B (183)

42

B+W



T

he life of a great city is one

of continual contraction

and growth, destruction

and reconstruction. From

grandiose rebuilding

schemes to wartime

bombing, the fabric and

geography of a metropolis

is constantly transformed. In recent years

London has experienced a particularly

pernicious form of change, as the price of

property and the demand for housing has

boomed, the city has experienced a glut of

demolition and development. A great many

buildings, some of historic note, have fallen

victim to the wrecking ball.

From time to time large areas of

city skyline disappear, to be refilled by

plantations of cranes, among which

gradually rise the skeletal outlines of new

towers under construction. Such is the pace

of this change that it is not uncommon to

pass through a part of the city that one

has not visited for several months and

find it entirely unfamiliar, the geography

alien, and that only a few recognisable

landmarks, isolated promontories of the

past, remain to guide you.

One particularly contentious example of

the redevelopment sweeping the city has

been the former Heygate Estate at Elephant

and Castle, constructed as social housing

and completed in 1974. After years of debate

and legal dispute, demolition of the vast

estate finally began in 2013. Its destruction

makes way for a new private development

consisting almost entirely of housing

outside of the bracket considered affordable

for the average Londoner. This is almost

certainly beyond the reach of many of those

who live in the local borough, which is

among the city’s most deprived.

D

espite its popular reputation as

an example of the worst aspects

of post-war urban housing, the

Heygate was also notable as a rare

oasis of green in the area. The five monolithic

blocks which made up the pentagonal border

of the estate surrounded lawns, gardens,

playgrounds, and offered a quiet respite

from the pounding noise and dirt of the

major roads that surround it on three sides.

Over the course of several years up to its

demolition, the Heygate was gradually cleared

of its residents, who were ‘decanted’ – to use

the euphemistic parlance of urban planners

‘In recent years London has experienced a particularly pernicious form of change,

as the price of property and the demand for housing has boomed, the city

has experienced a glut of demolition and development.’

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