Architects for Social Housing (ASH) lead a walk to explore how increasing privatisation and legislation affect our ability to access the city and how these changes contribute to the housing crisis.
ASH respond architecturally to London’s housing ‘crisis’. They organise working collectives of architects, urban designers, engineers and housing campaigners to offer support, advice and expertise to residents who feel their interests and voices are increasingly marginalised by local councils or housing associations during the so-called ‘regeneration’ process. Their primary responsibility is to existing residents – tenants and leaseholders alike; but are also committed to finding financially, socially, economically and environmentally viable alternatives to estate demolition that are in the interests of the wider London community.
Influenced by the Situationists’ dérive, the Power Walks programme brought to life the Actual RealityOS data, highlighting issues around social housing, low-wage work, histories of resistance and the accessibility of the city. The three walks and a tour were created in conversation with campaigns, community groups and organisations local to the areas surrounding the Serpentine, and took place throughout the duration of Hito Steyerl’s Power Plants exhibition. Each walk and tour tells a story of the hidden and not so hidden inequalities from the point of view of those most affected.
