{"id":778409,"date":"2025-03-13T09:38:48","date_gmt":"2025-03-13T09:38:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/?p=778409"},"modified":"2025-03-13T10:49:36","modified_gmt":"2025-03-13T10:49:36","slug":"going-going-gone-last-chunk-of-robin-hood-gardens-is-ripped-down","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.architectsjournal.co.uk\/news\/going-going-gone-last-chunk-of-robin-hood-gardens-is-ripped-down","title":{"rendered":"Going, going, gone: last chunk of Robin Hood Gardens is ripped down"},"content":{"rendered":"

Demolition of the 1972 Brutalist landmark in east London, to make way for the Blackwall Reach regeneration project<\/a>, began in 2017 but is only completing now.<\/p>\n

The photographs were taken on Monday night (March 10) by photographer James Burns, who runs the London from the Rooftops<\/a> website and has catalogued much of the capital\u2019s disappearing architecture.<\/p>\n

They show the final piece of the famous \u2018streets in the sky\u2019 housing scheme still standing against the backdrop of Canary Wharf and Erno Goldfinger\u2019s Balfron Tower.<\/p>\n

Lit up by the sinking sun, its concrete walls are daubed with graffiti tags and sprout tendrils of rebar in places following earlier stages of the demolition.<\/p>\n

Only last summer, the estate\u2019s eastern block was intact when the AJ visited with academic and social housing research pioneer Jane Darke<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Despite a campaign to save Robin Hood Gardens, which was launched by Building Design<\/em> magazine in 2008 and backed by many architects including Richard Rogers, English Heritage (now Historic England) refused to recommend the building for listing, so sealing its fate.<\/p>\n

A 9m-high section of the fa\u00e7ade, including a portion of a \u2018street in the sky\u2019 and some interior features designed by the Smithsons, was acquired by the V&A Museum and exhibited at the Venice Biennale in 2018.<\/p>\n

The fragment will go on public display again at Diller Scofidio + Renfro’s V&A East Storehouse when it opens at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park on 31 May.<\/p>\n

Burns\u2019 latest collection of images is available to purchase on his Etsy page.<\/a><\/p>\n

\n
\"\"

Robin Hood Gardens<\/p>\n\t

<\/p><\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Demolition of the 1972 Brutalist landmark in east London, to make way for the Blackwall Reach regeneration project, began in 2017 but is only completing now. The photographs were taken on Monday night (March 10) by photographer James Burns, who runs the London from the Rooftops website and has catalogued much of the capital\u2019s disappearing …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":81280,"featured_media":778583,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_oasis_is_in_workflow":0,"_oasis_original":0,"ep_exclude_from_search":false},"categories":[681],"tags":[1456,2200,1700,2645,1281],"yoast_head":"\nGoing, going, gone: last chunk of Robin Hood Gardens is ripped down<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Dramatic new photos show the last remaining chunk of Alison and Peter Smithson\u2019s Robin Hood Gardens estate as its demolition is finally completed\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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