IDI Creative Axis - Institute of Designers in Ireland

EVENTS15father of thematic exhibition design, and‘Grand Old Man’ of British museum designerswas James Gardner, or ‘G’ as he liked to beknown. He had more or less invented modernthematic exhibition design with his designsfor the great Festival of Britain exhibitionsLondon in 1951. The great man was dulycontacted and asked if he could recommendanyone in Ireland. He immediately replied,“Oh, the only man to work with in Ireland isFrank Ryan … and of course he was right.”Frank and Jonathan later collaborated onthe design team for the Irish Pavilion at Expo’92 in Seville.For these signal achievements and formany more, Frank has been honouredpreviously, with the election to severalfellowships:In recognition of his work, Franks waselected a Fellow of the Institute of BritishDecorators and Interior Designers, a Fellow ofthe Society of Industrial Artist and Designers(now CSD) and most recently in 2005,awarded the Fellowship of The Institute ofDesigners in Ireland .The recognition he enjoys from hisprofessional colleagues and friends isperhaps best expressed by Michal Ozminwhen he says:“We could talk forever about workingtogether with Frank, his extraordinary input toIrish cultural life, his achievements as adesigner and as an educator, the respect heholds among fellow-professionals, educatorsand ex-students and the love which we, hisfriends hold for him in our hearts.”64 years after Frank first commenced hisillustrious career as a designer, it is indeedan honour and a privilege for Griffith CollegeDublin to formally recognise Frank’soverwhelming contribution to design,professional development and designeducation in Ireland.I now call upon the Chairman of GriffithCollege Dublin, Mr. Diarmuid Hegarty, toconfer the Professional Excellence Award onFrank Ryan and to present him formally withhis scroll.Citation given by President of Griffith College Dublin,Diarmuid Hegarty at the award ceremony in FrankfortAvenue, Rathgar, Dublin 6 on March 10th 2006.The ECIA Board Meetingat the Digital Hub Dublin –Birgitt begker, Selma Harrington, Kees Spanjers,Gerrit Schilder Jr. and Per ReinholtzIDI Hosts the European Council of Interior Architects Board Meeting June.16-17.2006As a member of the ECIA, the IDI hosted theirJune Board Meeting on the weekend of the16th/17th June and some social events toencourage Interior Architect and Designmembers to meet with them.Four ECIA Board members were welcomedby Selma Harrington MIDI and joined byIDI Council members during different stagesof the program. The weekend kicked off onFriday the 16th June with a series of socialevents and an introduction to the urbanaspects of Dublin, period buildings inGeorgian Dublin, contemporary and periodinteriors throughout which were followed withan involvement in the Bloomsday celebrations.Much thanks is due to the Joycean Societyand John and Marianne O’Reilly for themorning activities where we were treated toreadings from Ulysses and some truly artisticin-promptu performances. The group wasfurther met by Celine Cummins MIDI, whoshowed true Irish hospitality, not in the leastby demonstrating the skills of her professionby re-arranging garden seating in the M&Scafé, much to the bewilderment of the staff!We were also joined by our PresidentCameron Ross MIDI and Barry Sheehan MIDI,who gave us an enlightened architectural tour,followed by a cappuccino break in thebeautiful space of the Millennium Wing in theNational Gallery.Moving on, our colourful Bloomsdayfashions attracted the attention of curatorSimon Lincoln in the Irish ArchitecturalArchive and he offered to give us a wonderfultour of this very successful extension which isan integration of architectural conservationand elegant yet unobtrusive design. We werealso lucky to view an exhibition ofEileen Grey’s architectural models in thearchives and Maurice Craig’s exhibition ofphotography documenting forgotten Irishheritage, from 1940’s & 1950’s – bringing usright back to the past lives that lived here inthis historically sympathetic modern interior.The last stop of our tour found us in No 13Henrietta Street, where the late Frank Ryan’sdaughter Eileen and her husband MichaelCasey, very kindly opened their home for usto transport us back through time and layersof history, revealed through the layers of paintin the interior of their fine 300 year oldGeorgian house.Our guests managed to accomplish a veryfull itinery, even by Leopold Bloom’s standardsand taking in much of the best of what Dublinhas to offer in both design and culture leftthem speechless!ECIA Board meetingThe important business followed with a busyschedule for the ECIA Board Meeting onSaturday 17th June, held in the Digital Hubon Thomas Street and organised byRina Whyte in an efficient and appropriateenvironment to carry out our full days Boardwork. During our lunch break the Boardmembers visited the Griffith College InteriorArchitecture exhibition in The PowerscourtDesign Centre, kindly hosted byTracy Fahy MIDI and her colleagues.Elections to the ECIA Board were amongmany items on the agenda of the ECIA Boardmeeting. The four current Board members,from Holland, Switzerland, Sweden andIreland have all served two years in theirrespective roles but are willing to give anothertwo years to the Board, subject to re-affirmedsupport from their national organizations andre-election. The elections will be held duringthe ECIA General Assembly, scheduled for21st October ‘06 in Kortrijk, Belgium.The Boards proposed direction for next twoyears is for adoption at the GA. It is proposedto focus on Professional Practice in theindustry internationally, to strengthen andgrow communications with member andnational organisations, to establish an ECIAGraduates Award, to secure strategicpartnerships with industry and to undertakean oral history project of Interior Architecturewith national organisations.It is also planned to organize a meeting ofall executive officers and permanentemployees within national organizations inHanover, Germany, next January 2007, whichwill give an insight and exchange of ideas andneeds at that level, hopefully contributing tocloser cooperation and better communicationamong national organizations.Selma Harrington IDI Honorary Secretary ECIASecretary General, Dublin 5 July 2007ECIA Board meeting at The Digital HubPer Reinholtz talking to Griffith College studentsduring their final exhibition in Powerscourt Centre