0 It is a bleak day when I visit the artist Rab Harling at the Balfron Tower in Poplar, East London. To show the building from another perspective, he’ll set them on a light box and, in essence, turn the Balfron Tower inside out. All this started from the same Brutalist-inspired estate that gave birth to major riots in the 1980s. Graduating from Surrey Institute of Art & Design in 1996 with a BA (Hons.) Rab Harling is a London-based contemporary artist and film maker who investigates the social occupation of space, focusing on how people construct a sense of place, and how the design of built environments reflects and actively produces particular social configurations and political ideologies. All rights reserved. July 6, 2015; Tweed House RIP July 2, 2015; A View From Balfron Tower June 23, 2015; Just Where Do You Stand On Housing? Guinness Homes are killing nurses & bus drivers by building Imperial-by-Lea. Der Turm ist über acht Skyways mit dem Haupthaus verbunden und beherbergt neben den Aufzügen auch Waschküchen, den Müllschlucker und in der Spitze einen Heizungsraum. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.

You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. When he takes me to the 27th floor, the view is mesmerising. I’m writing this as police vans shoot past my window and my neighbours board up their shops. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. Tower Hamlets needs social housing, not luxury flats, The Prince and the Poplar (block of garages). Balfron Tower is an icon of brutalist architecture, a 27-storey block of Sixties flats which stands like a sentinel beside the entrance to the Blackwall Tunnel in Poplar, east London. The tabula rasa caused by the Blitz allowed the London County Council (and later the Greater London Council) to embrace the ideal of concentrated living, an anti-utopian model. Nördlich vom Balfron Tower schließt sich die etwas einfacher gehaltene Wohnanlage Carradale House an. Artwash and the Rhizome (the Social Cleansing of Poplar), Balfron Tower: The Artwash of an Icon by Rab Harling, Balfron Tower, Bow Arts and the Missing Millions, If only Balfron Tower could talk, if only we could see, The Fall of Goldfinger’s Brutalist Balfron Tower and its Social Heritage, An Open Letter to Secret Cinema from Balfron Social Club, Historic England – What’s it For? Built in a Brutalist style, it forms part of the Brownfield Estate, an area of social housing between Chrisp Street Market and the A12 northern approach to the Blackwall Tunnel. Goldfingers Architekturbüro baute 1971 im selben Stil auf demselben Grundstück das 14-stöckige Glenkerry House. Der Balfron Tower und das Carradale House (ursprünglich Rowlett Street Phases I und II) sind eine Wohnanlage im London Borough of Tower Hamlets im Eastend von London.

In East London now, instead of gangs fighting gangs, they’re now fighting the buildings, the communities, and last night they broke down walls on terraced streets in Tottenham and used the bricks to smash and loot local businesses and banks. Das 11-geschossige Haus hat 88 Wohnungen. It’s peaceful, quiet, and light. These cookies do not store any personal information. The 27-storey block of flats has been largely empty since most residents were decanted from 2010 onwards - only a few Poplar Harca tenants and leaseholders remain in the 137 flats. Der Balfron Tower ist in den Anfangssequenzen des Musikvideos Morning Glory der Musikband Oasis zu sehen. We are “all to blame” for the gentrification of Balfron Tower, claims Dr. Owen Hatherley.

Rab Harling is a London-based contemporary artist and film maker who investigates the social occupation of space, focusing on how people construct a sense of place, and how the design of built environments reflects and actively produces particular social configurations and political ideologies. It is a bleak day when I visit the artist Rab Harling at the Balfron Tower in Poplar, East London. The artwash & social cleansing of Balfron Tower. @ The Sustainable Studio7 Curran Rd,CardiffCF10 5NE. The tenure mix in Balfron Tower and Carradale House following regeneration works Internal financial documents and confidential viability reports state Balfron Tower will be turned into a leaseholder-only block, so it will lose between 99 and 110 secure rented homes because of this. [3] Unterhalb der Hochhäuser befinden sich Tiefgaragen. The resulting 5×4” transparencies depict a fascinating and moving portrayal of a community fractured and divided by rapidly impending gentrification and social cleansing. If you wish to visit, the nearest DLR stations are All Saints and Langdon Park. Just how do you get social housing in Tower Hamlets in just 5 months? Copyright 2020 Diffusion.

When I tell Rab that it looks like something between a large factory and something out of 1984, he disagrees. Juliette Golding studied at Cheltenham Ladies' College and The University of Manchester before going on to study creative writing in San Francisco. Rab’s work is a series of photos taken in the apartments, looking out (see right). Social housing can often say more about the ideal of the architect or a council’s budget, which in turn can have a negative impact on those who live there. Die Anlage des sozialen Wohnungsbaus befindet sich im Distrikt Poplar unweit des Nordportals vom Blackwall-Tunnel an der A12. Brutalism [redacted] – Social Art Practice and You. in Film & Video, specialising in Cinematography, Harling pursued a career in film & television as a camera technician before focussing his attention on stills photography in 2004, allowing him the freedom to pursue and develop the technical training he received in the film industry with his own ideas and passion for experimentation. A balcony spans the width of the room and the kitchen next door, overlooking another estate, a children’s “playground” fitted with strange concrete walls and a concrete slide, and in the distance, the grand glass panels of HSBC towers, rooted in one of the richest areas in London. 2015 nannte die Band Champs auf ihrem Album Vamala einen Titel The Balfron Tower. The Balfron tower was built with the socialist ideals of economy and community, but due to urban decay after the war and the stark alien presence of such blocks compared with the rest of the city’s architecture, Brutalism quickly became unpopular and synonymous with unhappy lives. The direct disruption of noise and blocking up the windows has caused major unhappiness.”. Ursprünglich hießen die beiden Wohnhäuser Rowlett Street Phases I und II[4] bevor man sie nach den zwei schottischen Ortschaften Balfron und Carradale umbenannte. When he heard that Ian Fleming had made him into the villain in one of his James Bond books, he contested it so vehemently that Flemming nearly changed the character to “Goldprick”. Balfron Social Club is fighting to retain 50% social housing after refurbishment, Poplar Harca propose 0%. Balfron Tower is stylistically similar to Goldfinger's later Trellick Tower in London. Between 2011 and 2014 Harling captured large-format colour transparencies, from an identical position in 120 of his neighbours’ homes in Ernö Goldfinger’s iconic Grade II* listed brutalist Balfron Tower in East London. Das 37 Meter hohe Wohnhaus besteht aus zwei Wohntrakten, die in der Mitte ebenfalls durch einen Serviceturm für den Aufzug zu jeder Seite durch drei Skyways miteinander verbunden sind. Gleichzeitig soll das Haus mit modernen Anlagen ausgerüstet werden um damit dem heutigen Lebensstandard gerecht zu werden. Balfron Tower Inside Out. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. Die Anlage des sozialen Wohnungsbaus befindet sich im Distrikt Poplar unweit des Nordportals vom Blackwall-Tunnel an der A12. Big Issue issues an award for corruption & social cleansing, Give me a chance to sort it out: a Poplar Harca Placemaking Case Study, Doreen Fletcher: artwashing the east end with Bow Arts, Dispossession: the Great Social Housing Swindle / Social Housing Social Cleansing. A community can turn sour and break apart, not just because it is a poor one, but because of the way it is regarded, the relationship it has with neighbouring boroughs, the police, and each other within it. Der Balfron Tower ist 84 Meter hoch und beherbergt auf 26 Geschossen 146 Wohneinheiten, davon 136 reguläre Wohnungen und zehn Maisonettewohnungen. Goldfinger was known as a humourless man who would fire his assistants for being too “jocular”.

It is served by buses: 15, 115, D6, … It’s cheaper to do this when the building is occupied rather than wait and do it when it gets refurbished. Er und seine Frau veranstalteten eine Champagnerparty für die Bewohner, um herauszufinden, was die Bewohner am Entwurf des Hauses mochten und was nicht. Die Bauwerke sind Teil der Statutory List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest vom Grad II. Required fields are marked *. Following a reported £30 million refurbishment, a co-development partnership between registered social landlord Poplar HARCA, luxury property developers LondoNewcastle & Telford Homes, all 146 flats will be controversially sold as luxury flats on the open market, the antithesis to their original purpose as provision of social housing. Carradale House gehört ebenfalls in die amtliche Denkmalliste mit dem Grad II; das Bauwerk wurde 2000 in die Liste aufgenommen. SIGN UP TODAY. Auf dem Hochhaus befinden sich Richtfunk- und Fernsehantennen. May 19, 2015; Poplar Harca: Outstanding Landlord of the Year? It was about bringing Balfron Tower up-to-date and we talked a lot about creating the ‘ghost of Goldfinger’.

This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. “This area,” Rab says, bringing me back to the present, “is one of the poorest in Europe, but this building”—he thumps his fist against the living room wall—“is solid, well made so that you have privacy.”. Sie wurde in den Jahren 1967 bis 1970 fertiggestellt und ebenfalls von Ernő Goldfinger entworfen. Der Balfron Tower und das Carradale House (ursprünglich Rowlett Street Phases I und II) sind eine Wohnanlage im London Borough of Tower Hamlets im Eastend von London. architecture Balfron Tower London Rab Harling riots The Architecture of Happiness, Your email address will not be published.