Open House is a simple but powerful concept. All over Dublin, over one weekend each year, buildings of architectural quality and interest open their doors to the public, effectively creating a vast “living” exhibition of architecture. By enabling people to directly experience buildings in this pointed way – their space, atmosphere, light and quality of design – Open House encourages us to look at our cities and the architecture around us in a new light.

All tours and building visits are free and conducted by architects, students of architecture, architectural historians and other experts in the built environment.

2008’s Dublin theme is The Changing City; we propose to look at the transformative changes that have taken place in the city centre and the wider Dublin area over the past decade, including Europe’s largest urban regeneration project at Ballymun. There was also be a Green Architecture Trail, focusing on exemplary sustainable and energy-reducing buildings such as Fingal County Council headquarters in Swords; a Junior Open House, featuring architectural workshops and special building visits aimed at young people and their families; and an extended Open Space programme building on last year’ popular walking and cycling tours. Other events that take place to correspond with Open House Dublin are Culturstruction – a visual arts initiative, and Open Debate, which askes whether Dublin has changed for the better.

Listen to Gerry Cahill’s ‘Back to the Street’ walking tour or Sean O’Laoire & Ruairi Quinn’s ‘Dublin Docklands by Water’ boat tour on IAF Radio.