Tales of fire and precarity is a new research project led by Rosa Ainley of Rendezvous Projects and Stamatis Zografos.

Giving voice to Peckham’s Ledbury Estate residents’ responses to their living situation on an estate that doesn’t meet fire and structural safety requirements, Tales of fire and precarity begins with onsite workshops, run by Rosa and Stamatis Zografos. Community memory sessions, using writing, drawing, photography and filming, with discussions and conversations are planned to give space to residents to tell their stories.

Following the catastrophic fire at Grenfell Tower in 2017, local authorities were instructed to inspect blocks built using Large Panel Systems. Ledbury Estate failed the fire safety and structural integrity checks. In an independent estate-wide ballot, the majority of residents backed Southwark Council’s regeneration proposal to demolish and rebuild the blocks. Residents started to be relocated; in 2020, following the Coronavirus outbreak, the four 13-storey tower blocks were brought back into use as emergency temporary accommodation for homeless families in the borough. Southwark Council’s 24-hour safety procedures are now established.

Aims

We want to record residents’ sense of place, to communicate their opinions and feelings about living in unsafe conditions. The aim is to raise awareness of how everyday life looks when under constant threat, and to stimulate debate and instigate change in consultation methods.

Project updates

Updates will be published here and will include details of any public workshops.