People may look at Balfron Tower, etc. in 2021 and perceive them to be brutalist monstrosities. However, having grown up on an east London Council Estate (in a block which opened in 1966) they were nowhere near as bad as people now believe them to have been. Bear in mind that the east London Docks (and surrounding areas) were devastated by Nazi bombing. Housing was a problem and needed to be urgently addressed for a large, local population. Moreover, there were many Victorian-era slums that simply weren't fit for human habitation; and needed to be demolished. These Tower Blocks provided modern, centrally-heated, well-equipped homes. They were also only as good as the people that you put into them; and in the vast majority of cases, these were decent, hard-working people; not thugs and junkies. For example, many 'floors' had residents produce a rota system to mop the landings, clean the lifts and chute area, etc. My memories of growing up in a Tower Block (more or less from birth to my early twenties) are pretty wonderful. You had friends, grass areas to play and a warm, clean, modern, safe home. Moreover, for many decent working-class families, the rent for these properties was all that people could afford back then; times were indeed very different. Many years later, I do not look back upon my upbringing on a Council Estate with one single regret. It was a family home......our home; with decent, honest neighbours and a much better standard of living than we'd endured previously.
Exactly. I have the same experience. Central heating and a shower. Always kids to play with, plenty of room to play outside. . In my neighborhood they demolished some apartment buildings from the sixties. On the place they build family houses. It’s so ugly, and it feels claustrophobic. The public space with grass, shrubs and trees disappeared for little ugly front gardens.
3 года назад+6
Hear hear! People have forgotten just how bad those victorian era slums really were, and not just in the old east end but also in industrial areas across the UK. Certainly some of them looked quaint from the outside (though plenty couldn't even manage that). But almost all of them were very rudimentary, with poorly-functioning, retrofitted plumbing & electricity supply, outside bogs, leaks & damp & mildew issues, and they were overcrowded if more than 3-4 people lived in them (and most of them had that). Many never had a telephone line ever installed. Real muckholes. The TV series "till death do us part" couldn't even do them justice. Although some councils replaced later-built working-class housing of a decent standard with low quality tower blocks for no reason. Such as in Battersea: ruclips.net/video/xHeUj2HjJek/видео.html
Not just the Victorian housing. The council housing from the 20's still had wood fired stoves for heating water and electric bar heaters. Moving from one of them into a modern concrete flat with instant hot water and central heating was fabulous.
@@amandajane8227 I recall in many council homes they would not use the central heating. They would buy an electric fire (which costed more to run) then huddle around it, as they had done with coal fires. In one tower block I knew of, not one used the heating timer, with no one capable if understanding it.
Exactly! My Nan lived in a tower block in Deptford. All the old ladies would take turns mopping the landings and tending to the pot plants dotted all over the place. They really took pride in place. Gradually as the old ladies died off and new tenants were moved in, the place went rapidly downhill. Scummy families with drugs and loud parties, police turning up at all hours, people shitting in the lifts. You can’t blame it all on poverty either. Those old ladies were poor as church mice but they had pride. You can’t blame the architect for the problems. People cause the problems, not the buildings.
I did a paper round when I was 14 (1982) and delivered to Balfron Tower, to say the block was in disrepair and pretty intimidating is an understatement. My mates and I also used to sit on the roof ( great view)
JH, tied down to a table with a laser beam pointed between his legs: "I suppose you expect me to talk." Goldfinger: "Yes, Mr. Hazzard, yes I do. Let's start with the stories of each of the ghosts on the stations of the Jubilee line. I always enjoy those tales." And thus, a RUclips channel was born.
@@mixererunio1757 Now, of course, we all know the plan is to Build Back Better, citizen-serf, for you will own nothing and be happy in the new normal we have designed for you.
It's not surprising that Goldfinger was a Marxist born in Eastern Europe. The Brutalist style of architecture was very popular with East European communist regimes.
I had a conversation with someone a while back who told me that they didn't like Jeremy Corbyn because he was "a Marxist", so I asked that person what that meant. They were unable to tell me. They genuinely had no idea what it meant to be a Marxist, but they were happy to use that as a reason to dislike a person, and to completely dismiss anything he had to say. The papers including the daily mail certainly have worked out how to shape public opinion. Even when their audience has no idea why, they still do as instructed.
As much as I am in awe of Jago's wonderfully whimsical exposition and as much as I dislike the Daily Mail, I do feel that a commentator should never let their audience know their their partisan political views. That's partly because it may reduce their potential audience but mostly because the best RUclipsrs present us with both sides of a debate and respect their audience enough to let us make up our own minds.
@Dave Sisson Ah that's nonsense. This isn't television, we don't need to have some false notion of telling both sides on youtube. I understand the not alienating a part of your audience argument, if you're a channel that has little to do with the topic, but the main benefit of youtube is that even the most niche interests can find an audience and it can feel far more personal. Not to mention, personally, I'd rather hear either side of an argument from people on both sides that truly believe it, rather than someone trying to summarise or present themselves as uniquely unbiased. I'm perfectly capable of hearing more indepth arguments and reasoning from those that have spent a long time believing opposing viewpoints and then weighing those up myself. If it was about attracting the highest viewership and not alienating anyone, then we wouldn't be chatting about such topics on a channel focused around fairly obscure histories of London's trains and architecture. (also was just a light hearted joke 😅)
Apparently during his stay at Balfron Tower he threw Champagne parties for the residents. Must have been quite interesting for the council residents to say the least.
Quite, but Goldfinger and Ursula didn’t stay in it long. Their soirées were short lived and they swiftly high tailed it off to Keats Grove in Hampstead. If they’ had stayed until maintenance and crime had become an issue they’d never have built another block like it. The principles of defensible space were completely overlooked as allowing anyone to wander in and out was clearly an utter disaster. These blocks were like ant hills with too many entrances and exits. What a terrible way to learn how to provide decent housing for working people.
@@SouthLondonRailwayPhotography There was a film "Attack the Block" but that was Aliens instead of Zombies. Never saw the movie but the fact it's set in a tower block rang a bell.
@@ericpode6095 That was a difficult situation. The aliens got in through the windows, regardless of the floor, and into the block too. At least zombies can't "fly". They also seem to be stumped by stairs 😕
I was once told the Trellick tower was nicknamed the dog by some locals, although I never heard anyone refer to it as such, and always thought it looked more like the loch ness monster. There's a documentary called Wild West 10 on RUclips about the surrounding area which is worth a watch. Paints a more human face to the area - such as how the occupants of rows of houses were moves into the blocks so family ties and friendships wouldn't disappear, and how the residents campaigned to introduce a concierge to reduce crime, and introduce a nursery to the area.
I used to work in the shadow of the tower, well i would have if i got to work much earlier in the morning, i seem to recall it being "sir maltby's folly" although i never understood the reference.
Resident caretakers should be made a legal requirement for housing blocks with more than 15 units. From 30 units, there should be two resident caretakers. And so on. The system works, I speak from (south German) experience.
@@paulrydzinski9995 Awesome mate, I used to know a few people behind Rude and Ruud Awakening. Heard many a story of hiding rigs down lift shafts and vents, even up a tree 😁. Also some of the bizarre places their studios were hidden. Good on you mate, used to love pirates when I lived in London
I've always maintained that these are misunderstood buildings and personally I like them a lot. If the money existed to clean them and treat them so they were in their shiny white "as built", they would look awesome.
@@dlbstl I believe she took her name from the Farrow and Ball colour chart...it was a kind of mauve with a hint of grey....all over the place a year or two ago and painful to look at.
I heard English cricket commentator Henry Blofield say that Fleming name his baddies after folk he didn't like, baddie Blofield being named after Henry's father.
Affordable housing tends to be somewhat less than beautiful due to the fact that it has to be affordable , if they spent a heap of money on making it look beautiful it would not be affordable, unless you get an absolute genius of an architect who somehow manages to pull off a minor miracle. Decorative flourishes cost money.
THANK YOU JAGO! I’m currently in the middle of having my kitchen refitted, I live in a one bedroom council flat and I happen to be a tiny bit noise sensitive. So not having loads of room, on a wet and cold day, I happen to stuck in my flat with big burly builder types who are making a shite load of noise, which is making me a far from happy chappy, so seeing you uploading this clip has cheered me right up and help to re-set my mood. Next time I’m down south I’d love to meet up with you just to buy a pint of the old London Pride (if they still make that stuff that is, I’ve been sober for about 15 years, so I’m not sure what’s on tap).
The detached lift tower is genius really as anyone who has lived near to or in my case stayed in a hotel room in close to a lift shaft in an old building where they really are quite noisy.
The genius of being separate, it makes it clear the portion that needs to be protected - unlike Grenfell. Having said that, the last thing you'd want in there then is the boilerhouse ! The boilerhouse would be best placed on the roof next to the helipad - to fan the flames back down the sides of the building.
It's a bit weird though how the lift only seems to go to every second floor. Good luck getting to and from your apartment if you need a wheelchair I guess?
@@ruben1475 The main lifts in the towers at Derby college/uni are a bit like that - the only floor thy go to is the ground floor. Next stop is 2.5 then 4.5 then 6.5 etc. So there's half a flight of stairs to go up or down to get to each floor - except the first where you walk up from the ground floor.
I'm glad that I took my contacts out before viewing this installment and then checking out for a disco nap for a couple of hours, so the stark dreariness was subdued a bit. Can't say I've ever been a particularly big fan of brutalism, perhaps in part because the high school I attended in the suburbs south of Seattle was seemingly designed in a brutalist-wannabe fashion; a highly depressing drab concrete monstrosity that still stands, in all its sprawling low-rise splendour. I'm just grateful that I have never found myself without any options other than to reside in such a structure like these tower blocks; I think I would rather cease to exist, if that were the case.
Enjoying this foray into housing in the 60s/70s immensely. I've watched other documentaries that focus more on the quality of workmanship, the shortcuts and then of course the subsequent issues that were lived with for years whilst the directors of the firms involved capitalised on the profits made via woefully poorly procured public contracts. Heaven knows the "incentives" that decision makers were given to write massive cheques for ill-conceived and badly executed system-buildings. With hindsight a terrible mess that hopefully wouldn't be allowed to happen today.
@@y2keef some people are lucky in that just happen to have the right type of voice, tone or cadence, like someone once said that “Richard Burton’s voice was such a pleasure to listen to that if he’d decided to read a telephone book to you cover to cover you’d probably have loved every second of it”. Some people are passionate about what they’re presenting that it comes across in what they’re doing and adds to the enjoyment. Jago is doubly lucky because he’s got the right type of voice or cadence and you can tell that he enjoys doing these. That being said I’d definitely love to hear Jago doing a reading of Burtons intro lines from the 77 The War Of The Worlds at some point? Maybe we could as him to do a clip from Woking? I hear that they have a sculpture of a tripod from The War Of The Worlds on their high street and there’s a railway line that runs right along Horsewell common.
Was low-key hoping you'd turn your caustically entertaining eye on these erm... divisive towers. Best way to start a Wednesday morning. :) The Goldfinger towers are among my fave examples of London Brutalism, along with the Barbican Estate. I should add as a footnote (what else would I do? lol): Glasgow has a similar (at least in passing resemblance) tower block in it's West End: Anniesland Court. It is notable for a few other reasons apart from it's borderline litigious resemblance to Balfron & Trellick Towers: it's the tallest listed building in Scotland and Glasgow's only Grade A-listed tower block. BTW: loved that Daily Mail dig. ;)
Ahh memories. I’ve been an East London girl all my life and I’ve always noticed this building as it looks so interesting. My mom noticed it 30 years later as they lived in Poplar before I was born.
I kinda like the concept of having a separate amenities tower. Not only does it look distinctive but it means residents do not suffer the stench of blocked bin chutes, or lifts that reek of "impatience". And maybe I'm biased but I'm loving that Balfron and Carradale are both Scottish names.
I used to live in it's smaller version Carradale until they embarked on major restoration work on the block and all the residents were rehoused. I was actually one of the last ones to go, it was lovely and quiet in those last weeks. Done the same with Balfron which seems to have taken years. I'm sure they started a good 7 or 8 years ago and scaffolding is still up.
About a year ago when I was short of work I was doing a lot of random days of laboring on sites across London, one of which was Balfron. At the time I was aware of Goldfinger and knew Trellick had a sibling block in East but didn't know the name, so at 6am looking for the site office I had a bit of a shock when I realised where I was going to be working. I spent the day with around 20 other labourers, mainly sweeping up plasterboard dust, moving crap around in the sub-street level, and a bit of time on the roof moving hundreds of planks of decking from one side to the other. Rode most of the way up the scaff in a hoist which made for some pretty fun and terrifying views, but at the end of the day wasn't so lucky got a bit lost and came down via the endless flights of stairs (from very hazy memory in the boiler/lift tower). I only saw one floor of flats, which looked like they had all had their layouts pretty drastically altered but I'm no architect so don't quote me on that. However having lived in a few council estates of a similar age the rooms did feel noticeably smaller. At sub-street level (I think what was once garages) was a lot of work being done to reinforce some especially crumbly concrete. The roof is being built as a communal garden of sorts, it appears that the wall surrounding the edge of the roof has also been raised which has restricted the view a fair bit. Was interesting to see the block, but was equally very depressing to see it lose all sense of its original purpose as council housing, so 1 day on that site was enough for me.
The lift towers are definitely the most interesting parts, funny how more care seems to have been taken with the detailing of those than the actual flats
Now this architect is different ! Much respect ! I did some work tasker road Belize park , a modernist property designed by Goldfinger built I believe 1971 ,but in 1930s design ideas , totally blown away , it reminded me of inside of a camera it from street level it looked like one story , the flat roof stepped up and it stepped down inside into two levels , at the rear south facing of course was just a huge expansive of glass over looking the well planned garden , perfect , he lived in his buildings and he knew about art and design and thought about a space for people to live , very very interesting as I live in the Midlands !
As an American, I never really understood the word 'ghastly' until I spent a few hours in Heathrow Airport. The naked, Brutalist architecture left me feeling like zombies would pop up from the exposed ceilings or around the corner any minute. I turned to my friend and said, "So this is why all those zombie movies take place in London. This is /ghastly/." And these tower blocks, which I've seen as background props in many movies and shoes, are also ghastly zombie fodder.
Great first part! By complete coincidence, I was chatting with someone about this tower block earlier today, a couple of hours before the video was uploaded. Now that is service!
Perhaps he was not a pleasant man, as well as being an actual Marxist, at least he lived in it for a while to determine what it was like. Many architects don't even bother doing that, especially if its public housing. My father always use to say, always beware of the person who seem friendly and trust those who are not.
I am a new subscriber and just recently found your channel. How very interesting. It is a world away from my own home which is located on the edge of Dartmoor. Many thanks for making your videos.
I'm not a fan of the building itself, but I have mad respect to the man for actually living in his designs. Obviously, he can't be every person, and as a disabled individual, just because an able-bodied person considers a place perfectly comfortable, and they've met all the obvious standards of accessibility doesn't mean a place will be comfortable for me to navigate likewise a couple without children won't be able to determine if a space is comfortable with children, but it's a step that is rarely seen in the design of social housing.
Trellick Tower was always one of those objects on the skyline that seemed to just be there forever. When I lived in London I never thought about it, but now I think its a fascinating building, for it's story too, that I both love and hate! Really looking forward to the next part.
Social tenants were forced out and re-housed, but not without a struggle. The Balfron Social Club was set up in 2014 to fight to retain 50 per cent social housing after the refurbishment but the culmination of the scheme was 0 per cent. Across the Brownfield Estate the regeneration project saw a net increase of 45 habitable rooms
60s architecture is insulting, arrogant and blatantly displeasing. It doesn't justify the price. I assume this spirit is due to the arrogant architects of this time. Ignorant visions of the future painted the idea of brutalism. Make it look sturdy enough, so it doesn't need to be maintained. Yet, brutalistic buildings merely attract all kind of deteriorating manners. To summarize it: Thanks Jago for reinforcing my hate of 60s buildings.
Sixties architecture is not necessarily bad, but poor construction in tandem with the lack of maintenance and then anti-social residents make for a toxic mix. If those blocks were renovated and the flats sold or rented at full market prices, you would see a very different class of tenure.
It's nice to see a video on a tower block that I have actually been inside! As it was in a flat in Balfron Tower I waited for my cousin on my return to London back in 1991.
I love the part about Goldfinger firing someone who didn't even work there in the first place. Bond-villain associations notwithstanding, that's like something J. Jonah Jameson would do.
We had maisonettes built in a similar style. They were nearly impossible to keep warm in winter and had such a problem with damp that water would run down the walls. To make matters worse the heating cost a fortune to run, not good news as it was social housing.
I grew up in council maisonette in Hackney and now live in the suburbs near the Central Line. So I am really enjoying your output on architecture and the Underground. Fascinating and really interesting. Thanks 👍
What a splendid way to start the day! Loved it! More interesting insight to yet another landmark I have passed many times and not given too much thought to. Fascinating charachter that fella and a right mixed bag. Love the idea of 'Our Shirl' singing "Gooooldpriiiick!" at her Majestys Variety Performance. That has verily made my day 😂😂😂 Thank you sir for another splendid production. My missus thinks you are hilarious too BTW and she is a right cynic!👍😉
The construction of these tower blocks in the 60’s and 70’s gave the burgeoning pirate stations somewhere to locate their aerials. I for one was grateful. 👍😀
Fleming got the name Blofeld from the members book at his club, to which the father of Cricket Commentator Henry Blofeld was also a member. Unlike Goldfinger he didn't seem to mind, especially as if they were both at the club Fleming would pay for Blofeld's drinks.
I used to live near Trellic tower when I was younger, and even had friends who lived in the tower. The shape is very nostalgic to me. Looking forward to part 2!
I grew up being told that Mary, Mungo and Midge lived in Trellick Tower, and to wave to them when we went past. I get strange looks if I do that now from the Circle Line.
Nobodys mentioned Balfron Tower being positioned right next to the Blackwall tunnel/A13 road junction, one of the busiest in London. I would have thought it makes the current transfer to private ownership and gentrification of the building a bit more difficult to sell with its constant noise and poor air quality?
I had a one-night-stand with a girl who lived in Balfron Tower - it's kinda weird on the inside too! Also I was sick near one of the entrances! Sorry, Mr Goldfinger!
My understanding is that Goldfinger demolished a perfectly good house to build his own design at 2 Willow Road, Hampstead much to Fleming's annoyance, who lived close by, therefore naming his next villain after him
"And suggested Goldprick as an alternative name. Which wouldn't be as easy to work in to a Shirley Bassett song but I'm sure she could come up with something" haha
When you showed his own house (the brick one) my first throught was Le Corbussier, with the house on stilts and horisontal windows. A few frames afterwards you mentioned that very person. I do however think that Goldfinger actually did a better job at Le Corbussier's ideology. His house actually looks finished, has a satisfying holistic approach, and looks human. Meanwhile I often feel like Le Corbussier gets great concepts and ideas, and then never finishes, refines, or perfects them. All his buildings feel unfinished and like wasted potential.
Very informative, big thumb up, I visited a Balfron a few years back, and had a chance to see the view from the roof, but while getting the elevator up all the corridors inside felt like a post apocalyptic zombie movie indeed, nothing like any of the really well looked after Corbusierhous’s I’ve visited since. I truly welcome the fact it’s being restored, and hopefully will be as much of an icon soon again as Trellic is, as the architecture is amazing there but the type of residents and support from council I recon was what got it this bad
Really love your pieces on post war architecture. Living in Plymouth which apart from a few parts of the old city (Barbican, The Hoe, Royal William Yard) largely looks 1950's onwards. Strangely the city planners went low-rise for residential buildings however 3 towers were built in Devonport which though architecturally are nothing special they do have possibly the best view of any social housing in Britain looking across Plymouth Sound to the rolling hills of Cornwall. Of Architectural note is the grade 1 listed civic centre a real piece of sixties brutalism
I lived near Trellick Tower for a while and over time I came to see it as having a strange beauty about it. Not sure I'd like to live so high up though.
People may look at Balfron Tower, etc. in 2021 and perceive them to be brutalist monstrosities. However, having grown up on an east London Council Estate (in a block which opened in 1966) they were nowhere near as bad as people now believe them to have been. Bear in mind that the east London Docks (and surrounding areas) were devastated by Nazi bombing. Housing was a problem and needed to be urgently addressed for a large, local population. Moreover, there were many Victorian-era slums that simply weren't fit for human habitation; and needed to be demolished. These Tower Blocks provided modern, centrally-heated, well-equipped homes. They were also only as good as the people that you put into them; and in the vast majority of cases, these were decent, hard-working people; not thugs and junkies. For example, many 'floors' had residents produce a rota system to mop the landings, clean the lifts and chute area, etc. My memories of growing up in a Tower Block (more or less from birth to my early twenties) are pretty wonderful. You had friends, grass areas to play and a warm, clean, modern, safe home. Moreover, for many decent working-class families, the rent for these properties was all that people could afford back then; times were indeed very different. Many years later, I do not look back upon my upbringing on a Council Estate with one single regret. It was a family home......our home; with decent, honest neighbours and a much better standard of living than we'd endured previously.
Exactly. I have the same experience. Central heating and a shower. Always kids to play with, plenty of room to play outside. .
In my neighborhood they demolished some apartment buildings from the sixties. On the place they build family houses. It’s so ugly, and it feels claustrophobic. The public space with grass, shrubs and trees disappeared for little ugly front gardens.
Hear hear! People have forgotten just how bad those victorian era slums really were, and not just in the old east end but also in industrial areas across the UK.
Certainly some of them looked quaint from the outside (though plenty couldn't even manage that). But almost all of them were very rudimentary, with poorly-functioning, retrofitted plumbing & electricity supply, outside bogs, leaks & damp & mildew issues, and they were overcrowded if more than 3-4 people lived in them (and most of them had that). Many never had a telephone line ever installed. Real muckholes. The TV series "till death do us part" couldn't even do them justice.
Although some councils replaced later-built working-class housing of a decent standard with low quality tower blocks for no reason. Such as in Battersea: ruclips.net/video/xHeUj2HjJek/видео.html
Not just the Victorian housing. The council housing from the 20's still had wood fired stoves for heating water and electric bar heaters. Moving from one of them into a modern concrete flat with instant hot water and central heating was fabulous.
@@amandajane8227
I recall in many council homes they would not use the central heating. They would buy an electric fire (which costed more to run) then huddle around it, as they had done with coal fires.
In one tower block I knew of, not one used the heating timer, with no one capable if understanding it.
Exactly! My Nan lived in a tower block in Deptford. All the old ladies would take turns mopping the landings and tending to the pot plants dotted all over the place. They really took pride in place. Gradually as the old ladies died off and new tenants were moved in, the place went rapidly downhill. Scummy families with drugs and loud parties, police turning up at all hours, people shitting in the lifts. You can’t blame it all on poverty either. Those old ladies were poor as church mice but they had pride. You can’t blame the architect for the problems. People cause the problems, not the buildings.
The only thing I'm disappointed in with this is that I've seen it too early to not see part 2 immediately afterwards.
It’ll be here on Friday!
I did a paper round when I was 14 (1982) and delivered to Balfron Tower, to say the block was in disrepair and pretty intimidating is an understatement. My mates and I also used to sit on the roof ( great view)
JH, tied down to a table with a laser beam pointed between his legs: "I suppose you expect me to talk."
Goldfinger: "Yes, Mr. Hazzard, yes I do. Let's start with the stories of each of the ghosts on the stations of the Jubilee line. I always enjoy those tales."
And thus, a RUclips channel was born.
Tenant: Do you expect me to love this architecture?
Goldfinger: No Mr. Tenant. I expect you to live comfortably.
@@mixererunio1757 Now, of course, we all know the plan is to Build Back Better, citizen-serf, for you will own nothing and be happy in the new normal we have designed for you.
Goldfinger, the film, made before there was ever a laser beam capable of cutting a metal plate. Maybe cut cooking foil?
The very best thing about living in Trellick Tower is that it's the only place for miles around where you can't see Trellick Tower
Ah, the trick made famous by Guy de Maupassant...
That’s what I always say ... and that’s probably why I would love to live high up in there overlooking the city.
"An actual Marxist rather than the Daily Mail definition of a Marxist." Brilliant, you made my day with that gem of a comment 😁
It's not surprising that Goldfinger was a Marxist born in Eastern Europe. The Brutalist style of architecture was very popular with East European communist regimes.
@@MrSloika Yes I visited the former Yugoslavia where the architecture of Belgrade was Brutalist to say the least.
@@MrSloika Not just brutalist architecture, brutalist everything.
@@PurityVendetta For which read grim (and I like some Brutalist architecture).
And much like the champagne socialists of today, he was a rich man living in a mansion while cooking up the working classes in tower blocks.
I loved that dig to the Daily Mail 🤣
I wonder if that means Goldfinger was a better person than had he been the Daily Mail version of a Marxist?
A. DUBITANTE
I don’t know what marxist treats his employees like sh*t but I can tell you, he wasn’t the principled kind.
I had a conversation with someone a while back who told me that they didn't like Jeremy Corbyn because he was "a Marxist", so I asked that person what that meant.
They were unable to tell me.
They genuinely had no idea what it meant to be a Marxist, but they were happy to use that as a reason to dislike a person, and to completely dismiss anything he had to say.
The papers including the daily mail certainly have worked out how to shape public opinion. Even when their audience has no idea why, they still do as instructed.
As much as I am in awe of Jago's wonderfully whimsical exposition and as much as I dislike the Daily Mail, I do feel that a commentator should never let their audience know their their partisan political views. That's partly because it may reduce their potential audience but mostly because the best RUclipsrs present us with both sides of a debate and respect their audience enough to let us make up our own minds.
@Dave Sisson Ah that's nonsense. This isn't television, we don't need to have some false notion of telling both sides on youtube. I understand the not alienating a part of your audience argument, if you're a channel that has little to do with the topic, but the main benefit of youtube is that even the most niche interests can find an audience and it can feel far more personal.
Not to mention, personally, I'd rather hear either side of an argument from people on both sides that truly believe it, rather than someone trying to summarise or present themselves as uniquely unbiased. I'm perfectly capable of hearing more indepth arguments and reasoning from those that have spent a long time believing opposing viewpoints and then weighing those up myself.
If it was about attracting the highest viewership and not alienating anyone, then we wouldn't be chatting about such topics on a channel focused around fairly obscure histories of London's trains and architecture. (also was just a light hearted joke 😅)
Apparently during his stay at Balfron Tower he threw Champagne parties for the residents. Must have been quite interesting for the council residents to say the least.
The original champagne socialist?
@@borderlands6606 not by a long shot
@@borderlands6606 sounds like a textbook definition of one. For sure. He left his comrades behind by moving back into Hamstead. Sounds about right.
Quite, but Goldfinger and Ursula didn’t stay in it long. Their soirées were short lived and they swiftly high tailed it off to Keats Grove in Hampstead. If they’ had stayed until maintenance and crime had become an issue they’d never have built another block like it. The principles of defensible space were completely overlooked as allowing anyone to wander in and out was clearly an utter disaster. These blocks were like ant hills with too many entrances and exits. What a terrible way to learn how to provide decent housing for working people.
Grand architectural schemes, like Communism, fail to live up to their ideals when they meet with reality in the form of humans.
'No, Mr Council Tenant, I expect you to die':
dundedun dun dun dun dundedun dun dun dun dundedun dun dun dun dundedun dun dun dun deDON Do do do
Yeah, everyone be hatin' on these big concrete towers until the zombie apocalypse starts...
With all these ugly buildings the UK must be safe by now.
Isn’t that the plot of 28 days later?
Edit: didn’t get to that part of the video yet 😂
@@SouthLondonRailwayPhotography There was a film "Attack the Block" but that was Aliens instead of Zombies. Never saw the movie but the fact it's set in a tower block rang a bell.
@@ericpode6095 That was filmed about a 10 minute walk from where I live!
@@ericpode6095 That was a difficult situation. The aliens got in through the windows, regardless of the floor, and into the block too. At least zombies can't "fly". They also seem to be stumped by stairs 😕
I was once told the Trellick tower was nicknamed the dog by some locals, although I never heard anyone refer to it as such, and always thought it looked more like the loch ness monster. There's a documentary called Wild West 10 on RUclips about the surrounding area which is worth a watch. Paints a more human face to the area - such as how the occupants of rows of houses were moves into the blocks so family ties and friendships wouldn't disappear, and how the residents campaigned to introduce a concierge to reduce crime, and introduce a nursery to the area.
I used to work in the shadow of the tower, well i would have if i got to work much earlier in the morning, i seem to recall it being "sir maltby's folly" although i never understood the reference.
Lived near there when I was little, never heard it called "The Dog"
From a distance and at the right angle it looks like a dog
Resident caretakers should be made a legal requirement for housing blocks with more than 15 units. From 30 units, there should be two resident caretakers. And so on. The system works, I speak from (south German) experience.
@@1258-Eckhart makes sense
Screw my masters in art history, this is the education that’s needed.
Awww yes the "tower". Back in my teens we loved these for the purpose of sticking antennas on for our radio station haha
Which station? I used to find it fascinating when I saw dipoles hanging precariously on a 30 foot piece of scaffolding from the blocks 😁
@@darkerarts Worked on various stations. Mainly west London. Last one I was on was in Acton called Ice Cold FM
I've now got visions of Kurupt Fm and a gran's flat!
@@cargy930 hahaha
@@paulrydzinski9995 Awesome mate, I used to know a few people behind Rude and Ruud Awakening. Heard many a story of hiding rigs down lift shafts and vents, even up a tree 😁. Also some of the bizarre places their studios were hidden. Good on you mate, used to love pirates when I lived in London
I've always maintained that these are misunderstood buildings and personally I like them a lot.
If the money existed to clean them and treat them so they were in their shiny white "as built", they would look awesome.
"... inspired by Le Corbusier" said every Architecture undergrad, ever
Balfron Tower was recently used for filming in Dua Lipa’s ‘Fever’ music video.
I'm familiar with Dua Lipa. I've always thought that name sounded like a paint product.
@@dlbstl I believe she took her name from the Farrow and Ball colour chart...it was a kind of mauve with a hint of grey....all over the place a year or two ago and painful to look at.
I heard English cricket commentator Henry Blofield say that Fleming name his baddies after folk he didn't like, baddie Blofield being named after Henry's father.
Fleming was at school with Blofield senior. I think
Blofeld.
@@a11oge That would be the link.
Affordable housing tends to be somewhat less than beautiful due to the fact that it has to be affordable , if they spent a heap of money on making it look beautiful it would not be affordable, unless you get an absolute genius of an architect who somehow manages to pull off a minor miracle. Decorative flourishes cost money.
Decorative flourishes also costs lives as in the scandalous case of Grenfell Tower.
Upon reading the title of this video, Shirley Bassey started playing in my head.
What was she playing? Rugby? :P:D
@@cargy930 🤣
THANK YOU JAGO! I’m currently in the middle of having my kitchen refitted, I live in a one bedroom council flat and I happen to be a tiny bit noise sensitive. So not having loads of room, on a wet and cold day, I happen to stuck in my flat with big burly builder types who are making a shite load of noise, which is making me a far from happy chappy, so seeing you uploading this clip has cheered me right up and help to re-set my mood.
Next time I’m down south I’d love to meet up with you just to buy a pint of the old London Pride (if they still make that stuff that is, I’ve been sober for about 15 years, so I’m not sure what’s on tap).
I used to love climbing that tower in the nineties putting up transmitters for the local pirate radio stations
The detached lift tower is genius really as anyone who has lived near to or in my case stayed in a hotel room in close to a lift shaft in an old building where they really are quite noisy.
The genius of being separate, it makes it clear the portion that needs to be protected - unlike Grenfell.
Having said that, the last thing you'd want in there then is the boilerhouse !
The boilerhouse would be best placed on the roof next to the helipad - to fan the flames back down the sides of the building.
Yep, no night time ban on using the chute in Balfron
@@jimtuite3451 Just not suitable as a fire escape !
It's a bit weird though how the lift only seems to go to every second floor. Good luck getting to and from your apartment if you need a wheelchair I guess?
@@ruben1475 The main lifts in the towers at Derby college/uni are a bit like that - the only floor thy go to is the ground floor. Next stop is 2.5 then 4.5 then 6.5 etc. So there's half a flight of stairs to go up or down to get to each floor - except the first where you walk up from the ground floor.
2:20 So Fleming named a villain Goldfinger, and Goldfinger built a Fleming House? That's pretty funny.
“Gooooooold prickerrrrrrrr” 😂
In the 1990s I spent a short time working in the concierge in Balfron Tower which meant a walk around the tower every so often.
Come, come, Mr Bond, you enjoy designing Brutalist eyesores just as much as I do.
I'm glad that I took my contacts out before viewing this installment and then checking out for a disco nap for a couple of hours, so the stark dreariness was subdued a bit.
Can't say I've ever been a particularly big fan of brutalism, perhaps in part because the high school I attended in the suburbs south of Seattle was seemingly designed in a brutalist-wannabe fashion; a highly depressing drab concrete monstrosity that still stands, in all its sprawling low-rise splendour.
I'm just grateful that I have never found myself without any options other than to reside in such a structure like these tower blocks; I think I would rather cease to exist, if that were the case.
That was very good, thanks Jago. Looking forward to part 2.
Enjoying this foray into housing in the 60s/70s immensely. I've watched other documentaries that focus more on the quality of workmanship, the shortcuts and then of course the subsequent issues that were lived with for years whilst the directors of the firms involved capitalised on the profits made via woefully poorly procured public contracts. Heaven knows the "incentives" that decision makers were given to write massive cheques for ill-conceived and badly executed system-buildings. With hindsight a terrible mess that hopefully wouldn't be allowed to happen today.
Who just thinks this guys is amazing!
I do and I don't even like trains, or tower blocks or London even
Jago could make counting blades of grass interesting
@@y2keef some people are lucky in that just happen to have the right type of voice, tone or cadence, like someone once said that “Richard Burton’s voice was such a pleasure to listen to that if he’d decided to read a telephone book to you cover to cover you’d probably have loved every second of it”.
Some people are passionate about what they’re presenting that it comes across in what they’re doing and adds to the enjoyment.
Jago is doubly lucky because he’s got the right type of voice or cadence and you can tell that he enjoys doing these.
That being said I’d definitely love to hear Jago doing a reading of Burtons intro lines from the 77 The War Of The Worlds at some point? Maybe we could as him to do a clip from Woking? I hear that they have a sculpture of a tripod from The War Of The Worlds on their high street and there’s a railway line that runs right along Horsewell common.
60 likes thanks!
@@mattscudder1975 "No one would have believed..."
Was low-key hoping you'd turn your caustically entertaining eye on these erm... divisive towers. Best way to start a Wednesday morning. :) The Goldfinger towers are among my fave examples of London Brutalism, along with the Barbican Estate.
I should add as a footnote (what else would I do? lol): Glasgow has a similar (at least in passing resemblance) tower block in it's West End: Anniesland Court. It is notable for a few other reasons apart from it's borderline litigious resemblance to Balfron & Trellick Towers: it's the tallest listed building in Scotland and Glasgow's only Grade A-listed tower block.
BTW: loved that Daily Mail dig. ;)
Ahh memories. I’ve been an East London girl all my life and I’ve always noticed this building as it looks so interesting. My mom noticed it 30 years later as they lived in Poplar before I was born.
Another fascinating tale of a building that you would normally just walk past and ignore. Love it
I kinda like the concept of having a separate amenities tower. Not only does it look distinctive but it means residents do not suffer the stench of blocked bin chutes, or lifts that reek of "impatience".
And maybe I'm biased but I'm loving that Balfron and Carradale are both Scottish names.
You can almost smell the boiled cabbage and fish, mixed with the acrid air of bleach and stairwells.
...And the people who can't spell "acrid" :P:D:D
@@cargy930 corrected, thank you :)
I used to live in it's smaller version Carradale until they embarked on major restoration work on the block and all the residents were rehoused. I was actually one of the last ones to go, it was lovely and quiet in those last weeks. Done the same with Balfron which seems to have taken years. I'm sure they started a good 7 or 8 years ago and scaffolding is still up.
With a name like Balfron, the Two Towers feels appropriate as a description
A month in a Poplar council flat, a life in a Hampstead lane. A disciple of the irony curtain.
About a year ago when I was short of work I was doing a lot of random days of laboring on sites across London, one of which was Balfron. At the time I was aware of Goldfinger and knew Trellick had a sibling block in East but didn't know the name, so at 6am looking for the site office I had a bit of a shock when I realised where I was going to be working. I spent the day with around 20 other labourers, mainly sweeping up plasterboard dust, moving crap around in the sub-street level, and a bit of time on the roof moving hundreds of planks of decking from one side to the other. Rode most of the way up the scaff in a hoist which made for some pretty fun and terrifying views, but at the end of the day wasn't so lucky got a bit lost and came down via the endless flights of stairs (from very hazy memory in the boiler/lift tower). I only saw one floor of flats, which looked like they had all had their layouts pretty drastically altered but I'm no architect so don't quote me on that. However having lived in a few council estates of a similar age the rooms did feel noticeably smaller. At sub-street level (I think what was once garages) was a lot of work being done to reinforce some especially crumbly concrete. The roof is being built as a communal garden of sorts, it appears that the wall surrounding the edge of the roof has also been raised which has restricted the view a fair bit. Was interesting to see the block, but was equally very depressing to see it lose all sense of its original purpose as council housing, so 1 day on that site was enough for me.
The lift towers are definitely the most interesting parts, funny how more care seems to have been taken with the detailing of those than the actual flats
Now this architect is different ! Much respect ! I did some work tasker road Belize park , a modernist property designed by Goldfinger built I believe 1971 ,but in 1930s design ideas , totally blown away , it reminded me of inside of a camera it from street level it looked like one story , the flat roof stepped up and it stepped down inside into two levels , at the rear south facing of course was just a huge expansive of glass over looking the well planned garden , perfect , he lived in his buildings and he knew about art and design and thought about a space for people to live , very very interesting as I live in the Midlands !
I see you've just hit 90k subscribers, so it looks like you're on track to hit 100k subscribers around the end of February. :)
I
love these architecture pieces the most!!!
Marvelous story, can't wait for episode two.
So glad you are doing these. I'm fascinated by these particular buildings
As an American, I never really understood the word 'ghastly' until I spent a few hours in Heathrow Airport. The naked, Brutalist architecture left me feeling like zombies would pop up from the exposed ceilings or around the corner any minute. I turned to my friend and said, "So this is why all those zombie movies take place in London. This is /ghastly/." And these tower blocks, which I've seen as background props in many movies and shoes, are also ghastly zombie fodder.
I live in a similar brutalist block in Glasgow. Built in 1969.
I love it. I won't move until it's demolished xx
On my way into Paddington i would always see this tower. And the random mini tower always intrigued me!
Great first part! By complete coincidence, I was chatting with someone about this tower block earlier today, a couple of hours before the video was uploaded. Now that is service!
Perhaps he was not a pleasant man, as well as being an actual Marxist, at least he lived in it for a while to determine what it was like. Many architects don't even bother doing that, especially if its public housing. My father always use to say, always beware of the person who seem friendly and trust those who are not.
Your father sounds like a right see you NT. Maybe you are not.
I've never been this early. Great way to start the day.
Another splendid six minutes!
I should stop banging on about how much I enjoy Jago Hazzard's videos, or folks will grow weary.
But shan't! So there.
I am a new subscriber and just recently found your channel. How very interesting. It is a world away from my own home which is located on the edge of Dartmoor. Many thanks for making your videos.
I'm not a fan of the building itself, but I have mad respect to the man for actually living in his designs. Obviously, he can't be every person, and as a disabled individual, just because an able-bodied person considers a place perfectly comfortable, and they've met all the obvious standards of accessibility doesn't mean a place will be comfortable for me to navigate likewise a couple without children won't be able to determine if a space is comfortable with children, but it's a step that is rarely seen in the design of social housing.
Yes, that is creditable. Contrast this with Basil Spence who kept living in nice Georgian digs while designing various monstrosities.
Trellick Tower was always one of those objects on the skyline that seemed to just be there forever. When I lived in London I never thought about it, but now I think its a fascinating building, for it's story too, that I both love and hate! Really looking forward to the next part.
finally an architect with a good personality
I'm all in for this channel covering more and more architecture topics :)
I'm sure all those thumbs down are the presence of the ghost of Goldfinger. Excellent work!
Loving the architecture series.
Social tenants were forced out and re-housed, but not without a struggle. The Balfron Social Club was set up in 2014 to fight to retain 50 per cent social housing after the refurbishment but the culmination of the scheme was 0 per cent. Across the Brownfield Estate the regeneration project saw a net increase of 45 habitable rooms
60s architecture is insulting, arrogant and blatantly displeasing. It doesn't justify the price.
I assume this spirit is due to the arrogant architects of this time. Ignorant visions of the future painted the idea of brutalism. Make it look sturdy enough, so it doesn't need to be maintained. Yet, brutalistic buildings merely attract all kind of deteriorating manners.
To summarize it: Thanks Jago for reinforcing my hate of 60s buildings.
Sixties architecture is not necessarily bad, but poor construction in tandem with the lack of maintenance and then anti-social residents make for a toxic mix. If those blocks were renovated and the flats sold or rented at full market prices, you would see a very different class of tenure.
I don't see people complaining about the new very tall blocks of flats that cost a fortune and are not as sturdy or quiet.
These historical architecture videos are very good ! Please keep up the good work
I can't help feeling you missed a trick there Jago - "His wife Ursula" just crying out for the classic Bond image......
Have we caught Jago undressed ?
It's nice to see a video on a tower block that I have actually been inside!
As it was in a flat in Balfron Tower I waited for my cousin on my return to London back in 1991.
I love the part about Goldfinger firing someone who didn't even work there in the first place. Bond-villain associations notwithstanding, that's like something J. Jonah Jameson would do.
i am currently working there on the refurbishment works. Fantastic building :)
We had maisonettes built in a similar style. They were nearly impossible to keep warm in winter and had such a problem with damp that water would run down the walls. To make matters worse the heating cost a fortune to run, not good news as it was social housing.
Thanks for another great lesson.
I grew up in council maisonette in Hackney and now live in the suburbs near the Central Line. So I am really enjoying your output on architecture and the Underground. Fascinating and really interesting. Thanks 👍
Another excellent video. Thank you Jago
A cliffhanger! Love it.
What a splendid way to start the day! Loved it! More interesting insight to yet another landmark I have passed many times and not given too much thought to. Fascinating charachter that fella and a right mixed bag. Love the idea of 'Our Shirl' singing "Gooooldpriiiick!" at her Majestys Variety Performance. That has verily made my day 😂😂😂
Thank you sir for another splendid production. My missus thinks you are hilarious too BTW and she is a right cynic!👍😉
The construction of these tower blocks in the 60’s and 70’s gave the burgeoning pirate stations somewhere to locate their aerials. I for one was grateful. 👍😀
Fleming got the name Blofeld from the members book at his club, to which the father of Cricket Commentator Henry Blofeld was also a member. Unlike Goldfinger he didn't seem to mind, especially as if they were both at the club Fleming would pay for Blofeld's drinks.
I used to live near Trellic tower when I was younger, and even had friends who lived in the tower. The shape is very nostalgic to me. Looking forward to part 2!
"if your not already subscribed..." how could I not be? pure gold, as always! :)
I grew up being told that Mary, Mungo and Midge lived in Trellick Tower, and to wave to them when we went past.
I get strange looks if I do that now from the Circle Line.
it feels nice watching you instead of doing school work
nice video so far :)
"Balfron Tower?"
"Two words, you may have overheard; which cannot possibly have anything to do with you, or anyone in your organisation!"
Nobodys mentioned Balfron Tower being positioned right next to the Blackwall tunnel/A13 road junction, one of the busiest in London. I would have thought it makes the current transfer to private ownership and gentrification of the building a bit more difficult to sell with its constant noise and poor air quality?
Love this series Jago! ❤️
I had a one-night-stand with a girl who lived in Balfron Tower - it's kinda weird on the inside too! Also I was sick near one of the entrances! Sorry, Mr Goldfinger!
What was it like inside?
Pushy. Pushy Galore...
Hurry up and upload part 2 😁 Awesome work by the way 😎
Fear not, it’s coming on Friday!
@@JagoHazzard Awesome, look forward to it 🙂
"Le Corbusier, or in english, The Corbusier"! lol
Makes me feel like I'm back on college j-term, lazily wandering around London, kind of trying to find my hostel.
My understanding is that Goldfinger demolished a perfectly good house to build his own design at 2 Willow Road, Hampstead much to Fleming's annoyance, who lived close by, therefore naming his next villain after him
Goldfinger's wife was Ursula? as in Andress? How oddly Bondish...
Yeah, and then he build some Fleming building, too.
Probably drove an Aston too
"And suggested Goldprick as an alternative name. Which wouldn't be as easy to work in to a Shirley Bassett song but I'm sure she could come up with something"
haha
Balfron is a pretty village 16 miles north of Glasgow.
No tubes were harmed in the making of this video.
Looks very much like the head frames constructed for Swedish mines in the late 50s and early 60s
I'm always impressed when someone "eats their own dog food", as we used to say in IT. Goldfinger wins points for that.
I've lived 10 minutes from the flats my whole life, but never took a close look somehow. Until now
When you showed his own house (the brick one) my first throught was Le Corbussier, with the house on stilts and horisontal windows. A few frames afterwards you mentioned that very person. I do however think that Goldfinger actually did a better job at Le Corbussier's ideology. His house actually looks finished, has a satisfying holistic approach, and looks human. Meanwhile I often feel like Le Corbussier gets great concepts and ideas, and then never finishes, refines, or perfects them. All his buildings feel unfinished and like wasted potential.
Great content! Looking forward to the second episode - hopefully there are more positive aspects to the towers, Thanks, M
Very informative, big thumb up, I visited a Balfron a few years back, and had a chance to see the view from the roof, but while getting the elevator up all the corridors inside felt like a post apocalyptic zombie movie indeed, nothing like any of the really well looked after Corbusierhous’s I’ve visited since. I truly welcome the fact it’s being restored, and hopefully will be as much of an icon soon again as Trellic is, as the architecture is amazing there but the type of residents and support from council I recon was what got it this bad
Really love your pieces on post war architecture. Living in Plymouth which apart from a few parts of the old city (Barbican, The Hoe, Royal William Yard) largely looks 1950's onwards. Strangely the city planners went low-rise for residential buildings however 3 towers were built in Devonport which though architecturally are nothing special they do have possibly the best view of any social housing in Britain looking across Plymouth Sound to the rolling hills of Cornwall. Of Architectural note is the grade 1 listed civic centre a real piece of sixties brutalism
I have to admit, I admire his living there for awhile.
I lived near Trellick Tower for a while and over time I came to see it as having a strange beauty about it. Not sure I'd like to live so high up though.
I had friends who lived in there on the 10th floor. I just remember Corn beef Fritters.
Poplar was an area I walked with a friend as we were sales reps....darn the frog and toad...