I have fond memories of the old Landsowne Road stadium whose main stand vibrated as trains passed beneath it. Whilst its sanitary standard were easily the worst of any major intenrational rugby ground, the stadium oozed atmosphere from every pore and was the backdrop to so many memorable matches.
However as professional rugby and society moved on its day had clearly passed and so the site was cleared and a new stadium built. The Aviva is like no other International rugby stadium I know and has already generated its own 'iconic' feel both inside and out. A recent visit to Lansdowne, to the IRFU offices further up the road, afforded me 20 minutes of fairly early morning light to capture a few images of its famed glass facade.
With so much glass the mood of the stadium constantly changes with the weather. However different moods can also be created when shooting images at slightly different angles to the sun.
I was taken by the row of Georgian hosues that adjoin the stadium, the nearest now the home of the Ireland Women VIIs team and I continued this Georgian theme by including the faux Victorian/Georgian wrought iron lamposts in a couple of the images.
Leave a Reply