Friday 19 April 2013

As demolition begins at Robin Hood Gardens...

Demolition at the north-eastern end of the Robin Hood Gardens site - Blackwall Reach - started this week.

They haven't started on the estate itself, but are making way for 98 homes that will (in part) be used to 'decant' residents from RHG.

Here's the mayor of Tower Hamlets, Lutfur Rahman, looking very pleased with it all.

In the middle is Lutfur Rahman, mayor of Tower Hamlets
Anyway, here's a great video of the architects of Robin Hood Gardens, the Smithsons, talking about the scheme.

I love the shots of how the area used to look...imagine the difference, now we'd see Canary Wharf looming in the distance instead of industry.
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4 comments:

  1. Ian Waites20 April 2013 at 10:03

    'Decant' - typical revolting neo-liberal corporate-speak. Are the residents being given like-for-like homes elsewhere nearby? I doubt it.

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  2. Dominic15 August 2013 at 13:08

    Actually decant comes down from the Latin ....... and the usage in public housing is very much of the leftish bureaucracy, a neat and typical depersonalising euphemism for transferring people from one Brutalist block to ........ Apparently the residents welcomed the demolition.

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  3. Anonymous8 November 2013 at 18:30

    Having been a former resident of Robin Hood Gardens, I can't say I'm saddened by it's demolition. Having experienced bricks thrown at windows, being faced with stepping over needles & human excrement while carrying a small child up the endless stairs to the 8th floor when, yet again, the lifts weren't working did not make for a pleasant experience.
    Of architectural importance it may well have been but, the people who fought for it's preservation no doubt did so from a safe distance....Do not forget, those 'streets in the skies' formed an uncomforable prison for the majority of residents....

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  4. Anonymous19 November 2013 at 13:31

    A relative of mine used to life there.
    The flats were so badly designed that life was very difficult.
    The living room, bath room, and bed rooms were all on one floor, with the kitchen on a separate floor.
    A parent with young children would have to take them to the other floor in order to make a cup of tea, as small children cannot be left that far from a supervising adult.
    The walkways were too narrow so that passing another person felt rather confrontational. There were insufficient lifts that rarely worked, and were mostly used as latrines.
    The best thing that has ever happened to this dreadful place is being pulled own.

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