Above: after leaving the Girdleston Estate you come to the Whittington Estate. Put up in the late 1970s to a design by Paul Tabori and K Adie (Camden Architects' Department). The estate was refurbished 2005-08 but residents subsequently complained of leaks, flooded drains and peeling paintwork.
Above: along Raydon Street you see a linear concrete terrace broken by stylised "buttresses". Perhaps in Salazar's Portugal this sort of collective housing for the workers might be tolerable - bathed in brilliant sunshine and with myrtles and oleanders splashing the white facades with colour. In the grey light of a damp London afternoon it seemed a bit grim.
Above: there was something about the design of the estate that reminded me of a multi-story car park. Note the tiny Union Jack, presumably put up to mark the Diamond Jubilee. In a society where identity through possession of consumer goods is the norm ("we are what we buy") socio-economic groups excluded from conspicuous consumption tend to get their identity from communal social "assets" such as the Royal Family - which is why the working classes are among the most pro-royalist sections of society.
Above: at the back of the terrace was this long elevated walkway. No defensive space here at all and returning to the estate at night you would be at the mercy of anyone waiting here (especially as the walkway cannot be seen from the road). This vista had echoes of the Prora resort by Erich Putlitz (I hope that is not too unfair).
Above: the staircases from the road up to the walkway are claustrophobic, steep and intimidating. Why do architects do this sort of thing? Perhaps they should be made to live in their own designs.
Above: one last point to mention is that the estate backs onto Highgate cemetery. Obviously this provides a view of green space and close proximity to nature (although you would not want your children to go playing in that jungle). But did Camden Architects Department not stop to consider the psychological impact of living above a giant graveyard?
1 comment:
sad to read this, the author might try to speak to some of the community that live on this estate and who very much enjoy the success of this fantastic architecture. Pedestrianised walkways where the kids can play out and you can get to know your neighbours, south facing balconies, private entrances to all homes, communal green spaces to name but a few.
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