The Rise and Fall of the Council Estate

Since the completion of the first council estate in 1900 mass housing in the UK has taken on many forms. From tenements, garden suburbs and high rises, volume building has encouraged architectural innovation and experiment. For some council estates remains the embodiment of progress while for others they are derided as failure. Regardless of perception millions today call them home and estates are a crucial part of the UK’s total housing supply.

Against the backdrop of a growing housing crisis, RIBA hosts an evening charting the evolution of the council estate and debates the highs and lows of a century of development, innovation and shifting attitudes and asks do they have a future? Can they be adapted? How can they evolve?

Discussion chaired by Daisy Froud with Finn Williams (Common office), Andrea Klettner (Love London Council Housing), Simon Terrill (Artist, Brutalist Playground & Balfron Project), Tony McGuirk (Architect/urban designer & Former Chairman of BDP) and Paul Karakusevic (Director of Karakusevic-Carson Architects).

Part of a season of talks and events inspired by 'The Brutalist Playground'.