Ambition and Achievement – The Civic Visions of Frank Gibney

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A singular figure in the field of Irish residential  design in the middle part of the 20th century, Frank Gibney’s reputation rests primarily on the six village schemes in the midlands which he designed for Bord na Mona workers. He is less well known for his adherence to and  promulgation of, the principles of the Garden City and Beaux Arts Movements in his planning and architectural  work. It is this aspect of his career which distinguishes him from other practitioners of the period by virtue of the broadness and daring of his visionary proposals. Between 1940 and 1950, he produced ambitious plans for more than twenty-five Irish cities, towns and villages, though few of his proposals ever came to fruition.

A constant public advocate of the need for future  planning, he sought to encourage debate by preparing and presenting the first ever spatial plan for the island of Ireland. His promotion of the use of indigenous building and energy resources also displayed his imaginative and radical thinking.

While Gibney was an urban visionary and polemicist, he was also an extremely practical housing designer and in this career he was the most prolific practitioner of his generation, being responsible for the layout and design of almost six thousand dwellings which are to be found in every part of the country. Unlike some of the housing schemes of the 1960s which were to be demolished within fifty years, Gibney’s are still as sound as the day they were built and are cherished and protected by their occupants, who have resisted any adulteration of their architectural quality. The endurance of Gibney’s schemes lies not just in the traditional design, construction and accommodation of the individual dwellings, but in the well-considered and unified layout of each estate, which created a human scale and a sense of place for its inhabitants. Now that a more extensive collection of Gibney’s drawings and correspondence and particularly his town plans, have been deposited with the Irish Architectural Archive (IAA), a preliminary overview can be made of the work of this important figure whose opinions and designs reflect very much the spirit and culture of the times in which he lived.