John Tuomey – författare

In this reflective and enriching memoir, John Tuomey navigates the places and memories of his life over the scope of twenty-five years. First recognised for the urban regeneration of Dublin’s Temple Bar, which included the construction of the Irish Film Institute, the National Photographic Archive and Gallery of Photography, his life in architecture led him to design social and cultural spaces such as the Lyric Theatre in Belfast, the Glucksman Gallery in UCC and the Victoria & Albert East Museum in London.Imbued with many inter-textual references to poetry, drama and literature and written in limpid prose, this memoir is inherently literary in nature. Tuomey looks back to his early life where he was born in Tralee and lived in different counties around Ireland, from small towns to country landscapes, from schooldays in Dundalk to student activism at University College Dublin. He traces the pathways that led to his formation as an architect, reflecting on the many cultural and social influences on his life. He excels in capturing the social landscape of Dublin in the 1980s and pays particular attention to the many buildings and social hubs of the inner city. His transient years of moving from Dublin to London, and subsequently working in places like Nairobi and Milan, chronicle the international influences on his outlook. The key relationships in his life, including meeting his future wife, Sheila – a fellow student of architecture in UCD – and his pivotal employment by James Stirling in 1976, form the backbone of his personal and professional life.Tuomey’s expertise in his field is unsurpassed, with meticulous detail given to the finer aspects of design and architecture. His thoughts on the challenges facing the encroaching erasure of city life in Dublin are essential reading for anyone with an interest in the future of building in the city.

In Middle Quarter, architect John Tuomey continues the story of his life in architecture. The narrative moves from intimate laments on the loss of aging parents and artist friends to reflections on the poetical and practical aspects of an architect’s role in contemporary society.The focus shifts back and forth between personal episodes and recollected events, from the struggles of starting out in partnership with Sheila O’Donnell to their successes and failures in the international arena of architectural design.Written in clear and compact prose, including conceptual sketches and selected photographs, the book discloses sources of inspiration and ideas behind O’Donnell + Tuomey’s distinctive and dramatic designs, including the Glucksman Gallery Cork, the Lyric Theatre Belfast and public buildings in London and Budapest.Middle Quarter, a mid-career memoir, is a companion volume to First Quarter, the place-based trajectory of Tuomey’s first twenty-five years, published by Lilliput Press in 2023.

Based in Dublin, Cork and London, O'Donnell + Tuomey Architects are revered for their work with urban design, public and private housing, and key educational and cultural buildings in Ireland, the Netherlands and the UK. In London they are best known for two major projects: the Photographers' Gallery and the London School of Economics Saw Swee Hock Student Centre. Sheila O'Donnell and John Tuomey, who both taught at University College Dublin and lecture internationally, constantly look at the way in which different geographical, social and political influences have shaped their iconic works and approach to architecture generally. This book, which is a second edition following the success of the first edition published in 2014, is divided into eight sections, each dealing with a different aspect of the practice's concerns: Studio, Courtyards, The World Outside, London Times, Subtraction and Addition, Venice Excursions, Building Ground and Cat's Cradles. Somewhere between a monograph and a memoir, a studio portfolio and a personal scrapbook, this book describes some of the motivating ideas behind the architects' iconic designs. Nine short essays, alternately written by Sheila O'Donnell and John Tuomey, set the theoretical background for thirteen projects carried out between 1999-2014. Illustrations range from early stage concept sketches to specific photography that has been especially commissioned for the book, to evocatively capture the essence of O'Donnell and Tuomey's buildings.