Heygate Estate and Blue Elephant Theatre.

Last week I made drawings at the  soon to be demolished infamous Heygate estate in London with the Topolski residents. We spent some time drawing the iconic Neo Brutalist building from the train platform at Elephant and Castle. 

Following this we spent the afternoon at the Blue Elephant Theatre in Camberwell, drawing rehearsals for the  production 'Retrospective' 

Thankyou to the dancers and Theatre staff for their support.

http://bit.ly/nutshellretro

We were accompanied by Josh, a cameraman who was filming the residents for a documentary on the drawing programme directed by Alistair Oldham from University of the West of England.

Dancer at the Blue Elephant Theatre

Dancer at the Blue Elephant Theatre

Heygate Estate Church RIP

Heygate Estate demolition approaching

The Heygate Estate from the station platform.

The Heygate Estate is controversially undergoing demolition. Completed in 1974 the estate had fallen into disrepair by 2000, however  surveyors recommended  refurbishment rather than demolition. Four out of five residents didn't want to move out of the estate and contrary to popular belief the crime rate in and around the estate was half the average for the borough of southwark. It was revealed that the  council had sold the estate for £50m having spent £44m emptying the site and planning the redevelopment. A compulsory purchase order was implemented in July 2013 forcing the last residents out.

Next location, The Royal Courts of Justice, where the sketchbooks were held on a charge of contempt of court before being released for not being realistic enough.