The surprising slice of Italy in southeast London
Dawson Heights has become a place of architectural pilgrimage
The architect, Kate Macintosh, designed Dawson Heights aged only 26
Where I live in southeast London, a pair of asymmetrical housing blocks dominate the horizon. They peek over hilltops and around corners. They’re like a portrait whose eyes follow you around a room.
The past year has provided the lemons (no travel) to create lemonade (exploring close to home), thus I set out to discover more about Dawson Heights (1964-72), a pair of ziggurats built on a spoil heap. Less well-known than other modernist masterpieces, they’ve become a place of architectural pilgrimage, described as resembling battleships, Italian hilltop towns, castles, and Inca pyramids.