T19 Belfast

Thus far we are agreed that it is not just the physical context but also the social and political which informs the City. We also admit that all these driving forces cannot be predicted and we must make assumptions and assertions.
Belfast is an acute example where certain of its social and political factors can be pointed to, to explain particular physical factors. These physical objects include, Peace Walls, fortress like RUC barracks and housing estate layouts.
The lecture was very thorough in describing Belfast’s make-up, without necessarily, pictures of key buildings but descriptions of social or political events. Also, its geography, which along with the collective prejudice of the settlers/landowners/factory owners lead to ghettoisation of the Protestant and Catholic working classes. The Catholics with their lower paid, less skilled and, therefore, less secure jobs within the mills on the fast-flowing river edges of the hills to the North. The Protestants living on the flat, with more skilled jobs in the shipyards. The ship owners living in London, some of the very few able to travel aboard the ships in any dignity.
Please see: ‘Titanic’, James Cameron, 1997. A wonderful film-so romantic.
This is if the Catholics were allowed to work at all; Protestants got first priority. So, it can’t be blamed that easily on the Protestant working class.
It is a testament to how successful the social control had been that it took the large scale burning out of Catholic populations from mixed Catholic/Protestant areas to kick the Catholic working class into action.
The description of how the plantations affected land organisation was very interesting compared to the existing system of townland.
Could get carried away on two fronts here with the politics, so will go back to the built.
In some ways I liked the idea of making the big roads into more active streetscapes but with so much land and piecemeal development you wonder if there aren’t better sites-not necessarily centrally, and could it be interesting o retreat from the road or make a hierarchical buffer?
To finish on the term I liked the most: ‘Critical Reconstruction.’