Estate Regeneration
This handsomely presented book impressed the jury. It is profusely illustrated and is supported by a clear structure, diagrams and illustrations. The book is largely based on the extensive work of the urban design practice PRP.
The authors, Brendan Kilpatrick and Manish Patel lead PRP and their experience in social housing since the 1990’s is well represented.
There are five parts to the book, each introduced by a specialist in a different aspect of housing provision. The titles of each part; 'Pioneering', 'Pragmatic', 'Utopian', 'Evolutionary' and 'Visionary', reflect to some extent, the financial and political climate influencing housing provision during the twenty-five years when the projects described in each section were being undertaken and can provide an insight into the impact of administrative pressures on urban design solutions.
The introductory essays are especially interesting and add a unique feature to what might otherwise have been a wholly physical design focus. The parts are arranged in a roughly chronological order and the projects described demonstrate the way the approach to rebuilding housing has evolved over the past two decades
In all twenty-four regeneration projects are examined. Most of the projects are from the London area but there are schemes from Plymouth and West Sussex. Each project is examined in a rigorously consistent manner and starts with a general description of the estate and its surrounding area. A very brief examination of community engagement is included. The brevity of this section perhaps shows the focus on the physical aspects of regeneration, that is the driving force behind the book.
The subject estate is then shown in its pre-regeneration form and there is an urban design analysis of the pre-regeneration estate. This is followed by a summary of the urban design vision driving the regeneration and a diagram of the urban design principles guiding the process. Each part is amply illustrated with coloured illustrations showing the ultimate schemes in pristine form. Each section concludes with graphic comparisons of the subject estate in 'Pre-Regeneration' form and in 'Post-Regeneration' form. These comparisons are especially useful and show, in some instances the dramatic change in tenure before and after regeneration. They also allow comparisons to be made of the impact different approaches to housing provision. These pages will be especially useful to researchers in the future.
This is a book that will provide a valuable compendium of examples of urban design principles applied to public housing.
Book Award Judging Panel 2021 Dick Cole (Chair) Book editor URBAN DESIGN journal |
As featured in URBAN DESIGN 158 Spring 2021
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