A real pleasure to see a fresh film about Walter Segal's work. Today, more than ever, we need real alternatives to the prevailant method of building homes and communities.
The quote at 8:48 sums up why I can’t watch Grand Designs any more - self build housing is not just the preserve of the wealthy, building bling houses the size of aircraft hangars!
Wonderful. This community vibe here kind of reminds me of some small areas of London that got taken over by squatters (Vauxhall Grove/Bonnington Square being a place I spent a bunch of time in in the 80s), trying to make the best of things economically and collaboratively, and to take it down to essentials and work from a human motivation, but, of course, this is a situation of people being far more empowered, given the resources of Segal's genius and Lewisham council's backing. And, you all know it, Corbyn's government, his 'variant' of Labour rule, if it hadn't been so smeared and attacked, would have been well into supporting these kinds of projects and others in different aspects of life with the same kinds of principles. That's why the attacks happened; the idea was looking from the bottom up and aiming at life quality and empowerment, not the earnings of 'the Barrats and the Wimpeys and all the big boys', as Dave Dayes says here. Is human life the basis of economic activity, or impersonal masses of corporate capital? The capital wouldn't approve of the slightest threat of being usurped by this kind of approach, thus it works to filter out those kind of political forces.
Great film. Congratulations. Lovely drone shots and well inter-cut interviews. Why Jon Broome's key role in Walter's Way is not celebrated is strange, and why Jon is not even listed in the interviewees is stranger yet. I'm intrigued that special thanks goes to a different (non-self-build) client of Segal... one tale of how that project was sadly aborted in a different outer London borough was told at length in Building Design, 17 March 1979, pp 14-15. (PS Dwynwen O'Neill is my step-daughter; I am John McKean)
Dwynwen O'Neill I noticed that Jon's name was missing from the credits, too. However, I imagine it just slipped through the net. It's amazing how many things there are to think about when making a documentary!
People often say that timber frame houses aren't built as often as traditional houses, but clearly that doesn't have to be the case considering laypeople built these houses themselves. It's quite a good idea and the modular aspect of their construction is a real benefit.
I have found a plot on a small development in Wales, I am working on a house on Walter's principles. However, I am disconcerted that so much of the best materials from a ecological point of view are made in Europe, where companies are geared up to produce them.
Thank you Ben for sending this. A lot to learn from this. Did you hear Barbara Weiss’s superb talk on Wednesday evening? It was on BBC Radio 4. The programme called Four Thought. Well worth hearing it. She’s a brilliant and wonderfully calm and articulate architect. Her talk should be sent to the new Mayor. Maybe I’ll do it. I don’t know what her work’s like. This programme made me realise that Boris Johnson will one day be seen as a blind vandal and a hapless criminal - what a vain and unimaginative man and what dreadful damage has been done to London on his watch.
I’m surprised that in the 4 years this video has been posted, no one has actually caught the real genius of Walter Segal’s way (excuse the pun). The “magic sauce” of why this particular estate worked in fostering “communi ee” It’s first of all not because of the usual buzzwords that are so fashionable on university campuses… nor because of the “architecture”... and not even the layout “planning” No matter what kind of architecture/layout/“investment level”, a community only truly thrives because of the people living in it. Therefore the key of why this estate worked is who were filtered to be included, and therefore who were filtered to be excluded. The housing units in this estate is definitely not allocated based purely on need. If so, what about those “rough sleepers” who just can’t hold a saw? The filtering was done by self selecting those who are motivated enough to put in the labour, mental acumen AND drive to erect their own houses. People who are driven to that level would usually not raise children who urinate in a lift. Perhaps because of Segal’s background of having lived in a commune, where the “tragedy of the commons” is a constant threat to disintegrate the commune, an effective filter of those who can join must be implemented to make the project sustainable. He might be a visionary when it comes to town planning and architecture. But here, his magic here is being a world class (ie. ruthless) economist. One so good that those who grew up in it, observed it over time, worshipped it from afar, never realised the Darwinism involved. Absolute genius
This "council housing estate" isn't one, really. This street is located in a quite expensive part of Lewisham, far from actual council estates. The people living in it were given permission to build their own houses, and I suspect most of them were from more affluent backgrounds than average. It's a middle class neighborhood larping as an anarchic council estate. Yes, this could be the solution to the housing problem, but it would require UK to admit that their whole idea of council housing is retarded, and allow people to build their own houses instead, like these guys did. It is very difficult and expensive to get a house building permit in the UK, that's why only the richest get to design their unique houses and everyone else lives in shoeboxes built by a few big companies. This Walter's Way also doesn't address the question of what to do with the couple million of people in the UK who don't want to take responsibility for their own lives but rather wait to be given homes by the government.
This is fabulous! this is how to change the world, by igniting community and self reliance once again. Calling it anarchy is not productive though, that would suggest doing something that is not normal and going against, but its quite the opposite!
that's not what anarchy means though, it is a common understanding propagated in the main by those for whom anarchy signifies a loss of their inherited power. it is anarchist in that bariers to autonomy are minimised as much as possible, community is facilitated as much as possible, and centralised power is minimised in its role to absolute essentials necessary to make this work within a capitalist and hierarchical social context, by providing access to land, services, and materials which were otherwise out of reach.
@@stiofanmacamhalghaidhau765 Its been a while since i posted that comment but I suspect i meant the way the term anarchy has been used to portray a set of types in mainstream in a negative way.
Inspiring example of how to solve housing problems - a socialist solution, but it involves having the land and an ethos of social housing as an aim and not as a 'refuse bin' for the very poor.
A little concerned the framing of this as 'Anarchist' will be a hinderance to it becoming mainstream in this country. Words are important. The political landscape is such that Anarchism is a long way off being taken seriously in the UK. Where as 'Self-build' has traction. A rebranding is needed I think.
+12tonetv I don't know about that. Even Anarchy in the UK by sex pistols is very mainstream now. Sex Pistols will even feature on a range of credit cards
@12tonetv. Your comment reminds me of the frozen state of mind, in Britain, with a class system ruling many aspects of society, showing an inflexibility and closed-mindedness, that is largely absent in my country of birth The Netherlands. I've come to the conclusion that drinking and the use of drugs might to be the only escape from it, for many British people. A roundabout approach to tackle, and thaw frost-mindedness. Defrost the hard way.
@@undercurrentsmedia Consensus reality is thriving in Britain. For those living in wealth it's a different reality than the one for those living in poverty. The twain shall never meet. Until the entire nation goes in anarchy, chaos
Intreasting how quiet segals work is kept.....there are plenty of alternative ways to build...big problem in Uk is the arse planning!! I volunteered on Lammas 10yr ago nearly now...thye were all living in caravans and was in set up phase....Probably the biggest problem that happened to housing was sale of council properties and rising values = greed etc etc.....maybe after all this co vid virus values and integrity might relapse back nearer to how we used to be.....
"Run by Lewisham Council". "Privately owned homes".Sorry, I'm struggling to see where the anarchy comes into it. And it looks like a lot of effort has gone into a tiny number of houses.
Don't mean to sound rude but the guy managed to build more than one of these in Central London, built by normal people following his method. Just a bit of respect for a person who believed in something and managed to make it happen..To be honest I think that making the council believe in something so crazy it's a pretty big achievement especially in a city like London driven by economical reason and politics
It's all in there. The architect was raised on an anarchist commune, hence the anarchist connection. The project was commissioned and funded by Lewisham council in the 70's, offered to selected council tenants from the city. In the 80's we had Thatcher. Hence, a couple decades or so after being built, Walters way is a largely private residential estate. Walter Segals idea of getting the prospective residents to build their own and help their neighbours did genuinely build a community though. Something no doubt carried on from his anarchist upbringing.
This is lovely but is not the answer to the dire housing situation in this country ! The gentleman said we need 100,000 of these that’s the dream !! Yes exactly “dream” , this may be a cheaper solution but is financially out of reach for most people . Enjoyed the vid though
Love this approach to architecture, but never understood why it has “Anarchist” badge attached to it, definitely it is term designed to discourage masses to adopt this way of thinking.
![[ไฮไลต์] "เวฟ-วีรพล วิชุมา" สุดยอด! คว้าเหรียญเงินยกน้ำหนัก | โอลิมปิก 2024](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/nZnT15nhpKc/mqdefault.jpg)
A real pleasure to see a fresh film about Walter Segal's work. Today, more than ever, we need real alternatives to the prevailant method of building homes and communities.
instablaster
The quote at 8:48 sums up why I can’t watch Grand Designs any more - self build housing is not just the preserve of the wealthy, building bling houses the size of aircraft hangars!
Wonderful. This community vibe here kind of reminds me of some small areas of London that got taken over by squatters (Vauxhall Grove/Bonnington Square being a place I spent a bunch of time in in the 80s), trying to make the best of things economically and collaboratively, and to take it down to essentials and work from a human motivation, but, of course, this is a situation of people being far more empowered, given the resources of Segal's genius and Lewisham council's backing. And, you all know it, Corbyn's government, his 'variant' of Labour rule, if it hadn't been so smeared and attacked, would have been well into supporting these kinds of projects and others in different aspects of life with the same kinds of principles. That's why the attacks happened; the idea was looking from the bottom up and aiming at life quality and empowerment, not the earnings of 'the Barrats and the Wimpeys and all the big boys', as Dave Dayes says here. Is human life the basis of economic activity, or impersonal masses of corporate capital? The capital wouldn't approve of the slightest threat of being usurped by this kind of approach, thus it works to filter out those kind of political forces.
Great film. Congratulations. Lovely drone shots and well inter-cut interviews. Why Jon Broome's key role in Walter's Way is not celebrated is strange, and why Jon is not even listed in the interviewees is stranger yet. I'm intrigued that special thanks goes to a different (non-self-build) client of Segal... one tale of how that project was sadly aborted in a different outer London borough was told at length in Building Design, 17 March 1979, pp 14-15. (PS Dwynwen O'Neill is my step-daughter; I am John McKean)
Dwynwen O'Neill I noticed that Jon's name was missing from the credits, too. However, I imagine it just slipped through the net. It's amazing how many things there are to think about when making a documentary!
I love Segal's houses, very similar to Japanese houses which I like too. Would love to build something similar.
Fascinating story
Excellent film..this would be great to show in the Sol Cinema
People often say that timber frame houses aren't built as often as traditional houses, but clearly that doesn't have to be the case considering laypeople built these houses themselves. It's quite a good idea and the modular aspect of their construction is a real benefit.
I find this wonderfully inspiring 👏
I have found a plot on a small development in Wales, I am working on a house on Walter's principles. However, I am disconcerted that so much of the best materials from a ecological point of view are made in Europe, where companies are geared up to produce them.
Thank you Ben for sending this. A lot to learn from this.
Did you hear Barbara Weiss’s superb talk on Wednesday evening? It was on BBC Radio 4.
The programme called Four Thought. Well worth hearing it. She’s a brilliant and wonderfully calm and articulate architect. Her talk should be sent to the new Mayor. Maybe I’ll do it. I don’t know what her work’s like. This programme made me realise that Boris Johnson will one day be seen as a blind vandal and a hapless criminal - what a vain and unimaginative man and what dreadful damage has been done to London on his watch.
Yikes, 5 years on..
Love this!
Pretty inspirational!
Very clever guy so ingenious
This is inspirational.
Nubian Way in Downham have houses that similar to Walters way.
I’m surprised that in the 4 years this video has been posted, no one has actually caught the real genius of Walter Segal’s way (excuse the pun). The “magic sauce” of why this particular estate worked in fostering “communi ee”
It’s first of all not because of the usual buzzwords that are so fashionable on university campuses… nor because of the “architecture”... and not even the layout “planning”
No matter what kind of architecture/layout/“investment level”, a community only truly thrives because of the people living in it.
Therefore the key of why this estate worked is who were filtered to be included, and therefore who were filtered to be excluded.
The housing units in this estate is definitely not allocated based purely on need. If so, what about those “rough sleepers” who just can’t hold a saw?
The filtering was done by self selecting those who are motivated enough to put in the labour, mental acumen AND drive to erect their own houses.
People who are driven to that level would usually not raise children who urinate in a lift.
Perhaps because of Segal’s background of having lived in a commune, where the “tragedy of the commons” is a constant threat to disintegrate the commune, an effective filter of those who can join must be implemented to make the project sustainable.
He might be a visionary when it comes to town planning and architecture. But here, his magic here is being a world class (ie. ruthless) economist. One so good that those who grew up in it, observed it over time, worshipped it from afar, never realised the Darwinism involved.
Absolute genius
Such a shame that there isn't a thread around your comment. Would be interesting to see responses to your critique.
This "council housing estate" isn't one, really. This street is located in a quite expensive part of Lewisham, far from actual council estates. The people living in it were given permission to build their own houses, and I suspect most of them were from more affluent backgrounds than average. It's a middle class neighborhood larping as an anarchic council estate.
Yes, this could be the solution to the housing problem, but it would require UK to admit that their whole idea of council housing is retarded, and allow people to build their own houses instead, like these guys did. It is very difficult and expensive to get a house building permit in the UK, that's why only the richest get to design their unique houses and everyone else lives in shoeboxes built by a few big companies.
This Walter's Way also doesn't address the question of what to do with the couple million of people in the UK who don't want to take responsibility for their own lives but rather wait to be given homes by the government.
Hi Ben, Yes, Walter Seagal was quite a guy. I sometimes go by the group of houses - a real community.
And Aravena's half house was seen as a revolutionary idea... Study history folks, even recent history.
They look very nice. Like the green roofs.
This is fabulous! this is how to change the world, by igniting community and self reliance once again. Calling it anarchy is not productive though, that would suggest doing something that is not normal and going against, but its quite the opposite!
that's not what anarchy means though, it is a common understanding propagated in the main by those for whom anarchy signifies a loss of their inherited power. it is anarchist in that bariers to autonomy are minimised as much as possible, community is facilitated as much as possible, and centralised power is minimised in its role to absolute essentials necessary to make this work within a capitalist and hierarchical social context, by providing access to land, services, and materials which were otherwise out of reach.
@@stiofanmacamhalghaidhau765 Its been a while since i posted that comment but I suspect i meant the way the term anarchy has been used to portray a set of types in mainstream in a negative way.
Inspiring example of how to solve housing problems - a socialist solution, but it involves having the land and an ethos of social housing as an aim and not as a 'refuse bin' for the very poor.
A little concerned the framing of this as 'Anarchist' will be a hinderance to it becoming mainstream in this country. Words are important. The political landscape is such that Anarchism is a long way off being taken seriously in the UK. Where as 'Self-build' has traction. A rebranding is needed I think.
+12tonetv I don't know about that. Even Anarchy in the UK by sex pistols is very mainstream now. Sex Pistols will even feature on a range of credit cards
@12tonetv. Your comment reminds me of the frozen state of mind, in Britain, with a class system ruling many aspects of society, showing an inflexibility and closed-mindedness, that is largely absent in my country of birth The Netherlands.
I've come to the conclusion that drinking and the use of drugs might to be the only escape from it, for many British people. A roundabout approach to tackle, and thaw frost-mindedness. Defrost the hard way.
@@undercurrentsmedia Consensus reality is thriving in Britain. For those living in wealth it's a different reality than the one for those living in poverty. The twain shall never meet. Until the entire nation goes in anarchy, chaos
@@devonseamoor anarchy and chaos are, in many ways, opposites.
Intreasting how quiet segals work is kept.....there are plenty of alternative ways to build...big problem in Uk is the arse planning!! I volunteered on Lammas 10yr ago nearly now...thye were all living in caravans and was in set up phase....Probably the biggest problem that happened to housing was sale of council properties and rising values = greed etc etc.....maybe after all this co vid virus values and integrity might relapse back nearer to how we used to be.....
Hilarious, Someone’s been busy trawling through all those old ARs ....
"Run by Lewisham Council". "Privately owned homes".Sorry, I'm struggling to see where the anarchy comes into it. And it looks like a lot of effort has gone into a tiny number of houses.
Don't mean to sound rude but the guy managed to build more than one of these in Central London, built by normal people following his method. Just a bit of respect for a person who believed in something and managed to make it happen..To be honest I think that making the council believe in something so crazy it's a pretty big achievement especially in a city like London driven by economical reason and politics
It's all in there. The architect was raised on an anarchist commune, hence the anarchist connection. The project was commissioned and funded by Lewisham council in the 70's, offered to selected council tenants from the city. In the 80's we had Thatcher. Hence, a couple decades or so after being built, Walters way is a largely private residential estate.
Walter Segals idea of getting the prospective residents to build their own and help their neighbours did genuinely build a community though. Something no doubt carried on from his anarchist upbringing.
This is lovely but is not the answer to the dire housing situation in this country ! The gentleman said we need 100,000 of these that’s the dream !! Yes exactly “dream” , this may be a cheaper solution but is financially out of reach for most people . Enjoyed the vid though
Whoever that one downvoter is, can you please explain: why?
the film was too short!
straight roads are bad
Love this approach to architecture, but never understood why it has “Anarchist” badge attached to it, definitely it is term designed to discourage masses to adopt this way of thinking.
Like it says right at the beginning, Walter grew up in an anarchist commune.
Closed Captions?