Lubetkin and Goldfinger: Misunderstood Visionaries?

Russian-born Berthold Lubetkin (1901-1990) and Hungarian-born Ernö Goldfinger (1902-1987) established themselves as two leading British architects who designed high-rise council housing after the Second World War; a type of building that now holds a poor reputation.

Lubetkin built one of the earliest post-war estates in London, Spa Green in Finsbury, while Goldfinger designed the last and most notorious council block in the city, Trellick Tower in North Kensington. Although both architects were communist Jewish migrants from central Europe who shared much in common, they were rivals who disliked each other. Their reputations suffered with the physical decline of their buildings and from their sometimes less than pleasant personalities.

Yet they were both idealists, dedicated to building the best possible homes for ordinary people. Lubetkin and Goldfinger: The Rise and Fall of British High-Rise Council Housing by Nicholas Russell, recently published by Book Guild Publishing Ltd, aims to shine a light on the overlooked work of these two visionary architects and give them the credit they undoubtedly deserve.

In this session, which will be chaired by Dr.Anna Nyburg, Nicholas Russell will set this aspect of the two men’s work in a wider context, both of their own colourful lives and careers and of the history of 20^th century British architecture.

Nicholas Russell was a university reader in Science Communication and a college lecturer in Biology and History of Technology. Having had a lifelong interest in art and design, he now works as a heritage volunteer and spent several seasons as a National Trust guide at Erno Goldfinger’s house in Hampstead. His book on industrial invention and design through a history of the manufacturing firm Russell Hobbs, Household Names, was published in 2021. Nicholas lives in Bath

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