Social housing is incredibly important as one of the sectors where the work of architects and planners can have the most direct impact on cities and their populations. If done properly it should create inclusive, good quality places to live for the more vulnerable and less well off in our society. However, the ideals for post-war inner-city housing moved from utopian vision to dystopia in the public perception, thanks to inconsistent execution, poor maintenance and the sense that Brutalism is somehow dehumanizing.

We are now experiencing the inevitable backswing though, as certain towers and estates have fallen into fashion, with a rediscovering of past values such as: experimental design, decent space standards, solid materials and an attention to detail that has gone missing in our contemporary formula-driven residential offerings. The celebration of these potent symbols of a bygone era can be witnessed across books and films, on album covers, featured in walking tours and appearing on everything from posters to tea towels. Estate agents are able to command high prices for flats set within concrete landscapes. This obsession with a new kind of picturesque seems to run alongside the trend for the photographic coverage of urban decay and what has been termed “ruin porn”.

Is there a danger that we are commodifying a super-graphic architecture that keeps us one-step removed from social purpose? Are we seeing buildings as bold geometric statements rather than focusing on the lived experience of residents? How do we address the inherent tension between the spectator snapping away at surface appearance and the occupants living inside whose homes have become subjected to cycle trip ‘tourism’ and Instagram posts?

Council housing in the UK has its detractors, but it grew out of an idealism that is no less urgent given the political social and economic realities of today. How do we get closer to a pioneering sense of purpose and guarantee avant-garde, design-led housing that works for the future, in a way that was attempted in the past?

Speakers:

Gareth Gardner, Photographer, Curator, Journalist (chair) Rut Blees Luxemburg, Photographer
Yemí Aládérun, Meridian Water
Albert Hill, The Modern House
Rosalind Peebles, Open City
Charlotte Ginsborg, Filmmaker

amongst others….

On the night….