Intro

In Up in the Air (Verso) architectural historian Holly Smith tells the story of Britain's multi-storey council housing from its beginnings to the present day, charting how at different times it became the symbol of the welfare state’s idealistic principles, and of its failures. Building on extensive research, Smith tells the story of high-rise housing from the perspective of those who lived there, from Sheffield to Liverpool to London. Smith was in conversation with historian Owen Hatherley, whose most recent book is The Alienation Effect.