Lubetkin and Goldfinger: The Rise and Fall of British High-Rise Council Housing

Description

Berthold Lubetkin and Ernö Goldfinger were two leading architects who designed high-rise council housing after the Second World War; a type of building that now holds a poor reputation.

Lubetkin built one of the earliest post-war estates in London, Spa Green in Finsbury, while Goldfinger designed the last and most notorious council block in the city, Trellick Tower in North Kensington. Both architects were communist migrants from central Europe who shared much in common but were rivals who disliked each other. Their reputations suffered with the decline of their buildings and from their sometimes-unpleasant personalities.

But they were both idealists, dedicated to building the best possible homes for ordinary people. Lubetkin and Goldfinger aims to shine a light on the overlooked work of these two visionary architects and give them credit where duly deserved.

Nicholas Russell was a university reader in Science Communication and a college lecturer in Biology and History of Technology. Having had a lifelong interest in art and design, he now works as a heritage volunteer and spent several seasons as a National Trust guide at Erno Goldfinger’s house in Hampstead. His book on industrial invention and design through a history of the manufacturing firm Russell Hobbs, Household Names, was published in 2021. Nicholas lives in Bath.