BLACKHORSE

This was a wonderful morning on my way to work. It was the first super sunny and bright morning we had of the year... Spring had officially sprung!! This is my current favourite piece of architecture on the tube line. Blackhorse Road.

BARBICAN

Saturday saw another trip to our spiritual home- the Barbican. We went for drinks near the water. One day we will own a flat here. Our own little concrete utopia.

CONCRETOPIA

I picked this book up from the Barbican last week, and have just started reading. It's a fascinating read on the rebuilding of post war Britian (as stated on the cover!) There's a nice little section on Newcastle too!

BARBICAN

Here we are AGAIN. The Barbican. I am fortunate enough for the Barbican to be right near my work, literally a hop skip and jump away. This week we visited for a talk on Brutalism, using Jonathan Meades' documentary Bunkers Brutalism And Bloodymindenness as a springboard for discussion. Meades was joined by Sir Simon Jenkins, Douglas Murphy, Piers Gough to discuss the power of Brutalism, as well as the misconceptions and misunderstandings it has been subjected to. The concrete poetry is obviously not to everyone's taste...

We also managed to make it to the Constructing Worlds exhibtion. which brings together eighteen photographers, from 1930s to the present day, documenting monumental change in the way we view buildings. From the first skyscrapers in New York and decaying colonial structures in the Congo.
It's showing untill 11th Jan 2015, so if you have the time, and inclination, it's definitely worth a visit.

BRUTAL



As you already know, I am a huge fan of Brutalist architecture. An acquired taste? Maybe. I find lots of people perplexed by my love for tower blocks. Maybe it is what they represent, or what they remind people of?

 

I remember as a child, people gathering around in Newcastle to watch demolition of the "god awful eye sores." They reminded people of terrible living conditions, damp walls, walking up thousands of flights of stairs, as the lifts were never working, not to mention the gangs that would congregate around them like a moat, resulting in people terrified to leave or to enter.

 

But let's get back to basics, and look at the actual structures. Often, they are, in themselves a work of art. Could it just be the habitants that occupy them resulting in a fear and hatred by association, rather than a dislike for the building itself?

 

The first tower block was built in 1951, in Essex- "The Lawn." It is now a listed building. They were cheap to build and a quick fix for everyone's problems, as well as replacing bombed out buildings from the war. The improved views, and large open spaces, as well as bigger rooms were met with excitement and positivity. However, as the buildings themselves started to deteriorate, their reputation became notorious for crime and undesirables.

 

I used to drive past the Heygate estate, in Elephant and Castle, perhaps one of the most "feared" estates in South London, and to me it was as beautiful as any derelict mansion block. It was however, petrifying. Built in the 1970's, it was demolished earlier this year. There was a pang of sadness in me, that felt for the building. I can't help but wonder, if it had a different past, different residents, and if its story could have been a different one. We only have to look at The Barbican and the Trellick tower, The National Theater, and the Balfron Tower, to see that these buildings can be cared for, appreciated and admired. Yet, seldomly, would we hear "Oh wow, look at the Heygate buildings... How incredible..." But if you look closer, they actually are. Well, in my opinion anyway! Or the WERE rather, they've now been pulled down as part of regenerating Elephant and Castle. A sorry, but probably neceessary loss. A crying shame.

 

Anyway, this is the Charecroft Estate, in Shepherd's Bush, snapped on a sunny Sunday late afternoon, after my second weekend of yoga school.



 

 

BARBICAN

The Barbican estate is my second favourite building (if you can call it a building? A gaggle of buildings? What's the plural?) in London, after Battersea Power Station. It's a stunning example of brutalist architecture, it dwarfs and completey consumes you. It was built in the 1960's, on a bomb site from WW2. It's ambition and vision were groundbreaking. Architects Chamberlin, Powell and Bon spent YEARS planning, developing and re planning etc. The City asked the architects to design the site in the early fifties and work didn't start until almost ten years later, completing the works in 1975, (TWENTY YEARS from start to finish!) with the arts centre following in 1982.

Paul took us to see John Cale here last Fri day for our six year anniverary (when did that happen!?) and I spent a good twenty minutes happily being lost in the maze that is the Barbican, before finding the theatre. I never learn. I have an awful sense of direction. But I guess there are much worse places to be lost.

One day we will own a flat here!