So after looking at various options I decided to look at architecture in particular the ancient architecture of Holycross Abbey near Thurles. This is a place that has been familiar to me most of my life and I have seen it as it lay in ruin and now in its present state as it has been restored.
I have spent a few days there photographing and sketching different aspects, the parts and whole of the building. In doing so I have tried to capture some of its essence, and atmosphere. In relation to our project, there are so many different parts or strands that could be explored. Because of this I think I will concentrate on some of the physical characteristics of her structure. Wandering around the abbey you certainly get a sense of its strength, the fact that it is rooted in the landscape, a sense that it has withstood all that history has thrown at it over the centuries, but also that it is very much centre stage of her modern community and that it plays a big role in the life of the surrounding areas.
Below are some of the photographs and sketches I used to kick start the project. I found that I was drawn to aspects like the buttresses because of their strength, the internal arches because of their beauty, how they support the roof and the windows because even though they were encased in deep stone recesses the crumbling and peeling plaster that surrounded them gave them an air of fragility and a sense that they could be the weakness in this strong structure. I'm still not entirely sure what aspect I want to explore further but by being on site and by doing some more investigations and drawings I hope this will become clearer.
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