Open House Dublin is a free festival of architecture with 150+ guided tours and events taking place across the city and county each October. Proudly presented by the Irish Architecture Foundation, Open House Dublin celebrates great architecture, urban design and the people who contribute to the creation of built Dublin.

People build cities, but cities build people too. This year Open House Dublin delights in and debates the everyday and energetic exchange between Dublin and the people who build it. Dublin is a city and county built of rooms, buildings, streets, railways, pitches, parks and more. Together, these built parts of Dublin shape and guide the public and private lives of nearly one and a half million people. In turn, the city is formed and changed by millions of individual imaginations, countless conversations, and ordinary, daily actions. Through visits, talks, tours, lectures, workshops, podcasts and more, Open House Dublin will reveal how Dublin and people reflect and depend on each other. When it comes to Dublin, we are in it, together.

The full festival programme is available on the Open House Dublin website. As always, there will be an exciting mix of walk-up and pre-book events to choose from, with booking opening in mid-September. All events are free of charge, and there is something for every age and ability to enjoy.

We are delighted to announce that, by popular demand, this year’s festival has grown from 1 weekend to 2 and the week between. The first weekend, 7-8 October, will feature activities specifically for families and young people (Open House Junior), followed by a series of weekday lunchtime talks and evening lectures. The packed programme of tours you know and love will take place over the main festival weekend, 13-15 October.

Open House Dublin is part of the Open House Worldwide international network of 50 organisations hosting festivals and conversations about architecture, design and cities across the globe from Lagos to Taipei, and New York to Santiago.

This year, Open House Dublin also joins the Open House Europe collaboration of 12 Open House organisers across the continent. For the next three festival years (2023-25), we are offering our volunteers the opportunity to assist with partner festivals; Open House Dublin visitors a chance to share visual stories across the network; and highlighting a timely theme in the programme, with a focus this year on sustainability.

Do you want to experience the festival to the full? Our call for volunteers is now open.

Photo: ESB Project Fitzwilliam, Open House Dublin 2021. Photo by Ste Murray.