Its bleak buildings and concrete warren of grey high-rise blocks was the perfect setting for a gritty Michael Caine crime thriller and music videos for street cred pop bands.
Once there were 1,200 families living on the notorious crime-ridden Heygate estate in south London, but now just a few remain as they wait for the bulldozers to move in.
Last month, Southwark Council sold the estate, which was completed in 1974, for £50 million having spent £44 million moving most of the 3,000 residents out.
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Doomed estate: A couple walk past the Heygate estate in south London which is due to be demolished in 2015
Apocalyptic: Looking like a deserted ghost town, with empty flats and graffiti-strewn walkways the estate became a dilapidated disaster area
Abandoned: The grey concrete blocks of the estate lie empty with windows boarded up and graffiti daubed on the walls
Left behind: Once it was a much-loved garden, but now it is overgrown and abandoned after the estate fell into disrepair
Dilapidated: Garages on the estate are sealed up and daubed with graffiti. Few of the 3,000 Heygate residents remain
Grim view: Passengers waiting to board a train at Elephant and Castle can see the grey blocks of flats on the Heygate estate in Walworth Road
t wants to to redevelop Heygate as part of a £1.5bn scheme to regenerate the Elephant and Castle area, with 2,500 'affordable' new homes replacing those lost.
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The area has become popular with street artists, storytellers, and guerilla gardeners and attracts an array of urban wildlife including bats, birds and mammals
But reminders of its grim reputation for crime, poverty and dilapidation are everywhere. There's graffiti on the walls and garage doors, abandoned gardens are overgrown with garbage and rubble strewn everywhere.
The estate - situated adjacent to Walworth Road and New Kent Road - linked by raised foot bridges and stone stairwells, has been described as a monument to the failure of post-war mass housing.
Former residents of Heygate talk about their lives on the estate
Spraying: A girl paints a wall in the Heygate estate. It has become a haven for guerrilla gardeners, storytellers and street artists
On guard: A dog stands next to a pile of rubbish on the estate. It has been described as a monument to the failure of post-war mass housing
Vote for me: A torn political poster covers a wall on the estate which became notorious for crime and poverty over the past 20 years
Concrete jungle: Heygate's depressing labyrinth of grey blocks linked by raised footbridges and stone stairwells
Gardening: One of the remaining residents is growing vegetables in a poly-tunnel on one of the estate's raised walkways
Those last remaining residents live behind security gates, and every unoccupied property is boarded with steel shutters.
It is due to be finally demolished in 2015 because of large amounts of asbestos used in the construction.
Michael Caine, who grew up in a nearby part of south-east London and starred in Harry Brown which used the estate as a backdrop, has described Heygate as a 'rotten place... which fortunately is being pulled down. It should never have been built.'
Packing up: Workers pile up fencing. Flats on the estate will be replaced with 2,500 'affordable' new homes
A couple play with their dog on a children's roundabout on the estate. Debris and rubble lies strewn about
Smashed down: A wall lies broken on the ground with a sad graffiti face drawn on it
Daubed: Graffiti covers garage doors - around 1,000 residents have left the estate since it fell into disrepair
Juan Carlos and Nadia Romero take part in a latin dance class behind a shutter in an abandoned shop in the Heygate Estate
Bleak: A couple walk through the estate which was the backdrop for a gritty crime thriller starring Michael Caine