Donal Lally is a Dublin-based architect, lecturer, and researcher. His research critically explores the socio-technical imaginaries of infrastructure, focusing on materiality, utopianism, and colonialism. Donal is a founding member of Annex, the multidisciplinary group that represented Ireland at the 17th International Architecture Biennale in Venice in 2021. Donal and the artist Clodagh Emoe have a large-scale site-responsive intervention and a curated programme of events titled A L T A R, currently on show at Goldenbridge Cemetery, Inchicore. A L T A R explores how we, the living and the dead, are intrinsically connected with the natural world.
Donal has presented his work at institutions, festivals and universities such as the Venice Architecture Biennale, Transmediale, University of Illinois, Akademie Der Kuenste (Berlin), Science Gallery Dublin, Universität der Künste (Berlin), the Galway International Arts Festival. His work can be found across print, TV and radio media such as Euronews, The Irish Times, The Economist, La Vanguardia, Der Tagesspiegel, Der Standard, Taz, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, RTE, El Cultural, Domus, Elle Decor, Strelka Mag, Architect's Journal, and ID Magazine. Most recently, as part of Annex, he was nominated for the European Commission's ST+ARTS prize. He is currently a lecturer at the School of Art and Design at the Technological University Dublin, where he is the programme chair of the Creative Arts Masters Platform.
Annex
Annex is an international multidisciplinary research and design collective. Founded in 2019, current members include Sven Anderson, Alan Butler, David Capener, Donal Lally, Clare Lyster, and Fiona McDermott. Annex represented Ireland at the 17th International Architecture Biennale at Venice in 2021.
For 0°M enquiries please contact: info@z-dm.com
For Annex enquiries contact: info@annex.ie
Donal Lally
- [ 2023 - 2024 ] Arts Council Architecture Project Award — with artist Clodagh Emoe
- [ 2022 ] Arts Council Project Award (Visual Arts / Strand 1)
- [ 2022 ] European Commission's S+t+Arts Prize 22 nomination
- [ 2022 ] Arts Council Architecture Bursary Award
- [ 2022 - ] Programme chair of the School of Art and Design Masters Platform at TU Dublin
- [ 2020 - 2022 ] Co-curator of the Irish Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale
- [ 2019 ] Founding of Annex, curatorial team for the Irish pavilion at Venice Biennale Architettura 2021
- [ 2019 ] Datatopia Werkstatt (with Beatriz Colomina, Mark Wigley, Keller Easterling, Eyal & Ines Weizmann, and Benjamin Bratton) at the Floating University, Templehof Airport, Berlin — Selected Participant
- [ 2015 - ] Lecturer, School of Creative Arts, TU Dublin
- [ 2017 - ] Member of the Royal Institute of Architects Ireland
- [ 2017 - 2019 ] Programme Coordinator of the Architectural Association of Ireland
- [ 2015 - 2017 ] Collaborator at McCullough Mulvin Architects
- [ 2015 - ] Opening of 0°M, Dublin, Ireland
- [ 2013 - 2014 ] Collaborator at Allies and Morrison Architects
- [ 2009 - 2010 ] Collaborator at DePaor Architects
- [ 2006 - 2012 ] B.Arch, University College Dublin
Upcoming Work
- * 2024 — Public Artwork — A L T A R, Goldenbridge Cemetery, with Artist Clodagh Emoe
- * 2024 — Book Launch — A L T A R, Dublin Art Book Fair, Dec 1
Exhibitions, Talks, Videos, Publications, and Press
- 2024 – Panel Moderator – BothAnd Group, IMMA Earth Rising Festival, 21 September
- 2024 — Panelist — Department of Media Studies, Maynooth University, at the 'Situating AI' workshop, May 14
- 2024 — External Critic — Dublin School of Architecture, TU Dublin, May 9
- 2024 — Talk — Kings College London, at the 'The Infrastructures of Socio-Ecological Knowing in the City' workshop, Jan 11
- 2023 — Exhibition — 'Drawing it out' Group Show, Green on Red Gallery, Dublin.
- 2023 — Talk — Beta Festival [Conference], Digital Hub, November 3.
- 2023 — Book Chapter — Utopia Computer. The "New" in Architecture? Ed. Nathalie Bredella, Chris Dähne, Frederike Lausch, Netzwerk Architekturwissenschaft
- 2023 — Text (cited work) — El Putnam, The Question Concerning Technology in Ireland?: Art, Decoloniality and Speculations of an Irish Cosmotechnics
- 2022 — Radio — RTE Culture File, The Culture File Debate: The Fire This Time, October 28
- 2022 — Publication — Ars Electronica, Cyberarts Catalogue 2022, September 2022
- 2022 — Article — 10th Conference on Computation, Communication, Aesthetics. Ferrero, Pedro. Rematerialising Digital Technologies Through Critical Making, Pedro Ferreira,
- 2022 — Talk — Irish Musuem of Modern Art, August 4th
- 2022 — Talk — Irish Architecture Foundation Summer School, July 21
- 2022 — Press — Architects Journal. Scanlon, Emmett, "Who are the architects leading the way in Ireland’s new wave?", July 18
- 2022 — Press — The Irish Times. Falvey, Deirdre. Galway is hot and hopping as the international arts festival returns with a bang, July 19
- 2022 — Radio — RTE Culture File | GIAF's Big Stuff
- 2022 — Radio — ANNEX — This is Entanglement, RTE Arena
- 2022 — Exhibition — Entanglement, Irish Pavilion at the Galway International Arts Festival 2022, 11-24 July
- 2022 — Talk — Irish Architecture Foundation, Summer School, July 21
- 2022 — Talk — Entanglement | First Thought, Galway International Arts Festival, July 12
- 2022 — Talk — Architecture Association of Ireland, Trinity College Dublin, May 12
- 2022 — Press — Galway Arts Festival: ‘We’re back. (We never really went away). Irish TImes. May 14th
- 2022 — Talk — D.A.T.A 0.68. Harry Clarke theatre, NCAD, March 31
- 2022 — Talk — Towards Resistance in the Age of Algorhithmic Governance, Imagine! Festical of Ideas and Politics, Belfast, March 23
- 2010 — Exhibition — Intra-Mural housing, 4th Concrete Design Competition, Istanbul TU, Istanbul.
- 2022 — Exhibition — 'Abandon all hope ye who enter here', Transmediale, Berlin, January 26 - February 18
- 2021/22 — Exhibition — Powerhouse, ROCA Gallery, London, 4 November - 28 February
- 2022 — Talk — 'This is Not Anarchy, This is Chaos', Transmediale Symposium, Jan 28-29.
- 2022 — Radio — Radio Eins. Kaiser, Marie. Transmediale-Ausstellung in der Akademie der Künste. Jan 26
- 2022 — Transmediale symposium — Fantasy and Damage. Jan 28
- 2022 — Radio — Deutschlandfunk Radio. Probst, Carsten. „Abandon all hope ...“ – die Transmediale in der Akademie der Künste, Berlin. Jan 25
- 2022 — Press — Umbigo magazine. Martins, Guilherme Vilhena. The position of the future and the technical possibility. transmediale 2021-2022: abandon all hope ye who enter here. Feb 19
- 2022 — Press – ExBerliner.com. Ballantyne-Way, Duncan. Abandon All Hope: Transmediale’s technological hellscape. Feb 8
- 2022 — Press — Art Magazine. Stange, Raimar. Transmediale 2022: abandon all hope ye who enter here: Daten a la Dante. Feb 8
- 2022 — Press — Neo2. Transmediale 2022: sobre abandonar la esperanza o no.
- 2022 — Press — Frankfurter Alegmaine. Hanschke, kevin. ANSCHKE Der heißeste Platz der Hölle. Jan 31
- 2022 — Press — VisitBerlin.de. Abandon all hope ye who enter here. Jan 26
- 2022 — Press — Art in Berlin. Abandon all hope ye who enter here". Jan 27
- 2022 — Radio — Spreeradio. "Tipps für Ihr Wochenende". Jan 29
- 2022 — Press — Taz. Baumgärtel,Tilman. Lasst alle Hoffnung fahren!' Jan 27
- 2022 — Press — Comacon. Finale ausstellung der Transmediale 21/22 – Abandon all hope ye who enter here. Jan 26
- 2022 — Press — Der Tagesspiele. Rieger,Birgit. 'Ausstellung in der Akademie der Künste Wie lebt es sich in der Daten-Hölle?' January 26
- 2021 — Book Launch — States of Entanglement: Data in the Irish Landscape, Dublin Art Book Fair 2021, Temple Bar Gallery, December 1
- 2021 — Press — Roca Gallery Website. Dowdy, Clare. Designs for these times, November 15
- 2021 — Talk — Department of History of Art and Architecture, Trinity College Dublin, November 4
- 2021 — Visiting critic — M.Arch Design Studio, Interim Reviews, Dublin School of Architecture, TU Dublin, October 26
- 2021 — Publication — Annex (eds), States of Entanglement: Data in the Irish Landscape, Actar Publishers
- 2021 — Press — Strelka Magazine. ANNEX, States of Entanglement, August 14
- 2021 — Radio — Dublin Digital Radio. Nervous State - July Edition
- 2021 — Press — Strelka Magazine. Lähteenmäki, Markus, THE SHIFTING FUNDAMENTALS, June 29
- 2021 — Press — Euronews. Bellamy, Daniel. Venice Architecture Biennale explores how will we live in the future, Euronews, May 29
- 2021 — Press — Artnet. Cascone, Sara. 17 Marvelous Highlights From the 2021 Venice Architecture Biennale, Where Hope and Optimism Abound, May 28
- 2021 — Podcast — What do buildings do all day. 27. Annex | ENTANGLEMENT | Venice Biennale 2021
- 2021 — Press — The Economist. Lebanon imagines a way out of the void. May 24
- 2021 — Press — Kuwait Times. Venice Architecture Biennale explores post-pandemic living. May 28.
- 2021 — Press — Irish Times. Tipton, Gemma. Venice Architecture Biennale’s Irish Pavilion explores our role in the data revolution, 3 July.
- 2021 — Press — ID Magazine. Balzani, Guido. Cosa vale la pena vedere alla 17ᵃ Biennale di Venezia, May 27.
- 2021 — Press — RTÉ. Gilleece, Emma. Entanglement - inside the Irish Pavilion at Venice 2021, May 25
- 2021 — Press — Architect's Journal. Williams, Fran. Best of the rest. May 20.
- 2021 — Press — La Vanguardia. Moix, Llátzer. Así viviremos, juntos, en el futuro. May 21.
- 2021 — Press — Metalocus. Onsia, María. Utopian fantasy of the Cloud. Pavilion of Ireland of La Biennale di Venezia by ANNEX, May 21.
- 2021 — Press – Domus. A selection of our favorite pavilions between Arsenale, Giardini and collateral events, 24 May.
- 2021 — Press — El Cultural. Majano, Roberto. Bienal de Arquitectura de Venecia: claves para un futuro utópico. May 27.
- 2021 — Press — Der Standard. Czaja, Wojciech. Architekturbiennale Venedig: Boyfriends sind das neue Kapital. 21 May
- 2021 — Press — Der Standard. Czaja, Wojciech.Architektur-Biennale 2021: Bauanleitung Weltuntergang. 24 May
- 2021 — Press — Elle Décor. COMUNITÀ, NATURA E SCIENZA: I PADIGLIONI NAZIONALI ALL'ARSENALE DELLA BIENNALE DI VENEZIA 2021. May 23.
- 2021 — Press — Designboom. Karam, Yasmina. ‘entanglement’ is a multisensory exhibition at the venice biennale tackling the impact of data. May 21.
- 2021 — Press — The Architect's Newspaper. Hilburg, Jonathan. Here’s what to see at the 2021 Venice Architecture Biennale, May 19.
- 2021 — Exhibition (co-curator) — Entanglement, Irish Pavilion at the 17th International Biennale Architettura, Venice, Italy. May 22 - November 21.
- 2021 — Visiting critic — M.Arch Design Studio, Interim Reviews, Dublin School of Architecture, TU Dublin, March 23.
- 2020 — Talk — Lights Out, Light Switch Symposium, organised by the Design History Society, Science Gallery, Dublin. November 28.
- 2020 — Visiting Critic — Hot Farms, University of Illinois, Chicago, [Alongside: Holly Jean Buck, Meredith Tenhoor, Ippolito Pestellini Laparelli, Monserrat Bonvehi Rosich, Iker Gil, Neeraj Bhatia] November 16.
- 2020 — Talk — Current, lunchtime lecture series, UCD School of Architecture, October 16.
- 2020 — Article (author) — Lally, Donal, 'so near / so far', Architecture Ireland, 'Data' Issue, June.
- 2020 — Visiting critic — M.Arch Advanced Design Studio, Final Reviews, Dublin School of Architecture, TU Dublin, May 15.
- 2020 — Visiting critic — M.Arch Advanced Design Studio, Mid-term reviews, Dublin School of Architecture, TU Dublin, April 7.
- 2020 — Talk — Immersion: Data Centers, AI, and Dirty Matter, Open Heart City, M.Arch Programme, UCD School of Architecture, February 24.
- 2020 — Talk — Immersion: Data Centers, AI, and Dirty Matter, Earth as Client, All Ireland Architecture Research Group Conference, Limerick, January 22.
- 2019 — Talk — The Studio That Has No Roof, This Being Where We Play, Seminar at The LAB, Dublin City Council, November.
- 2019 — Talk — Sacred Fire of a Data Centre, Utopia Computer: The “New” in Architecture?, Berlin University of the Arts, November 15-16.
- 2019 — Article (author) — Lally, Donal, "Sacred Fire of a Data Centre", Strelka Magazine, New Urban Conditions, Autumn.
- 2019 — Article (author) — Lally, Donal, "Enter The Hyperscale", Arch+ 234, Special issue on Posthuman Arkitecktur
- 2019 — Review (author) — Lally, Donal, "Architecture in the Expanded Field", Architecture Ireland.
- 2019 — Talk — Dirty Matter, BIM Workshop, Real Smart Cities, March 12.
- 2019 — Talk— Enter the Hyperscale, Datatopia Werkstatt, Project Bauhaus, Floating University Berlin, August 30 - September 2.
- 2019 — Review — Gileece, Emma, Shape Shifter", RIAI Home + Design, Issue 04.
- 2017 — Public Art Award — Selected for Stage 02, Evolving Perimeter, Fingal Public Art Commission.
- 2017 — Talk — Playtime Symposium, Visual Carlow, Centre for Contemporary Art.
- 2015 — Public Art Award — First Place, The studio that has no roof, Percent for Art Commission, Bracken Educate Together, Balbriggan.
- 2012 — Competition — Placed 2nd, Highly Commended, Building Mountain, World Architecture Festival Student Award.
- 2012 — Exhibition — Pocket Park, Duptopia, Exchange Gallery, Temple bar.
- 2012 — Exhibition — Building Mountain, World Architecture Festival, Marina Bay Sands, Singapore.
- 2012 — Exhibition — Building Mountain, ‘We had an Idea About the Future’, UCD Centenary (Selected Entry), Earlsfort Terrace, Dublin.
- 2011 — Exhibition — Just what is it that makes yesterday’s exhibitions so different, so appealing, Curating Architecture Symposium, Hugh Lane Gallery, Dublin.
- 2011 — Exhibition — Collaboration, 126 Gallery, Galway.
- 2011 — Talk — What architecture isn’t, Commonage Summer School, Callan, Co.Kilkenny.
Collaborators
- Nora O Murchú (Artistic Director / Transmediale)
- Annex (Multidisciplinary Collective)
- Jarlath Cantwell (Architect and Co-Founder of z-dm)
- Conor McGowan (Architect and Co-Founder of z-dm)
- Darren Snow (Architect and Co-Founder of z-dm)
- Cleo Fagan (Curator)
- Johnny savage (Photographer)
- Sara Murphy (Spaceforms)
- Frank Prendergast (Spaceforms)
- Fiona McDermott (Urban Research)
- David Capener (Architect / Theorist)
- Alan Butler (Artist)
- Clare Lyster (Architect)
- Clare Bell
- Atsushi Kaga (Artist )
- Niall Maxwell (Horticulturalist)
- Alex Synge (Visual Communication for the Irish Pavilion, Venice Architecture Biennale 2021)
- Nathalie Bredella (Editor / Architect)
- Chris Dähne (Editor / Architect)
- Frederike Lausch (Editor / Architect)
- Clodagh Emoe (Artist)
- Leanne Keogh (Pattern Cutter)
- Kathy Mooney (Dye Specialist)
- Jenny Brady (Film maker )
- Nick Roth (Composer)
- Dublin Chamber Choir
- Common Ground (Arts Organisation )
Imprint
- Graphic design and web development by Simon Sweeney & Ben West