Paul Keogh: 'I'd put a ban on sprawl'

What got you started?`
I was in a youth club during my teens and an architect friend of my family made plans to improve the church hall premises of the club. Seeing him at work made me want to become an architect.

Who was your most inspiring tutor?
I was fortunate to have had great teachers - both in UCD, Dublin and the RCA, London.

But Edward Jones, who taught me at both, stands out - for his integrity, his judgment, and his extraordinary ability to bring out the best in his students.

Which architect have you learnt the most from?
After graduating I worked for de Blacam & Meagher in Dublin and then for Jim Stirling in London - you can’t do much better than that!

Which living architect do you most admire?
Alvaro Siza -for his commitment to ‘place’ and ‘tradition’ and for shunning the fame and celebrity that would be commensurate with his stature in the profession.

What “great” architecture leaves you cold?
Most of the ‘iconic’ projects by the ‘starchitects’.

What is your best project?
Temple Bar- working with great friends and colleagues in Group ‘91, and producing an urban regeneration model that I think has stood the test of time.

What project do you most regret losing?
In 2005 we got planning approval for a large regeneration project in central Dublin, including a 32 storey residential tower. But it bit the dust - along with many others - when the economy collapsed in 2008.

What part of the design process do you most enjoy?
The beginning - when everything is possible.

What is your Achilles’ heel?
Procrastination - I think it’s more important to take time to get it right than to make a rash decision that might be regretted later.

Which house would you most like to live in?
I find it difficult to separate the ‘house’ from its ‘place’ - so I would opt for Le Corbusier’s Maison Jaoul with the option of retiring to his Cabanon for the summer months.

What is your favourite city?
I love living in Dublin, but it doesn’t compare with sitting outside a trattoria on the Guidecca and looking across the water towards the Zattere and St. Marco.

What building would you most like to see demolished?
The Central Bank in Dublin - for its catastrophic impact on the character and quality of its beautiful location.

You can work in whichever city you want at any point in history - where and when would you choose?
Paris in the ’50s - working in Corb’s office on Ronchamp, the Villa Shodan and La Tourette.

What is the most important relationship of your working life?
My practice partner and ‘other half’ Rachael Chidlow - for her sound judgement and aesthetic sensibility, and inspiring me to keep going when times get tough.

Who is your favourite client?
We built two holiday houses for ourselves in the west of Ireland - it was challenging and fulfilling in equal measure.

What would be your dream commission?
A chance to build an ‘urban village’ that would convince people to forsake suburbia for the pleasures of urban lifestyles.

What one piece of legislation would you introduce?
I would put a ban on sprawl and out-of-town development generally - especially shopping.

What is your favourite architectural book?
The Smithsons’ Without Rhetoric was a huge influence on me when first published in 1974, and Peter signed my copy when he gave a lecture in Dublin in the nineties.

What is your favourite novel?
I don’t do novels much - I’m more interested in non-fiction. I really enjoyed Silvie Simmons recent autobiography of Leonard Cohen - what a life he’s had!

What are you listening to?
Classic FM plus a few playlists - rock, jazz, blues and chill - that a good friend made for a recent birthday party.

Complete the sentence: At heart I am a frustrated?
Chef - there’s little I enjoy more than cooking for friends.

What have you sacrificed for your career?
Not much I think. For all its challenges, architecture has provided me with a great life so far.

What does your family think of your work?
My daughters can’t get over that our commitment to architecture is so relentless - morning, noon and night.

Your child tells you they want to be an architect. What do you tell them?
First and foremost, you must be committed - it’s not so much a job as a way of life.

Is it getting easier?
No - the recession has been devastating for most architects; but maybe there’s light at the end of the tunnel and we’ll be better for the end of the irrational exuberance of the last decades.