Drawing Robin Hood Gardens: Reportage illustration as an architectural research method

This article addresses the role of illustration and reportage drawing in capturing temporality in heritage, focusing on the demolition, redevelopment and refurbishment of social housing. I discuss how a building and its relevance for listing or conservation change over time and how the values of a building regarding its potential listing should be assessed with these changes in mind. The architectural case study is the East London housing estate Robin Hood Gardens (1972), which was refused heritage listing in 2009 and 2015, and its demolition began in 2017 as part of a regeneration scheme. As part of my doctoral research (2015–22), I made reportage illustrations of everyday life on the estate during the time spent waiting before demolition, which is often disregarded by heritage decision-making processes. Through drawing I engaged with specific agencies and audiences – governmental bodies, architects, residents. Writing in 2025 coincides with the completion of the demolition as well as the exhibition of a segment of the building at the newly opened V&A East Storehouse in London. In this new context, I ask what relevance do the drawings hold, beyond documentation for posterity, for future architectural and conservation practices?