Architects launch #MyBelfastIdea campaign after Primark fire
The Royal Society of Ulster Architects (RSUA) has launched a public campaign to stimulate debate about the future of Belfast City Centre in the wake of the fire at Primark’s Bank Buildings. People are being encouraged to share their thoughts and suggestions for improving the city centre experience using the hashtag #MyBelfastIdea on social media. By appealing directly to the public, RSUA is placing debates about urban design and architecture in the public sphere.
Commenting on the campaign launch, RSUA Director, Ciarán Fox, said: “RSUA is committed to placing good design at the centre of decision making and the devastating fire at Bank Buildings has, inadvertently, presented Belfast with an opportunity to re-imagine how the city centre should work. This campaign seeks views from right across the city and the wider region – not just from architects and not just from “experts” – but from all of us who socialise and work in Belfast about what would draw people in to the city centre for leisure and commerce.”
Separately, through a design competition, RSUA is challenging early career architects to consider interventions which might attract footfall into Belfast in the important trading months ahead to Christmas. These ideas and designs are part of the response of architects to the challenges the city centre faces and more information about this initiative is available at www.rsua.org.uk.