The Park Hill Housing Development Reading Answers

Jun 12, 2024

The Park Hill housing development Reading Answers is an academic reading answers topic. The Park Hill housing development Reading Answers have a total of 13 IELTS questions in total. In the questions you have to choose which section mentions the correct information from the passage by selecting True, False and not Given.

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Section 1

Read the Text Below and Answer Questions

The Park Hill Housing Development

The huge Park Hill housing development in Sheffield is a Brutalist masterpiece, widely praised by architects, and it has been admired by many in the media, too, since its recent redevelopment. But it has had a controversial past. Jack Lynn, one of a pair of idealistic young architects leading the project, designed Park Hill when there was a major post-war shortage of housing in the city.
In December 1940, two nights of bombing had brought devastation to the area, destroying many of the Victorian terraced streets. The city was left with a major homelessness problem, which became even worse when the remaining Victorian housing was judged unsuitable for living in. Land was also in short supply as much of it was 'green belt'.
In a desperate effort to solve the problem, Sheffield City Council sent a group of
experts to look at housing projects in Europe. They returned full of enthusiasm for the modernist developments they had seen. The inspiration for Jack Lynn, his colleague Ivor Smith, and the city architect Lewis Womersley, was the work of Le Corbusier, whose concrete 'streets in the sky' were very popular in France.
The idea was to replace Sheffield's slums with ultra-modern flats and facilities, recreating the communities that had flourished in the pre-war housing developments. The new development was also designed as a response to what were considered, even in the 1950s, to be modern architecture's failures: empty spaces, isolation, a lack of street life, and a middle-class 'we know what's good for you' ethos.
When the estate was formally opened in 1961, Park Hill was intended to be a perfect vision of social housing. Conceived as a town within a town, it consisted of 996 flats that would house almost 3,000 people and was equipped with every sort of public facility - shops, a doctors' surgery, dentist, clinic, nursery, school, four pubs, and a police station. While most tower blocks of the era had flats built around narrow, dark corridors, Park
Hill's flats had interlinked 'street decks' - communal areas running along each storey where children could play and families socialize. The decks were as broad as real streets and wide enough for a milk float to pass along. The blocks of flats themselves were connected by walkways, and their height varied, from four storeys to thirteen, in order to maintain a roof line that remained level across the development.
Motivated by a deep social commitment, Jack Lynn and his colleagues did everything they could ensure that the new residents felt at home in their new environment. Cobblestones from the old terraced streets surrounded the flats and paved the pathways down the hill to Sheffield station; brick infill panels were made of the same material as the houses they replaced, and the flats all had traditional front doorsteps. Each floor was given an old street name and neighbors were rehoused together.
A survey of residents conducted by the housing department a year after the flats had been officially opened was overwhelmingly positive, and awards were heaped on the designers. 'When one looks out from some part of it and sees another of its limbs swinging across the view, enthused the architectural critic Reyner Banham, 'the effect is like that of suddenly realizing that the railway lines on the other side of some valley in Switzerland are the same that one's own train has just traversed a few moments before.'
The vision of Park Hill as a living community also seemed justified. Of the walkways,
Banham wrote: 'Toddlers play on them, teens mend bikes and swap gossip, and grannies stand at their doors ..."
But Park Hill did not age as well as its admirers hoped. The concrete in which it was south of France, and as the years passed it became damaged. By the 1970s problems were accumulating. Cockroaches invaded the estate and a series of violent attacks led to headlines in the papers. In the 1980s, as unemployment soared, social problems multiplied. There were burnt-out cars, boarded-up shops, rubbish, and graffiti.
The council was accused of dumping problematic families there, while the 'streets in the sky' proved an ideal place for gangs to hide from police. Delivery Men found that they often had to dodge milk bottles and other missiles, while older inhabitants who had once chatted and gossiped with their neighbors began locking their doors. The cost of refurbishing the flats and of maintenance was also getting too high as councils struggled to deal with the many problems. By the 1980s, Park Hill had come to be regarded as a dangerous no-go area, an embarrassing blot on the face of the city.

Section 2

Solution and Explantion

Questions 14-19

Reading passage 2 has six paragraphs, A-F.

Choose the correct heading for each paragraph from the list of headings below. Write the correct number i-ix in boxes 14-19 on your answer sheet.

List of headings

A massive decline
Including familiar elements in the development
Problems with the development predicted
Meeting a need at the time
Various opinions on the new development|
An initial response to the housing problem
A change of plan for the development
Influences on the design
What the development offered residents

Paragraph A

Answer: IV
Supporting statement:“........Jack Lynn, one of a pair of idealistic young architects leading the project, designed Park Hill when there was a major post-war shortage of housing in the city..........”
Keywords: project, leading
Keyword Location: para A, lines 3-4
Explanation: Para A describes the context in which the Park Hill housing development was created, focusing on the post-war housing shortage and the destruction caused by the bombing. This sets the stage for the development's initial purpose to meet a critical need at that time.

Paragraph B

Answer: VIII
Supporting statement:“........The inspiration for Jack Lynn, his colleague Ivor Smith, and the city architect Lewis Womersley, was the work of Le Corbusier, whose concrete 'streets in the sky' were very popular in
France...........”
Keywords: architect, concrete
Keyword Location: para B, lines 3-5
Explanation: Para B discusses the influences on the design of Park Hill, specifically mentioning the European housing projects and the work of Le Corbusier as key inspirations.

Paragraph C

Answer: IX
Supporting statement:“.........It consisted of 996 flats that would house almost 3,000 people and was equipped with every sort of public facility - shops, a doctors' surgery, dentist, clinic, nursery, school, four pubs, and a police station..........”
Keywords: dentist, nursery
Keyword Location: para C, lines 2-4
Explanation: Para C details the various facilities and features that the Park Hill development offered its residents, portraying it as a self-sufficient community

Paragraph D

Answer: II
Supporting statement:“........Cobblestones from the old terraced streets surrounded the flats and paved the pathways down the hill to Sheffield station; brick infill panels were made of the same material as the houses they
replaced, and the flats all had traditional front doorsteps......”
Keywords: Sheffield, doorsteps
Keyword Location: para D, lines 2-5
Explanation: Para D explains how the architects incorporated familiar elements from the old housing, like cobblestones and traditional front doorsteps, to help residents feel at home in the new environment.

Paragraph E

Answer: V
Supporting statement:“........A survey of residents conducted by the housing department a year after the flats had been officially opened was overwhelmingly positive, and awards were heaped on the designers..........”
Keywords: department, designers
Keyword Location: para E, lines 1-2
Explanation: Para E provides various opinions on the new development, including positive feedback from residents and praise from critics.

Paragraph F

Answer: I
Supporting statement:“.......By the 1980s, Park Hill had come to be regarded as a dangerous no-go area, an embarrassing blot on the face of the city............”
Keywords: dangerous, blot
Keyword Location: para F, lines 13-14
Explanation: Para F describes the decline of Park Hill, detailing the various problems that emerged over time, including structural damage, social issues, and the area becoming seen as dangerous.

Questions 20-22

Label the diagram below.

Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.
Write your answers in boxes 20-22 on your answer sheet. FEATURES OF THE PREVIOUS HOUSING USED FOR PARK HILL

Park_Hill_Housing

Q.20

Answer: STREET-DECKS
Supporting statement:“........While most tower blocks of the era had flats built around narrow, dark corridors, Park Hill's flats had interlinked 'street decks' - communal areas running along each storey where children could play and families socialise..........”
Keywords: communal, areas
Keyword Location: para C, lines 5-6
Explanation: The passage explains that Park Hill's flats had interlinked 'street decks' where residents could socialize, providing a communal space similar to the streets they replaced.

Q.21

Answer: FRONT DOORSTEPS
Supporting statement:“........The flats all had traditional front doorsteps..........”
Keywords: flats, traditional
Keyword Location: para D, line 5
Explanation: To make the new environment feel familiar, the architects included traditional front doorsteps, reminiscent of the old housing.

Q.22

Answer: ROOF LINE
Supporting statement:“..........Their height varied, from four storeys to thirteen, in order to maintain a roof line that remained level across the development........”
Keywords: maintain, storeys
Keyword Location: para C, lines 8-9
Explanation: The varied height of the buildings was designed to maintain a consistent roof line across the development.

Questions 23-26

Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from the passage for each answer.

What showed that residents liked the development at first?

Answer: A SURVEY
Supporting statement:“.......A survey of residents conducted by the housing department a year after the flats had been officially opened was overwhelmingly positive...........”
Keywords: department, officially
Keyword Location: para E, lines 1-2
Explanation: The passage mentions that a survey conducted a year after the opening of Park Hill showed overwhelmingly positive feedback from the residents.

What was badly affected by the weather in Sheffield?

Answer: THE CONCRETE
Supporting statement:“.........The concrete in which it was south of France, and as the years passed it became damaged.........”
Keywords: concrete, damaged
Keyword Location: para F, lines 1-2
Explanation: The passage notes that the concrete used in the construction did not age well in Sheffield's weather conditions.

According to some, what kind of people did councils put in Park Hill in the 1980s?

Answer: PROBLEM FAMILIES
Supporting statement:“.......The council was accused of dumping problem families there............”
Keywords: council, dumping
Keyword Location: para F, lines 8-9
Explanation: The passage indicates that the council was accused of placing problem families in Park Hill during the 1980s.

Which visitors were attacked when visiting Park Hill?

Answer: DELIVERYMAN
Supporting statement:“..........Deliverymen found that they often had to dodge milk bottles and other missiles........”
Keywords: Deliverymen, missiles
Keyword Location: para F, lines 10-11
Explanation: The passage mentions that deliverymen were often attacked when visiting Park Hill, highlighting the area's danger.

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