Ruairí O’Brien

Ruairí O’Brien (* 1962 in Dublin) is an Irish architect and artist living and working in Germany.

O’Brien studied architecture at universities in London, Edinburgh and New York. He worked as a project architect in several international architectural practices in London, New York, Frankfurt am Main, Hamburg, Berlin and Dresden before starting up his own architectural practice in 1995 under the label of Ruairí O’Brien. Architecture. Light. Art. in the German City of Dresden, Saxony.

He is a member of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), the Architectural Society of Saxony, Germany (AKS) and the Professional Lighting Designer’s Association (PLDA).

O’Brien moved to Germany in 1991 and is presently living in the „House Evolucio“ in Dresden which he designed and built for his family. With the “House Evolucio” O’Brien has developed a new type of low budget city house which can develop and change with the altering work and living requirements of a modern three generation family

Ruairí O’Brien’s interdisciplinary work is a trademark of his design office combining art and culture projects with those of architecture, lighting design, city planning and landscape. As an artist he is renowned for his lighting installations and the development of a new form of expression poetry with his live light poetry performances. He has also exhibited his paintings and drawings in London, Frankfurt am Main and Dresden. Between 2001 and 2004 O’Brien contributed to the OECD magazine as a cartoonist

Projects (selected)

Architectural and light:

  • “The Hologram Façade” and “City Storage House“ in the City of Jena, Thuriniga
  • The “Betonzeitschiene” the museum for precast concrete housing in Dresden, Saxony
  • The war memorial and museum in Zeithain, Saxony

Light:

  • The light poetry festival “Light and Word” in Dresden, Saxony
  • Light master plan for the municipality of Rathen spa town, Saxony
  • “City Poems” in several European cities

Art:

  • “Building Site Germany” (House of German History in Leipzig)
  • “The GiftGarden”

Miscellaneous

Ruairí O’Brien was Professor for architecture, light and communication at the University of Wismar, Germany from 2001 until 2005 during which time he was co-initiator of the new international masters program for architectural lighting design. He has also taught at the University of Dresden and at the University of Zlín in the Czech Republic. Ruairí O’Brien is Honorary President of the society of literature in Dresden and the Erich Kaestner museum and vice president of the international Erich Kaestner society in Munich.

Literature

  • Leipzig Festival of Lights – 20 years after the Peaceful Revolution. Editor: Leipzig Tourismus und Marketing GmbH., 1st Edition, November 2009, ISBN 978-3-9811948-9-0.
  • Ruairí O’Brien: Museum unter der Zeitlupe. In: Briefe zur Interdisziplinarität. Eine Publikation der Andrea von Braun Stiftung. oekom Verlag, Gesellschaft für Kommunikation mbH. November 2009. ISSN 1865-8032
  • R. O’Brien (Hrsg.): Das Museum im 21. Jahrhundert. Tudpress, Dresden 2007, ISBN 978-3-938863-96-1
  • R. Edmondson, H. Rau (Hrsg.): Environmental Argument and Cultural Difference: Locations, Fractures and Deliberations, Peter Lang, Bern 2008, ISBN 978-3-03911-062-9
  • A. Mead: Seeing the Light. Memory matters. Ruairí O’Brien’s museums, In: The Architect’s Journal. London, 17. Juli 2003