Learning from The Falls (túath na bhFál) and Bombay Street Project (architect Seán Mackel), Belfast: urban reflections from the most divided and resilient streets in Western Europe

Abstract

This paper examines the Falls Road (located in West Belfast) which is a largely Catholic/Irish Republican neighbourhood particularly relevant during the conflict known as The Troubles, which affected Northern Ireland for some forty years from the late 1960s until 1998. During this period and to this day, Falls Road became the heart of Irish republicanism and the most divided street in Western Europe. The human cost of the conflict was more than 3,500 dead. On the other side of the wall is the other street, the Shankhill Road (Protestant and Unionist). This gives a clear picture of the impact of the conflict in the context of street life before The Troubles began. The Falls Road in West Belfast, which runs from Divis Street to Andersonstown, derives from the expression túath na bhFál, which in Irish means "territory of the enclosures". I have worked as an architect and researcher for over a decade in the city on both sides of the wall. This paper examines the typology of the divided street and its transition into a successful example of Irish renaissance culture and urban regeneration. The paper is divided into two parts in which the Falls Strip will be dissected:1- The Falls (lower part of the street), 2-Bombay Street (architect Seán Mackel). I will use Manuel de Solà-Morales' approach to the construction of this street in Belfast as an "urban city of conflict", as a succession of episodes, data, dates, facts, details and events and interpretations and the opening of the street in this case to understand the lessons that can be drawn from a clear typological study of the street in two sections.