The Buildings of Derry~Londonderry by Manus Deery

Manus Deery, Principal Conservation Architect in the Historic Buildings Unit of the Northern Ireland Environment Agency, provides a personal contribution to the Derry/Londonderry City of Culture programme with this  exhibition illustrating the development of the city’s architecture over time. With over 70 watercolour sketches, supplemented by brief explanatory notes, included are illustrations of the iron age Grianan fort, tower houses, gothic arches, Derry’s Walls, merchant buildings, industrial buildings and the city’s modern architecture.

The exhibition considers the history of Derry~Londonderry as revealed by its buildings. Where this is fragmentary, illustrations of examples from elsewhere are used but, though evidence for some parts is spars, the full story of the city and its environs can still be seen in its buildings. Today’s city is a complex place, formed by its site, available materials and local traditions, yet displaying influences from ideas across the world. It is a city with places of great beauty and robust character, a city to be proud of.

This exhibition is sponsored by Derry City Council’s Heritage and Museum Service, and by the Inner City Trust and the Honourable The Irish Society. It ran in the Playhouse Theatre, Derry, in June 2013 and will be on show in the Architecture Gallery at the Irish Architectural Archive for December 2013 to February 2014.