Remembering Glasgow - the Divis Tower

Divis Tower, Belfast, 2015

At the time I was in Belfast I decided to shoot this building as it remembered me the big tall buildings in the Glasgow area close to the University. Once I visited one, when I was looking for an apartment, and I remember that the feelings were not nice. These big housing towers are far from the skyscrapers that one can find in the rich financial districts.

These are mainly poor housing build probably with the aim to accommodate a lot of people at low cost.

And each of these building brings with them the sadness reflected in their style....well the Divis Tower is much better than the Glasgows's ones....

This one in Belfast - the Divis Tower - was built in 1966 as part of the now-demolished Divis Flats complex. The tower has 20 floors (oh my God, I remember taking the small lift in the tower of Glasgow and the floors never ended....and then you are up there, but no, no nice view, you are in this small flat and I really felt uncomfortable) and it is 61-metre tall.

The housing complex had 850 flats and was housing 2400 residents (well, and average of almost 3 people per flat...)....the name was given due to the nearby Divis Mountain.

Due to the IRA activity in the area, British Army constructed an observation post on the roof in the 1970s and occupied the top two floors of the building. During the Troubles, access to the post was possible only via helicopter. In that period, the tower was the location of conflicts between Republicans and Unionists.

When the IRA declared to end the armed campaign, the Army decided to dismantle the observation post. Now the post has been converted in residential properties.

Interesting video of the Divis Tower with interview of the architect Frank Robertson, some old photos and more info here.