The Aylesbury Estate was never popular.
Soon after its opening in 1970, it was described as a “concrete jungle”, and an “impersonal creation.”
The negative press grew even more in 1997 when Tony Blair decided to make his first speech as Prime Minister there, talking about an “underclass of people without any sense of shared purpose.”
The choice of the venue was deliberate, as the Aylesbury had become a strong visual metaphor for destitution.
26 years later, in May 2023, activist and tenant Aysen Dennis – who has been defending her home from privatisation and demolition since 2001 – decided to host the exhibition Fight 4 Aylesbury in her own flat
By Luisa De la Concha Montes