Housing is More than Houses

London has a fine tradition of building well-designed, low cost, good quality housing. What happened? By what process did London lose its civic pride and become dominated by capital and money-power?

Using Friedrich Engels, Catherine Bauer, Jane Jacobs, Christopher Alexander, Josef Frank (and one or two others) as our guides, we'll explore the idea that 'housing is more than houses'.

The walk will be around south St Pancras which has a fascinating mix of public and private housing and a history of municipal socialism, rent strikes and housing protests. There are good examples of several architectural styles, including the Brunswick Centre.

The walk will be a gentle amble with plenty of opportunities to touch the warm red bricks of the eighteenth century and the cold concrete, glass and steel of 21st century.

This is London re-imagined; where the idea of utopia can be a force that drives design and the satisfaction of our needs.