Example2/Ernö Goldfinger

Example Two: 2Willow Road, Hampstead, London NW3

Number two, Willow Road, Hampstead, London NW3, is a three storey, flat roofed block building comprising of 3 residential dwelling properties, built by architect Erno Goldfinger.

Born in Budapest in 1902 Erno Goldfinger moved to Paris in 1923 to study architecture and design. Falling under the influence of Le Corbusier, the Frenchman’s Vers une Architecture ( Towards a New Architecture) would become a bible for a new generation of architects.

Le Corbusier stated (chapter1, page 95): “Our epoch is fixing its own style day by day. It is there under our eyes. Eyes which do not see”.

The building on 2 Willow Road, Hampstead, London NW3 is constructed around a reinforced concrete frame, some which is visible in the façade, it is in the interior where the real treasure (s) are to be found. The house’s design and contents form a virtual microcosm of the Modernism movement in architecture of which Goldfinger would become such a controversial figure.

Buildings that he would design and build are still proving controversial and provoking debate to the present day. Both Trellick and Balfron Tower’s, both are Goldfinger’s and never far short of starting a heated debate on the architect’s contribution.

Inside Willow Road – spiral staircase designed by renowned Danish engineer Ove Arup winds its way majestically through floors where walls and partitions are movable, folding doors, all abundantly lit with daylight through the many windows.