歐文霍普金斯說,戰後的建築不應該是政治失敗的責任

歐文霍普金斯說,戰後的建築不應該是政治失敗的責任

請點擊羅賓漢花園,白楊樹,倫敦,1972年。託尼·雷瓊斯攝影和RIBA系列禮節

隨著羅賓漢花園的拆遷現在正在進行,格倫費爾塔火災的悲劇仍然很新鮮,作家和策展人 歐文·霍普金斯(Owen Hopkins)呼籲政治家們停止使用英國的戰後建築作為今天問題的代罪羔羊。

霍普金斯爵士是約翰·索恩爵士博物館的 高級策展人,也是“ 失落的未來:英國戰後消失建築”的作者,該研究考察了第二次世界大戰後建造的建築物的拆除情況。

他談到德澤恩說,建立法規和社會政策而不是設計的問題常常導致這些類型結構的“肆意而不必要的破壞”。

霍普金斯說:“戰後建築仍然是我們自己時代失敗的方便替罪羊,無論是在社會政策中還是確保數百人生活的建築物進行基本的消防安全測試。”

英國剩餘的戰後住房大部分目前正在重建 - 前首相戴維·卡梅倫(David Cameron)甚至將其在2016年的政府承諾中撤回,或者稱之為“再生”,該國100個國家的“稱為水槽屋

艾莉森和Peter Smithson設計的羅賓漢花園成為最著名的例子之一。儘管拯救歷史遺蹟的高調運動,卻被拒絕上市,現在正在被拉下。

歐文霍普金斯說,戰後的建築不應該是政治失敗的責任

謝菲爾德公園山莊由Jack Lynn和Ivor Smith設計,於1961年完成,最近經歷了重大翻新

據霍普金斯統計,英國 “ 國家遺產名錄”的戰後住房人數不足,這也是建築師兒子西蒙·史密森(Simon Smithson)最近也提到的一個問題。他說的一個原因是,這些建築物沒有足夠的“建築興趣”。

霍普金斯說:“對於一個被認為”重要“的建築,它需要對其”設計“,”裝飾“和”工藝“具有”建築興趣“,展現”創新“和”藝術“。

“按照這些條件來判斷一座建築物,對戰後建築,特別是住房來說,並不是很明顯的偏見,而是將許多非常成功的房屋排除在法定保護之外。”

霍普金斯在倫敦西部格倫費爾特大廈的致命火災之後,聲稱政治家的反應將不會影響公眾對這種建築的態度。

他引用了一篇為“衛報”撰寫的文章,其中倫敦市長薩迪克汗將20世紀70年代的建築歸咎於至少殺死了80人的火焰,但掩蓋了許多專家認為2016年裝修工作將對火焰蔓延負責。

“如今,我們不會夢想將建築物建成20世紀70年代的標準,但他們的居民仍然必須靠這種遺產生活,”汗說。“這個悲劇的確定結果可能是20世紀60年代和70年代最嚴重的錯誤被系統地破壞。”

霍普金斯說:“這顯示出在不久之後寫的一篇文章中,薩迪克·汗(Sadiq Khan)在戰後時代的房屋建造者大門上選擇了很多責任,正如許多人所指出的那樣,他的言論是,如果塔樓沒有被重新包紮,那火災就不會像同樣的凶猛一樣蔓延。“

“從理事會住房管理和維護的方式到格倫費爾各方面都有經驗教訓,而不是建立法規的效力 - 但所有這些都是簡單的事實,我們不能繼續關注議會的住房,而且他暗示說,居住在這裡的人,以某種程度的二等獎,“他補充說。

歐文霍普金斯說,戰後的建築不應該是政治失敗的責任

朴茨茅斯的特區考古購物中心也包括在霍普金斯大學“失物招牌”中發現的戰後大樓的35項研究中。於一九六五

今年早些時候發佈的霍普金斯大學的“ 失物遠征”( Lost Futures),詳細介紹了35個戰後建築物,包括學校,圖書館,辦公室,購物中心和工業空間以及住房。

建築物的黑白攝影全部建於1945年至1979年間,附有一個簡短的文字,解釋其起源和衰落。他們的範圍從眾所周知,幾乎不知道和破壞“根據我們的觀點慶祝和哀嘆”。

這本書中的住宅計劃包括詹姆斯·斯特林的Runcorn新城鎮,1977年完成,15年後完成,1961年,由傑克·林恩和伊沃爾·史密斯(Ivor Smith)在謝菲爾德建成的 公園山莊園,由Hawkins \ Brown進行了大量翻新工程和白鷺西面。

還有不太著名的例子,如倫敦南部水晶宮的中央山莊,由當地政權建築師羅斯瑪麗·斯特恩斯特設計。

霍普金斯說:“儘管在傾斜的大型斜坡上優雅地安排了大塊傾斜的地塊上的最大限度的自然光線,但是評估人員認為該產業不具有創新能力,無法證明上市。

“然而,在許多方面,這就是其成功的原因,它不試圖做太多的事情,而是利用幾個不同的建築元素來創造一個體面的,人性化的生活場所,儘管安理會的可悲維護經受了時間的考驗,值得受到保護,遠遠超過名單上的許多建築物。“

歐文霍普金斯說,戰後的建築不應該是政治失敗的責任

請點這本書還包括赫爾的大衛利斯特高中,由里昂,以色列和埃利斯1965年完成。它於2012年被拆毀。照

這本書是由皇家藝術學院出版的,Hopkins 於去年底加入約翰·索恩爵士博物館之前,霍普金斯率領建築計劃

英文版:

Post-war architecture shouldn't take the blame for political failures, says Owen Hopkins

With the demolition of Robin Hood Gardens now underway and the tragedy of the Grenfell Tower fire still fresh, writer and curator Owen Hopkins has called for politicians to stop using Britain's post-war architecture as a scapegoat for today's problems.

Hopkins is senior curator at Sir John Soane's Museum, and is also the author of Lost Futures: The Disappearing Architecture of Post-War Britain, which examines the demolition of buildings constructed after the second world war.

Speaking to Dezeen, he said that issues with building regulations and social policy, rather than design, are too often leading to the "wanton and needless destruction" of these types of structures.

"Post-war architecture still remains a convenient scapegoat for the failures of our own era, whether in social policy or in ensuring that buildings in which hundreds of people live meet basic fire safety tests," Hopkins told Dezeen.

Much of the UK's remaining post-war housing is currently being targeted for redevelopment – former prime minister David Cameron even made it one of his governmental pledges back in 2016 to demolish, or as he called it "regenerate", 100 of the country's so-called sink estates.

Alison and Peter Smithson-designed Robin Hood Gardens became one of the best-known examples. Despite a high-profile campaign to save the historic estate, it was rejected for listing and is now being pulled down.

According to Hopkins, post-war housing is underrepresented on the National Heritage List for England – a point that was also recently made by Simon Smithson, the architects' son. One reason for this, he said, is that these buildings aren't seen to have enough "architectural interest".

"For a building to be deemed 'significant', it needs to be of 'architectural interest' for its 'design', 'decoration' and 'craftsmanship', and exhibit 'innovation' and 'virtuosity'," explained Hopkins.

"Judging a building by these terms, it doesn't take much to see a clear bias against post-war architecture, and housing in particular, serving to exclude many highly-successful estates from statutory protection."

Hopkins claimed the reactions of politicians, after the fatal fire at Grenfell Tower in west London, will have done little to influence public attitudes towards this type of architecture.

He cited an article written for The Guardian, in which London mayor Sadiq Khan blamed the 1970s architecture for the fire that has killed at least 80, but glossed over the fact that the 2016 renovations are thought by many experts to be responsible for spreading the flames.

"Nowadays, we would not dream of building towers to the standards of the 1970s, but their inhabitants still have to live with that legacy," wrote Khan. "It may well be the defining outcome of this tragedy that the worst mistakes of the 1960s and 1970s are systematically torn down."

Hopkins said: "It was revealing that in an article written shortly after the fire, Sadiq Khan chose to lay much of the blame at the door of the house-builders of the post-war era. As many have pointed out, the irony of his statement is that if the tower hadn't been re-clad, then the fire wouldn't have spread with anywhere like the same ferocity."

"There are lessons to learn from Grenfell at every level – from the way council housing is managed and maintained, to the efficacy of building regulations – but underlying all of this is the simple fact that we can't keep looking upon council housing, and by implication the people who live in it, as somehow second-rate," he added.

Released earlier this year, Hopkins' book Lost Futures offers a closer look at 35 post-war buildings, including schools, libraries, offices, shopping centres and industrial spaces, as well as housing.

Black-and-white photography of the buildings, all built between 1945 and 1979, are accompanied by a short text explaining their origins and decline. They range from the well-known to the hardly known at all and destruction "celebrated and lamented depending on our point of view".

Residential schemes featured in the book include James Stirling's Runcorn New Town, completed in 1977 and razed just 15 years later, and the 1961-built Park Hill estate in Sheffield by Jack Lynn and Ivor Smith, which has undergone significant refurbishment works by Hawkins\Brown and Studio Egret West.

There are also lesser-known examples, like the Central Hill estate in Crystal Palace, south London, designed by local authority architect Rosemary Stjernstedt.

"Despite its elegant arrangement of stepped blocks on the dramatically sloping sites to maximise natural light, the estate was deemed by the assessors as not innovative enough to warrant listing," said Hopkins.

"Yet in many ways, that is the reason for its success. It doesn't try to do too much, but makes use of a few different architectural elements to create a decent, humane place to live, which, despite the council's lamentable maintenance, has stood the test of time and deserves to be protected far more than many buildings on the list."

The book was published by the Royal Academy of Arts, where Hopkins headed up the architecture programme, before joining Sir John Soane's Museum late last year.

歐文霍普金斯說,戰後的建築不應該是政治失敗的責任