Buckingham Palace As Social Housing: Shades of the Russian Revolution?

An international architectural magazine with slightly dubious design sense¹ has ferreted out a potentially earth-shattering story about Buckingham Palace and its future as affordable housing.

Will the Queen and Prince Phillip be staying on, albeit in smaller digs? Will the gardens become home to collections of gilded granny cottages? Will airbnb be allowed a look-in, given its growing list of castles and stately homes offering ‘Duke&Duchess-for-a-night’ short stay adventures?

Since ‘affordable’ means just about anything these days, will the affordable housing units in the palace be affordable only to:

• The nouveau riche?
• Poverty-stricken hereditary title-bearers from Marquis on up?
• Those on the Westminster City Council social housing waiting list?
• Lottery ticket buyers?

Read more about this exciting new affordable housing development in the Milan/Beijing/New York based publication Designboom:  opposite office proposes to transform london’s buckingham palace into affordable housing

1. Check out the article link. All lower case. Really? Surely this is publishing art as an exercise in obscurity, not clarity. A little worrisome in a publication celebrating the art of architecture.