A quite predictible stop of my "Social Housing Pilgrimage" through London was The Alexandra Road Estate, in Camden.
I read a lot about it and I decided to get there on a cloudy day of summer.
The Alexandra Road Estate is a housing estate located in the London Borough of Camden. It was designed by Neave Brown and built between 1968 and 1977 and it's known for its use of architectural innovations, such as its "streets in the sky" concept, which creates a sense of community by providing shared spaces for residents.
It has been praised for its design and has been listed as a Grade II* listed building, however, as it often happens in these contexts, it also faced challenges such as high crime rates, vandalism and poor maintenance.
Nevertheless the overall athmosphere I perceived during my visit to the the estate was great.
The spaces were well maintained, there was a lot of green, people were hanging around looking relaxed and I saw a lot of chatting from terrace to terrace.Everything felt quite... right.
It was an extremely pleasant experience getting the actual feel that a well designed estate can actually "work".
I was there as a tourist, I must say.