Dr. Myles Campbell takes us on a tour of the Chapel Royal, Dublin Castle and reveals the history of this gothic revival masterpiece. This document of the Chapel Royal in Dublin Castle is a visual feast of pomp and ceremony. Dr Myles Campbell from Collections, Research an Interpretation at the Office of Public Works, very vividly and engagingly conveys the impact and importance of this building by Francis Johnston from 1814. The interior is an exemplar of Dublin’s stuccodores’ craft, and presents us with a wonderful theatrical impression. 

Site Specific is a special commission of ten short documentaries by the Irish Architecture Foundation for Open House Dublin 2020.  Dyehouse Films reveal the personalities, processes, complexity, creativity and transformative impact that surround the act of designed space. The protagonists: the site, the architect, the historian, the user, speak directly to the camera, they speak directly to us. Site Specific crosses the city, scales and building types from play parks, social housing, places of worship to a building not yet built. Taken individually, each 5-minute video has something of the condensed power of a short story. As with the best short stories, it is through the intense focus on the particular qualities of a particular space at a particular time, that much larger social and cultural themes are illuminated. Site Specific makes evident architecture’s great central responsibility – the shaping of the spaces that in turn shape society.

Director Bonnie Dempsey, Cinematography Tom Comerford, Drone Paul Magee, Rerecording Mixer Nikki Moss, Producer Aimie Gavin, Editor David O’Sullivan

Special thanks to Dr Myles Campbell, William Derham, Professor Christine Casey, Staff and guides at Dublin Castle, National Irish Visual Arts Library, Bridget O’ Gorman, Elizabeth McCay, Office of Public Works, Mary Heffernan. 

Images courtesy of OPW Collection 

Produced by Dyehouse Films 2020

Opinions expressed are the contributors alone and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of the Irish Architecture Foundation or Dyehouse Films.