Open House Dublin is the Irish Architecture Foundation’s flagship architecture festival. 

In 2023 the IAF expanded the Open House Dublin festival to nine days, increasing engagement, participation and impact. We kicked off the festival with an Open House Junior weekend dedicated to young people and families, developed new modes of engagement with our new Open Table Conversations series, journal articles and podcasts, and brought together all four local authorities in Dublin to build a programme of tours, talks, exhibitions, films and more across the city and county.

With over 20,000 in-person and online visitors to Open House Dublin in 2023,

• 82% feel that participating in Open House makes them proud to be a resident of Dublin city or county.
• 96% learned something new about Dublin’s built environment.
• 97% as a result of Open House appreciate how good design can improve lives.
• 84% feel more able to engage in conversations about their built environment and neighbourhoods.

Visitors said, 

“Over the years Open House has done a wonderful job of increasing access to the city’s heritage.”

“The guides and volunteers were excellent and there was such a great atmosphere. We would not miss Open House Dublin for the world.”

The invaluable support of our IAF Friends, supporters, building owners, architects, collaborators and volunteers make Open House Dublin possible. It is with your continued generosity, expertise, passion and advocacy that the IAF will continue to deliver and grow the festival in the future, creating a space for all people to contribute, to learn and to have their voices and stories reflected in the creation of our shared city.

Read the full report (pdf download).

About Open House Dublin

People build cities, but cities build people too. 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 2023 revealed how Dublin and people reflect and depend on each other. 

Open House Dublin is a free festival of architecture with 200+ events taking place each October. We are part of the Open House Worldwide network of more than 50 organisations hosting festivals and conversations about architecture, design and cities across the globe. In addition, we are now a part of Open House Europe, a collaborative project between 11 European cultural organisations with a shared vision of promoting architecture as a positive force for change, co-funded by the European Commission.

Open House Dublin will return on 12-20 October 2024. 

Visit the Open House Dublin website for Journal articles, podcasts about Dublin, and Site Specific documentary films available year-round, and sign up for the IAF newsletter for announcements about this year’s festival and bookings.

Image: Graphic design by Unthink with portrait photography by Johnny Savage.