High Rise Britain: Italian photographer peeks inside the brutalist buildings of London's council estates

The reality of London's high-rise flats has been captured in a series of telling snapshots.

Italian photographer Marco Sconocchia said that his fascination for the British working classes, spurred on by bands like Oasis and The Stone Roses, prompted him to capture the images as part of an exhibition titled Utopia. 

Most of the Council estates that were built in the fifties and sixties encompassed the Brutalist architecture of the postwar period.

The majority of the tenement blocks were erected following the Socialist plan of providing modern housing to low income families.

The intimidating towers loomed high into the sky on the outskirts of the capital.

They quickly became home to hundreds of family who were uprooted from their lives when they could no longer afford to live in central London.

The reality of London's high-rise flats has been captured in a series of telling snapshots by Italian photographer Marco Sconocchia

He said that his fascination for the British working classes was spurred on by bands like Oasis and The Stone Roses and prompted him to go out and capture the images

Most of the Council estates in Britain that were built in the fifties and sixties encompassed the Brutalist architecture of the postwar period

The majority of the tenement blocks were erected following the Socialist plan of providing modern housing to low income families

But the intimidating towers that loomed high into the sky on the outskirts of the capital have since largely been left to fall into a state of disrepair

They quickly became home to hundreds of family who were uprooted from their lives when they could no longer afford to live in central London

One resident stared directly at the camera as he stood in his home surrounded by his possession including a high pile of books and clothes tucked down the side of the wardrobe 

The estates still enjoy their fair-share of patriotism as many are adorned with the crosses of St Geroge particularly around the time of national sporting events

The images will form part of Mr Sconocchia's upcoming exhibition titled Utopia. Pictured: Two children in winter coats, with one in a Batman mask, stand outside one high-rise block

Anti-social behaviour is thought to one of the harsh realities of life on London's high-rise council estates. Pictured: Three boys pull wheelies on their bicycles as they ride through the underpass next to a tenement block 

One resident lives in a sparsely decorated room in a tenement flat with only a poster of Jesus Christ on the walls placed next to a walking frame to help with mobility

Another resident sits on a bench with his pet pitbull and looks out across the Thames river to the imposing brutalist structures of flats opposite 

Three schoolboys playfully tussle with each other while still in their uniforms with a block of flats looming in the background

One mother pushed her child in a pram through one of the Council's housing estates on what appeared to be a gloomy day without another living soul in site

A rebellious child flouted the no ball games instruction that had been emblazoned on the wall as he messes around with a friend after coming home from school

A white pony with black spots is free to roam the patch of grass outside one of the London high-rises that is fences off with metal bars

Most youngsters who live in the blocks get respite from the conditions by heading out and exploring the capital on their bikes with groups of friends

The high-rise block loom in the background of an otherwise idyllic scene were Londoners laze in the park with one woman even sunbathing in her bikini

One resident sits unaware in the communal gardens of the flats as smoke billows from one of the high-rise buildings in the distance

The reality of life on the estates can be harsh as two police officers were caught on camera arresting a resident and bundling him to the floor

The flats are often the location of choice for parkour enthusiasts who take delight in jumping without harnesses between surfaces