Robin Hood Gardens, Poplar, London, 1967-72 (Alison & Peter Smithson) Peter Eisenman on the Smithsons’ work at Robin Hood Gardens: “It is the dogged determination to stick with, develop and build these ideas in the face of those who would ebb and...

Robin Hood Gardens, Poplar, London, 1967-72

(Alison & Peter Smithson)

Peter Eisenman on the Smithsons’ work at Robin Hood Gardens:

“It is the dogged determination to stick with, develop and build these ideas in the face of those who would ebb and flow with the fickle tastes of the current avant garde which establishes a model of integrity which forces each of us to question our own daily activity. The Smithsons represent an intellectual and ideological position, confirmed in a weight of writing, polemic, and criticism which is unparalleled since World War II. They possess a sensibility and an understanding of architecture as a history of social and cultural change; but above all, they have a total commitment to architecture as a way of life. […] This is the stuff of which architecture is made. It is the way in which architecture will continue to challenge as well as reflect the aspirations of a way of life.”

(Postscript to his essay “From Golden Lane to Robin Hood Gardens,” as published in Eisenman Inside Out: Selected Writings 1963-1988)

Robin Hood Gardens, Poplar, London, 1967-72 (Alison & Peter Smithson) Peter Smithson on Robin Hood Gardens: “I approach from the north, through the old houses, and I just go to the top of the mound, and I just think, I just fall into a reverie....

Robin Hood Gardens, Poplar, London, 1967-72

(Alison & Peter Smithson)

Peter Smithson on Robin Hood Gardens:

“I approach from the north, through the old houses, and I just go to the top of the mound, and I just think, I just fall into a reverie. There’s something mysterious about it. […] Underneath the mound is the whole history of this site. During the war the docks and the bridges, nearby, were the principle [sic] target, and the East End was the most damaged part of London. This mound contains the relics of that period - the debris of the bombed buildings and the concrete shelters, as well as the earlier stuff from the docks. […] When you go there, and you sit on it, in a way it’s like a tomb. The mound is a burial place of the sacredness of previous dwelling, isn’t it.”

(Interview with Tom Hanegan, published in Kenchiku Bunka, 1994)

Robin Hood Gardens, Poplar, London, 1967-72 (Alison & Peter Smithson) It has recently been decided that this landmark social housing project (the largest ever by the Smithsons) will be demolished to make way for a £500 million new development known...

Robin Hood Gardens, Poplar, London, 1967-72

(Alison & Peter Smithson)

It has recently been decided that this landmark social housing project (the largest ever by the Smithsons) will be demolished to make way for a £500 million new development known as Blackwall Reach. The destruction of our Brutalist architectural heritage continues: http://bit.ly/GS3bDm

Protestant Church of Reconciliation, on the site of Dachau Concentration Camp, Germany, 1965-67 (Helmut Striffler)

Protestant Church of Reconciliation, on the site of Dachau Concentration Camp, Germany, 1965-67

(Helmut Striffler)

Fuck Yeah Brutalism