Spa Green Estate – Tecton 1943-50
August 16th, 2011
As part of a Lubetkin visit to the capital I went to see the Spa Green Estate. It wasn’t hard to find, in fact I walked past it on my way from the Angel tube station to Rosebury Hall where I was staying one Sunday evening. It sits on Rosebury Avenue opposite the rebuilt Sadler’s Wells theatre in a park setting.
More photos at my Flickr page here:-
https://www.flickr.com/photos/singleaspect/sets/72157627535915878/
More photos from Modern Architecture here:-
Alton West Roehampton
August 16th, 2011
A few photographs taken on a flying visit. This estate is covered comprehensively in City of Towers, High Rise Dreams, Homes for Heroes and Utopia London.
Heygate Estate – Elephant & Castle
August 16th, 2011
Thought for the day – Regeneration is social cleansing
In my continuing quest for béton brut (raw concrete) I wandered along to what’s left of the Heygate to snatch a few shots.
Pepys Estate Deptford – 1979, 2004 & 2009
August 15th, 2011
“High living in a council owned tower block is stigmatised, living in a privately rented or owned tower block is the ultimate in urban chic” – The Gentrification Reader
I lived at 93 Aragon Tower on the Pepys Estate Deptford between October 1978 and September 1980, in a scissor maisonette. It was the highlight of my life so far at that point because I had spent the previous few years living in a succession of seedy bedsits, shared houses and other people’s flats. One bright and sunny weekday morning I parked my employer’s pink and purple Austin J4 on the bridge that runs over the (former) Surrey Canal in Oxestalls Road and went into the housing office at the foot of Eddystone Tower for the keys to a hard to let flat in Aragon Tower.
10/1978-9/1980
London Modernist Estates
August 7th, 2011
These are just a few well known but random examples. There are many more scattered across the UK so if you’re planning a tour by all means include these but please don’t think that this list is exhaustive, far from it, these are but a few and Heygate, Ferrier and Aylesbury are fast disappearing from view thanks to regeneration.
Sheffield – All in a day – The City – BBC 1973
July 30th, 2011
This 45 minute documentary was shot in one day on Wednesday 5th September 1973, using several film crews each with a different assignment. One to follow a man retiring on his 65th birthday, the hospital, the Police service, a funeral,
Hyde Park flats
Park Hill – Urban Splash II
July 25th, 2011
UPDATE: 5/3/14 Park Hill today Utopian estate left to die
Last October 20th I attended a sales talk and presentation by Urban Splash masquerading as an architectural tour. On the walk that followed I met a fellow blogger, was shown round Park Hill in record time, took a lot of pictures and wrote about what I’d seen.
Park Hill – Inside Out
July 25th, 2011
Thanks to a member of Sheffield City Council myself and a friend were allowed access to 187 Norwich Row to see what living conditions are like there.
Click image for panorama from kitchen balcony
Read the rest of this entry »
Sheffield: Gleadless Valley Panorama
July 25th, 2011
This will become an article at some point but just for now enjoy the pictures. Two large panoramas of Gleadless Valley and its housing. The same series of photographs but saved at different resolutions.
Panoramic 11764 x 1330 pixels 2.21Mb in size >click here<
Panoramic 23528 x 2660 pixels 7.75Mb in size >click here<
My Gleadless Valley photos on Flickr:- Gleadless Valley photos here
https://www.welivehere.co.uk/valley_brit_print.html
Park Hill – Owen Hatherley writing in Red Pepper
July 17th, 2011
Having just got back from Sheffield, this is extremely timely, if you haven’t read it the link is below, and if you have read it here’s a reminder.
Streets in the sky
Park Hill, in Sheffield, was the first attempt to solve this problem. Like any other post-war redevelopment scheme, it was the product of emergency – the need to rebuild a teeming, crumbling slum of back-to-backs crowded above Sheffield’s Midland station.