While some were delighted that at least a small part of the architectural heritage of Robin Hood Gardens was being preserved for posterity, others were furious that the V&A – a so-called ‘arms-length’ body, governed by a Board of Trustees appointed by the Prime Minister – considered the estate valuable enough to collect, but not valuable enough to help save from demolition in the first instance.

The V&A had been holding back another surprise, however. Earlier this year, it announced that a second fragment of Robin Hood Gardens would be exhibited at the 16th Venice Architecture Biennale. The exhibition, entitled ‘Robin Hood Gardens: A Ruin in Reverse’ will see a piece of the estate’s ‘street in the sky’ re-erected on a scaffold frame in the Arsenale grounds on which visitors will be able to climb and reflect.

Olivia Horsfall Turner, co-curator of the V&A’s Venice installation, offers that the exhibition is an attempt to encourage broader discussion about the market forces affecting property prices in cities around the world and the urgent need for affordable housing. ‘The Smithsons […] believed in building council housing to the highest possible standards and specifications […] that would last for generations,’ says Horsfall Turner. ‘Despite the fate of Robin Hood Gardens, these are still admirable aspirations […] Talking about how architects can make a positive contribution to the future of social housing can’t fix the problem overnight, but it’s part of raising awareness and working towards solutions.’

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