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Flats in the Clouds
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Blocks of “high-rise” flats have been erected in large numbers in London and in many other big cities. Just after the Second World War these immense twenty-to-thirty storey buildings, hundreds of feet in height, were thought to be the ideal solution to the dual problem of acute housing shortage and lack of space in urban areas. At first, the ultramodern apartments were much sought after by city dwellers, and hundreds of the vast blocks had been built before anyone began to doubt that they were suitable places for people, children especially, to live in. A well-known British architect, who personally designed many of these buildings, now believes that they may well have inflicted a great deal of suffering on those people who have been housed in them, and evidence has been amassed by sociologists which suggests that severe loneliness and deep depression are brought about by life within these great towers. Some psychologists even maintain that an unduly large proportion of their inhabitants suffer from mental disorders and develop criminal tendencies.
C Say if your ideas are in any way similar to those of the author.
D Pick out the key-words/phrases to describe:
· multi-storeyed buildings
- reasons for their erection
- reasons for disappointment in them
E Read the interview with Professor Hill about the prospects of high-rise housing.
Professor: Well, first of all, I think, we must make a clear distinction between residential and commercial buildings. Where land is in fact still very expensive – especially in the center of cities – high office buildings are still being built. And some companies get prestige from operating from a large modern beautiful building.
Well, some luxury flats are sill being built and the highest in the world is at Lake Point Towers in Chicago. The highest in the United Kingdom is the Shakespeare Tower, Barbican, in the City of London. But in the public sector housing – that’s council flats – they’re no longer being built at the rate they were in the 60s and early 70s. And the reasons for this are quite numerous: people feel very isolated in them and lonely and they have this terrible feeling of being cut off from the real world. So many of these flats were getting vandalised and smashed up – the windows were being broken, lifts damaged and so on. And oddly enough perhaps this doesn’t seem to happen in privately-owned blocks. They tend to be much more secure. But perhaps that’s because they’ve got porters or even guards to protect them.
Interviewer: Yes, what do you think can be done to prevent vandalism?
1) What new facts do you learn from the interview about high-rise buildings?
2) Explain the notion of ‘vandalism’.
3) Can you guess what Professor Hill’s suggestions are? What are your ideas about preventing vandalism?
4) Now read Professor Hill’s answer and compare it with yours.
Professor: Well, vandalism can only be prevented by encouraging the tenants to take a pride in where they live, to feel that they own their environment. Not housing families in these large high-rise blocks — perhaps only single people or at least only childless couples. And... um... building more low-rise accommodation and, I have to say, that... er... in the last resort if all else fails, by blowing up the blocks which attract the vandals.
Interviewer: That seems a wee bit drastic.
Professor: Well, in many cases, it’s the only thing that can be done.
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