I Have Lived In The Shadow Of A Bond Villain

For the last 25 years, I have lived in the presence of a Bond villain, he has not been there in person, but his presence is constantly felt; through his stunning architecture.

The monolithic concrete block, Trellick Tower, was designed by Erno Goldfinger, a Jewish-Hungarian architect, who came from the post-modern architecture schools of Paris.

Trellick's stark concrete lines, cut an intimidating shadow into the skyline of West London. It is Brutalism at its finest, strong, bunker-like blocks, laid out in such a way as to find beauty in function.

Built in a post-war, baby boom, 1960s Britain, that was still suffering a housing shortage, brought on by war time bombing. High-rise tower blocks were seen as the answer, and architects like Goldfinger; who were part of an architectural revolution. A revolution which would go on to inspire Walter Gropius and the Bauhaus movement.

Trellick Tower -June 2016

Goldfinger was a hero to the councils who were paying him to come up with housing solutions for their residents, and also to the people who were housed by his buildings. It was not uncommon for working class married couples in post-war Britain to be living in the familial home.

High-rise living, was seen as an escape from conformity for young couples in the 1960s, still living with parents who had Edwardian values. However as we often see, when there's a maverick in town, someone who likes to do things his own way; the old powers, who are responsible for the status quo, start to get just a little bitchy.

History

When I was 16, I started the 6th form, in a new school in West London, called, Holland Park, after spending just a year at the school, I had formed an emotional bond with the area that remains to this day.

A couple of years later, at the tender age of 18, I moved into a house with 4 female friends - they needed a man in the house (ha!) - on the Harrow Road, and from my upstairs bedroom window, I could see Trellik Tower, the high-rise building designed by Erno Goldfinger.

Trellick Tower, Golborne Road - June 2016

The first time I saw Trellick, something inside me moved; it was like I could feel myself swimming in a sea of dissonance. I knew that I should find the building ugly, yet, I didn't; I found it, dare I even think it - beautiful!

Suddenly, I held in my head a concept I'd never even considered to be possible, ugly-beauty. A few years later, when I stretched my creative wings and took up fashion photography, this, previously alien concept, guided my early clumsy attempts at being an artist.

It was only later, when I got into architecture and discovered the work of Tadao Ando, I realised that the style of Trellick was brutalist. From there I changed ugly-beauty, into brutally-delicate.

Over the years, Trellik has meant a lot of different things to me, and that in itself is strange, I don't usually have attachments to buildings. There are other great architectural splendours that I love, like St. Pancras Station, or the Lloyds Building, however I don't feel emotionally attached to any of those others.

Tis, you and only you, my sweet, sweet, Trellick.

From Hero To Villain

When the Sir Ian Fleming wrote Goldfinger, it was no coincidence he called the main villain Goldfinger. Fleming was an ex-naval officer from a wealthy family. Britain was (and some can argue still is) in the depths of a class war, KIng (or even Queen) and country did not mean what they used to.

Ian Fleming, creator of James Bond

The plebs are revolting!

To Fleming, Goldfinger represented the new wave of anarchist thinking that was sweeping Britain, the swinging 60s had arrived and with it came a kaleidoscope of cultural revolution.

Art, music and architecture were being turned upside down, what was once revered as traditional, was now reviled as square. This was the worst insult a young person could deliver to anyone in the 60s. It said to the person who was on the recieving end, that the old was out and the new was here to stay.

Fleming saw Goldfinger as an architect of destruction, one that would ruin the traditional values that he and so much of the English aristorcracy held dear. The Hungarian had previously knocked down two Georgian Cottages near Ian Fleming's home. Acts like this, combined with the building of Trellick Tower, caused a bubbling resentment between the two men.

When Goldfinger found out that Fleming was imortalising him in print, he tried to sue the author, Fleming then threatened to call his villain Goldprick. Somewhat wisely, Goldfinger stepped away from the law suit and the rest, as they say, is history.

The Path To Anarchy

At his time, probably fueled by Ian Fleming, making Goldfinger a villain, the Hungarian architect had a lot of critiscism directed his way.

Erno Goldfinger, in front of Trellick Tower - circa 1968

His designs were considered to far from the norm, almost anarchistic in design, people like Fleming, wanted traditional values upheld. They wanted to see, what they had always seen, not a complete upheaval of all they held dear.

The sadness and the beauty about the work of people like Goldfinger, is it is always later, sometimes too late, that their genius is recognised. Trellick Tower eventually became a Grade II listed and what was once out of the ordinary, became a standard to be emulated.

Perhaps that's why I'm always drawn to cryptocurrency in general and Steemit, because they are the things that shake things up. The disruptive way of thinking that gives rise to great things, that can go on to change the world.

These things that are once called, crazy and an outrage, become part of our everyday lives, and it is only then, that we can look back and say; it started there.

So, here's to the anarchists, the free thinkers, the boundary pushers; I raise you a glass to you and drink to your health.

Cheers!!

My view of Trellick Tower today, from the end of my street - June 2016

Till next time, keep Steeming.

CryptoGee