Housing Estate Regeneration: Exploring the ‘demands exceed supply’ crisis that
is facing London, how our city can house its residents and how this can be done
without compromising city dwellers’ quality of life.
No issue is more talked about in London today than the provision of affordable housing. Housing
estates across the city are being seen both as a problem – with issues of deprivation and maintenance
which need to be solved - and an opportunity to create more housing on underutlised land.
However, they are currently home to thousands of people who are often displaced by this process of
regeneration.
If London is to continue as a thriving working city, collective solutions need to be sought. Housing
which fulfils people’s needs and creates the opportunity for productive, happy lives must be provided.
Architects are uniquely skilled to propose solutions, and the events identified within this theme
interpret both the problems and solutions in different ways, offering up the opportunity to create
thriving communities.
Blueprint for Living
Fitzhugh Estate, Wandsworth
31st May – 4th June, 10.00am – 6.00pm daily
Blueprint for Living is a group exhibition that explores the concepts of home, space, community, architecture,
post-war British modernism and social housing. Contemporary photographs by Sharon O’Neill and moving
image by Marc Isaacs will be exhibited alongside archive images of the Fitzhugh Estate from the Architectural
Press Archive and RIBA Collections. Combined, they will present a narrative of the post war housing estate as
it celebrates its 60th anniversary.
Listening and Doing- an exploration of contemporary housing design
Karakusevic Carson Architects
1st – 30th June, Monday - Friday 2.00pm – 6.00pm
Throughout June, Karakusevic Carson Architects will throw open the doors of their new Bermondsey studio
with an exhibition exploring contemporary housing design and the processes behind working successfully
with communities. Engaging both local residents and wider stakeholders from the start of the design process,
they push boundaries and raise standards to create exemplary homes and thriving neighbourhoods. On
Saturday 4 June the exhibition forms the backdrop to a day of architectural story telling from the past, present
and future of housing, with talks from project architects and a screening by London Metropolitan Archives of
film in their collections exploring housing in 20th century London.
Housing Estate Regeneration
Making/Place - New Council Housing – Designing for Communities
NLA, Store Street
3rd - 30th June
Celebrating their 12th birthday, Bell Phillips Architects will be exhibiting 12 of their projects throughout June
as ‘Making/Place’, exploring the relationship between context and process in the design, construction and life
of these buildings; themes that infuse their work. On the 8th of June, partner Tim Bell will host ‘New Council
housing – Designing for Communities’, explaining their work.
The Smallness of Bigness
Cressingham Gardens Estate
7th – 9th June, 7.30pm
Degenerate Space is a site specific, theatrical and multi-media performance based on Ted Hollambys’
Cressingham Gardens Estate. It highlights the current and historical trajectory of from a multitude of
perspectives as the estate comes under threat of demolition. Diverging opinions in response to the
demolition of the estate are symptomatic of the wider discourse currently surrounding community in London
and exploring this juncture underpins Degenerate Space.
How to Design Housing for People: Making Space for Childhood
Studio 107, Netil House, 1 Westgate Street, E8 3RL
16th June, 5pm – 9pm
ZCD Architects are leading a discussion looking the importance of producing well designed buildings and
external spaces that form cohesive neighbourhoods and desirable places to live. Play experts, academics and
designers will address issues of children’s independent mobility, extended play, and access as well as health
and wellbeing in the wider community.
Find the Gap (Child Graddon Lewis)
Studio 1, 155 Commercial Street, E1 6BJ
18th June 11am - 4pm
This family day is organised in celebration of the Mind the Gap project. CGL will transform their offices into
the info-maze, an illustrated summary of the sometimes confusing aspects that define the London Transport
Zones. At the end of the maze, an interactive exhibition will encourage visitors to have their say on some of
the key issues, such as the use of brownfield land, the densification of the suburbs and connectivity that we
believe will play an increasingly large part in the ongoing housing debate.
The Role of the Architect to Empower Communities
Case Furniture, 23 East Hill, SW18 2HZ
22nd June, 7pm
A discussion chaired by journalist Robert Bevan and architects Jo Cowen and Xanthe Hamilton, examines
how architects can support existing communities to develop and improve their own homes and local
environments. Alongside discussing their own experiences, they will refer to recent projects in London,
Liverpool and Soweto; exploring modern issues around community.
Housing Estate Regeneration
Stock Bricks to Brutalism: Housing Design History in Poplar
Poplar DLR Station (bridge above platform level)
26th June 11am – 1pm
Led by Andrew Parnell, this walk focuses on social housing design in the drastic slum clearance and
redevelopment of the East End of London in the 20th century. Taking in typical inter-wars estates, the
influential Lansbury Estate and two icons of the 1960s and 70s: Balfron Tower (Goldfinger) and Robin Hood
Gardens (Smithsons).
Tour of Hollamby’s Brandon Estate, Kennington
The Brandon Estate
Tuesday 28 June 6.30 - 8.30
Owen Hopkins leads a tour of Ted Hollamby’s Brandon Estate in Kennington, south London. The estate is
notable for its variety of housing forms, which range from the six 18-storey point blocks in an extension to
Kennington Park, to various forms of maisonette and refurbished Victorian townhouses. The estate is also
home to notable pieces of public art, including work by Bill Mitchell, Anthony Holloway and Henry Moore,
whose Two Piece Reclining Figure No. 3 remains an important local landmark. The walk will end with drinks
nearby hosted by C20 Society Director Catherine Croft.