Modernist Estates: The buildings and the people who live in them

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Of course, the Grands Ensembles are usually full of life but Laurent wanted to create an atmosphere of there being a "parallel world mixing past and future while consciously conveying the impression of towns that would be emptied of their residents".

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Design Bridge and Partners shoots for the stars in new identity for The Archer School for Girls Read More Sumptuous photographs and interesting accompanying text about the many modernist estates in Britain. Each week in our new ‘Spotlight on’ series a member of The Modern House team will select their favourite properties – past and present – within one of the Collections categories. Bella had long been on the Modern House mailing list. “I’ve always been slightly obsessed with modernist architecture,” she explains. When she first spotted the listing, it was at an emotionally charged time – shortly after the death of her mother, when Bella was four months pregnant. Many people go to Berlin to eat sausages, drink lager and gawp at what’s left of the Wall. They might add on a trip to related exhibitions portraying life in the DDR or the Spy Museum. Bauhaus, by contrast, is not merely a past movement; it is a force in the present day, offering nuanced insights into German life and art. In art books, modernism is usually presented as rootless, but much of what we now think of as new has its roots in Dessau and Weimar.It’s extraordinary, the rise of interest in these homes,” says John Grindrod, author of Concretopia: A Journey Around the Rebuilding of Postwar Britain. “I think Grand Designs has had a bit to do with it, and I think it’s partly a reaction against developers’ houses of the 80s and 90s – heritage design, fake Tudor, with small rooms and small windows. Instead, these houses are open, with entire glazed walls.” This book would certainly be of interest to architecture buffs, as well as people interested in engineering, urban planning, and postwar English history, but I think almost anyone could appreciate the gorgeous pictures and unique look at a distinct time in modern history. The exterior of each complex is featured, along with an informative article about how the building was designed and what its fate has become over time. Then a resident is interviewed with a standard set of questions and there is a set of stunning photographs of the interior of their homes. It's amazing how much beauty can be found even in the most brutal of brutalist structures! Though it only lasted from 1919 to 1933, in those 14 years Bauhaus ushered in a truly modern way of thinking about arts and crafts, the public realm, urbanism and the union of form and function.

Modern House | Selling the UK’s most inspiring living spaces The Modern House | Selling the UK’s most inspiring living spaces

I’ve been interested in Modernist architecture since I moved to the Barbican when I first came to London in the late 1990s,” she tells CR. “During my studio’s early years, I spent quiet periods illustrating Modernist buildings – such as the Barbican – and producing limited edition prints and cards. I then began selling them through my online shop, Things You Can Buy.” This geographical spread and chronology is interesting as it reminds us that Modernism in these terms is much more than a stylistic label. Although the examples selected include Le Corbusier’s Unite in Marseilles and works by Arne Jacobsen, there are also projects by Aldo Rossi and Ricardo Bofill, architects who defy easy categorisation as orthodox modernists. The sales team really understood the assets of my home and the kind of person it would appeal to, selecting potential buyers carefully, with no time-wasters. The marketing team went to extraordinary efforts to promote my house via their own outreach and in national media. All in all, a great experience.” Why focus on the older generation living there? "I have always been inspired by seniors and I had this deep feeling to put them at the front stage. I wished to communicate with them, know their life and try to deconstruct this sometimes depreciating image of the old age which arises from our society. I then said to myself that there was a subject to explore both on the passing of the generations as well as on the impact of time on the architecture and the lives which it tries to harmonise."Round haus … designed in 1929 by Bauhaus architect Carl Fieger, the Kornhaus restaurant is on the River Elbe near Dessau. Photograph: Ronny Hartmann/Getty Images We had lived in the better-known Isokon building for six years and dreamt of living in Berthold Lubetkin’s Highpoint in Highgate but couldn’t afford it, so it had to be a 1930s building of architectural merit. Whitehall Lodge has plenty of original features, and also a generous landscaped garden. Muswell Hill is a very nice part of north London, a real village with lots of small shops and cafés. Photographs of buildings - 2 stars - pretty tedious really. Where original features are shown they are interesting, but in general you get not-especially-good photographs of living spaces which, on the whole, have a pretty uniform taste in decoration.