On Continuity: John Spence in Hackney
2025
Patrick and Claudia Lynch (editors), Rachel Elliott, Andy Groarke et al
Softcover Book (forthcoming 2025)
£35
On Continuity is the fourth book in our Modern Architecture in Reflection series, and it concerns the work in Hackney for The Crown Estate by the somewhat secretive British architect John Spence. Spence worked on a series of infill sites throughout the 1960s and '70s, bomb sites situated around the fringes of Victoria Park, London E9. Little is known about the elusive architect: he shunned publicity, whilst devoting himself diligently to building housing for low income workers. Patrick Lynch and Rachel Elliott have engaged in an ongoing act of architectural detection, seeking out the sources of Spence's late-modernist design decisions, and the book presents archival drawings and photography alongside new drawings by Lynch Architects. It also includes essays by the architect Andy Groarke, and other recent and current residents, as well as new photography by Grant Smith and Tara Darby.