This thesis investigates what is termed “The Mystification of the Architectural Method”, critically reassessing the value systems, ethical positions and moral assumptions embedded within architectural education and conventional professional practice. It questions how architectural authority is constructed and sustained, and whether the discipline’s internal cultures distance it from meaningful civic engagement. Framed through the typology of a public house, the project proposes a civic school that houses “The Dublin Project”, an initiative involving DIT, Dublin City Council and Design TwentyFirst Century.
The programme aims to address complex urban challenges facing Dublin. The proposal argues that the success of such an initiative depends not only on public consultation at the level of inputs and outputs, but on embedding public participation within its processes. The building therefore acts as a spatial and institutional device, returning academic and professional discourse to the public sphere and positioning architecture as an open, contested civic practice rather than a closed disciplinary system. The choice of site at Essex Gate in Temple Bar is deliberate. The derelict and dilapidated condition of the site serves as a critique of prevailing development logics and speculative urbanism. By intervening here, the project comments on the values inscribed in the existing urban fabric while proposing an alternative model grounded in sustainability, adaptability and ethical responsibility.
To accommodate a varied and evolving programme, the design adopts a strategy of spatial and material flexibility. Spaces and furniture are adaptable, and the building itself is conceived as a system designed for disassembly and reassembly. This enables the structure to respond to changing contextual, social or programmatic conditions and, if necessary, to be relocated to other sites. Material selection prioritises natural and sustainable components deployed in a modular manner, reinforcing both environmental considerations and the logic of reuse.
The technical demands of designing for disassembly required close interdisciplinary collaboration. A partnership with architectural technologist Mark Pringle ensured that the conceptual ambitions of adaptability and material responsibility were rigorously tested and resolved at the level of construction, demonstrating that ethical architectural propositions must be substantiated through technical precision.