The International Centre for the Image takes its place as one of Dublin’s newest cultural venues in a newly developed district in Dublin’s Docklands. It is both an innovative museum in concept, but in how it engages with and provides for visitors and staff is welcoming and inspiring.

PhotoIreland supports artists and audiences through a comprehensive platform for contemporary photography, delivering festivals, print fairs, publishing, and professional development. Their new International Centre for the Image embodies a vision of transparency, using large glazed screens to connect exhibition, retail, and studio spaces while respecting artist privacy. The design embraces material honesty, retaining exposed concrete and simple finishes to balance budget and atmosphere.

“MDO considered all the details we shared through open and creative conversations, making
the process engaging and pleasurable. The result is outstanding. The International Centre for
the Image is not only an innovative museum in concept, but in the way the space provides for
visitors and staff as welcoming and inspiring.

Visitors have embraced the idea of transparency in the presentation and production of art, as
proposed by MDO, whereby the building provides a gaze into what would otherwise be hidden
processes. Artists are commending the studios as an ideal shared working space where they can
both focus and be social.

Although the space is underground, the considered use of light, colour, materials, and layout
create a sense of openness and a comfortable experience for staff and visitors. Natural light
seeps into the gallery space providing a point of focus that visitors comment about.

Through our work, we have discovered many great art buildings around the world and looking at
the International Centre for the Image, we are delighted that MDO has made this an ambitious
venue of an international calibre.“

Ángel Luis Gonzalez Fernandez | CEO, PhotoIreland

Martin Spillane
Director

Mob: +353 (0)86 859 4365
Email: mspillane@mdo.ie