That is a good way of thinking about the project and, for students, I think as near to 100% restoration to the ‘opening condition’ of the flats as practical, would be appropriate – furniture, plumbing, colour schemes, kapok mattresses, everything. I don’t want to exaggerate but the experience would be in the same league as the re-creation of a Victorian house (see Dennis Severs house) or a re-creation of an Iron Age village. The experience of living in such a place would be wonderful, even for budding high-tech entrepreneurs. For this project, its just a pity Robin Hood Gardens was completed in the 1970s instead of the 1960s.

So yes in the spirit of adaptive reuse a new system of access galleries on the outer perimeter may be a solution. Of course a comprehensive views analysis would be necessary in the first instance. Any solution should in the first instance try to follow the philosophy of the Smithson’s and deviate only where a creative solution of the appropriate standard cannot be found.

I am therefore for exhausting the design possibilities of student use of streets in the air and communal living before moving to a more individual and privatised solution. Informal communal learning spaces are a big part of the design of universities and educative environments presently…

A student population should have the advantage of not having underlying social issues and a university could manage the building holistically maintaining a high standard of amenity.

Re the Bangladeshis of Tower Hamlets, it can’t be justified. I guess they have taken control by voting on ethnic lines instead of on the policy issues which determine most UK elections. Here is a BBC report: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-26716862 There are allegations of council money being used as bribes and legal investigations are underway.
I agree that the design of the Robin Hood Gardens blocks could be improved but the costs would be high and there must come a point when re-building is a better plan. If re-furbishing, I would wonder about an elegant new system of access galleries (in filigree steel) on the outer perimeter of the blocks so that the streets in the air on the inner perimeter could become private garden balconies (with openable glazing). A big problem with major refurbs is that the existing residents do not have money so it might be necessary to move them out and bring in yuppies.

How can an uneven distribution of funds to Bangladeshis be justified?

Similarly are the Bangladeshi applicants all the most meritorious applicants?

1. There photographs of the entries suggest there is scope for improvement here.
2. Where is this graffiti corridor in the complex? It does seem rather narrow.
3. The night time design of the streets in the air could be improved.
4. It would certainly be possible to improve the interiors. The outlook to the busy road and highline street and interior park would certainly require much consideration.

It would be good to have plans and cross sections of the building to investigate further.

Tower Hamlets does seem to have some valuable public assets to design with…[ http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2012/nov/03/henry-moore-tower-hamlets-sculpture-sale

Joseph Schumpeter argued that capitalism works through ‘creative destruction’ seen as ‘process of industrial mutation that incessantly revolutionizes the economic structure from within, incessantly destroying the old one, incessantly creating a new one.’ And a physical consequence of this process is what are called ‘disadvantaged neighbourhoods’. Tower Hamlets (the Borough in which Robin Hood Gardens is located) lost its economic base when London ceased to be a seaport and a manufacturing city but it retained its role in attracting immigrants, because property was relatively cheap. Over 30% of the population is now of Bangladeshi origin and this group has established political control of local government, reputedly with most council jobs going to Bangladeshis and most expenditure going on Bangladeshis. These are not policies with significant appeal to middle and upper income groups.
With other London estates of the same vintage (eg Heygate Estate and Kidbrooke Estate) I favour ‘reclamation’ policies but for the better designed Robin Hood Gardens I favour re-building. The flats are spacious enough but I don’t like the idea of having one set of windows facing a busy road and the other set facing those gloomy streets in the shade
http://www.bdonline.co.uk/pictures/458xAny/4/0/4/1634404_Robin_Hood_Gdns7324__1A7538.jpg
http://www.bdonline.co.uk/pictures/458xAny/7/8/8/1651788_Archer_at_RHG_ready.jpg
http://www.bdonline.co.uk/pictures/636x441fitpad%5B237%5D/3/5/6/1614356_Robin_mvs_7424_ready.jpg
https://municipaldreams.files.wordpress.com/2013/12/p14303-robin-hood-gardens-1972-300dpi.jpg?w=529&h=355
ps I have a pretty good head for heights but those glass boxes look scary!

Re: those streets in the air…it would be possible to introduce light into the walkways above window with the strategic use of structural glass.
[ http://images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/media-content/photos/000/755/cache/75570_990x742-cb1389967417.jpg ] and [ http://ad009cdnb.archdaily.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/1310693710-6a00d83452a98069e200e5509530938833-640wi.jpg ]

Sure this wall looks more like something you would expect to find at Check Point Charlie or the Gaza Strip than London…[ http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fa/Robin_Hood_Gardens_AP_Smithson.jpg ] and it is certainly consistent with the reputation of Brutalism – but could be transformed as a vertical green wall. [ http://www.access-irrigation.co.uk/sites/default/files/imagecache/headerimage/green-wall-irrigation.jpg ]

Communal gardens can be a great success but in a troubled neighbourhood they are most likely to flourish if access is limited to residents. This is problematic at Robin Hood Gardens (I realised after making the video) because access to the residential blocks has to be through the gardens (because of the security fence and grade-separated car parking inside the perimeter). Access might have been managed with an entry-phone system but this was not done and the communal garden became a place for ‘unsavory youths’ to gather. Sorry, but those famous streets in the air are not nice places and I doubt if they could be made so.
I first heard the term brutalist from an architect c1968. There was a broad smile on his face and he knew the style was not destined to popularity!

The estimate to upgrade the facilities of $75K per unit if it was to be retrofitted to a higher standard might be a feasible proposition.

Shady rooms out looking to streets in the air should with architectural imagination be possible to overcome – and those streets in the air could become ‘Highlines’ for the student population. [ http://theredlist.com/media/database/architecture/across_the_landscape/diller-scofidio-renfro/diller-scofidio-renfro-highline-nyc/007_diller_scofidio_renfro_highline_nyc_theredlist.jpg ]

Here are some examples of community gardens as promised…Roma Street Parklands Brisbane[ http://www.saundershavill.com/_dbase_upl/romst_resize.jpg ] and Central Park Sydney [ http://www.centralparksydney.com/getattachment/9cd44653-f645-4abf-94a7-64fcf2463dfc/View-from-green-(Render) ] (Reality is better than the render!)

Brutalist is a style term (movement)rather than an insult!

Here is a review of the estate, including a comment from Jencks (in which he does not name it as the source of his ‘spiral’ idea!). http://municipaldreams.wordpress.com/2014/02/04/robin-hood-gardens-poplar-an-exemplar-a-demonstration-of-a-more-enjoyable-way-of-living/
My feeling is that if there are a large number of construction problems (heating, insulation, wiring, plumbing, lifts, exposed rebars etc) AND if the internal spaces are not enjoyable (eg because of shady rooms outlooking to ‘streets in the air’) then the quality of the elevations 9which I like) is an insufficient reason for keeping the blocks (which were seen by contemporaries as ‘brutalist’ – hardly a term of endearment).

If the building was adaptively reused as student accommodation as part of a university campus, taking into account the architecture and site alone – and presuming a good interiors brief – it could be a great place for all students including postgraduates and potentially visiting academics to live!

Charles Jencks Garden of Cosmic Speculation seems to have been inspired in part by the Smithsons design at Robin Hood. If so, it is not hard to imagine a community garden that is accessible to both students and the public – depending of course on other aspects of its integration with the campus and neighbourhood. (Some examples of this to follow soon)…