Alternative Guide to the London Boroughs with Owen Hatherley, Aditya Chakrabortty & Rosa Nussbaum

The World Transformed

In 2020, writer Owen Hatherley published two books about London. One, Red Metropolis was a polemical history of municipal socialism in Britain's capital. The other, was an alternative guide to London's boroughs featuring 33 activists, historians, architects and politicians exploring stories and neighbourhoods from across each of the city's 33 boroughs. The alternative guide, which was commissioned by Open City, a charity best known for its London-wide festival of remarkable architecture Open House, attempts to unpick the social and political dimensions of London's built fabric while taking the reader on an adventurous journey encompassing everything from Brutalist Polish community centres to suburban garden cities, from pioneering modernist estates to ornate Victorian greenhouses. In this special event, Owen is joined by Guardian columnist Aditya Chakrabortty, who wrote the alternative guide's chapter on the London borough of Haringey, and graphic designer Rosa Nussbaum to discuss contemporary London following the mayoral election, property development in Haringey and beyond, and wider themes of both books. The Alternative Guide to the London Boroughs is available from the Open City online shop. Anyone who would like to get hold of a copy before this event can use the one-off discount code THEWORLDTRANSFORMED to get 40% off the cover price. The event will be introduced by Phineas Harper, architecture writer and director of Open City who commissioned the Alternative Guide to the London Boroughs and compered by Sam Swann from The World Transformed.