Archinect - News

Trellick Tower residents are bracing for a fight against encroaching development schemes

2022-08-11T11:45:00-04:00

“Given the dire shortage of affordable housing in London and the valuable real estate occupied by the Trellick, it is almost certain that someone will build on the site in the future. But residents would like their say. [...] Many fear the build would only attract more developers to the surrounding neighborhood, spoiling the character of the site.”

This fall, residents were able to halt a Haworth Tompkins scheme for a new 16-story tower block in the place of its demolished nursing home that would have obstructed sightlines, a graffiti wall, and exterior views of the Grade II* listed structure. Some units have already been converted into luxury accommodations. Many fear the same privatized fate that befell leaseholders in Ernö Goldfinger’s earlier Balfron Tower is all but inevitable, given London developers’ penchant for leveraging the city’s social rent needs in order to obtain taxpayer-funded contracts.

"All we’ve ever done is stop them for a couple of years," original tenant Keith Benton told the Times. "There’s no guarantee they won’t try again."

Balfron Tower apartments go up for sale; enter Oliver Wainwright

2022-07-26T17:28:00-04:00

Almost 60 years later, Balfron’s streets have been scrubbed up and the residents’ facilities turbo-charged, but the kind of community that Goldfinger imagined has long since been evicted [...] Where once Balfron looked out over declining docks, it now winks across the Thames at the towers of Canary Wharf, whose bankers are a target audience for the new flats, which went on sale this weekend.

A spokesperson for the developer told the Guardian critic that the prospective buyers have mostly been well-to-do architects and design-hip young professionals thus far. Up for grabs is the famed Bond villain namesake Goldfinger’s personal apartment on the top floor, along with the five other preserved "heritage" apartments. Fans of the brutalist icon will have to shell out a pretty (money)penny to get inside its Grade II-listed halls, however: Asking prices for each of the 139 total apartments start at £375,000, or about $451,000.

Related on Archinect: Stock bricks to Brutalism: housing design in Poplar

Wainwright lamented the material choices and functionality of windows included in Studio Egret West's suite of upgrades as well as the newfound lack of views caused by the installation of a concrete balustrade. He also delved into the story behind its sordid ownership transfer. To that score, one "decanted" former resident told him the sloppy turnover was the product of "a political...

RIBA announces curatorial split with V&A Museum after nearly 20 years

2022-06-10T09:00:00-04:00

Citing a shift in both institutions’ “strategic priorities”, RIBA has announced the conclusion of its popular 20-year exhibition partnership with London’s Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) in a joint statement.

The partnership will come to an end in 2027 after a collaboration that began officially in 2004. The V&A says it's now building a curatorial team to oversee the revamping of its extensive architecture collection and exhibition offerings. Meanwhile, RIBA's own 4 million-piece collection will be rehoused as part of the House of Architecture initiative included in the revitalization of 66 Portland Place authored by Benedetti Architects.

RIBA presided Simon Allford shared that the organization will now focus on developing "new ways to bring together and present the institute's own outstanding but currently dispersed collection to the public and to the architectural profession." RIBA has p...

"Homes of Tomorrow" radio program explores Ernö Goldfinger's utopia

2013-09-03T21:33:00-04:00

"Homes of Tomorrow", a new radio program from London's "radical alternative" radio station, Resonance 104.4 fm, will explore the atmosphere and legacy of modernist architect Ernö Goldfinger’s utopian visions. Broadcasting Wednesdays at 10pm (BST) through September, the program features discussions with architects, artists, historians and residents of Goldfinger's buildings. Each show will also include site-specific sound-collages, recorded around Goldfinger's four major London structures.

Visit Resonance 104.4 fm to listen from anywhere.