Today I did not buy the Sunday paper. I have been buying it religiously for the past three weeks, a part of my ritual in splendid isolation. It resulted in the newspapers taking up their own isolation, on one corner of the kitchen table. Half read and dejected. I did not want to put them through this pain anymore.
My morning was spent lounging in a red all in one romper suit--an Asian 'hostel chic' take on Andy Pandy-- and listening to the Dublin history podcast, Three Castles burning. After my 'mystery tour' of Dublin yesterday, I have found a renewed interest in its treasure chest of things, people and buildings. One person that the podcast covered at length was the architect Herbert Simms and his Art Deco social housing. Prior to listening to this podcast, Art Deco was firmly associated in my mind with the world of Great Gatsbys, 'bright young things', soviet propaganda and--if we were to loop it back to Dublin--Nassau Street's 'Café en Seine' bar which seemed to be doing everything it could to firmly REMOVE itself from Dublin and PLACE itself in the exotic allure of Paris. And, if I may say so, fail while doing so.
Art Deco and the Dublin tenements were two dots not joined.
Cue, enter: Herbert Simms immortalized by Donal Fallon's expert narration.
What I have learnt is that Simms was Dublin's first housing architect and his job was to solve the issue of the slums-- Dublin's appalling tenements. Social housing was to be provided to Dublin's needy and that job was no longer to be left to greedy landlords whose solution had been to carve up Georgian homes and charge rent for their pockets. It's always said that history repeats itself and I see this in Dublin's hostels, once again packing people into spacious Georgian townhouses, albeit middle-class travelers rather than working class Dubliners. History can repeat itself in more ways than one, though more on that later.
One of the emphases of Art Deco architecture was on quality of craftsmanship. It's also said that Simms was nothing if not a quality craftsman, he believed in providing houses of good standard and longevity to the people that needed them. His work still stands today, it's curvy, strong and sure of itself. It's also supportive of local ingredients and perfectly balanced. This all sounds like a perfect cocktail--though not served in Café en Seine, please.
Simms Art Deco can be seen in the curved concrete capstones as you enter Chancery Place, it can be seen in the 'now you see me, now you don't' portholes of Clontarf's wind shelters and it can be seen in the rounded brick balconies of Pearse St. flats. It can be seen in many more examples than this but I'm going to finish here--leaving space for my own ignorance to cure itself and the thought that, if it could be done in the 1930's, it can be done now. And better. Let's not associate Simms with a computer game, but a state drive to provide. That's a legacy he would be proud of.
xoxo Simms not The Sims
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