‘The Towers of Terror’: A Critical Analysis of Ernő Goldfinger’s Balfron and Trellick Towers

Detalhes bibliográficos
Autor(a) principal: Braghieri, Nicola
Data de Publicação: 2019
Tipo de documento: Artigo
Idioma: eng
Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
Texto Completo: https://doi.org/10.17645/up.v4i3.2118
Resumo: When J. G. Ballard published his masterpiece High-Rise in 1975, many readers in London automatically identified the apartment building that is the protagonist of the dystopian novel as the infamous Trellick Tower at Kensal Town, certainly one of the most controversial and ambiguous figures of British architecture after World War II. Designed by Ernő Goldfinger, the tower, which had recently been completed, was already considered a symbol of the brutality of contemporary architecture, to the point of gaining the nickname ‘Tower of Terror’ coined by its own inhabitants. Actually, in public opinion the nearly twin sister of the earlier Balfron Tower at Poplar embodied all the ills of urban planning and of the housing policies of the post-war reconstruction. The large size of the project, the uniformity of its facades, the presence of bulky stairwells separated from the main volume, connected by elevated bridges and brandishing the big chimneys of the heating system, the complex apartment layouts on multiple levels, and the intensive use of fair-face reinforced concrete are the factors that shape the extraordinary character of this work of architecture, examined in a relatively small quantity of critical writings, despite the building’s widespread notoriety. The Balfron Tower, commissioned in 1963, and the Trellick Tower commissioned in 1966 have become, for better or worse, icons of British public housing policy, and today they are inseparable parts of the London cityscape. Critical analysis of the original project documents reveals how the typological and constructive reflections at the end of the 1960s had reached a level of extreme sophistication and quality, also in the development of large social housing complexes created for the urban proletariat. Thanks to their outstanding constructed quality and the efficacy of their residential typologies, the towers have stood up to the destructive fury of the last few decades, even becoming Grade II* listed buildings. In recent years, they have gone through a remarkable process of social and generational turnover, coveted as investment properties and involved in processes of real estate speculation.
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spelling ‘The Towers of Terror’: A Critical Analysis of Ernő Goldfinger’s Balfron and Trellick TowersBalfron Tower; Brutalist architecture; Ernő Goldfinger; high-rise buildings; social housing; Trellick TowerWhen J. G. Ballard published his masterpiece High-Rise in 1975, many readers in London automatically identified the apartment building that is the protagonist of the dystopian novel as the infamous Trellick Tower at Kensal Town, certainly one of the most controversial and ambiguous figures of British architecture after World War II. Designed by Ernő Goldfinger, the tower, which had recently been completed, was already considered a symbol of the brutality of contemporary architecture, to the point of gaining the nickname ‘Tower of Terror’ coined by its own inhabitants. Actually, in public opinion the nearly twin sister of the earlier Balfron Tower at Poplar embodied all the ills of urban planning and of the housing policies of the post-war reconstruction. The large size of the project, the uniformity of its facades, the presence of bulky stairwells separated from the main volume, connected by elevated bridges and brandishing the big chimneys of the heating system, the complex apartment layouts on multiple levels, and the intensive use of fair-face reinforced concrete are the factors that shape the extraordinary character of this work of architecture, examined in a relatively small quantity of critical writings, despite the building’s widespread notoriety. The Balfron Tower, commissioned in 1963, and the Trellick Tower commissioned in 1966 have become, for better or worse, icons of British public housing policy, and today they are inseparable parts of the London cityscape. Critical analysis of the original project documents reveals how the typological and constructive reflections at the end of the 1960s had reached a level of extreme sophistication and quality, also in the development of large social housing complexes created for the urban proletariat. Thanks to their outstanding constructed quality and the efficacy of their residential typologies, the towers have stood up to the destructive fury of the last few decades, even becoming Grade II* listed buildings. In recent years, they have gone through a remarkable process of social and generational turnover, coveted as investment properties and involved in processes of real estate speculation.Cogitatio2019-09-30info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersioninfo:eu-repo/semantics/articleapplication/pdfhttps://doi.org/10.17645/up.v4i3.2118oai:ojs.cogitatiopress.com:article/2118Urban Planning; Vol 4, No 3 (2019): Housing Builds Cities; 223-2492183-7635reponame:Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)instname:Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informaçãoinstacron:RCAAPenghttps://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/2118https://doi.org/10.17645/up.v4i3.2118https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/2118/2118https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/downloadSuppFile/2118/576https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/downloadSuppFile/2118/664https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/downloadSuppFile/2118/665https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/downloadSuppFile/2118/666Copyright (c) 2019 Nicola Braghierihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessBraghieri, Nicola2022-12-20T10:59:44Zoai:ojs.cogitatiopress.com:article/2118Portal AgregadorONGhttps://www.rcaap.pt/oai/openaireopendoar:71602024-03-19T16:21:55.463959Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) - Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informaçãofalse
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv ‘The Towers of Terror’: A Critical Analysis of Ernő Goldfinger’s Balfron and Trellick Towers
title ‘The Towers of Terror’: A Critical Analysis of Ernő Goldfinger’s Balfron and Trellick Towers
spellingShingle ‘The Towers of Terror’: A Critical Analysis of Ernő Goldfinger’s Balfron and Trellick Towers
Braghieri, Nicola
Balfron Tower; Brutalist architecture; Ernő Goldfinger; high-rise buildings; social housing; Trellick Tower
title_short ‘The Towers of Terror’: A Critical Analysis of Ernő Goldfinger’s Balfron and Trellick Towers
title_full ‘The Towers of Terror’: A Critical Analysis of Ernő Goldfinger’s Balfron and Trellick Towers
title_fullStr ‘The Towers of Terror’: A Critical Analysis of Ernő Goldfinger’s Balfron and Trellick Towers
title_full_unstemmed ‘The Towers of Terror’: A Critical Analysis of Ernő Goldfinger’s Balfron and Trellick Towers
title_sort ‘The Towers of Terror’: A Critical Analysis of Ernő Goldfinger’s Balfron and Trellick Towers
author Braghieri, Nicola
author_facet Braghieri, Nicola
author_role author
dc.contributor.author.fl_str_mv Braghieri, Nicola
dc.subject.por.fl_str_mv Balfron Tower; Brutalist architecture; Ernő Goldfinger; high-rise buildings; social housing; Trellick Tower
topic Balfron Tower; Brutalist architecture; Ernő Goldfinger; high-rise buildings; social housing; Trellick Tower
description When J. G. Ballard published his masterpiece High-Rise in 1975, many readers in London automatically identified the apartment building that is the protagonist of the dystopian novel as the infamous Trellick Tower at Kensal Town, certainly one of the most controversial and ambiguous figures of British architecture after World War II. Designed by Ernő Goldfinger, the tower, which had recently been completed, was already considered a symbol of the brutality of contemporary architecture, to the point of gaining the nickname ‘Tower of Terror’ coined by its own inhabitants. Actually, in public opinion the nearly twin sister of the earlier Balfron Tower at Poplar embodied all the ills of urban planning and of the housing policies of the post-war reconstruction. The large size of the project, the uniformity of its facades, the presence of bulky stairwells separated from the main volume, connected by elevated bridges and brandishing the big chimneys of the heating system, the complex apartment layouts on multiple levels, and the intensive use of fair-face reinforced concrete are the factors that shape the extraordinary character of this work of architecture, examined in a relatively small quantity of critical writings, despite the building’s widespread notoriety. The Balfron Tower, commissioned in 1963, and the Trellick Tower commissioned in 1966 have become, for better or worse, icons of British public housing policy, and today they are inseparable parts of the London cityscape. Critical analysis of the original project documents reveals how the typological and constructive reflections at the end of the 1960s had reached a level of extreme sophistication and quality, also in the development of large social housing complexes created for the urban proletariat. Thanks to their outstanding constructed quality and the efficacy of their residential typologies, the towers have stood up to the destructive fury of the last few decades, even becoming Grade II* listed buildings. In recent years, they have gone through a remarkable process of social and generational turnover, coveted as investment properties and involved in processes of real estate speculation.
publishDate 2019
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2019-09-30
dc.type.status.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
dc.type.driver.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
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dc.identifier.uri.fl_str_mv https://doi.org/10.17645/up.v4i3.2118
oai:ojs.cogitatiopress.com:article/2118
url https://doi.org/10.17645/up.v4i3.2118
identifier_str_mv oai:ojs.cogitatiopress.com:article/2118
dc.language.iso.fl_str_mv eng
language eng
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/2118
https://doi.org/10.17645/up.v4i3.2118
https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/view/2118/2118
https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/downloadSuppFile/2118/576
https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/downloadSuppFile/2118/664
https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/downloadSuppFile/2118/665
https://www.cogitatiopress.com/urbanplanning/article/downloadSuppFile/2118/666
dc.rights.driver.fl_str_mv Copyright (c) 2019 Nicola Braghieri
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
rights_invalid_str_mv Copyright (c) 2019 Nicola Braghieri
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv application/pdf
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv Cogitatio
publisher.none.fl_str_mv Cogitatio
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv Urban Planning; Vol 4, No 3 (2019): Housing Builds Cities; 223-249
2183-7635
reponame:Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
instname:Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informação
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repository.name.fl_str_mv Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) - Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informação
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