From 23 March to 27 April 2007, the 15th floor of Clarke Tower, one of the last remaining tower blocks in Ballymun, was transformed into a short stay hotel by artist Seamus Nolan.
Nolan worked with local residents to develop a series of furniture workshops which took place in January and February 2007. Participants worked with furniture designers Sticks and Jonathan Legge, customising and remodelling furniture left behind in the vacated flats to create unique pieces of furniture for the hotel.
In addition to the 9 guest bedrooms, there was a lounge, reception area, TV room, Conference room and a garden room. A series of events, talks, debates, live art and music performances took place at the Hotel throughout the day and evenings. During the day there was an opportunity for the general public to view Hotel Ballymun.
At the close of the project, an auction was held for all of the furniture used in the project. Funds generated by the auction along with the donations made by Hotel guests, will fund arts bursaries and scholarships for people in Ballymun. The auction took take place at on Thursday 3rd May in the Civic Offices, Ballymun.
For detailed information and and archive of images and events, please visit: www.hotelballymun.com
Above: an excerpt from 'Hotel Ballymun' a response to the project by filmmaker Hilary Fennell. Full copies of the DVD available from Breaking Ground. See BG's YouTube channel for more videos:
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