Niamh Conway

Merry Christmas everyone, enjoy the few weeks off, make the most of your break!

From living and studying in Limerick for the past 3 years I've tried many of the restaurants in the city and to this day Papaz Bistro on Denmark Street is still my favourite! Not only do they serve incredible food in here but the interior is also really cool!  The dining experience is very casual and there is always a bustling atmosphere inside.  I have attached some images below, but really they do the place no justice. If you're in Limerick anytime soon it would really be worth your while popping in here, I promise, you won't regret it! 

For the project we worked on in relation to the Eva International festival, CNC furniture design was something we did a lot of research on and something that was to be incorporated into our final design. CNC stands for 'Computer Numeric Control'. I'm not great at explaining these things but basically you create your design on a programme such as CAD and the computer connected to the CNC machine then converts the CAD design into numbers - graphic coordinates - which then controls the movement of the cutter on the CNC machine. We are very lucky here at LIT to have a CNC machine as we got to experience hands on how it all works. Below are some designs that would have been created using a CNC machine.

As I mentioned in a previous blog post, Open House Limerick took place between the 6th and 8th of October this year . The interior design and technology students of LIT were lucky enough to have been asked to help out with the event this year. Our first project brief of this college year was in relation to open house. The main requirements of the brief were: Working in groups of 4, complete an information factual sheet for an allocated property for Open House, Limerick 2017.  Meet face to face with the architect of the property, interviewing them on the design of the building.  Present all of the gathered information in a powerpoint presentation to our peers in the studio.  The architect my group was allocated was 'Feeney McMahon Architects' and the property we were given was '1, Old Westfields extension'. The clients brief was: The client wished to create an open plan living space by eliminating many of the existing small rooms on the ground floor....

On the 13th of November all of the 3rd year interior design students went in to the Limerick city gallery of Art to present our projects in conjunction with the Eva international festival. It was a great success and we got good feedback from Emma O'Dwyer and curator Matt Packer. This would have been one of our first public exhibitions so it was an exciting but nerving time for us as a class but everyone did a great job and we were all very happy with the outcome! To see some more pictures from the day, you can visit the 'Lit Interiors' facebook page 😀

As I previously mentioned in my Eva International blog post, all of the current 3rd year interior design students are working on a project in conjunction with the festival. The project brief we were given mainly consisted of designing a seat that would suit a variety of the exhibition spaces for the Eva festival. Some of the main requirements for the seat were: - The seat design needs to be visually interesting - It should not compete with the surrounding art works - It should be robust enough to withstand a lot of wear and tear. Below are some images of my final design. 

The 31st of October is fast approaching and we all know what that means... it's nearly Halloween tiiiime!! Therefore I have put together some simple DIY decorations to get you into the spooky spirit!                                                                                                              See Pinterest for some more inspiration! 

   Walls to Workstations and Perch Design are two Irish companies, both based in Co. Dublin. The interior design students at LIT often have projects in conjunction with these two companies and this year is no different. Both companies design furniture (mainly office based) with human needs being their main design concern, why not take a look at their websites to see for yourself. http://www.w2w.ie/ http://www.perch.ie/

Currently, all of the 3rd year interior design and technology students at LIT (including myself) are working on a project in connection with the Eva international festival which is set to take place in Limerick, 2018. Eva international is a biennial event which means it takes place every 2 years. Eva works with guest curators to create a 12 week programme of exhibitions and events to engage with the people and the city of Limerick. The art work that is shown at Eva international is mainly contemporary art, not just by Irish artists but international artists also.  Eva was founded in 1977 and since then they have worked with some world leading artists and curators.  Eva hopes to continue to strengthen the relationship they have with their existing audience but they would also love to develop and discover new audiences.  The 38th edition of the Eva international festival is running from the 14th of April to the 8th of July 2018 and will be curated by Inti Guerre...

  Reflection room by Flynn Talbot  Reflection Room, by designer Flynn Talbot, is an immersive coloured light experience that was the first London Design Festival installation to be housed in the Prince Consort Gallery.  Refection Room uses 56 custom-made stretch membrane Barrisol panels in gloss black. Woven within the panels are Tryka LED profiles emitting vivid orange and blue hues. The resulting play of verticals serves to transform the space into a vivid reflective space of coloured light made with a futuristic textile, paying homage to the history of the room itself, that previously housed over 30,000 textile samples. Reflection room was another one of my favourites from London design week 2017. See link below to find out more; http://www.londondesignfestival.com/node/7755

Open House Limerick takes place between the 6th-8th of October this year. This year will be it's 6th year running in Limerick.  What is Open House? It is an international initiative to foster an appreciation and understanding of the value of architectural excellence in the built environment, in an urban setting. Open House is a voluntary event where building owners, architects, guides, stewards, etc. give their time for free.  To find out more visit www.openhouselimerick.ie

During my trip to London design week I came across 'High Tide for Carmen' which I was intrigued by. In the Summer of 2018, Georges Bizet's famous opera 'Carmen' will be presented on a huge scale on the lake stage of Bregenz festival, in Austria. This special display at London design festival is to celebrate its production, bringing set models and designs to the Victoria and Albert Theatre and performance galleries, and also revealing the secrets of how the Opera on the lake is created. See link below for more;  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZevlydiB5n8