The Disappearance of Robin Hood

This documentary explores the origins of and ideas behind Robin Hood Gardens, the London social housing complex designed by architects Peter and Alison Smithson in the late 1960s. Produced by the Urban-Think Tank, which aims to open discussion around the housing crisis that London faces today, the film presents us with the history of the building and its community as intertwined with contemporary urban narratives of the city.

Today the Smithsons’ ideas about connecting buildings, users, and sites no longer hold the same value for the authorities. In 2015 the second application to have Robin Hood Gardens listed failed, and in 2017 demolition began on the complex to make way for one of the many large luxury redevelopments unfolding across the city. The housing state now seems destined for preservation in museum galleries and books, rather than as built space serving the people for whom it was conceived.