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

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There are three distinct parts to each ‘chapter’ in this book and these can be rated separately as follows Prior to moving here, I’d lived in Golden Lane Estate and the Barbican Estate, so I had accumulated quite a few pieces of furniture. I’ve always tended to buy mid-century classics such as a Robin Day sofa, Alvar Aalto table and a George Nelson bed. Not because I want to live in a museum, but because their proportions tend to fit smaller spaces better than modern, bulky furniture. I’ve bought a few pieces specifically for this flat, including an Alfred Roth daybed. My favourite piece of furniture, however, is by the contemporary furniture designer Michael Marriott. I have his Croquet shelving – simple oak uprights with colourful folded sheet steel shelves. I just love them and they’ve moved with me across five different flats over the last 15 years. The first property they marketed was Six Pillars in Dulwich, south London. “ Which is a Tecton house,” Hill says. “Grade II*.” Although it was already on the market with another agency, Hill and Gibberd called the owner and told him about their fledgling company. “He said: ‘Great, let’s do it!’” Hill recalls. “He said the other agency didn’t understand the house.”

Modernist Estates - Europe | Book Review | Urban Design Group Modernist Estates - Europe | Book Review | Urban Design Group

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. Before buying our current flat on the 18th floor, my now-husband and I rented a flat on the third floor. That’s how much we loved the building – we knew we wanted to buy here.There are some downsides – the flats are cold, not just because of the single glazing in most flats but because there are historically only two hot water radiators across two bedrooms, a kitchen and living room. The walls are also relatively thin, as reinforced concrete was such a new technique at the time. We have a lot of wool blankets and Scandinavian sweaters! Without Bauhaus, neither Hansa-style social housing nor modernism as we know it would have happened. By and large the interiors have a hipster-ish vibe to them, and unsurprisingly Shoreditch gets a few mentions, along with Bethnal Green and Barbican etc, and every other person seems to be an architect or graphic designer, so this is very much a glimpse at how the other half live. Most of the interiors have a clinical yet relaxed and liveable feel, but for all the middle-class, Guardian-reading vibes, many of the locations’ best days are behind them, and author Stefi Orazi doesn’t shy away from admitting this. An express train takes me to Weimar, 280km south-west of Berlin. The founders of the Weimar Republic met there (also in 1919) because the city was as politically neutral as was possible in post-first world war Germany. They hoped for spiritual guidance from Weimar’s intellectual ghosts: former residents include Goethe, Schiller, Nietzsche and Liszt.

100 years of Bauhaus: Berlin and beyond | Germany holidays 100 years of Bauhaus: Berlin and beyond | Germany holidays

Round haus … designed in 1929 by Bauhaus architect Carl Fieger, the Kornhaus restaurant is on the River Elbe near Dessau. Photograph: Ronny Hartmann/Getty ImagesEnroll at a college that grants credit for passing well established CLEP* exams. CLEP- for-credit Universities Overview of development- 5 stars - a model of concision perfectly explaining the context and complemented by well chosen photographs of the estate at the time of first completion. Modernist Estates” is an attractive, sumptuous book reflecting the modern taste for modernist/brutalist architecture. It covers works by Goldfinger, SPAN, etc with brief architectural scene-setting for each development, interviews with the householder(s) and a series of interior shots. 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!