Alton Estate Building Sights

BBC Four Collections - archive programmes chosen by experts.

For this collection, Janet Street-Porter

has selected programmes about post-war architecture.

More programmes on this theme and other BBC Four Collections

are available on BBC iPlayer.

Throughout the Industrial Revolution,

people have tried to escape from the slums,

and architects have dreamt of cities in the sky,

cities and towers amongst green landscapes.

What we see here, on the edge of Richmond Park,

is probably the most exciting statement of that utopian ideal.

People can see, from their buildings, this park,

and, as we look at it, so we can imagine, not only cities of today,

but cities of the Renaissance,

the San Gimignanos, the idea of a new world.

The Alton Estate is one of the best examples of public housing

anywhere in the world.

It stands next to Roehampton village with its pubs and churches,

but it's got a neighbourhood feeling all of its own.

There are shops, schools, libraries and sports clubs.

It's a thriving community.

It was built in the '50s by the London County Council,

as an early example of mixed development.

On the same site, there are terraced houses, tower blocks, maisonettes,

and old people's homes.

Different sorts of housing to suit different people's needs.

Alton was designed by a group of young architects

working for the council under Leslie Martin,

chief designer of the Royal Festival Hall.

They were excited by new ideas being tried out in Europe,

and believed in the social importance of architecture.

They wanted Alton to be a modern utopia.

Its fame spread from Baghdad to Belgrade,

and people came from all over the world to see it.

The site is magnificent.

It used to be occupied by several Georgian mansions

set in landscaped gardens.

The council architects were just as imaginative

when they designed the new estate.

This is a great view of these white towers

marching across the soft green landscape.

It's a very English view of landscape.

Capability Brown worked here before and you can see this tradition.

And against that are much more cubistic, much more stark buildings

which float above the landscape,

but yet, at the same time, mark the sky

with their crisp whiteness.

BLACKBIRD SINGS

Alton was built in two main phases by rival teams from the LCC,

as if a theoretical debate was being argued out in practice.

The east side shows the influence of Scandinavian architecture.

The buildings are modern but they are made of traditional materials.

Both the towers and the maisonettes are clad in brick.

There are trees everywhere, and the overall effect is very natural.

It's what I'd call a soft approach.

The towers are 11 storeys high,

but they retain the feel of an English house,

just built upwards.

Alton West is quite different.

The architecture feels Mediterranean,

presided over by Le Corbusier.

The buildings are arranged in more formal patterns.

There's a tremendous feeling of space.

The blocks are like a stripped-down version of a Palladian house,

precise, geometrical, beautifully detailed,

their balconies etched into the walls.

They have weathered remarkably well, and look as good today

as when the estate won an architectural award in 1959.

These great slab blocks

are probably the most distinctive feature of this estate,

floating over the ground, like ships in the air.

The columns allow the green space to float through.

And the houses, these two-storey houses,

are plugged into the concrete framework,

like a traditional house,

two storeys, bedrooms upstairs, living room downstairs, terraced.

Facing south, they get maximum light,

and, of course, the great view.

The idea is Mediterranean,

and comes specifically from Le Corbusier's Marseilles block.

He dreamt of a vertical world surrounded by trees,

with buildings stacked up within a steel or concrete frame,

letting in the maximum light, giving people maximum views,

and creating a really healthy new world.

Today, there's almost a vendetta against high buildings

which ignores the fact that many people enjoy living high up.

Inside, the flats are airy and beautifully light.

They may not be large, but they're a fine example of low-cost housing.

For too long, council housing has been a dirty word.

People forget there are as many good estates as there are bad ones.

Alton is living proof that you can create a totally modern environment

and keep a strong sense of community.

Eve, what do you feel about the architecture and the landscape?

I think it's exceptional.

They've not bunched it all together,

they've left us this lovely area where we hold an annual festival,

and there's space everywhere.

You're not condensed. It's lovely.

There's so little being built now, and so many homeless.

Hardly any general stock being built at all.

The figure's on one hand, the amount of houses or flats being built.

They should do it like this.

They're all individual types, not one lot of concrete jungle.

You have your own units, and that's different.

No other estate is like this.

Alton has a strong tenants' association,

and I'm convinced this is an important factor in its success.

People need control in the running of their estates.

Today, we're facing a severe housing shortage.

In the past, governments from both parties

were involved in massive construction programmes

reaching up to 300,000 units per year.

Today, we'll be lucky to reach 6,000 units.

It's a disgrace.

Nowadays, there's a lack of vision and concern about public housing.

We only remember the mistakes, and not our successes.

Alton is proof of what is possible.

We should be proud of this great estate.