The Byker Wall is the name given to a long unbroken block of 620 maisonettes in the Byker district of Newcastle upon Tyne, England. The block was designed by the notable architect Ralph Erskine and was built in the mid-1970s. Its Functionalist Romantic styling with textured, complex facades, colourful brick, wood and plastic panels, attention to context and relatively low-rise construction represented a major break with the Brutalist high-rise architectural orthodoxy of the time. Residential dwellings can be built in a large variety of configurations. ... Byker is an inner city area in the city of Newcastle upon Tyne in Tyne and Wear, England. ... This article is about a city in the United Kingdom. ... Motto (French) God and my right Anthem God Save the King (Queen) England() – on the European continent() – in the United Kingdom() Capital (and largest city) London (de facto) Official languages English (de facto) Government Constitutional monarchy  -  Queen Queen Elizabeth II  -  Prime Minister Tony Blair MP Unification  -  by Athelstan 967  Area... Ralph Erskine (February 24, 1914 - March 16, 2005) was a London born architect, who lived and worked in Sweden for most of his life. ... The 1970s decade refers to the years from 1970 to 1979, In the Western world, the focus shifted from the social activism of the sixties to social activities for ones own pleasure, save for environmentalism, which continued in a very visible way. ... Brutalism is an architectural style that spawned from the Modernist architectural movement and which flourished from the 1950s to the 1970s. ... High-rise is a 1975 novel by J. G. Ballard. ...

The Byker Wall was famous as the home of "ratboy" a juvenile delinquent who lived in its heating shafts during the 1990s^[1].

Its innovative and visionary design has earned it many awards notably the Civic Trust Award, the Eternit Award, the Ambrose Congreve Award for Housing (in 1980) and the Veronica Rudge Green Prize for Urban Design from Harvard University. The Wall has also been placed on UNESCO's list of outstanding twentieth century buildings. 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday. ... Harvard University (incorporated as The President and Fellows of Harvard College) is a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. Founded in 1636,[2] Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. ... UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) is a specialized agency of the United Nations established in 1945. ...

In 2003 the UK Department of Culture, Media and Sport announced a proposal to award the Byker Estate, of which the Wall forms a part, a Grade II listed rating as an example of outstanding architecture. In 2007 the Estate became a grade II* listed building (grade two star). 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (sometimes abbreviated DCMS) is a department of the British government. ... Buckingham Palace, a Grade I listed building. ... 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the Anno Domini era. ... Buckingham Palace, a Grade I listed building. ...

See also

• Karl-Marx-Hof, Vienna, Austria - The longest single residential building in the world.
• Prora, Rügen, Germany
• Park Hill, Sheffield, UK
• Falowiec, Gdansk, Poland

12. ... Koloss von Prora or the Colossus of Prora Prora was a Nazi-planned spa on the island Rügen, Germany. ... Park Hill from Sheffield City Centre. ... Polish word falowiec means wavy block and it is a kind of building, which has wavy shape of its body and balcony. ...

References

1. ^ http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_19970402/ai_n14116602+%22ratboy%22+%22byker+wall%22&hl=en&gl=uk&ct=clnk&cd=2&client=firefox-a

External links

• Tim Pickford-Jones' Gallery of the Wall and Byker estate
• Kay's Geography guide to the Byker estate including current issues and photos

Coordinates: 54.9755° N 1.5802° W Map of Earth showing lines of latitude (horizontally) and longitude (vertically), Eckert VI projection; large version (pdf, 1. ...