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UCC Glucksman Gallery

A new art gallery and restaurant is sited on the main avenue approach to University College Cork between the trees in the river meander landscape. Located within the curtilage of the protected structure of the nineteenth century university quadrangle, the new building is a strategic element in the conservation of the landscape setting of the Lower Grounds and its integration with the College Campus

Area:
2,300m2
Address:
University College, Cork
GPS:
51.8947° N, 8.4903° W
End Year:
Awards:
Exhibitions:
  • American Academy of Arts and Letters 2015 Awards: O’Donnell + Tuomey
    Dublin, 29 Oct  – 9 Nov 2015

The solidity of the stone base, the openness of the public space on the podium and the form of the timber gallery are three distinct characteristics of the architectural concept.

The Gallery is raised among the trees in an interlocking suite of rooms with selected views up and down the river. Interconnected in plan and section, the gallery rooms provide a variety of exhibition spaces from close control to natural daylight.

The cafe opens towards the west into a central garden between river and escarpment. An outdoor dining terrace provides views of the picturesque gothic College buildings.

The podium is the point of access up to the Gallery and down to the cafe. It emerges from the limestone escarpment like a manmade extension of the natural landscape. Acting as a pier between the main avenue and the river, it is both landscape and building, plinth and pathway.

What is really remarkable about this university art gallery is that the more one looks, the better it gets.

That is the sign of complete assurance and maturity. What most artists do is make simple things complex; great artists make complex things appear simple. This is one of the rare buildings that fits that definition of greatness.

From Stirling Prize citation

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