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.
Arch Street Elephant & Castle
August 16th, 2011
While trawling London’s housing estates for raw concrete on behalf of my Sheffield friend I stopped at what’s left of the Heygate and on the way from the Elephant & Castle tube spotted this . . .
. . . and was reminded of that memorable phrase “a malformed zebra that has been rolling around in poo.” taken from an article in Building Design magazine that reviewed the development.
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.
Wooden cobbles
August 16th, 2011
“The streets of London were once paved with end grain cobbles and end grain flooring has been used widely in engineering and other industries because of its durability,”
Next to Braithwaite House are wooden cobbles, blocks of wood on end, as seen in butchers’ blocks, a small square of them within a cobbled lane to the left of Braithwaite House in Bunhill Row in the City of London. Fascinating.
UPDATE: – 30/3/12 – I’ve found some more. Walking up Pentonville Road towards the Angel, on the left just after the junction with Penton Street I walked behind a car waiting to pull out from the layby outside 98-100 Pentonville Road and there beneath gaps in the tarmac, are wooden cobbles. If I’ve got the address wrong then they are not far from there, check the adjacent lay bys outside buildings there in case I’ve got the number wrong.
I found several bare patches, and touched them to be sure. I’m surprised the tarmac sticks to them at all to be frank and it would be much nicer if it were to be removed and the ends varnished, what a lovely sight that would be.
Bevin Court
August 16th, 2011
As part of a Lubetkin visit to the capital I went to see Bevin Court. It is an unusual and intriguing building tucked away and despite its size surprisingly well hidden.
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
Utopia London – Tom Cordell
August 13th, 2011
Composite image of architects featured in the film
“There was a time when London united around the vision of a better future. A group of young idealists were fusing science and art to build an egalitarian city. This documentary is their story.”
So runs the tag line from the trailer page of the website and this motivation comes across from the film as a whole.
Tower blocks and the density myth
August 8th, 2011
Over the years I have heard, and read, many different points of view put forward as to whether tower blocks were a good idea in terms of housing large numbers of people, owing to the space required between them to prevent overshadowing.
Red Road flats Glasgow
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.
