First Quarter by John Tuomey

In this reflective and enriching memoir, John Tuomey navigates the places and memories of his life over the scope of twenty-five years. First recognised for the urban regeneration of Dublin’s Temple Bar, which included the construction of the Irish Film Institute, the National Photographic Archive and Gallery of Photography, his life in architecture led him to design social and cultural spaces such as the Lyric Theatre in Belfast, the Glucksman Gallery in UCC and the Victoria & Albert East Museum in London.

Imbued with many inter-textual references to poetry, drama and literature and written in limpid prose, this memoir is inherently literary in nature. Tuomey looks back to his early life where he was born in Tralee and lived in different counties around Ireland, from small towns to country landscapes, from schooldays in Dundalk to student activism at University College Dublin. He traces the pathways that led to his formation as an architect, reflecting on the many cultural and social influences on his life. He excels in capturing the social landscape of Dublin in the 1980s and pays particular attention to the many buildings and social hubs of the inner city.

His transient years of moving from Dublin to London, and subsequently working in places like Nairobi and Milan, chronicle the international influences on his outlook. The key relationships in his life, including meeting his future wife, Sheila – a fellow student of architecture in UCD – and his pivotal employment by James Stirling in 1976, form the backbone of his personal and professional life.

Tuomey’s expertise in his field is unsurpassed, with meticulous detail given to the finer aspects of design and architecture. His thoughts on the challenges facing the encroaching erasure of city life in Dublin are essential reading for anyone with an interest in the future of building in the city.

PRAISE FOR FIRST QUARTER BY JOHN TUOMEY
‘First Quarter is a light, strong book, beautifully balanced and crafted; there is a sense of rightness to it. A wise and lovely read.’ Anne Enright

‘I loved this beautifully constructed book. It is open and exploratory about place and feeling, promise and possibility – that is the DNA of Tuomey’s written and built work.’ Edmund de Waal

‘First Quarter is a book rich in imagery through words, in recollection and in reflection … Tuomey’s writing has a poetic style that balances on echoes. As a writer, as well as a person, he reveals a sensitivity, alive to poetry and beauty. He also reveals an irreverent streak of wit and fun.’ Gemma Tipton, Irish Times

‘I thought the purpose of architecture was to change the world. Now I’m thinking about what endures’ – Read an interview with John Tuomey in the Irish Times here

‘There’s a dry wit about his writing, suggesting a man not averse to comedies big and small, and this slim but eloquent little volume gives the reader an insight into the man behind the innovative design.’ Anne Cunningham, Meath Chronicle

‘[A] spare, purposeful memoir … It is a pleasure to read John’s account of the intellectual excitement of his student years.’ Irish Examiner

Read an extract from First Quarter by John Tuomey here

‘Beautifully rendered, carefully pared-back … modest, witty and stylish.’ Sunday Independent

A SUNDAY INDEPENDENT BOOK OF THE YEAR

‘A rich and beautifully crafted tapestry of Tuomey’s early years delivered with effortless wit and balance. It is a very personal exploration of self-identity by way of skilful and captivating storytelling.’ Tina-Marie O’Neill, Sunday Business Post

‘I can close my eyes and see the places where I grew up. I remember pictures. The gap between two sheds and the view to a mountain in between them. I have freeze-framed images in my mind. It gives you a visual vocabulary that you can draw on.’ Read an interview with John Tuomey in the Sunday Business Post here

‘It is beautifully written, in plain English … each lucid and often witty page holds and repays your interest and attention, and you find yourself at moments tracking back just for the pleasure of reading a passage again. … Read the Tuomey book, I’d advise. It’s wise, tender and – human.’ Hugh Pearman, RIBA Journal

ABOUT JOHN TUOMEY
John Tuomey and Sheila O’Donnell established O’Donnell+Tuomey in 1988. Tuomey was managing director of Group 91 Architects who designed the regeneration of Temple Bar as Dublin’s cultural quarter, completed in 1996. He was the inaugural Professor of Architectural Design at UCD from 2008–19 and has taught and lectured widely in European schools of architecture and at North American universities including Harvard and Princeton. He has exhibited six times at the Venice Biennale. He is an honorary fellow of the American Institute of Architects, and in 2010 he was elected a member of Aosdána, the affiliation of creative artists in Ireland. In 2015 he was joint recipient with Sheila O’Donnell of the RIBA Royal Gold Medal and the American Academy of Arts and Letters Brunner Prize, both awarded in recognition of a lifetime’s work.