The Closest to Heaven.
My final major project for university focussed on Tony Parker’s ‘The People of Providence’. The book comprises of interviews recorded by Parker over the two years he spent at the Brandon Housing Estate in Southwark, London, about the effects of living in a high-rise building. The estate was nicknamed ‘Providence’ as it was supposed to be an ideal place to live, with all the amenities the residents could need and views over London, however everything quickly went South, and it is now considered the most dangerous housing estate in the whole city.
Ian & Friends. “My name’s Danny, I’m nearly twelve. My best mates are Ian and Kevin and Julian. I like living on Providence Estate because it’s nice: I don’t know why I like it, but I do like it and I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else.”
“We used to wait for someone to get in at the bottom and let them press the button for whatever floor they wanted and then whizz them right up to the top of the tower block and leave them up there. They never knew what the hell was happening. Stupid, but we used to think it was dead funny.”