Robin Hood Gardens

Robin Hood Gardens is a housing complex in Poplar, London designed in the late 1960s by architects Alison and Peter Smithson and completed in 1972. It was intended as an instance of the 'streets in the sky' concept: social housing characterised by broad aerial walkways in long concrete blocks, much like the Park Hill estate in Sheffield, and as a British response to projects like Le Corbusier's Unité d'Habitation. However, there were problems both with the quality of construction and the general design of the estate, which was plagued by crime. The project is generally regarded as a failure and the Smithsons' architectural career never quite recovered. Poplar is an area of the East End of London in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. ... 1960 was a leap year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... English architects Alison Smithson (1928-1993) and Peter Smithson (18 September 1923-3 March 2003) together formed an architectural partnership, and are often associated with the Brutalist style. ... 1972 was a leap year that started on a Saturday. ... Park Hill is a housing estate in Sheffield, England. ... This article is about the city in England. ... Notre Dame du Haut Le Corbusier (October 6, 1887–August 27, 1965) was a Swiss architect famous for what is now called the International Style, along with Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Walter Gropius, and Theo van Doesburg. ... Unite dHabitation, Marseilles The Unité dHabitation is the name of a modernist residential housing design principle developed by Charles Edouard Jeanneret-Gris (aka Le Corbusier), which formed the basis of numerous housing developments designed by Le Corbusier throughout Europe with this name. ...

The estate covers about 2 hectares and consists of two long six-storey blocks, built from precast concrete slabs and containing 213 flats, surrounding a landscaped green area and a small hill made from construction spoil. The flats themselves are a mixture of single-storey apartments and two-storey maisonettes, with wide balconies (the 'streets') on every third floor. The complex is located near Blackwall DLR station within sight of the nearby Balfron Tower. Blackwall is a station on Docklands Light Railway (DLR) in east London. ... Balfron Tower Balfron Tower is a multi-story housing block in the Poplar district of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. ...

See also

• Alison and Peter Smithson
• Brutalist architecture
• Park Hill
• Hunstanton School
• Maps of Robin Hood Gardens at 51°30′34.33″ N 0°0′32.25″ W

English architects Alison Smithson (1928-1993) and Peter Smithson (18 September 1923-3 March 2003) together formed an architectural partnership, and are often associated with the Brutalist style. ... Brutalism is an architectural style that spawned from the Modernist architectural movement and which flourished from the 1950s to the 1970s. ... Park Hill is a housing estate in Sheffield, England. ...

External links

• Meet the Smithsons