This block of flats in Lawn Road has fascinated me for years. Its construction in the 1930s was supervised by Walter Grobius, founder of the Bauhaus movement. The 34 flats were occupied by writers, artists, architects and intellectuals interested in “progressive urban living”. This sounded so appealing and, intellectual shortcomings aside, I’ve always had a yearning to live in the Isokon. Ultimately, the radical Bauhaus-inspired concept failed and the flats stood derelict for years. But they’ve now been restored to their original modernist splendour with a gallery on the ground floor charting the building’s history. I went there yesterday and asked, hypothetically, whether I could add my name to the waiting list for a flat. Yes, as long as I was a “key worker”. Ah. So I’d have to become a useful and selfless member of society, rather than a useless and selfish one. Never going to happen, is it?
To the Isokon Building in Belsize Park.

- The North-Sou...7th Dec 2016
- Very silly ga...4th Dec 2016
- John Peel, To...1st Dec 2016
- "Half of bitt...30th Nov 2016
- Date night.28th Nov 2016
- My favourite ...27th Nov 2016
- RIH Fidel Cas...26th Nov 2016
- Thanksgiving.24th Nov 2016
- The trouble w...18th Nov 2016
- "I'll swing f...17th Nov 2016
- My son had no...16th Nov 2016
- But the theme...14th Nov 2016
- The death of ...13th Nov 2016
- President Tru...9th Nov 2016
- Trump effigie...5th Nov 2016 prev next