Woodcraft, S;
Smith, C;
(2020)
Introduction – Tower block ‘failures’?: High-rise anthropology.
Focaal European Journal of Anthropology
(86)
10.3167/fcl.2020.860101.
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Abstract
Th e high-rise tower block is an ambiguous construction: a muchmaligned architectural form yet a persistent symbol of modernity and aspiration. It is also a fulcrum for discourses about urban failure, broken communities, widening urban inequality, and insecurity. Recent tower block disasters, from the Grenfell Tower fi re in London to high-rise collapses in Nairobi, have intensifi ed such debates. In this introduction to the theme section, we explore “tower block failure” as both event and discourse. Engaging with scholarship on global urbanism, verticality, and failure as a generative force, we highlight the particular discursive, social, political, and material constellations of “failure” as it manifests in relation to tower blocks. We propose that exploring what failure sets in motion—following what failure does, rather than what it means—can help inform our understanding of urban transformation.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Introduction – Tower block ‘failures’?: High-rise anthropology |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.3167/fcl.2020.860101 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.3167/fcl.2020.860101 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Copyright © The Authors. This article is published with Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) licence. |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of the Built Environment UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of the Built Environment > UCL Institute for Global Prosperity |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10087295 |
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