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Creative Lego: are prefabricated homes architecture or building?
(Text and photos © Hugh Pearman. Commissioned by The Sunday Times. First published by Gabion, August 2003.) Three things you can depend on in architecture. Every new generation will rediscover the virtues of prefabs. Every new generation will rediscover the idea of stacking people up high. And every new generation will rediscover the virtues of subsidised housing to make cities more affordable. Combine all three - a holy trinity of architectural and social ideals - and you have the block of new flats in London's Hackney called Raines Court. All the ingredients are there: a high-density, shared-ownership housing scheme masterminded by the impeccably charitable and venerable Peabody Trust; designed by idealistic young architects with a sense of style and a taste for experimentation; and plonked down in a slightly tatty but promising bit of leftover space in the inner city. You can't go wrong.
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