V&A’s latest (large) piece ... a chunk of council estate
FORGET Roman statues or Renaissance carvings – the Victoria & Albert Museum’s latest purchase is part of a council estate due for demolition.
Robin Hood Gardens, an east London concrete block, is famous for its Brutalist architecture. It was built in 1972 and designed by husband and wife Peter and Alison Smithson.
The dilapidated estate in Poplar is being knocked down, but the V&A will be saving a threestorey section, measuring almost 30ft high.
The section includes two maisonette flats as well as exterior facades and two staircases.
The V&A did not reveal how much they paid for the piece, but said that it contributed to the costs of its extraction.