Ambition

From the outset, Moore’s ambition was to create a highly innovative and finely crafted structure, to captivate and excite the festival’s 15,000+ attendees, and get them ‘buzzed’ about architecture.

Concept

In response to Body & Soul’s call for submissions that would ‘subvert everyday norms’, the Funicular Folly gives a forceful new life to a common building material—brick—by adopting a tent-like form that echoes its festival habitat.

Innovation

This innovative brick structure is the first of its kind in Ireland. Designed by Rae Moore, in collaboration with Arup (Engineers), the project combines ancient construction techniques, contemporary craftsmanship, and the latest digital design technology.

Tradition

Following the tradition of the architectural folly, this installation is a curiosity and a landmark, providing an intimate enclosure within its great brick belly.

Form

The structure is based on the plan of a 6m equilateral triangle—a symbol of femininity and queer cultural identity. The dome rises from this geometric base to create an asymmetrical space that addresses a main pedestrian pathway through the festival woodlands. A small oculus casts light through the interior.

Budget

The festival’s budget for the installation was just €400. Moore had the additional challenge of assembling a specialist design and construction team to collaborate on the build. The total cost of the project was just under €65,000; however, all materials and skills were generously donated by passionate and expert individuals from across the Irish construction industry.

Construction

Using a technique known as the Catalan or timbrel vault, the structure was built up using three thin layers of brick tiles and cement, cross-laminated to create a cohesive shell. To allow the brickwork to take shape, a complex temporary timber guide-work was digitally prefabricated using CNC technology and assembled on site.

Craft

The brickwork was carried out by a highly skilled and experienced team, who typically specialise in laying two-dimensional curved brick walls. The brickwork includes herringbone joints and a triangular pattern that is expressed at the dome's apex.

Structure

With a total continuous thickness of 80mm, this freestanding curved form achieves perfect equilibrium through an idealised or natural curvature, known as a catenary curve. The structure disappears into the ground, where it sits on three concrete pads that are tied together with slender ground beams.

Cultural Value

This project exemplifies the joy and capacity of architecture, free from the contemporary commercial constraints of developer-driven construction culture.

Cultural Value

This project exemplifies the joy and capacity of architecture, free from the contemporary commercial constraints of developer-driven construction culture.

The Team
Client: Body & Soul Music and Arts Festival / Ballinlough Castle Estate
Engineering and Structural Analysis: Arup
Digital Design and Fabrication: Create CNC
Main Contractor: Bennett Construction
Brick Contractor: Keymore Construction
Joinery: Eamon Holmes Construction
Brick: Kingscourt Country Manor Brick