March 14, 2014
Celebrations of Irish culture extend a week after St. Patrick's Day at Catholic University. On Monday, March 24, at 7 p.m., the School of Architecture and Planning presents a premiere of a documentary, Tale of the Tongs , about the 2013 design-build project completed on the western shore of Ireland by the Spirit of Place/Spirit of Design (SPSD) program.The premiere will take place in in the Edward M. Crough Center, Koubek Auditorium. A reception will begin at 6:30 p.m. before the film is shown. The event is free and open to the public, but seating is limited. To attend, call 202-319-5188. The film was selected for the Environmental Film Festival in the Nation's Capital. The earlier reception and viewing of the film quickly neared capacity. The School of Architecture is offering a later showing at 9 p.m., which will be followed by a discussion with Travis Price, director of the SPSD program, and the filmmakers, Professor Emeritus and former Dean Stanley Hallet and his wife Judy. In 2013, the Hallets joined students from Catholic University as they designed and built an installation on the island of Inishturk off the west coast of Ireland. The Spirit of Place program explores the connection between a location's culture, landscape, and the history of its inhabitants to add meaning to modern architecture. The film also has been selected to be shown at a later date by Solas Nua (an American organization dedicated to new Irish artistic talent) as part of their Irish American Festival.
