In
1981 I worked
on a personal project photographing building facades in and around the
part of Cambridge then known as the Kite
Area.
The name originated from the shape delineated (approximately) by the roads surrounding it. It was an old community blighted by a 30-year planning battle that would eventually see all of the Victorian (and some earlier) buildings demolished to make way for a large shopping centre and cinema complex. The Grafton Centre now occupies the site.
There was considerable local resistence to the plans, but the City Council, Jesus College (major landowners) and Grosvenor Estates (developers) inevitably won in the end and redevelopment started in 1981.
This picture shows an abandoned shopfront emblazoned with the opposition campaigners' primary slogan. There is a very good web site detailing the story behind the Kite by Ian Kitching.
MPP Field Camera, 150mm Componon, Plus-X 5x4 inch film
The name originated from the shape delineated (approximately) by the roads surrounding it. It was an old community blighted by a 30-year planning battle that would eventually see all of the Victorian (and some earlier) buildings demolished to make way for a large shopping centre and cinema complex. The Grafton Centre now occupies the site.
There was considerable local resistence to the plans, but the City Council, Jesus College (major landowners) and Grosvenor Estates (developers) inevitably won in the end and redevelopment started in 1981.
This picture shows an abandoned shopfront emblazoned with the opposition campaigners' primary slogan. There is a very good web site detailing the story behind the Kite by Ian Kitching.
MPP Field Camera, 150mm Componon, Plus-X 5x4 inch film
