Prior to the launch of the ASH report on Central Hill, which we’re holding in the Residents’ Hall of Cotton Gardens estate in Kennington on 26 April, we thought we’d catch up with what’s happening on Knight’s Walk, the low-rise component of Cotton Gardens that was specifically designed by London County Council architect George Finch … Continue reading Knight’s Walk: The Good Practice Guide to Gentrification
Author: Simon Elmer
Central Hill: A Case Study in Estate Regeneration
Architects for Social Housing (ASH) is pleased to announce the publication of a book-length report based on our work on the alternative to the demolition of the Central Hill estate in Crystal Palace. Titled Central Hill: A Case Study in Estate Regeneration, the report includes not only our designs for the estate’s refurbishment and increase … Continue reading Central Hill: A Case Study in Estate Regeneration
The Social Realism of the Labour Party: Jeremy Corbyn and the Socialism of Fools
The mural (above) at the centre of the latest publicity disaster to engulf Jeremy Corbyn has been compared to the anti-Semitic depictions of Jews in Nazi propaganda. One Labour Party website has even taken readers through comparisons between the offending mural and historical examples from Der Stürmer (below), a vehemently anti-semitic and anti-communist German tabloid newpaper. … Continue reading The Social Realism of the Labour Party: Jeremy Corbyn and the Socialism of Fools
The Duties of an Architect: Regeneration and Gentrification in New Mildmay
‘In carrying out or agreeing to carry out professional work, Architects should pay due regard to the interests of anyone who may reasonably be expected to use or enjoy the products of their own work. Whilst Architects’ primary responsibility is to their clients, they should nevertheless have due regard to their wider responsibility to conserve … Continue reading The Duties of an Architect: Regeneration and Gentrification in New Mildmay
Thatcherwocky
after Lewis Carroll ’Twas ’84, and the Tory whores Did scheme and plot in Parliament: On strike were England’s collieries, And the coppers were all bent. ‘Beware Maggie Thatcher, my son! ‘The deeper cuts, the rising rents! ‘Beware the Milk Snatcher, and shun ‘The Conservative Government!’ He took his P45 in hand: Long time a … Continue reading Thatcherwocky
Housing Crisis or Capitalist Crisis? ASH Presentation at the Platypus Society European Conference 2018
The questions we were posed for possible discussion on this panel, even if I were qualified to try and answer them all, would take up the rest of this day at least. So I want to focus on just one question, which I think is coming into sharper focus in the UK, and which relates … Continue reading Housing Crisis or Capitalist Crisis? ASH Presentation at the Platypus Society European Conference 2018
Maintain, Refurbish, Invest: Siemensstadt Housing Estate, Berlin
Constructed between 1929 and 1931 to house the 60,000 workers employed in the Siemens factory, the Siemansstadt housing estate is located in the Berlin suburbs of Spandau and Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf. Working to the masterplan by Hans Scharoun, a number of the world’s most innovative architects of the time, including Walter Gropius, Hans Scharoun, Hugo Häring and Paul … Continue reading Maintain, Refurbish, Invest: Siemensstadt Housing Estate, Berlin
This Charming Man: Jeremy Corbyn and The Smiths
Why pamper life’s complexity When the leather runs smooth on the passenger seat? – Morrissey On Saturday I went to see The Smyths, a Smiths and Morrissey tribute band, at the O2 Academy Islington, a soulless venue inside the soulless Angel Central shopping centre. It’s the first time I’ve seen the band, and I was … Continue reading This Charming Man: Jeremy Corbyn and The Smiths
Dispossession: The Great Labour Party Swindle
Tonight Paul Sng’s film Dispossession: The Great Social Housing Swindle will have what I think is its last screening of the year at the Chelsea Curzon cinema, and to the excitement of many what the publicity calls ‘the Right Honourable Jeremy Corbyn’ will be in attendance. This is quite a turn around, as when the film first came … Continue reading Dispossession: The Great Labour Party Swindle
Narkomfin: Regenerations, Appropriations, Betrayals
The Narkomfin Building As a third-rate intellectual nation with the most de-politicised working class in Europe, the UK has spent this 100th anniversary year self-satisfyingly dumping on everything we can about the Russian Revolution, while simultaneously shutting our eyes to the extraordinary creativity to which it gave birth – however short-lived – in poetry, literature, painting, … Continue reading Narkomfin: Regenerations, Appropriations, Betrayals
Simon Elmer 