Audio Transcript

Placed on a very broad expanse of pedestrianised paving in Cornmarket Street, Urban Mirror is a large table, surrounded by seats, and marked by a yellow light on a pole near the centre. This part of the city is also known locally as Coal Quay, and is only a short distance from the River Lee. The paving for the pedestrianised area is striped with slabs in a brownish red, pale grey and a deep charcoal grey.

A bird’s eye view of this artwork makes it appear like the splash created by a drop of water. The table is made of large sheets of stainless steel, highly polished, and perforated with small holes so that water drains easily. It is an abstract blob shape – gentle curves creating lots of different peninsulas for different groups to sit together to grab a quick lunch, or play a game of chess, or just take a moment in a busy city.

There are about 16 stools, also made of stainless steel, dotted around the table in clusters of twos and threes, with gaps in between to allow for wheelchair users, or families with prams and buggies to use the space as well. And, while the surface of the table is level, there is a slight slope in the striped paving underneath for drainage purposes. This means that the table is higher off the ground on one side, with taller stools, and lower elsewhere, with seating more suitable for young children.

Near the middle of the table blob, there is a stainless-steel pole about 3 metres high. At its top is a large yellow ball made from fibreglass with a rippled surface. When lit, this globe is like the sun. It resembles a giant push pin, like the kind of pins that are used as markers on smartphone map apps.

Plattenbaustudio is a Berlin-based architectural practice, led by Jonathan Janssens and Jennifer O’Donnell.