Isokon

Isokon
Name	Isokon
Location	Hampstead, London
Architect	Wells Coates
Client	Wells Coates
Completion date	1934
Style	Modernist

Isokon was a pioneering modernist housing project and design company based in Hampstead, London, conceived in the early 1930s as an experiment in communal living and progressive design. It brought together figures from the Bauhaus, émigré architects, British intellectuals, artists, and political exiles, and became a focal point for cross‑channel modernism, avant‑garde furniture, and interwar cultural networks. The project embodied connections between European modernism, British art circles, and international émigré communities.

History

The development emerged from the collaboration of Wells Coates, Jack Pritchard, and patrons linked to British arts and crafts movement figures and continental émigrés such as members of the Bauhaus, Walter Gropius, and associates of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. Early financing and promotion involved networks that included Arnold Whittall, Ben Nicholson, Henry Moore, and patrons connected to Harold Hobson and newspapers like the Manchester Guardian. During the 1930s the building attracted residents who were refugees from Nazi Germany, affiliates of the Communist International, and figures associated with the League of Nations and the International Brigades. The story of the scheme intersects with the careers of individuals active in the London County Council era, the cultural milieu around Hampstead Garden Suburb, and émigré design firms such as Austrian émigré designers and workshops connected to Bauhaus émigrés.

Throughout the 1930s and into the postwar decades Isokon functioned as both a residential block and a small-scale manufacturer of furniture marketed through outlets implicated with F. Schumacher & Co., department stores like Harrods, and design retailers frequented by collectors linked to museums such as the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Tate Gallery. During World War II the building housed people connected to intelligence and diplomatic circles including contemporaries of figures in the Foreign Office, staff who later worked in institutions like the BBC and the British Council, and writers contributing to periodicals such as The Listener and New Statesman. Postwar shifts in housing policy and urban planning by authorities such as the Greater London Council influenced the building's ownership and conservation trajectory.

Architecture and Design

Designed by Wells Coates, the project exemplifies International Style principles associated with architects like Le Corbusier, Ernst May, and Hannes Meyer. The block’s reinforced concrete structure, ribbon windows, and flat roof reflect affinities with commissions by Walter Gropius and municipal housing schemes in Weimar Republic cities. Interiors and built‑in furniture were produced in collaboration with designers and manufacturers linked to Marcel Breuer, Charlotte Perriand, Alvar Aalto, and British furniture firms that supplied modernist pieces to institutions like the Design Museum. The Isokon furniture line, particularly plywood designs, drew on techniques promoted by workshops associated with Gunta Stölzl and production methods advocated by critics in journals such as The Architectural Review and Domus.

Architectural criticism of the building has referenced comparative projects including Bauhaus Dessau, housing by Oskar Schlemmer, municipal flats by Erich Mendelsohn, and contemporaneous social housing exemplars in Amsterdam and Berlin. Photographers and historians from institutions like the Royal Institute of British Architects and the Survey of London have documented the building alongside other modernist landmarks including works by Auguste Perret and Bruno Taut.

Notable Residents and Residents' Contributions

Numerous residents were prominent in fields spanning art, literature, architecture, and intelligence. Artists and writers who lived there included figures associated with Ben Nicholson, Barbara Hepworth, Vladimir Nabokov, and critics who contributed to publications such as The Spectator and The Observer. Architects and designers in residence had links to Ernö Goldfinger, Berthold Lubetkin, Raymond McGrath, and workshops supplying the Royal Academy of Arts. Others were émigrés who collaborated with institutions like the BBC Symphony Orchestra, academics from University College London, staff from the International Institute of Intellectual Cooperation, and people whose later careers intersected with the National Gallery and the Courtauld Institute.

Some residents participated in intelligence work and public service with associations to the Foreign Office, wartime services connected to Bletchley Park, and diplomatic networks through postings in the British Embassy system. In the postwar period alumni contributed to exhibitions at the British Museum and publications by the Architectural Association, influencing design education and curatorial practice.

Cultural and Social Impact

Isokon functioned as a social hub linking émigré modernists from Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia, and Switzerland with London’s artistic circles centered on Bloomsbury, Camden Town and institutions like the Institute of Contemporary Arts. The site hosted informal salons comparable to those in cafés frequented by figures of the Bloomsbury Group, and it became part of transnational dialogues involving the Museum of Modern Art, the Bauhaus Archive, and exhibition programs at the Royal Academy. Its residents and products influenced curatorial choices at the Victoria and Albert Museum and inspired designers working for companies such as Fritz Hansen and Thonet.

Scholars of modernism have situated the building within broader narratives involving migration studies, cultural diplomacy, and Cold War-era heritage discourse tied to organizations like the Imperial War Museum and archives at King’s College London. The building’s story appears in biographies of twentieth‑century figures and in catalogues raisonnés prepared by museums such as the Tate Modern.

Preservation and Legacy

Conservationists and heritage bodies including English Heritage and local authorities in Hampstead have debated protection measures, drawing on precedents set by listings of works by Gerrit Rietveld and restoration projects for buildings by Josef Albers. Campaigns to preserve the fabric and original fittings involved partnerships with collectors, trusts, and institutions like the Victoria and Albert Museum and led to exhibitions tracing connections to the Bauhaus, Modernist Movement, and design history curricula at Central Saint Martins.

The legacy includes renewed scholarly attention from historians affiliated with University of Cambridge, University of Oxford, Courtauld Institute of Art, and publication in journals such as Journal of Design History and Architectural History. Contemporary architects and firms cite the project when discussing adaptive reuse alongside projects by Norman Foster, Richard Rogers, and preservation practice promoted by bodies like the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings.

Category:Modernist architecture in England Category:Buildings and structures in Hampstead