Carpenters Estate:
Next to the eastern edge of London’s Olympic Park in Stratford is the Carpenters Estate which was built as a council house community in the late 1960′s. In recent years, with growing uncertainty over re-development, the estate became well-known for the number of flats and houses that were left unoccupied and boarded up. Yet the Carpenters Estate has been a much valued place to live for many residents, not least for those who settled there when the properties were new, and with that sense of home a very different view of the estate emerges.
This project was completed in 2013 while studying for an MA in Photography and Urban Cultures at Goldsmiths College and in collaboration with the photographer, Orly Zailer. As part of the study we also conducted short interviews that reflected on ideas of what made a home, life on the estate over the years and the changed times of London’s housing landscape. We would like to thank again all the residents for their participation and interest and to the Carpenters Estate TMO for assistance in enabling the project to happen.