Peter Rice’s first job was to prevent the Sydney Opera House’s roof from falling in.
He went on to co-create such iconic buildings as The Pompidou Centre, The Louvre, and also—of course—Fingal County Hall.
Born in Dublin, Rice was one of the greatest structural engineers of the modern era. He achieved so much in a short career, and his writings convey not just technical and creative excellence, but humanity and worldliness. Everywhere you go, you see signs of Peter Rice; he even designed the glass façade you pass every time you come to the Fitzwilliam reading group. He deserves to be a household name, and we would like to make a dent toward that.
And so, The Fitzwilliam is hosting a film screening, this Saturday, October 18th, at 2pm, of An Engineer Imagines, a 2019 documentary about Rice’s life and influence. It will be in The Savoy Cinema, on O’Connell Street in Dublin, and you can RSVP here.
The event is being organised by Oisín Moran, from the Éire Accelerationism (é/acc) community.1 Don’t read too much into the name; their tongues are planted firmly in cheek.
To my enormous regret, I (Sam Enright) am at a conference in America this week, and won’t be able to make it in person. However, I leave you in good hands. Oisín has extensive experience throwing great events in Ireland, including his entirely improvised musicals (not a joke!).
Hosting film screenings is a highly underrated activity. In April of 2023, The Fitzwilliam hosted the Irish premiere of We Are As Gods, a wonderful documentary about the life of Stewart Brand, created by Stripe Press.2 Renting out cinema screens is also surprisingly affordable, and attendance to our event is free.
If you are having issues finding the crowd on the day, you can email oisinjtmoran [at] gmail [dot] com. For any other issues or concerns, you can email sam [at] thefitzwilliam [dot] com.
After the film, we have a section of the Parnell Heritage Pub booked out around the corner. We look forward to seeing you there.
Oisín really puts the ‘fun’ in ‘funemployment’. My favourite of his side projects is that, thanks to him, we can read the time in Sumerian cuneiform.
My friends and I also hosted a private screening of Oppenheimer on opening night, which was epic.
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