Cook’s Camden
Cook’s Camden: The Making of Modern Housing
By Mark Swenarton
Lund Humphries Publishers Ltd, 2017
I was very lucky to receive Cook’s Camden for Christmas and I finished reading it last week! It was a very enjoyable read and it felt very familiar as I have always lived in Camden and visited most of the buildings mentioned in the book. The book is not only beautifully illustrated with original photographs by Martin Charles, taken when the buildings were finished (mainly in 1978 –81); and new photographs by Tim Crocker, commissioned for the book and taken in 2015 –17, but it is also very well researched and written.
The housing schemes mentioned in this book include Fleet Road, Alexandra Road, Highgate New Town, Branch Hill, Gospel Oak development, Maiden Lane Estate, and some smaller privately commissioned houses. Each of the chapters provide a good overview of the tumultuous politics that were occuring in the Planning and Housing department at Camden, and there were A LOT of politics involved in securing the funds, agreeing over the designs, when to start construction (Fleet Road's construction was very delayed!), timescales, and of course maintaining budgets. Swenarton also writes about the young and ambitious architects who were involved in designing and overseeing the construction of the buldings.
There seems to be a general consensus that Cook was well liked by his colleagues and was very encouraging to his fellow young architects. There is a chapter at the end of the book that focuses on the Alexandra Road public enquiry; it was shameful that Neave Brown was blamed, it was evident that there was mismangement at the top level and it was always easier to blame the architect. I am glad this book was published in time before Neave Brown’s passing to shed light on the issue and to of course celebrate his work and his fellow colleagues as well. I found the book very inspiring and wished there was another Cook’s Camden in the making for my generation.
All photographs © Tim Crocker courtesy of Lund Humphries Publishers Ltd.