An immensely popular Aylesbury Estate exhibition is now available in permanent online form as a 3D interactive model.
Long-time resident Aysen Dennis and designer Alessia Gammarota decorated the former’s house with documents relating to their fight against the estate’s demolition and opened it to the public as an exhibition in April 2023 while she was still living there.
It was open for a month at the time, but has now returned virtually as an interactive 3D replica of the now-closed Camberwell-based exhibition at Fight4Aylesbury.org.
Dennis said: “I wanted people to see the flats from the inside, how spacious [they were], how wonderful the view [was], what we’ve been facing and what we’ve been going through.”
The exhibition included campaign posters, newspapers, letters to the council, and contributions from academics and artists expressing their love for the estate and their opposition to what they deemed a social cleansing plan.
Dennis lived among the original exhibition materials for four weeks – an extension of the original two-week run because it was so popular.
She recalled how the house felt empty when the materials were taken down to be archived, while Gammarota explained the 3D website was born from a desire to retain their hard work.
Gammarota said: “You have a massive archive of things that are going to be lost because there is not a proper way to archive this kind of material.
“[I want people to see] How happily people lived in their flats and how wonderfully the community lived here.”
Dennis is arguably best known as the fiery social housing activist who challenged the council and won.
In 2024, she won a High Court battle against Southwark Council for its misuse of planning law, a victory which bookended almost 25 years of fight against the regeneration of Aylesbury Estate.
Dennis moved into the eighth floor of the Wendover Tower with her late sister in 1993 during political turmoil in Turkey, where she was born.
Growing up with a father in the Turkish army and moving around a lot, she said living in Aylesbury finally gave her the sense of community she had been searching for.
Dennis said: “It was a very special place for me and my sister…I was longing to be in a community for a long time.”
In 2005, Southwark Council decided to demolish the Aylesbury Estate, which then-prime minister Tony Blair famously used as a backdrop for his first public appearance after winning the 1997 general election, talking of the ‘forgotten people’ and ‘sink estates’.
After his speech, many people criticised the estate’s levels of crime and vandalism, but Dennis felt differently.
She said: “My front door was always open because of my cats.
“Even if I left my keys in the door, my neighbours would knock and let me know – 30 years of not facing anything.”
Although Dennis has been moved to one of the new redevelopment blocks with panoramic views of the park and great natural light, she still longs for a return to her old home.
She said: “I’m still hoping I can get it refurbished, I would like to go back to my old flat.
“I’m not happy here, Aylesbury is where I belong.”
The 3D model of the flat is the closest Dennis will get to her home now, but she rejoiced at being able to share her life’s work with more people and to be able to reach communities outside of London.
Feature image: Ava Scott-Nadal
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