London's highly respected museum V&A has announced that they have acquired a three-storey section from Alison and Peter Smithson's internationally recognised brutalist housing development Robin Hood Gardens, which is currently being demolished in Poplar, east London.. Robin Hood Gardens: three-storey architectural fragment of a social housing block of flats comprising the interior features of two maisonettes and two facades (no floors or walls). The V&A has bought a three-storey section of Robin Hood Gardens before the seminal Smithsons’ project is demolished. Margit Vlasak und Helga Gajewski übergaben das Geld an Robin Hood Vorstandsmitglied Hildegard Denk. There is no shame in that, perhaps, except that it services the social status quo and has neither the idealism nor the audacity to change it. Aber sie sind auch ein einzigartiges Beispiel für die Architektur ihrer Zeit und ein wichtiger Bestandteil der Stadt. Throughout university studying graphic arts and design I always had an interest in architecture; almost always older buildings with history and in a particular style and rarely the new over-designed glass and shiny stuff. It was built as a council housing estate with homes spread across 'streets in the sky': social housing characterised by broad aerial walkways in long concrete blocks, much like the Park Hill estate in Sheffield; it was informed by, and a reaction against, Le Corbusier's Unité d'Habitation. The Robin Hood Gardens estate was designed in the late 1960’s by Alison and Peter Smithson and completed in 1972 at a cost of £1.8m. The estate was built by the Greater London Council, but subsequently the London Bor… Robin Hood Gardens is a lesson for future cities At the Venice Biennale, the V&A is exhibiting a fragment of the social housing complex completed in 1972 and designed by Alison and Peter Smithson, which is now being demolished. In 1976, in the 37th International Art Exhibition, the Smithsons’ exhibition Sticks and Stones included a billboard-size photograph of Robin Hood Gardens shortly after completion, and a bench based on one of the concrete columns that articulate the façade of the building. Robin Hood Gardens was built with panels of pre-cast concrete and is comprised of two horizontal structures which include a total of 213 apartments. The V&A’s decision to buy and display a three-storey piece of Robin Hood Gardens has come under fire. To most people it’s a place you avoid at all costs if you can, a place where drugs, crime and trouble is rife, a place where you live on top of your neighbours in a confined box, a place you wouldn’t dream of being around at night time, a place where the lowest of the low live, a place where dreams go to die, etc etc. Robin Hood Gardens, Poplar, London, by Alison and Peter Smithson (Building) by Smithson, Alison Margaret, 1970 - 1972. Just the word ‘estate’ has so many negative connotations; the mere thought of the word conjures up a strong image in the mind of anyone whether you have been in or around one before and even if not, you can always imagine. The V&A at the 2018 Architecture Biennale. We’ll be part of the ‘do you remember when they knocked down Robin Hood Gardens’ generation. I strongly believe that as a creative person, for me as graphic designer, it’s important to look beyond your direct field and towards other creative fields to widen your palette and draw in reference for your practice, personal style and taste. The dotted line indicates the three-story section of Robin Hood Gardens, designed by British architects Peter and Allison Smithson, that The Victoria & Albert Museum intends to save. I think the words of George Orwell say this best, in his 1937 novel The Road to Wigan Pier (a novel exploring the social and historical reality of Depression suffering in the north of England): “…in a Corporation estate there is an uncomfortable, almost prison- like atmosphere, and the people who live there are perfectly aware of it”. So why destroy one and renovate the other? Wählen Sie aus erstklassigen Inhalten zum Thema Ongoing Demolition Of The Robin Hood Gardens Estate Acquired By The V A Museum in höchster Qualität. For them it is important to save this as they see it for what it is: a defining example of Brutalist architecture and social housing in the UK and internationally. Although considered a notable example of Brutalist architecture, Robin Hood Gardens was never listed, making it susceptible to demolition. Their design was distinctive for its noise-reducing features such as exterior concrete fins and its exterior wall/barrier and for its elevated walkways, known as ‘streets in the sky’, intended to increase interaction between neighbours. Despite an … Megan Townsend … The subject of 2018's exhibition arose not only from our acquisition of the fragment, but also responded to the theme for the 2018 Biennale of FREESPACE which, in the words of Irish architects and curators Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara, 'encourages reviewing ways of thinking, new ways of seeing the world, of inventing solutions where architecture provides for the wellbeing and dignity of each citizen of this fragile planet'. Robin Hood Gardens is–or was–a social housing development built in 1972 by the celebrated architects Alison and Peter Smithson to replace tenements in a poor section of London. BauNetz-Architektur-Meldung vom 03.03.2008 : Robin Hood Gardens / Bedrohtes Smithson-Gebäude soll gerettet werden - Aktuelle Architekturmeldungen aus dem In- und Ausland, täglich recherchiert von der BauNetz-Redaktion Responding to the 2018 Architecture Biennale’s theme of FREESPACE, the exhibition Robin Hood Gardens: A Ruin in Reverse presented a 9m-high salvaged section of the façade of Robin Hood Gardens, the Brutalist housing estate by Alison and Peter Smithson. I could go on and on and this isn’t just an outsider’s perspective, it’s sadly a common perception for tenants of many estates; however there’s often not much they can do about it. The why, when, where and how. The estate also sits in a perfect location for potential and would-be investors and developers; it is right by the financial area of Canary Wharf with its huge 21st century glass skyscrapers occupied by huge corporations and banks. Whereas in London there are ‘great architectural masterpieces’ such as the Barbican Estate, Trellick Tower, Balfron Tower, the Alexandra & Ainsworth Estate, the Brunswick Centre and the Golden Lane Estate which are all Grade II or II* listed and preserved. Places like Gipton and Seacroft. Robin Hood Gardens, Poplar, London, by Alison and Peter Smithson (Building) by Smithson, Alison Margaret, 1970 - 1972. Such estates are not always high crime areas although there is a strong correlation between crime rates and sink estates in large urban areas.”. Gemeinsam kämpfen wir für eine gerechtere Welt. Museum Number CD.26-2018. The museum acquired the fragment on the suggestion of Liza Fior, founder of architecture practice muf, when she was completing a residency at the V&A. The typographic banners were hung from balconies in homes in the Golden Lane Estate which were planned to be re-developed meaning these homes and schools would lose much of their natural light and some parts of the estate would be destroyed with no plans for any affordable social housing, only luxury housing. The museum acquired the fragment on the suggestion of Liza Fior, founder of architecture practice muf, when she was completing a residency at the V&A. The V&A will present Robin Hood Gardens: A Ruin In Reverse, centred around sections of the estate that will be transported to Venice from East London. It was a naive choice as since finishing the project it was given the green light for demolition having been unsuccessful on multiple occasions over many years for any listing or preservation status as “it does not equal the architectural achievement of other 20th-century estates which have been listed” despite earlier support and backing from Richard Rogers and the late Zaha Hadid who famously called it her “favourite building in London”. It’s an image of the Robin Hood Gardens estate west-wing being torn down by a claw machine; ripping down the original concrete structure to reveal the skyscrapers of Canary Wharf through a newly created hole. 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