Rolling Out the Red Carpet

Dublin is getting glamorous. The once industrial Docklands area on the banks of the river Liffey will be remodeled as a dramatic public space surrounded by a leisure district. As part of the makeover, landscape architect Martha Schwartz is transforming the Docklands’ Grand Canal Square with a dazzling red crystal “carpet” made of colored resin embedded with matching glass. A fitting procession toward Daniel Libeskind’s Grand Canal Theatre, the pathway will be bordered by LED strips and pierced by beveled LED light poles, each intended to pulse with a red flare.

The carpet—indeed the entire Docklands redesign—embodies the city’s path toward the future. “The design itself is signaling to people that the city is sticking its neck out, that it is confident enough to take risks and wants to add to the contemporary discourse,” Schwartz says. “I think it’s a brave thing to do.”