0:00:02 > 0:00:07BBC Four Collections - archive programmes chosen by experts.
0:00:07 > 0:00:10For this collection, Janet Street-Porter has selected
0:00:10 > 0:00:12programmes about Post-War Architecture.
0:00:13 > 0:00:16More programmes on this theme and other BBC Four Collections
0:00:16 > 0:00:17are available on BBC iPlayer.
0:00:42 > 0:00:46The whole story of this house is that it doesn't really want to be here.
0:00:46 > 0:00:49In no time at all, you can pass from a transparent wall at the front...
0:00:51 > 0:00:53..to a transparent wall at the back.
0:00:53 > 0:00:55And there's not much in-between.
0:00:59 > 0:01:03So, really, the architects of this house wish it to be invisible.
0:01:06 > 0:01:09That's an important idea, and a very old one,
0:01:09 > 0:01:12in as much that many architects have been fascinated
0:01:13 > 0:01:15by the dream of Adam's house in Paradise,
0:01:15 > 0:01:18where people will live under the stars, under the sky,
0:01:19 > 0:01:23under the moon, without going to all the trouble of building a house.
0:01:23 > 0:01:24They live in nature.
0:01:24 > 0:01:26And, of course, if it didn't rain,
0:01:26 > 0:01:28and if it wasn't cold in this country,
0:01:28 > 0:01:30you wouldn't need a house at all.
0:01:59 > 0:02:02In spite of the long, raking glass wall at the back,
0:02:03 > 0:02:05the house occupies a thin sliver of land,
0:02:05 > 0:02:07no bigger at the front than what's required for
0:02:07 > 0:02:08the average terraced house -
0:02:08 > 0:02:11the genre to which this building ultimately belongs.
0:02:16 > 0:02:18You can see, from the blank walls on either side,
0:02:18 > 0:02:21evidence of an older, pre-existing structure,
0:02:21 > 0:02:22within which the new one neatly sits.
0:02:40 > 0:02:42It's important for me to touch things.
0:02:42 > 0:02:45I like to know that what I'm looking at is really solid,
0:02:45 > 0:02:47and real.
0:02:47 > 0:02:51And in this case, it is - this is real stainless steel.
0:02:54 > 0:02:57The house has only just been finished.
0:02:57 > 0:02:59The front garden has yet to go in.
0:02:59 > 0:03:01I'm not sure what's going to go here,
0:03:01 > 0:03:05but one imagines that it could be some stones, or perhaps water,
0:03:06 > 0:03:11something that really fills this part-public, part-private space.
0:03:11 > 0:03:13There is no front fence.
0:03:15 > 0:03:18This ramp obviously came after the tree,
0:03:19 > 0:03:21so it was important that it had to snake round.
0:03:21 > 0:03:23And, in a way, this sort of accident,
0:03:23 > 0:03:26of having to force your way, squeeze your way past the tree,
0:03:26 > 0:03:30has given the form to the ramp.
0:03:33 > 0:03:38You enter the house into what is normally called the corridor,
0:03:38 > 0:03:40or the front hall.
0:03:40 > 0:03:44But here, it goes up the whole height of the house,
0:03:44 > 0:03:46which is very, very important,
0:03:46 > 0:03:50because it acts as a sort of buffer zone - but a fantastic buffer zone.
0:03:51 > 0:03:53Stacked up on each floor,
0:03:53 > 0:03:55and dividing the space from the rest of the house,
0:03:55 > 0:03:59are what look like large pieces of furniture
0:03:59 > 0:04:02or cabins, which contain the wet services like lavatories and showers,
0:04:02 > 0:04:04not to mention cupboards and so on.
0:04:08 > 0:04:11After you've entered the house at street level, and passed beyond
0:04:11 > 0:04:13the divider and into the sitting room,
0:04:13 > 0:04:16you realise that you're not on the ground floor at all,
0:04:16 > 0:04:17but the first.
0:04:17 > 0:04:22The full or semi-basement being one of the constant historical features
0:04:22 > 0:04:24of the two-up, two-down terraced house.
0:04:27 > 0:04:30If it wasn't for the metal lip making complete separation
0:04:30 > 0:04:33between wall and ceiling,
0:04:33 > 0:04:35the ceiling would be practically disembodied.
0:04:38 > 0:04:41The paint's gloss finish and the way it curves
0:04:41 > 0:04:44add to the light-reflective quality,
0:04:44 > 0:04:46and lead the eye into the beyond of the adjoining space.
0:04:49 > 0:04:53Fetishistic detailing can easily detract
0:04:53 > 0:04:55from a good simple structure, but not here.
0:04:55 > 0:04:57Smooth steps on the inside,
0:04:57 > 0:05:02grooved on the outside, to give you a bit more grip on those icy mornings -
0:05:02 > 0:05:04the functional has a joy to it.
0:05:04 > 0:05:07Like the dominant number on the front door,
0:05:07 > 0:05:10and the letter box with bristles to keep out the wind.
0:05:10 > 0:05:15The door - often the weak link in the external structure -
0:05:15 > 0:05:16is here the most solid bit.
0:05:22 > 0:05:25The kitchen is reduced down,
0:05:25 > 0:05:29almost to a single object which doesn't want to touch the walls
0:05:29 > 0:05:31and looks as if you could move it if you wanted to.
0:05:31 > 0:05:34This kitchen-come-dayroom
0:05:34 > 0:05:36flows out into the garden.
0:05:36 > 0:05:38Here, white ceramic dots are the link
0:05:38 > 0:05:40in this house's constant urge to be inside-out.
0:06:16 > 0:06:19It's like being on the bridge of a ship.
0:06:19 > 0:06:22Looking out here, you're high enough to see over to
0:06:22 > 0:06:24the National Westminster tower,
0:06:24 > 0:06:26from Earl's Court to Southend, almost.
0:06:26 > 0:06:28That's the way you feel.
0:06:28 > 0:06:30It's fantastic!
0:06:30 > 0:06:34More importantly, you can see the weather coming in from the west.
0:06:34 > 0:06:39So you can stand up here and decide what you're going to wear in the day.
0:06:42 > 0:06:44All over the country,
0:06:44 > 0:06:46there are people having spent lots and lots of money
0:06:46 > 0:06:49on very expensive bathroom fittings,
0:06:49 > 0:06:52as though one's going to spend hour after hour in there...doing what?
0:06:52 > 0:06:54I do not know.
0:06:54 > 0:06:56This is my type of bathroom.
0:06:56 > 0:07:00You come in, do what you have to do, and get out!
0:07:08 > 0:07:12At night, a good house feels very different to its daytime self.
0:07:12 > 0:07:15Without the blinds down, the long, raking back wall holds
0:07:15 > 0:07:18some extraordinary angled reflections.
0:07:20 > 0:07:24# Encasing all-embracing wreath of repose
0:07:24 > 0:07:29# Engulfs all the senses
0:07:29 > 0:07:34# Imposing, unclosing thoughts that compose
0:07:34 > 0:07:40# Retire the fences... #
0:07:40 > 0:07:42You see an unfamiliar, strange house.
0:07:42 > 0:07:45# ..life fades away... #
0:07:45 > 0:07:50I might go mad if I couldn't step out of this alternative reality,
0:07:50 > 0:07:54and remind myself of the room beyond - the garden.
0:07:59 > 0:08:03And beyond that, the terraces of Islington.
0:08:11 > 0:08:15This area is practically synonymous with gentrification,
0:08:15 > 0:08:17that process which took off in the '60s,
0:08:17 > 0:08:20when the middle classes discovered just what could be done with
0:08:20 > 0:08:23the humble two-up, two-down terraced house -
0:08:23 > 0:08:25the design solution for cheap housing, dreamt up
0:08:25 > 0:08:30during the Industrial Revolution not by architects, but by builders.
0:08:30 > 0:08:33So, once many of the artisans and working classes
0:08:33 > 0:08:35had left the inner city for the lure of Essex,
0:08:35 > 0:08:38the middle classes rolled their sleeves up,
0:08:38 > 0:08:40and moved in en masse.
0:08:40 > 0:08:43This is the context in which our glass house must be judged,
0:08:43 > 0:08:46not as art, as architectural news,
0:08:47 > 0:08:49but as an exciting new interpretation
0:08:49 > 0:08:52of the basic two-up, two-down.