Beginner’s pluck: Architect Dominic Stevens

Having already written two creative non-fiction books, the author says writing fiction is much closer to designing buildings

Dominic Stevens: 'Writing is therapeutic — it provides a connection between the conscious and the sub-conscious.'

Dominic always loved English at school, but his spelling was appalling.

“I was happy when spellcheck came along,” he says.

He was always fascinated by eastern Europe, and after college he lived in Berlin for six years, witnessing the wall coming down.

An architect who has won numerous architectural awards, Dominic always loved to write.

“I wrote two creative non-fiction books,” he says, “ Domestic in 1999, and Rural in 2007.

“But writing fiction is much closer to designing buildings — with both you’re creating something that does not yet exist. And writing is therapeutic — it provides a connection between the conscious and the sub-conscious.”

In 2020, Dominic had a story published in Kevin Barry’s Winter Papers.

“And then a novel emerged.”

A finalist at the Novel Fair earlier this year, The Coloured Room has not yet found a publisher.

“But these architectural stories emerged on the side of the novel. Like with architecture, the stories start with fleeting ideas, then turn into something real.”

Who is Dominic Stevens?

Date/ place of birth: 1965 in Buckinghamshire, but from age 4 lived in Sandycove, Dublin.

Education: New Park Blackrock. University College Dublin, School of Architecture.

Home: New Ross. “I moved here from Leitrim a year ago.”

Family: Partner, Bee; son, Ezekiel, 25, and daughter, Nour, 22.

The day job: “I work in my practise on the design side and teach in teach in TU — the Technological University of Dublin.”

In another life: “I once wanted to be an archaeologist. Just like in architecture, objects relate to stories.”

Favourite writers: Jenny
Erpenbeck; Bernaard Schlink; Olga Tokarczuk; John Le Carre; Tolkien; Stefan Sweig; Rebecca Watson.

Second book: The Coloured Room. “And I’m writing my next novel.”

Top tip: “Write first thing in the morning, and if possible, write every day.”

Instagram: @Dominic.stevens.1

The debut

Architectural Tales

Gandon Editions, €10

Cleverly constructed, this collection comprises a series of letters to Dominic, from Alice, a fictitious Irish woman, who, after studying with Dominic, stayed in Berlin, when he left. 

Analysing the city’s structures, she agonises over her responsibility to the people who live in the buildings she’s designed. Are they happy? If not, is it her fault?

The verdict: Intriguing. These clever tales made me view buildings in a whole new light.