The Reason of Towns

Valerie Mulvin
The Reason of Towns
12 April to 21 May 2025

The Reason of Towns is an engaging and ambitious exhibition of the work of one of Ireland’s most renowned architects, Valerie Mulvin. The exhibition at Uillinn: West Cork Arts Centre, Skibbereen, is the final stop in a national tour across Ireland in 2024 and 2025.

Curated, commissioned and produced by the Irish Architecture Foundation, this touring exhibition features models, drawings, texts, and a series of slides, notes, personal memorabilia, building fragments and more. Together these reflect just a fraction of three decades of work on the subject of towns by Mulvin and her practice, McCullough Mulvin Architects, gathered and published in Mulvin’s book Approximate Formality, which was a starting point for the exhibition.

In addition, The Reason of Towns presents three specially commissioned films. The Space Is the Thing is a spatial-portrait of Clones, Youghal, Dungarvan and Templemore, describing their ‘ordinary-spectacular’ forms. Of Pride and Place documents ten optimistic stories of action and change by architects working in towns across Ireland. Finally, the third film is an interview with Valerie Mulvin by broadcaster Vincent Woods, reflecting on her work and the subject of the exhibition.

Also included is the model for the proposed new Bantry Music Centre, where West Cork Music have appointed McCullough Mulvin as their design partners for this ambitious project to build a world-class venue for Bantry town. Skibbereen has recently been identified as a ‘pathfinder’ town and some local authority funding designated for regeneration, so there is discussion happening about the town’s identity, development and future. The exhibition also take place as we celebrate the 10^th anniversary of the opening of Uillinn, an architect-designed (Donaghy and Dimond) building for the arts for Skibbereen town.

The Reason of Towns exhibition is funded by the Arts Council / An Chomhairle Ealaíon, the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, and the Department of Rural and Community Development. The exhibition tour is additionally funded by the Arts Council / An Chomhairle Ealaíon.

Established in 2005, the Irish Architecture Foundation is Ireland’s organisation for the advancement of the culture and communication of architecture. The Irish Architecture Foundation is principally funded by the Arts Council, the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, the Office of Public Works, and Dublin City Council.

Valerie Mulvin is a co-founder (with Niall McCullough) of McCullough Mulvin Architects. This is a Dublin-based practice making contemporary architecture in Ireland and abroad, influenced by European attitudes to the history and culture of urban places and how we might live in them. Her research on Irish towns began with an M.Litt. in Trinity College Dublin in the early 1990s. Previous books include A Lost Tradition – The Nature of Architecture in Ireland (1987). Her latest book is Approximate Formality, Morphology of Irish Towns (2021). She also edited Niall McCullough’s last book Dublin – Creation, Occupation, Destruction (2023). Her work is extended by publications, teaching and research: Valerie has lectured in Ireland, India, Spain, Germany, Norway, the UK, Czech Republic, and Portugal, and has taught at many Schools of Architecture in Ireland, Europe and Asia.

The practice has produced numerous internationally recognized buildings, including Trinity Long Room Hub and Printing House Square in Trinity College Dublin; St Mary’s Medieval Mile Museum and Butler Gallery in Kilkenny; Dublin Dental School rooftop library; passive housing in Dublin; and Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology in India – recently awarded a RIBA International Award. The work of the practice was documented for an international audience by the publication of a monograph by TC Cuadernos McCullough Mulvin Arquitectura 2004-2015. In 2023 the practice was a selected participant in the Housing Unlocked exhibition (IAF and the Housing Agency). Valerie is a member of Aosdána.

Videography by Giles Carey Videographer

WCAC acknowledges the financial support of The Arts Council and Cork County Council in making these exhibitions possible.