Traces of the Troubles

The aesthetics of the conflict-era continue to shape more recent design decisions in the city; uncanny security fences that use forms and fabrication methods from the past, surveillance devices, security warnings in a public parking garage, or public service announcements on arterial roads leading into the city center, all tell a tale of continued fear, sectarian violence, and securitization that permeate this urban environment.

Walking a route delineated by the old ring of steel, one can still trace the barriers through a regular and recurring pattern of bolt holes at a certain height on the walls, metal plates on the ground at Rosemary St. and North St. and again at Royal Ave. and Lower Garfield St; the location of two old checkpoints. Bollards found throughout the city center, trace the route of the security cordon and frequently announce the location of the old barricades, now permeable to foot traffic.

  • Donegall Place

    Donegall Place: Bolt holes above an ATM locate the old checkpoint

  • College Street

    College Street: Bolt holes in the wall locate where the road was sealed off for 25-years

  • Callendar Street: Bolt holes on the wall locate a turnstile

  • Arthur Street: Bolt holes locate a checkpoint

  • Arthur Street: Bolt holes locate a security fence

  • Royal Avenue

    Royal Avenue: Bolt holes locate a checkpoint

  • Berry Street

    Berry Street: Wall still appears to block a route to the west

  • Anne Street

    Royal Avenue: Bolt holes locate checkpoint

  • Anne Street

    Anne Street: Bolt holes in wall located the barrier

  • Royal Avenue: Concrete footing locates a drop-arm barrier

  • Rosemary Street: metal plate locating the position of the ring of steel

Walking the
Ring of Steel

Workshops begin with a walking tour searching for the urban archeology of the Troubles and evidence of the ring of steel. Bollards delineate the route now permeable for pedestrians, if not vehicular traffic in all instances. Bolt holes located on still existent buildings register the location of the security structures; gates, fences, turnstiles and checkpoints that were removed slowly throughout the 1990’s. The last traffic barriers on Castle Street and High Street vanished without fanfare in the early 2000’s.

  • Bank Street

    Bank Street

  • Collage Gardens

    Collage Gardens

  • College Square North

    College Square North

  • Donegall Street

    Donegall Street

  • Ann Street

    Ann Street

  • Lower Garfield Street

    Lower Garfield Street

  • Pottenger's Entry

    Pottenger's Entry

  • May Street

    May Street

  • Victoria Street

    Victoria Street

  • High Street

    High Street

Bollards of Today

Throughout Belfast, but most especially when tracing the route of the ring of steel one sees a proliferation of bollards. While bollards have become increasingly evident in cities across the world, marking pedestrian precincts, permeable only to those on foot, they frequently register the site of the old security cordon in Belfast.

  • Ann Street

    Ann Street

  • Little Patrick Street

    Little Patrick Street

  • Entrance to BBC annex Belfast

    Entrance to BBC annex Belfast

  • Rosemary Street

    Rosemary Street

  • Queen Street

    Queen Street

  • Opposite Belfast City Hall

    Opposite Belfast City Hall

  • Bank Street

    Bank Street

  • Botanic Area

    Botanic Area

  • Fountain Street

    Fountain Street

  • Montgomery Street

    Montgomery Street

  • Callendar Street

    Callendar Street

Contemporary Aesthetics

Belfast is a brighter, cleaner, calmer and prettier place today, but remnants of old barbed wire fences permeate the environment. Newly designed security fences reference barriers from the past, a design aesthetic that is agressive to the visitors eye, but thoroughly normalized in Belfast.

Public Service Announcements

(Left: PSNI/Crime Stoppers warning poster). At Castle Court shopping center, a pair of disembodied eyes scrutinizes viewers from poster, warning them that the area—and they themselves—are being watched by law enforcement, and (Right: “Ending the Harm”, bus stop lower Lisburn Rd.) a government ad campaign uses the image of a bloodied young man to caution against the on-going dangers of paramilitary groups and sectarian self-policing issues, at a bus stop near the centrally located protestant working-class area of Sandy Row.