. It will then be designed and created on the island itself during April and May as a temporary realisation of Yeats’ vision and as a gift for his 150th birthday.
The project will culminate with a special ceremony of readings and Yeats’ poetry on the Island on Saturday, June 13th, Yeats Day.
The winning design structure, once created, will remain on the island for the summer months, before it’s moved to its permanent home, which will be on the campus of IT Sligo, as a lasting legacy for future generations.
The Institute’s President, Professor Vincent Cunnane, believes the project will be one of the headline Yeats2015 events. “We’re delighted to be part of such an innovative project which is already attracting significant interest from overseas,” he says. “The provision of a permanent location for the winning design on the campus of IT Sligo will, I believe, help encapsulate for the younger generation Yeats’ special connection with this region.”
The competition will form part of Art-Architecture-Landscape: a collaborative three-part project with IT Sligo, The Model and Yeats 2015. All three elements of the initiative will be presented in a building-wide public exhibition at The Model in September and October. The exhibition will also include selected competition entries as well as conceptual projects from Architectural Design students at IT Sligo.
“Artefacts of original letters and other correspondence as well as drawings, plans, traces of performances, objects, documentation and other paraphernalia will be exhibited, says Megan Johnston, Director of the Model. “We hope that invited artists and creatives will respond to spaces, temporal issues and the physicality of transcendence.”
The award value of the Yeats 2015 Architectural Competition is €30,000 and the deadline for submissions is 5pm on Thursday, March 12th.
The winner will be announced before the end of March.
For entry details, visit yeats2015-architecture-competition.com.