Author: Simon Elmer

Central Hill: A Case Study in Estate Regeneration. ASH Presentation to the Department of Architecture, Braunschweig University of Technology

1. The Estate Regeneration Programme In September 2017, as part of our residency at the Institute of Contemporary Arts, Architects for Social Housing (ASH) mapped out London’s estate regeneration programme. Our research identified 237 housing estates that have recently undergone, are currently undergoing, or are threatened with regeneration, demolition or privatisation with the resulting loss … Continue reading Central Hill: A Case Study in Estate Regeneration. ASH Presentation to the Department of Architecture, Braunschweig University of Technology

Our Urban Millions Must Wrest Control from Hostile, Inhumane Labour

I was reading Sadiq Khan’s article with this title in The Observer this Sunday, and initially I wondered who it was he was describing, so closely did his description of the Conservative government he was attacking resemble his own party. I thought that, given Labour’s record in local government, Khan’s got a nerve lecturing the … Continue reading Our Urban Millions Must Wrest Control from Hostile, Inhumane Labour

Knight’s Walk: The Good Practice Guide to Gentrification

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

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

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