T19 Belfast lecture

Belfast is divided on many levels. Peace walls come to mind first. Highway cutting city in half follows. But there is so much more.

This lecture started beautifully with a talk on Belfast’s geography, its natural divisions over which we have no control: coast cut by glazier, rives running through the centre, west of 3 high hills not to be occupied due to strong winds and Himalayan weather conditions, east of flat land and softer hills of clay and useless sludge difficult to build on. These are preconditions of human inhabitation. Was it these preconditions that divided people of Belfast in early days and through history. At first Small catholic villages and other enclaves of minorities occupied the western hills. Valley was occupied by mainly protestant skilled workers and craftsmen residing in little palazzos of this part of town. Social division prevented one group walking along the streets of the other. The time of ship building in Belfast has passes, city degenerated and it’s social divisions strengthened. Infrastructure of 1970’s and the highway in the centre of city added to the layers of its division. To help ease down social tensions Peace walls were built. The new housing forts replaced the old housing and even further modified the urban fabric: streets were closed off, tall wall around the community with only one entrance were erected.

And no longer geographies of Belfast but its people themselves divided up their spaces, gated themselves away.

Now let’s make connections shall we? We are after all past any ideology. Lets draw pedestrian crossings, lest build bridges and make more gateways in all those walls. Its time urban design and architecture helped people find others in Belfast.