The work in this exhibition aims to explore the accelerated rate of architectural change and documents buildings that have recently been demolished, and the sense of
disorientation which follows.
There is also work on show exploring 19th century social housing in the capital.
Many of us are familiar with books with titles like ‘Britain then and now/past and present’. In ‘The Accelerated then and now’ series of photographs I have tried to explore the accelerated speed of development in London over the past 12 years. These imposed changes can be both exciting and unnerving to its citizens. One century’s worth of demolition and redevelopment in another town sometimes happens in 5 years in parts of London. Architectural change is one of London’s great strengths and defining qualities but it can sometimes be carried out and rushed through with the lead hand of a planning department which is after elusive revenue from large building schemes and having that near compulsory ‘Iconic’ building in their borough.
The ‘Out of Site’ series of images explores how gauzes and scaffolding are often in place for years before anything happens to the building. This can in effect discredit the building or make the public forget what the building was or whether it had any merit. When a building is covered in these materials they are then either demolished or restored/converted and in the case of those that are knocked down the image of the gauze and scaffolding is the last that will be seen of the building.
‘Model Housing’ is a series which tries to explore what is still a massive part of London’s built landscape; 19th century philanthropic housing. For many years I have been documenting the surviving prototypes of these buildings and the social and political reasons for the differences in their designs. At their worst some of the designs have been likened to isolated barracks, ignoring the existing street pattern in favour of constructing giant dehumanizing blocks with their backs to the street, with little light or room inside. At their best some of these buildings had a design with a more humane scale and a connection to the street with shops integrated into the ground floor. Also in the better designs more consideration was given to what a family’s actual space requirements might be. The fact that many of these ‘model dwellings’ have survived is either testament to their success as a building type or shows that a much better alternative for high density affordable housing still hasn’t been fully achieved.