Conditions of Living

Conditions of Living examines the rise of economic segregation in recent housing developments, a phenomenon commonly known as ‘poor doors’. This socially engaged artwork by Anthony Luvera was created in collaboration with a community forum of local residents living in Tower Hamlets and draws upon extensive research into the social, political, and economic evolution of market-driven ‘affordable’ housing provision, and the state of social housing today.

Brought together from almost 1,000 households in eight developments, participants in the Conditions of Living Community Forum have a range of housing tenure backgrounds, from social and affordable rental accommodation to shared and sole ownership. Using photography, sound recordings, and discussion-based activities facilitated to enable participants to share their personal experiences of living in these developments, Luvera worked with the Community Forum to consider how economic segregation in housing operates, and how restrictions expand outward from separate entrances to access to amenities, resources, and public space. Through group workshops and individual meetings, participants were invited to explore issues relating to why some buildings have segregated entrances, and how architecture and planning affect access to key social rights such as healthcare, culture, the environment, education, and transport.

Segregation in housing developments can occur in a variety of ways, through physical doors leading to different parts of the building; separate floors assigned to non-market rate flats or the so-called affordable housing units; distinct internal segments of the same building usually with isolated lifts; entire blocks within a wider complex; or specific amenities that are restricted to certain residents based on the type of unit they live in. Local authorities allow property developers to design ‘poor doors’ into their housing developments and consequently embed segregation therein. London is one of the world’s last major cities yet to ban ‘poor doors’ despite years of political proclamations against this segregationist practice.

The built environment plays a powerful role in determining the ways people live together and is at the core of the experience of housing. Architecture and planning can be used to enforce social inequalities through the privileging of market forces, resulting in discrimination and segregation. Conditions of Living brings together research and the experiences of those living in the buildings to construct an image of this much discussed, yet often invisible phenomenon. Conditions of Living invites us to reflect on these convoluted systems and contemplate alternative possibilities for housing conditions, communal living, and collective action.

Conditions of Living was first exhibited in Conditions of Living: Home and Homelessness in London's East End at Four Corners, curated by Carla Mitchell and Eleni Parousi with Anthony Luvera from 30 June 2023 to 2 September 2023. The exhibition was accompanied by an extensive public engagement programme, including the following events:

Thurs 13 July, 7pm. Curator's talk.
Sat 15 July, 11.30 – 2pm. Public and social housing in the East End from the late 19th century, walk with Mike Berlin (Birkbeck, University of London). 
Tues 18 July, 6.30 – 7.30pm. Artist talk with Anthony Luvera. 
Thurs 27 July, 6.30 – 8pm. From the Nichol to the Boundary: how London’s first planned council estate came to be built, talk by Sarah Wise. 
Thurs 31 Aug, 6.30pm – 8pm. Struggles for better housing and the Stepney Rent Strikes 1937-39, talk by David Rosenberg followed by screening of short films. 
Fri 1 Sept, 10.30 - 1pm. Conditions of Living: long table discussion. This event brought together speakers engaged in issues surrounding housing precarity, economic segregation, market-driven ‘affordable’ homes and social housing today, including Anthony Luvera, Hannah Caller (Focus E15), Mel Nowicki (Oxford Brookes University), Pablo Sendra (The Bartlett School of Planning, University College London), Suz Muna (Social Housing Action Campaign), and Paul Watt (London School of Economics and Political Science).
 
In 2025, Conditions of Living was realised as a co-created publication amplifying the lived experiences of residents in economically segregated housing. Developed through the Conditions of Living Community Forum, the publication enabled participants to shape how their stories are told, not as subjects, but as agents of change. Participants reported personal benefits including improved wellbeing, digital and creative skill development, and a deeper sense of social connection and pride in contributing to a policy-facing publication. Resident’s voices were interweaved with leading thinkers on the issue: Simon Hill (New Economics Foundation), Mel Nowicki (Oxford Brookes), Paul Watt (LSE), Suzanne Muna (SHAC), and Samir Jeraj (New Statesman). The publication was widely disseminated to policymakers, housing providers, and campaigners across the United Kingdom and internationally.

In July 2025, Conditions of Living was shortlisted for the 2025 Photo-Text Book Award at the Rencontres d'Arles Photography Festival. In the field of practice-led research, Conditions of Living has been characterised as an innovative model of socially engaged photography, capable of contributing to real-world change.