Simon Elmer

The Christ of Journalism

And in breaking news today, rumours in the Colosseum are that Jesus of Nazareth had been smearing faeces on the walls of his cell in the Temple of Herod. Having been dragged from the Garden of Gethsemane last Thursday shouting ‘Judea must resist!’, Jesus appeared the following day before Pontius Pilate for trial. The Prefect … Continue reading The Christ of Journalism

Power Walk at the Serpentine Gallery: ASH Press Release

‘I think it is important to distinguish between the traditional notion of patronage and the public relations manoeuvres parading as patronage today. What we have here is a real exchange of capital: financial capital on the part of the sponsors and symbolic capital on the part of the sponsored. Most business people are quite open about … Continue reading Power Walk at the Serpentine Gallery: ASH Press Release

Greece (an Odyssey)

In September 2015 we travelled to Greece, partly on holiday, but also to see what membership of the European Union was doing to the country. We spent a few days in Athens, then travelled south for a week through the Peloponnese, finally arriving on the island of Kythira days before the snap election. This was … Continue reading Greece (an Odyssey)

Brexit Countdown

In the week leading up to what was to be the UK’s exit from the European Union and for a few days after, the ASH Facebook page was the site of an informal debate about the pros and cons of Brexit. Although there was no agreement on any one position, compared to the previous three … Continue reading Brexit Countdown

The Space of Community in Post-war Council Estates

This text was read on 30 March 2019 at the Design Museum, London, as part of a series of workshops and talks titled Growing Common Land organised by Hester Buck, one of four Designers in Residence at the museum during 2018. What London’s Estate Regeneration programme has revealed to all but the most inattentive observer or … Continue reading The Space of Community in Post-war Council Estates

Housing is Not a Human Right: Housing Campaigns Before the Law

My title refers to the famous fragment taken from Franz Kafka’s novel The Trial and published separately in 1915 as Before the Law. For those not familiar with the parable, a man from the country seeks admittance to the law. At the entrance to the law stands a guard, who refuses his request but offers … Continue reading Housing is Not a Human Right: Housing Campaigns Before the Law

Public Subsidies for Private Profit: The Colville Estate Regeneration

The two towers of Hoxton Press are the third phase in the regeneration of Hackney’s Colville estate. Completed last year on the estate’s prime location directly opposite Shoreditch Park, they have received numerous awards and garnered rave reviews. ‘A model for estate redevelopment’, claimed the Architects’ Journal. ‘Some of the best council housing ever built’, … Continue reading Public Subsidies for Private Profit: The Colville Estate Regeneration

Saving Northwold Estate: The Design Alternatives to Demolition

The Northwold estate in Hackney has around 580 homes. Built in the 1930s, it was extended in the 1950s, and in 2009 the estate stock-transferred to the Guinness Partnership housing association. In 2016 Guinness announced it was going to regenerate the estate, and subsequently planned to demolish and redevelop half the estate. In September 2016 residents … Continue reading Saving Northwold Estate: The Design Alternatives to Demolition

What is Community-led Housing? Proposal for a Co-operative Housing Development

Brixton Gardens, architectural rendering by Leonie Weber What is ‘community-led housing’? The phrase is used these days with increasing frequency, but what does it mean? How can it embrace the resource and advice hub set up by the London Mayor to build more affordable housing, and which has just been allocated £38 million of funds, and, … Continue reading What is Community-led Housing? Proposal for a Co-operative Housing Development

The Business of Homelessness: My Container UK Ltd

https://vimeo.com/289728568 On 30 August 2017 Martin McGrail and Stacy Reed incorporated My Container UK Ltd, which lists its business on the Companies House website as the ‘Construction of commercial buildings’, and for which they are both Directors: McGrail the Managing Director, Reed the Operations Director. The following year, on 4 June 2018, they incorporated Gorilla Holdings … Continue reading The Business of Homelessness: My Container UK Ltd

Author: Simon Elmer