What was driving much of my interest in the concept of Art into 3D was the possibility that it offered me to integrate artistic image making into the fabric of buildings that I was working on as an architect, in what I hoped would be an innovative and attractive way. The first project I succeeded in doing this in any significant way was when I was fortunate to be appointed architect in 2017 to design and co-ordinate the conversion of the 2,500m2 Mater Dei Education Institute into a Family Hub to accommodate 50 Families in Emergency Temporary Accommodation for the NGO Crosscare in partnership with The Dublin Housing Regional Executive.

The perceived success of the Mater Dei Project, from a design and artistic point of view, led to two other significant architectural projects for me; first, the conversion of the Abberley Hotel and Night Club into a Family Hub for 60 Families, and second, the conversion and extension of the former Mount Argus Monastery into a Family Hub for 64 Families. In each of these I further developed my ideas of “Art-In-Tecture”, as I termed the notion, and put substantial painted works into these as an integral part of the design and interior fitout. Indeed, in the case of the conversion of Mount Argus, the motif of simple painted musical notes which starts off modestly as tiny elements in a large landscape panting in the Toddler Room, grows progressively within 2 other substantial paintings, into being the primary expressive element in the architectural realisation of the 3 Storey Extension with the “L” shaped coloured notes now 2 and 3 stories high framing the bay windows of the main elevation.

( See also my architectural web site, www.petercassidyarchitects.ie ).