Up in the Air:

​A History of High Rise Britain

Holly Smith

in conversation with John Grindrod
Tuesday 3 February 2026, 7.30 - 8.30pm
Online via Zoom
Tickets: £8/£6 (livestream) 

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​​​​​High-rise estates are some of the most visible and contentious symbols of Britain's post-war dreams. Join historian Holly Smith and writer John Grindrod for an evening exploring the origins, history and legacy of Britain's tower blocks.

From their beginnings, as a way of helping to solve Britain's postwar housing crisis, through decades of innovation, controversy and sometimes collapse, high-rise flats give us a fascinating insight into successive decades of political, social and architectural ideals. In her book Up in the Air: A
History of High-Rise Britain, historian Holly Smith has traced the human side of their story, looking at everything from displaced communities, tenants' cooperatives and new forms of resistance. She'll be in conversation with John Grindrod, who has examined the rise and fall of these buildings in his books Concretopia and Iconicon.

Together they will take us on a journey back to the origins of the welfare state, through the white heat of the 1960s, the turmoil of the 1970s and 80s, to the private landlordism and new dreams of today. And we'll get to see a different, more human side to these familiar icons on our skyline.

 

About Holly Smith
Holly Smith is a historian of architecture and protest. She is a Fellow at St John’s College, University of Cambridge, and an advisor to Tower Blocks UK, an advocacy group for high-rise safety.

More about Holly: 

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