Waiting for William Gibson

William Gibson’s novels—particularly the latter ones—are deeply interested in questions of design and constructed environments. That, combined with his characters’ globe-trotting tendencies, means that richly described hotel lobbies figure frequently into his works.

I’m a bit of a great hotel lobby fan myself, so the plant-filled glass space at the front of Dublin’s The Green Hotel immediately grabbed my attention. What a cozy space, sure—but the modern touches make me feel I’m more likely to rendezvous with a spy than slowly slurp a warm beverage.

Waiting for William Gibson

A Visit to the National Museum of Ireland – Archaeology

Our visit to Dublin included a morning in the National Museum of Ireland’s Archaeology building. Fittingly, the structure of the space combined elegant nineteenth-century cast iron with modern additions.

Inside the National Museum of Ireland

This flint knife, ringed by other pieces of sharpened stone, struck me as a bit like a king being bowed to by lords and ladies.

First King of Knifes?

These woven metal buttons are incredible pieces of detailed structure built from many hours of human effort. Funny to think that we marvel over the structures produced by techniques like 3D printing, when humans have been inventive with forms and materials for millenia.

Woven Buttons

This array of Viking-era swords, in various states of oxidation, has a delightful rhythm.

All the Old Swords

Among them, this sword and its hilt of non-ferrous metal is excitingly less degraded.

Sword

Too much Tolkien makes every dark stone bracelet look a bit sinister.

Dark Bracelet

On a lighter note, the runes carved into this deer antler read, “DEER ANTLER.”

The Runes Read "Deer Antler"