‘Vanishing Dublin’, which borrows its title from the book by Flora H. Mitchell published in 1966, is a project brief by Brenda Duggan and Peter Maybury, Visual Communication lecturers at Dublin School of Creative Arts, TU Dublin. Taking a site or building as a case study, third year undergraduate students are asked to consider the significance of the 20th century built heritage of Dublin and its ongoing erasure, and to reflect on how this informs collective memory and our view of ourselves.

This exhibition shows the collaborative research outcomes of two students, Sarah Tuncq (L’École de design Nantes Atlantique, France), and Tatjana Skoumal (Hochschule fuer Gestaltung Schwaebisch Gmuend, Germany) while studying with us last semester as part of the Erasmus programme.

Sarah and Tatjana chose Fitzwilton House (Shoolheifer & Burley, 1969), Wilton Place, Dublin 2, which was in the process of demolition at the time of the project, as a catalyst for their investigation into the growth and increasing density of Dublin’s built stock.

Drawing on material held at the Irish Architectural Archive and from many online resources, Sarah and Tatjana investigate the history of the site at Wilton Terrace. Piecing together a succession of maps to dynamically illustrate the expansion of Dublin, they consider the demands of a modern city and its economic imperatives, and how this is affecting the diversity and complexity of the built environment.