Archinect - News

Brutalism and preservation: a look at the lucky (and unlucky) ones

2017-12-18T13:53:00-05:00

As London’s Robin Hood Gardens [...] is destroyed despite a high-profile campaign to save it, we look at some cherished examples of modernist architecture from the 50s, 60s and 70s

Last month, the V&A announced that it had acquired a three-story segment of the Robin Hood Gardens council estate, an iconic and not uncontroversial example of brutalist architecture currently being demolished, to preserve a significant moment in history. The Guardian takes a look at other important buildings of the movement and their drastically varying degrees of preservation success.

Three-story segment of Robin Hood Gardens acquired by V&A Museum ahead of demolition

2017-11-09T15:38:00-05:00

A three-storey chunk of an east London council estate that is venerated and despised in almost equal measures has been acquired by the V&A. The museum announced it had made one of the most unusual property deals in its history: rescuing an enormous chunk of the Robin Hood Gardens estate, complete with walkway and maisonette interiors.

Completed in 1972 and considered an icon of brutalist architecture — representing the good and the bad traits of the movement, depending on the perspective — the Tower Hamlets "Robin Hood Gardens" council estate is being demolished. By salvaging an intact piece of the building designed by Alison and Peter Smithson, the V&A seeks to preserve a significant moment in history.

Stock bricks to Brutalism: housing design in Poplar

2016-04-08T05:07:00-04:00

The East End of London has been associated with many things: the “cockney” sense of humour; colourful criminals; waves of immigration; and poverty. Not many people associate it with architecture. But it was in Poplar in the south eastern corner of the East End that I chose to do my architectural guided walk, called Stock Bricks to Brutalism: Housing Design History in Poplar. The reasons can be found in the great regeneration of the area’s housing that took place in the twentieth century to address the problems of overcrowding, dilapidation, poor sanitation and bomb damage.

In this one locality, Poplar, you can trace the progression of social housing design from the end of the First World War through to the early 1980s – the days of high volume council housebuilding in the UK – from blocks of flats of the 1920s, 1930s and 1950s built using “stock brick” (London’s traditional building material made from the clay on which the city stands) to 1960s and 1970s tower and slab blocks built i...

Rowan Moore on the seemingly erratic decision-making in historic preservation

2015-08-26T12:40:00-04:00

These are confusing times in the business of protecting the country’s architectural heritage. [...] Recently, two large modernist buildings were up for consideration for listing: the British Library in St Pancras, and an East End council estate, Robin Hood Gardens. Both have been controversial [...] Yet the library has been granted the immortality of a Grade I listing, while the estate has been denied recognition and is set to be demolished.

Related on Archinect:

Robin Hood Gardens residents dare Lord Rogers to spend a night in the blighted estate

2015-06-23T18:12:00-04:00

When Lord Rogers launched a campaign to save one of London’s most notorious housing estates from demolition, he was adamant that it was a desirable place to live. [...] It is a claim he may regret. Unhappy residents of the estate have challenged the peer to be true to his word and swap his £12 million Chelsea townhouse for a few nights in one of their blighted flats.

Previously: Robin Hood Gardens Set For Demolition

Robin Hood Gardens Set For Demolition

2012-03-27T12:08:00-04:00

For all its Brutalist charm and rigid adherence to the now-outmoded ‘streets in the sky’ concept, Robin Hood Gardens was an easy target for those who call architects hypocrites eager to champion crumbling estates they wouldn’t dare live in themselves. Many of the current residents can’t wait to be rid of it: a consultation in 2008 found that over 75% supported its demolition.