Wednesday 8 August 2018

sky high

Great exhibition at Park Hill flats at the moment in Sheffield - Love Among the Ruins.  Some brilliant photos from 1961 and 1988 - the black and white and colour contrasts are poignant too.  And also incredible film footage from the early 60s when the bustling shopping area in the flats was in full swing and a vibrant community thrived.
So on Saturday we'd booked onto a walking architecture tour of the undeveloped parts of the now derelict site.  Being fenced off and unmaintained, the weeds have flourished since my last visit.  Andrew Jackson from the Twentieth Century Society led the walk.
Here's one of the 4 pubs on the site - we were inside this a couple of years ago to see a great video installation as part of the Art Sheffield 2016 festival - Up Down Top Bottom Strange and Charm
some of the original mosaics and signs remain
This dry hot summer has given the landscape a kind of pampas grass feel as we look over to the developed Urban Splash section.
Always loved the walkways
and here's another of the pubs
and some wild colour
This is the site of the original Grace Hill Nursery.  Piece in the Sheffield Star on the move to the new site.
More of the colourful mosaics that have stood the test of time
Recent fire damage to one of the blocks
New home of the lovely S1Artspace in the old Park Hill garages - and the flat roof was originally a play area.  S1Artspace rescued this from demolition by moving in this summer.
And for the final bit of the tour we headed into the new Urban Splash part of the development - where some of the original staircases have been kept in.
but the "milk float" corridors have been narrowed a bit to provide more private entrances to the flats.  Loved the personalised glass corner displays at each flat.
Unsurpassed views across our wonderful city of Sheffield
Good appreciation of the original concept of the graduation in brick colours from red at the bottom to pale yellow at the top.  These were replaced with bright panels in the first phase of development but will be retained in the future work.
And a feel for the great open public space behind the flats.  Which could easily have ended up housing a multi story car park if developers had got their way.
A great day - and ended with a relaxing coffee at the lovely South Street Kitchen which opened earlier this year.