Libary Speaker Series: Rhona Rickman Kenneally - The Model Farmhouse: Rural Domestic Design at the RDS During the Mid 20th Century

The Model Farmhouse: Rural Domestic Design at the Royal Dublin Society during the mid-twentieth century

The RDS was founded in 1731 to improve “Husbandry, Manufactures and other Useful Arts and Sciences,” in time its range and focus were much more extensive. This talk will focus on efforts undertaken by a range of collaborators—the ESB, Irish Countrywomen’s Association, and others to transform rural housing through the design and construction of a full-scale Ideal Home, as part of the RDS Spring Shows of the early 1960s, including material from the RDS Library & Archives.

Rhona Richman Kenneally is a professor and immediate past Chair of the Department of Design and Computation Arts at Concordia University in Montreal. She is also a Fellow of Concordia’s School of Canadian Irish Studies, and is the Editor of the Canadian Journal of Irish Studies. Her research is part of the emerging field of design studies, and investigates the relationships between humans, objects, architecture, and forces that constitute the world around us, past and present. Her current research project, which is funded by the Canadian Government, explores Irish domestic space during the mid-twentieth century, with special attention to food-related activities that take place in the home.

Date: Wednesday November 12, 2014

Venue: Minerva Suite

Opening Hours:
6.00pm

Admission:
Admission to this lecture is free and open to the public - booking required