Goldfinger’s Towers: Trellick Tower, And After

In Part 1, we looked at the Balfron Tower and Erno Goldfinger’s first attempt to create the perfect tower block. Would he have more luck with the Trellick Tower? Let’s see.
Part 1: • Goldfinger’s Towers: B...
For more on Ronan Point: • Ronan Point: An Accide...
For Robin Hood Gardens: • Robin Hood Gardens: Co...
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/ jagohazzard

[@mr51406]

We need an equivalent of “turn in one’s grave” for those who are cremated. I suggest “churn in one’s urn.” It rhymes! 😜 Your analysis is spot on. The tower blocks are vertical neighbourhoods. A private corridor on the 18th floor is the same as a public street on the surface. Both need to be cared for constantly, whether it’s a hole in the carpet or in the asphalt. It’s a shame that councils built these lofty towers with lofty standards but never did basic maintenance. It’s a sin because it reinforces the stereotypes about the working classes, that they can’t take care of things, that’s it’s all they deserve. A tower block is like a model with a muscle body: they’re high maintenance. The difference between a proletarian project and a bourgeois condominium isn’t architectural, it’s TLC. One can easily turn into the other and back again.

[@_Piers_]

I like "swearing in the wind", but it's too close to "swearing into the wind" Ahh well...

[@CharlieFlemingOriginal]

Churn in his/her urn... yep I will defo use that :D

[@daos3300]

the lack of maintenance has more to do with reduced funding due to political changes than lack of ambition

[@barrydysert2974]

Thank you for sharing. 🖖

[@ianb9729]

Churn in the urn? Some ashes are scattered. What do we call them? I guess the answer is blowin' in the wind...

[@michaeljames4904]

He’s the man: the man with the concrete touch...

[@brianartillery]

😂😂😂😂

[@whywhy6055]

But you must not touch!

[@Octopetala]

A spider's touch

[@damiensullivan440]

The concierge had a deadly bowler hat .

[@LeofromFreo]

🙄🙄🙄

[@mellowfellow6816]

"No Mister Tenant, I expect you to buy!"

[@jimtaylor294]

"Glory to you~ and your Hou~se." - Gowron Real Estate.

[@Larry]

What is the overhanging part of the stairwell section for? Was it meant to be a viewing tower or anything?

[@AthenaNova1]

That's the plant room for the boiler and other equipment.

[@otm646]

@@AthenaNova1 Why would you put the heavy, large and difficult to replace boiler at such a height?

[@NoJusticeNoPeace]

@@otm646 I'm guessing it's to save space. If you put the boiler in the basement, then a chimney has to cut through every single floor on the way up..

[@jamessimpson950]

The reason why it is all do high up is because the idea was to save money, water and the like would be able to move down to the flats through gravity. This means that you would have to pump it less.

[@mattscudder1975]

I think it would make a great viewing area.

[@DaveVaderify]

I don't know why these videos about random London architecture are so entertaining.

[@clintelsom2371]

Same

[@Elm0xz]

Because it's interesting to learn about the history of biggest city in Europe and also Mr Hazzard's narrative is very entertaining

[@bryansmith1920]

It's because you are a direct result of those that have gone before Work your thoughts lad to a better understanding of the world in which you live

[@joeottsoulbikes415]

Those buildings look less like a jail but still looks harsh. It sort of makes me think of a futuristic soviet thing. I really like the fact that he lived in one of the buildings for a while after if was finished.

[@bryansmith1920]

He must have been a Humanist i.e. he liked being around People it's not something I have enjoyed all of my life BUT at other times Pure Bliss

[@typhoidtyphoon]

Yeah Brutalism wasn't designed to look friendly and warm. I like the idea behind it a whole lot more than the façade. Him living there if only for two months was indeed praiseworthy, even if he was apparently an unfriendly man in general, according to part 1.

[@highpath4776]

Best viewed from the top deck of a Bristol Megabus arriving along the M4 into London

[@_Piers_]

@@bryansmith1920 That is not what a humanist is...

[@vahvistus]

In the tower blocks I lived in as a kid people said the architect should be forced to live here. They also wanted a concierge but never got one.

[@rgmusicom]

“Do you expect me to talk?” “No Mr Bond, I expect you to live within your means!”

[@Djarra]

I think the story of him jumping from a roof comes from a German architect Goldstein who threw himself at a diagonal pane of glass in a viewing deck to prove it wouldn't break. It didn't, unfortunately the fixings did.

[@brianartillery]

I think a guy in Canada did something similar. The glass was lovely. The frame... Not so much.

[@zivkovicable]

Maybe you're thinking id Gary Hoy the Toronto lawyer.

[@Son_of_Leif4328]

We were one of the first families to move into Trellick back in '72. I was very young & was shielded from a lot of the social problems that I only really became aware of after we left. I do remember the surrounding area being extremely grim at the time & of being nervous when playing in the playgrounds beneath - since dismantled along with the garages & other walkways - due to objects raining down from above at times plus the long walks up the stairs when the lifts broke down. Great views though! I still pass by occasionally & always look up at our old flat.

[@SamSitar]

throwing things is their way of bombing people.

[@maryapatterson]

Its funny how people who have never been into a block are always shocked at the space and the views!

[@KingMooseThe3rd]

Excellent - I literally just finished Part 1, and clicked the Bell to notify me of Part 2 - and it appears within minutes. Great Stuff Hazzard!

[@kavorkaa]

Do subscribe,its great stuff Great videos on the tube as well

[@teecefamilykent]

His videos are brilliant.

[@markcooper6042]

I think the idea was that these blocks would be set in parkland using all the space that they had saved. To extol the virtues of open space for families and children to justify your concrete edifice and then to fail to deliver the landscape setting is probably not Goldfinger's fault but it means that the tower was not what it was promised to be in terms of a place to live.

[@mattbaker3569]

Didn't Robin Hood Gardens have their own gardens but because of how the estate was built, it mucked up the integration with the local area? I do like and ultimately agree your idea - open space should be accessible for all. At the same time one has to consider the current community and feel of the area - would demolishing 100 buildings for 1 building be beneficial and work in the skyline, or would it feel like a prison or ivory tower?

[@markcooper6042]

@@mattbaker3569 I have lived in London terraced housing and it works so well in terms of identity, privacy, neighbourliness (is that a word?) and community. I do feel that the old streets should be retained at all costs and that these towers were a dreadful mistake.

[@markcooper6042]

@@luelou8464 Point taken, thanks LueLou.

[@henrybest4057]

@@luelou8464 In the late 1960s I lived next door to where they were building the Nightingale (tower block) estate in Hackney. I remember saying to my friends then that they're pulling down the old slums to build the slums of the future.

[@Finderskeepers.]

Not all the land saving but certainly some, like the center of Robin Hood Gardens. We have a choice, go up or go out and further reduce whats left of the greenbelt.

[@narasimha7187]

Trellik Tower used to have the loveliest coloured glass panels covering the back wall of the entrance. They were removed at some point and I felt that really took away from the soul of this great beast of a building.

[@soviut303]

Nice callout to the Rivers of London books.

[@Valisk]

Such a brilliant series! Loved Broken Homes.

[@AW-tf9ns]

Worth a read?

[@brianartillery]

@@AW-tf9ns Most certainly. But they have to be read in order, or they make no sense whatsoever. Ignore the cover blurb, too. Harry Potter they are not. Terrible things happen to likeable people, and there's a ton of paperwork for the hero to do afterwards. I also recommend Christopher Fowler's 'Bryant and May' books - two old detectives (who work for the small 'Peculiar Crimes Unit') are tasked with clearing up 'unsolveable' cold cases, and anything weird that the normal police can't be bothered with. In a similar quirky vein, are Andrew Cartmel's 'Vinyl Detective' novels. On the surface, the un-named narrator looks for exceedingly rare records for clients. Quite often, though, this seemingly pleasant, and innocuous job leads him into some very dark places, where death and destruction often occur.

[@soviut303]

@@AW-tf9ns Absolutely. A mixture of London history and contemporary magic mixed with a police procedural. The rivers have people who represent them; the river is polluted, they get sick. The main character realizes he can perform magic but has to make sure he turns his cell phone off to prevent it frying, etc. The audio book versions are especially well read.

[@AW-tf9ns]

@@soviut303 thanks chaps, been looking for a new book!

[@chrisbagginsmay2474]

Getting addicted to these vids and watching all the previous ones back to back. Just brilliant and so informative. Our head office is in London and I can’t wait to explore these places when we’re allowed back. Keep it up 👍🏻

[@rogerphillips7270]

Another interesting fact is that Trellick Tower was a transmitter site for the pirate radio station Thameside Radio in the 1980s

[@daughterslayer2308]

People just do nothing lol

[@drifter402]

I wouldn't be surprised if these towers get used for a lot of them.

[@bjoernaltmann]

Interesting about the Trellick tower is also the boiler room. It’s interesting because it’s not in the basement - it’s that thing that protrudes from the tower. It even has windows. The boilers were never used because of the oil crisis I think. Latest plans were to turn this room into a penthouse.

[@peterdavy6110]

I'd always wondered what that thing was!

[@smallstudiodesign]

I’d like to design a retrofit & design it as a communal view lounge for the residents - perhaps a drinks bar?

[@jimtaylor294]

@@smallstudiodesign If into a drinks bar; then a funny name is obligatory ;-) .

[@aedanjmcghie]

Madness filmed some of the Los Palmas 7 video on Golborne Rd. You can see the tower in the background which is how I figured out where they were. The cafe is long gone. Madness are still around.

[@hectorthorverton4920]

An enormous problem for social housing, especially local authority housing, is that there is a small proportion ( a smaller proportion than certain newspapers would have you believe) that might be classed 'problem tenants', and since this isn't a brutal totalitarian state (sound of worm-can softly opening) they have to be put somewhere, and no, not a concentration camp. And the moment a critical mass of these arrives in an estate, or even more so in a tower block, it's a death knell for improving community. For both of these blocks, on different sides of London, the problems really accelerated when somebody without imagination thought of them as sinks. Glenkerry is a poster for what might have been. Sixty years ago vandals would not have got away with stuff, because several burly men, and of course burly women, would have appeared and given them what might have been referred to as a clip round the ear. The price for community, as any resident of a village will tell you, is reduced privacy. It's a price well worth paying.

[@cargy930]

Controversial or not, I agree. Even back in school it was clear to me that it was a tiny proportion of the students that created all the troubles that affected everyone else.

[@milesrout]

"'problem tenants', and since this isn't a brutal totalitarian state (sound of worm-can softly opening) they have to be put somewhere, and no, not a concentration camp." Well if you chuck them out they either go somewhere else or they live on the street and then you have degenerate thieving beggars and homeless people living on the street and ruining the street instead of a tower block. Is that better or worse? Hard to say. There has to be some solution to these people.

[@johnburns4017]

_"The price for community, as any resident of a village will tell you, is reduced privacy. It's a price well worth paying."_ I do not quite get your point.

[@rebellion2054]

Nicely put. Enjoy that warm can!

[@AnthonyHandcock]

@Fire C I agree. One idiot tenant can ruin an area and I speak from experience. It need not even be deliberate malice or anything like that, just a disregard for others is enough. I have one neighbour who thought that just throwing his crap out the window was an easier option than putting it in the bin and it took him a couple of weeks to make the whole area look like a war zone that attracted trouble. No amount of polite requests achieved anything but luckily I'm big, scary looking and could swear for England and an (empty) threat to administer physical admonishment seems to have done the trick. He even picks up other people's crap around the flats now bless his little cotton socks. He doesn't know me well enough to know I only lamp people about once a decade, and even then it's only under the most severe provocation, so there's no real need to be scared of me... But I'm happy not to disabuse him :-D I will come to the defence of (some) drug dealers... Well... The one who lives upstairs who grows more weed than I do. Lovely guy and knows not to shit on his own doorstep.

[@andybaker2456]

I remember a flat in Trellick Tower featuring on 'Changing Rooms' or some other such programme made in the name of "home improvement". I recall Lawrence Llewelyn-Bowen or one of his cohorts covering a wall in the living room entirely in copper sheets. They were careful to point out the care they took around the light switch, ensuring the copper didn't come into contact with any of the electrical wiring for fear of making the entire wall...well...live!

[@MatthewWaltonWalton]

No doubt they included that in the edit in the hope that some enthusiastic amateur decorator wouldn't copy them and electrocute themselves or their kids or their dog.

[@voiceofraisin3778]

Obviously a lot more confident about damp in a 1970s tower block than i would have been.

[@highpath4776]

I always said the best thing to do with most Local Authority tower blocks was to add Concierges, and sell off or rent at a higher price (Barbican) , using the funds to fund lower rise family houses with Gardens (or flats - Golden Lane). The co-operative model can work, but if high maintenance costs are embedded in the style as it is , its not worth doing despite the social co-hesion objectives.

[@redjacc7581]

i really dont understand why councils house problem tenants.............if they are a problem, they have lost their right to be housed.

[@spencerwilton5831]

Redjacc If only that were true! It's more often the case that problem tenants have more choices, more resources and more money thrown at them than any other group. I completely agree that if you violate the terms of your tenancy or negatively impact others in your community the council should wash their hands of you, but the loony left is so powerful now that it would never be permitted. It boils my piss to know that we are subsidising the living arrangements for thousands of people who don't deserve any help whatsoever.

[@reinplat]

"No, I expect you to drop, Mr Bond."

[@jamesgilbart148]

Fascinating stuff. I am probably also a philistine but I struggle to see how these brutalist blocks merit grade II listed status

[@Dragonmdk]

5 Views, 5 likes, perfectly balanced, love your work!

[@ANDRSNS]

Having lived in Russian cities usually comprised solely of tower blocks of various sizes (good luck to you if you can do something with a shape of a shoe box), I find these towers' architecture sinister and forbidding. They look aggressive and almost dystopian to me. As if it was a set piece from Clockwork Orange or something similarly Ridley Scott inspired. Russian tower blocks may be more basic and less architecturally imposing, but they don't give you this shiver down the spine, they are more friendly and less brutal, if you excuse the expression... And, dear Jago, please keep making these. You videos make my teatime even mare enjoyable. Thanks a ton for your work!

[@Eliteerin]

Strangely I prefer brutalism architecture to commie blocks but that's probably because I'm odd

[@noelcosgrave6515]

The Stalinka apartments were architecturally speaking easy on the eye. On the other hand the Khrushchyovka used an ugly prefabricated concrete panel construction, just like similar developments in the West, but at least they never went beyond five stories in height. I can't recall anything in Moscow that was quite as dark and foreboding as the brutalist monstrosities in London though.

[@ANDRSNS]

@@Eliteerin you have your own opinion, and that alone is worth my respect. One thing I can say for sure - this tower doesn't leave you feeling indifferent.

[@ANDRSNS]

@@noelcosgrave6515 You see, there are multitudes of Stalin-era apartment houses, they were quite diverse, sometimes looked positively Renaissance Italian in some cities (take, for instance, Volgograd or Rostov). There are more than a hundred modifications of Khrystchevkas. And yeah, they were built 9 stories high in some places. But they were modified designs, they looked quite different on the outside, but inside the layout was exactly the same. There even was an ornate luxurious design of a Khrustchevka, some of them were built in Moscow. But, apart from the projects built in their tens of thousands there are some with noting. If you're interested, look at the Izmaylovo apartment complex in Moscow - this one is unique, yet it isn't brutalist per se. It is an example of what you can achieve with prefab panels and the vision of the future. It is rather splenind looking, to my mind.

[@johnburns4017]

@@noelcosgrave6515 The prefabbed panels and the steel framed glass curtain wall came from not the USSR and New York, but Liverpool.

[@maryapatterson]

The one thing ive always loved about London is the fact that you do have cheap and expensive areas existing together cheek by jowl. Gentrification may eventually win, but in the meantime what it means is that you get less of the so called 'Ghettos' that become unloved no go areas. The area around Trellick Tower on a Friday and Saturday become the bottom end of Portobello Road Market. Most Tourists do not make it down this far but it is a good reflection of the area with middle eastern stands rubbing alongside your fruit and veg and your pile em high so called antiques!

[@AtheistOrphan]

The thing with ugly residential buildings is that if you’re in them then you don’t have to look at them!

[@zorktxandnand3774]

This. Lets hope the neigbours have a nice looking house.

[@obdev9473]

That's what they said about the Tour Montparnasse. Best view in Paris, because it's about the only place you can't see the damned thing. I imagine every city has its candidates.

[@superadventure6297]

There is a brutalist building in view from my flat and I always look at it. I'd much rather see it than the horrid stuff they've built around it which is entirely stick frame, with cheap windows and 50-shades-of-beige Hardi-plank siding.

[@thatguyfromcetialphaV]

Erno Goldfinger was not happy that Ian Fleming called his villain Goldfinger. Fleming offered to change the name to Golddick. True story.

[@steveh4290]

My favourite Tales From The Tube channel now covering my other geeky interest, Brutalist architecture. These 2 towers have long fascinated me, especially their journey from drug den to £500k property. Worth mentioning the lifts only stop at every other floor due to the design of the bridges to the main tower from the lift tower.

[@kaitlyn__L]

There’s some other blocks like that in the UK, with lifts stopping on every two or three floors. It certainly wouldn’t fly today, to essentially arbitrarily make only a fraction of the residences wheelchair-accessible.

[@hairyairey]

@@kaitlyn__L There's a University of Birmingham Building where there are two sets of lifts - I think one is for odd floors and the other for even!

[@MajorCaliber]

No Large Panel Systems (LPS) in this beauty--all Cast-In-Place (CIP) concrete... should last centuries.

[@annamae859]

Every morning through the winter months I wake up draw back the curtains and have to look at ugly trelick, in the summer months when the plane trees have their leaves it is obcured from view. While it is still rather ugly to look at like many in my community I have Trelick envy, I would much rather live in it then look at it. A flat in Trelick is far more desirable, spacious and practical than a flat in a converted Victorian terrace on Ladbroke Grove. There have been a few times, when I have caught glimpse of it at the right time of year and right time of day, with a clear sky, the tower actually glows gold just before sunset.

[@rapson84]

I live in Ladbroke Grove and the view from my window is dominated by the Trellick Tower. When I first moved to the area I hated it, but over time it has grown on me. I think that it looks like a large futuristic snail. It is best seen at night when the lift tower is all lit up (rare) or when floodlit in green around the anniversary of Grenfell 💚

[@RazzUK]

Me too, I enjoy looking at it, lit up at night, from my window.

[@SixthQuarter]

I really enjoy these videos on the buildings of London. I'd love to see your take on the oxo building. The Tate and Battersea Power Station would be amazing too, but possibly too much to fit in to your usual video length? The OXO is cool and interesting but possibly a little more likely to fit in to 10-15mins. 🤔😁

[@highpath4776]

I assume you mean Tate Modern (Southwark Power Station)

[@SixthQuarter]

@@highpath4776 yes the Tate Modern, I always call it the Tate. Just a habit.

[@brianpateman2666]

@@highpath4776 Correctly, Bankside Power Station. Haven't been able to visit the gallery but I knew it well as a Power Station.

[@SamSitar]

what is the OXO?

[@highpath4776]

@@SamSitar coin street waterloo

[@catharinemclaren6629]

"private flats in the tower regularly go for hundreds of thousands of pounds" so the same as the rest of London then

[@AtheistOrphan]

I’ve just been looking at a two-bedroom flat on the 39th floor of Shakespeare Tower in the Barbican. I’ll let you guess the asking price!

[@highpath4776]

@@AtheistOrphan That is the City.

[@telamonthe3nd14]

@@AtheistOrphan 2 million pounds plus your soul?

[@retrorevival1]

@@AtheistOrphan market value + The Barbican Tax. I've photographed some god-awful flats throughout the barbican and seen them listed for 1-2million, did a couple of nicely kept and decorated 3 beds high up in Shakespeare that were listed around 3 or 4 million

[@daveoftheclanburgess]

I think the point was exactly that; they have become as valuable as any other city dwelling rather than the 'social housing' that was built. You could add to the quote "despite being surrounded by social housing tenants." which would sound very classist, but would reflect standard feelings up until very recently. The 'Right to Buy' scheme has had more social effect than we imagined it would at the time it was introduced

[@_mickmccarthy]

Loving the run of Brutalist-focused videos, keep up the great work!

[@jschreiber6461]

Barbican Towers & complex please!

[@phosgene87]

@@jschreiber6461 He's done Barbican already! :)

[@_mickmccarthy]

@@phosgene87 Was Barbican not just done as part of the high-walk video? Or was there a specific video?

[@kjamison5951]

“I’ll sue Fleming for associating the name Goldfinger with criminal activity!” His tower becomes the hub for criminal activity without input from Fleming.

[@Julia_and_the_City]

Gotta say, it's a magnificent looking building. You can see how it works from the outside very well, which corridors allow circulation and what the houses must look like inside. Few gallery blocks like it offer that: the apartments in the Trellic are personal, something more generic flats in this catagory are often accused of not being.

[@johncrwarner]

The message seems to be that building maintenance was rarely factored into the building costs and then surprise surprise the councils with a signature building didn't have or didn't receive sufficient funding for the maintenance. Goldfinger though he seems to have been a bit of an a***hole on a personal level seems to have been an architect who learnt from his designs and did live in one (even if only briefly) He was right about Ronan Point too.

[@earlbee3196]

Ernő Goldfinger RA (11 September 1902 - 15 November 1987) was a Hungarian-born British architect and designer of furniture. He moved to the United Kingdom in the 1930s, and became a key member of the Modernist architectural movement. He is most prominently remembered for designing residential tower blocks, some of which are now listed buildings.

[@PlanetoftheDeaf]

I wouldn't want to live in one of these blocks, but these are well designed examples of brutalist tower blocks. It's credit to Goldfinger that Balfron and Trellick have been "yuppified" rather than demolished or left as sink estates for "forgotten" families.

[@MPPelli]

Ah, Trellick Tower, from where Emperor Palpatine... err, Ian McDiarmid sniped and killed doctors of a nearby hospital in The Professionals.

[@jamesharmer9293]

I remember that one! Back when we had proper violence on telly, not the wimpy stuff we get these days ...

[@brianartillery]

'The Madness Of Mickey Hamilton'. A very good, but rather sad episode of the show.

[@the_9ent]

Not a fan of Brutislism. However I do have some admiration for Goldfinger’s towers. However I say that as someone who has no desire to live in them.

[@mattscudder1975]

You admire Goldfinger’s towers but wouldn’t want to live in them. How very classist of you. Is it all of Goldfingers towers you don’t wish to live in or just the ones that have been badly run?

[@the_9ent]

@@mattscudder1975 I’m working class and have nothing against council/ social housing. It’s my personal choice. In answer to the question, I wouldn’t care to live in any of them.

[@borderlands6606]

@@mattscudder1975 Classicist is a singular pejorative for someone who doesn't like Brutalism. Gothic, vernacular, Arts and Crafts, High Modern, there are numerous alternatives to Greece and Rome. Goldfinger's work is of its time and place, ideological, cheap and mainly loved by aspiring aesthetes.

[@minimaxi802]

Trellick sounds like a Cornish name.I went in the Trellick Tower about 2000 to the top floor to enjoy the views across London. Imagine living high up during the great storm of 1987.

[@john1703]

The real question you should ask is "would I want to live in one of the towers, and if so, which one".

[@misterthegeoff9767]

One thing that's often overlooked is the flats themselves are about 3 times the size of the flat I live in out in the commuter belt. I've been to house parties in some of the 60s and 70s high rise blocks and those flats are, well, big enough to host a house party. My flat enforces social distancing by only having enough space for one visitor at a time anyway.

[@mattscudder1975]

The real question is why were they built and why didn’t they work at the start, why are they now starting to work and who is living in them now.

[@Glenni91N]

I live in a towerblock myself, in Norway though, most of them didn't fall in total disrepair as the UK ones did, so they just don't have that kinda shady reputation. This one is well maintained, has fibre internet connections in every flat, gets maintained on the facade regularely, zero vandalism. It's well taken care of. Towerblocks are fantastic places to live when they work, they provide such a nice view, as you sit on the balcony sipping your morning tea, looking out over the city with all the lights, and buildings under you etc. The one I live is isn't nearly as interesting as any of Goldinger's works. But i'd happily live in one of his provided they were taken care of. They're quite cool looking!

[@Julia_and_the_City]

Me personally, I probably wouldn't but not for the reasons most folks cite: I (used to, before the country locked up) live very actively, and I want to be able to exit my apartment quick and be in the urban fray quick. Tower blocks often have huge lawns, and lift travel time adds minutes that I find unacceptable. That said, I'd want to live on the lower levels of a block that's reasonably well connected to the urban fabric.

[@2H80vids]

@@Glenni91N What a completely different point of view.😁 My only real experience of tower blocks is through hotels. In the UK of course, there are very, very seldom balconies and, in 99% of cases, the windows can't be opened - for Elf + Safety. During holidays in Continental Europe, particularly Hungary, I've done exactly what you describe, ie sipping a drink on the balcony, overlooking the city, and absolutely loved it. If these blocks in London were well-maintained, run by a concierge and populated by residents who gave a s**t, they could be rather nice places to live. As others have pointed out, you don't have to 𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑘 at them, when you're 𝒊𝒏 them.😁

[@leafrek]

Please do the youtube poll glitch to grow your channel more. People need to see your awesome content

[@hairyjedi]

You’ve definitely hit the nail on the head about under investment in social housing. I live in social housing, flats to be precise, and we’ve warped walls, black mould, and our communal ceiling collapsed 11 months back. Trying to get them to fix anything is nigh on impossible.

[@Skorpychan]

Spray the mould with diluted bleach to kill it.

[@stickynorth]

Cough, cough... Luxury/mansion tax... cough, cough, Airbnb tax... Cough, cough... All possible solutions to chronic underinvestment in public housing...

[@alanthefisher]

That co-op housing sounds dope

[@erejnion]

Apartment blocs are indeed pretty okay if there are people who to take care of them. In fact, having somebody to take your packages when you're out and to coordinate the denizens feels pretty luxurious, even.

[@BarryAllenMagic]

Did the troll who deemed you to be a philistine JH, provide any links to his plethora of videos about architecture, so that we can be correctly educated? No......thought not. Keep on 'doing what you're doing' dear chap! 👍

[@rogerhudson9732]

The poured concrete Goldfinger buildings and the Barbican towers show how it should (have) been done. All tower problems are failures by councils, having any council block without 24/7 concierge security was just stupidity.

[@alanstephens9266]

Could you please do a piece on the Odeon Elephant & Castle designed by Goldfinger.

[@JoseMorales-lw5nt]

3:50/ We New Yorkers deal with the same hypocritical resentment in regards to housing. Areas where the wealthy once snubbed as slums are now chic and hip. Never mind that locals who grew up there get no financial say in staying. That's progress, I suppose...🤔🇵🇷🇺🇸🗽🦂😎

[@Dave_Sisson]

I reckon they are dreadful and ugly brutalist monstrosities. Demolish them and replace them with human scale housing that is fit for humans. ... Wow, I think this is the first time I've ever disagreed with Jago.

[@jonathanwarner1844]

I found myself clicking "like" before I had even seen this video.

[@neilbain8736]

They might be brutalist but they look like they wouldn't actually bite if you offered them a biscuit. They're almost likeable. Which were the flats used in the Channel 4 logo a few years ago?: the ones with outrigged stairways and connections whose image was sampled and re imaged in such a way that they merged to form a '4' as the camera panned round. These flats were extreme, in a far lower league to Goldfinger, and the popular idea of urban decay. Casting the name as an ever memorable villain is a fitting epitaph. It may be quite wrong, and may never actually have happened, the result of an urban myth because the book came out before the flats were even designed, but that's exactly how misinformation, public spirit and democracy work, which is the result of the will of the people after all. It's probably exactly what he was up against all his living life. So now in his death the victims of his attitude think they have the last laugh.

[@dukenukem5768]

Named after the village of Trellick in South Wales? The places could hardly be more different. There are village signs on the three roads into Trellick (the village) and the name is spelt differently on each one. It (the village) was also the parish in which Bertrand Russell was born.

[@jonathanwarner1844]

I would have thought that JG Ballard's "High Rise" the book and the film would make interesting viewing for viewers of this channel.

[@jamessimpson950]

There is a rumour going around that it was partly inspired by the towers

[@JagoHazzard]

Funnily enough, I was thinking that while filming. I passed Trellick Tower and the Westway in quick succession.

[@1964cohibas]

Builders don’t build slums, people make slums

[@annother3350]

Yes but some of those people were the council not doing enough to maintain them. It's not all the fault of the clientele

[@doctorsatansrobot]

@@annother3350 Councils seem to get a lot of blame, but most of their money comes from central government budgets. To put it bluntly - every time someone votes tory they are voting for slums. It's a fact that millions of people need help with housing for a variety of reasons that they cannot control, and if providing it is not a priority then slums is what you get

[@annother3350]

@@doctorsatansrobot OK, I always feel like I'm making Jagos channel political so I'm going to leave that there!

[@highpath4776]

@@annother3350 I think if you want you could blame the Harold Wilson Govt of the early 1960s, where the quantity of housing built was the benchmark (see copies of The Barking Record from 1966 onwards for that borough's proudness at fulfiling quotas in Dagenham and Barking most of which have been demolished now (and sometimes privately replaced by buildings of little merit).

[@1964cohibas]

@@annother3350 Of course they do, don’t worry, Matron will tuck you in soon

[@wheelie_1988]

Alot of council estate's are being sold off and rent at high price. It's happening everywhere and one of the reasons why there ain't enough council houses/flats.

[@ulalaFrugilega]

3:25 is so very beautiful! I live in a house that's slightly more than a hundred years old, and I like the feel very much. I never thought I'd even consider ever again moving into a block of flats, but I do think that Goldfinger had a point or two, followed through, and with the proper maintenance his buildings could be very good living environments. The are also much, much prettier than what was built here in Berlin at the time, esp. in the east.

[@johnnunes2993]

Those are the ugliest buildings on the planet... take them down and rebuild

[@poohielouisletsplays2099]

“Don’t hate the player, hate the game” 🤣

[@turbo.panther]

I don't think they look so bad. From a long way off, facing the other direction.

[@MostlyLoveOfMusic]

I think they look nice. But I would never live in a tower block

[@paulbridgeford9033]

Poor living conditions some in London 10 years a woman and kids living mold fasted conditions collapsed ceilings in this day and age so sad concrete hell as shown on news at ten shame on the council's

[@PavlosPapageorgiou]

Poplar Harka ought to be the name of the main character in an Icelandic saga

[@CharlieFlemingOriginal]

There are only two... TWO 1960s towers I like... I dislike the rest an incredibly high amount. The two I like are Trellick Tower and Centre Point... You MUST do a vidoe on Centre Point (unless I somehow missed it).

[@blueaugust227]

I mean it LOOKS nice tbh. wouldn't when to live there.

[@brianhetherington-ford6957]

Its a sh1thaus and any drug you can think of is available there !

[@greatgonzo2782]

As you say: tower blocks work when they’re done well. We need to build upwards rather than outwards if we want any countryside left so it’s a no-brainer.

[@annother3350]

The modern towers are to close together though.

[@highpath4776]

@@annother3350 Pity one cannot post pixs as replies

[@kungfumind.]

After Grenfell I can't imagine anyone wanting to live in any tower

[@brucebush5744]

I’m not a fan of brutalist towers - but there’s still something about these that is admirable. I think that the giant towers were doomed to fail as family communities, the scale and form just make them impersonal and alienating - doesn’t mean that they can’t function as gated enclaves for the more wealthy. But as you show, the smaller blocks can work and could work better.

[@jimtaylor294]

Aye. If they were more appealing to look at it'd be a little different, such as white walls with multicoloured windows. (though if done badly it'd look like a multi-story balamory) The triple deal killer for me is that I don't like being at heights, there's no garden, and because a flat is part of a larger structure the resident doesn't own & built upon ground they don't own either, they can never realistically have the residential security of ownership typical of a suburban semi/fully detatched house. Or in short: I like to keep my feet on the ground; and own [some of] the ground itself.

[@reinplat]

As philistine musings go, this is pretty good content.

[@DDandrums]

How philistine?

[@calxtra5361]

Could have done with some inside pictures

[@jeremyhaines3847]

This is very interesting and informative

[@garethmoors5193]

Interior shots would have been nice.

[@benlloyd7199]

all brutalist buildings need to be demolished

[@Garcwyn]

Trying to solve society problems with architecture is probably the most arrogant device architects have come up with. In all fairness, all the problems these towers have are not unique to them, or due to a flawed design by Goldfinger. It’s a common problem of housing projects of this scale. They simply don’t work. Le Corbusier was not ignorant to this given that he pioneered this trend. Many of his housing projects ended being havens of social decay and crime and were eventually razed or renovated. These structures were “architectural systems that reinforce structural racism” (Birmingham, 1999, 291). By looking at London these days of very high cranes to build high residential rises, it seems that we haven’t learned a thing

[@jimtaylor294]

Apart from the "structural racism" bit; I agree. Even Prince Charles has decried the abomination of postwar architecture; stating that the latter profession did more damage to the UK than the Luftwaffe ever did.

[@gregoryferraro7379]

The supreme irony of a tower block built as public housing, deliberately left to fail due to poor oversight and mismanagement, surviving to become 300,000£ luxury apartments once proper investment comes around. Tells you everything you need to know about government values.

[@spencerwilton5831]

Gregory Ferraro No, it tells you everything you need to know about the people who live in social housing. Not all of them of course, but a significant minority. It's a story repeated up and down the country- a dilapidated and dangerous housing estate suddenly becoming desirable once renovated and sold to private individuals. The key is not the renovation, it's in the ownership. You could renovate and return the social housing tenants, and it would deteriorate again almost immediately. But house people who are invested in their community and building and it thrives.

[@yearight6294]

what are those windows that protrude out the top of the elevator shaft portion

[@MarkMcCluney]

These have certainly shown that there are plenty of sides to every story. It's good to know that someone somewhere thinks of these as home and a good home at that. Thanks Jago, good job mate.

[@IansWorldTravels]

One of the few brutalist buildings which is sort of attractive. Pity copyright wouldn't allow a bit of Shirley Bassey for your soundtrack!

[@RobertBrown-ty7he]

Hit pause. Quickly lookup Alison & Peter Smithson to remind me who they were. Ah - now I remember. It's not easy being a septuagenarian AND being able to remember things.

[@PaulSmith-pl7fo]

Hi Jago. Was Trellick Tower designed with shops and offices in mind, or were they added later?

[@JagoHazzard]

I believe they were part of the original plan.

[@sampowesterberg762]

I think they are beautiful monuments, especially the Trellick tower!

[@jarthurs]

I worked in Kensal Road and walked past this through the Cheltenham Estate on the way to work everyday. These days I'm more likely to walk through Cheltenham...

[@almachizit3207]

The thing is with Goldfinger's towers is that they're *so* close to looking really nice while also being horrifically ugly.

[@mike_maple]

Must agree - they're not the worst I've seen, but very ugly. Impressive yes, but impressively ugly. I admit I may be the philistine here when I say - brutalist architecture should be demolished, not listed, aside from the odd exceptional building as a warning to the future! Fascinating videos though.

[@almachizit3207]

@@mike_maple there's an attitude that I hold for architecture: if a building is aesthetically pleasing but holds no functionality, people will find excuses to use it. If a building is functional but not aesthetically pleasing, people will find every reason to avoid it.

[@francisboyle1739]

90% of the problem is that unsurfaced concrete just does not age well. Imagine them in gleaming white and they become the modernist future the 6o's promised us.

[@zebedep]

These are really interesting videos, thank you.

[@boohaka]

I was lucky enough to live in a block of flats in Hammersmith in the 70’s as a kid and the community was very strong, everybody knew each other and kept the area looking good. It was a very safe place for all residents. Council workers and caretakers were very communicative, friendly and proud of their work. Oh how things have changed!

[@matthewbrown2037]

We lived in Westbourne Park a few years ago, and each time I we went out the front door we saw Trellick. At first I hated it, thought it was hideous, but, over time, once I'd actually looked at it properly, I came to appreciate it. I was still stunned when someone told me it was listed! I actually like the new windows too. I think they suit the architecture.

[@stashyjon]

Balfron Tower was reportedly the inspiration behind JG Ballards classic dystopian novel High Rise

[@jschreiber6461]

Quiet enjoyed this and the vid on Broadgate/Broad St, Millennium Bridge “lift” (it didnt stay open for long after its initial opening!) Fitzrovia, Bloomsbury & Queen Victoria St. Something on the nearby infamous Fleet St & its stunning Art Deco buildings including the former Daily Express building. Humble Requests if you would consider them: 1. Art Deco London by Jago 2.Playlist with all your vids in the order sequence you feel best presents the content so I can watch on my apple TV like a superior version of a documentary. Keep up the great work and ignore the detractors, youtube offers both viewers and content producers to find what they enjoy, and there will always be a large audience drawn to your vids. Totally brilliant.

[@Pianoguy32]

Concrete carbuncles

[@darkerarts]

Another fantastic video. Really enjoying these. Although, it does make me miss home 😁 Would love to see videos about the Camden Catacombs, North London Line and the redevelopment of Kings Cross and St Pancras stations.

[@stretch9952]

I enjoy your presentation of the circumstances and personalities that brought these buildings about, and how they fared afterwards. Perhaps the best way to understand this type of high rise construction. All glass is the current rage in tall buildings at the moment with the result that it is often difficult to discern individual floors or units from the facade. With these particular blocks, you can get some sense of both. Maintenance is an enormous factor in how these are viewed and how they are seen and remembered. I lived in a Tokyo high rise once. It was more of a point block than a slab block, which made a positive difference in the skyline. It was quite serene to look out over a vast city and think that you were apart of it, and yet above the fray, literally. I have met my share of international architects with all the charm of a cheese grater. Not all of them are that way thankfully. The problem tenants of the architecture world.

[@r_unner_G]

Iconic builds.

[@greebo7857]

7:00 Vertical village? In Melbourne we call structures like this vertical slums.

[@mattscudder1975]

The building Jago is talking is a rare example of when tower block living works. The problem is that tower blocks and council housing in Britain has a bad reputation for various reasons, some of which are well earned. However there’s other countries where it’s the opposite, the reason is because of how they run and how much money is invested in to the tower blocks.

[@borderlands6606]

Before the coup de grace was delivered to the Hulme flats in Manchester, they became so hard to let that they were manly occupied by those of alternative lifestyles. For a few quid more on the rent, you could let the flat next door, and the one next door to that. They became repurposed to suit individual needs, and were sometimes grand in scale. Far from the utilitarian living unit of the planners, but a much better idea.

[@jaydaksy4094]

I lived in Wornington Green Estate, which was a short walk from Trellick Tower. It’s been a tower I’ve seen all my life. But there is one thing I’ve always wondered was that top glass bit.....what did it hold? then was told by my dad that is held the boiler. I remember during the 2012 Olympic they decided to put coloured lights in there to make it look pretty. Would you be able to find any information on Wornington Green Estate, which is slowly disappearing due to regeneration. I’d love to know more about where I use to live. Thank you so much.

[@highpath4776]

Think I found what you call Wornington (NW London always feels like a place to pass quickly through to me). Indeed another interesting place.

[@jaydaksy4094]

@@highpath4776 Oh no not in NW but it’s in W10 just surrounding Golborne and Ladbroke grove, There’s still some of the building remaining, but they are slowly disappearing. I lived there all my life but didn’t know much about it & I fail to see why they got rid of the old buildings, the new ones are terrible. I also think the same person that built Wornington Green estate are the same people that built Motzart estate, as they look so similar, but I’m not quite sure.

[@russellb1212]

Enjoyed learning about buildings I have seen many times, but knew little about

[@freddymzungu]

The Unite D’Habitation of Le Corbusier was the model for vertical communities but benefitted from a Marseille climate and a better site. I think whatever its redeeming features Trellick is quite ugly. You can tire of a view quite quickly. Most imitations of Corb were disastrous. Architects have ruined London and turned it into an exhibition of narcissism on a grand scale. The ego triumphed. Sadly.