State Britain A Review
In the closing years of the 1960s, the Vietnam war and sexual liberation made protest popular; a time of sit-ins, love-ins and Woodstock. In this milieu the young architectural group Archigram created the concept of the Instant City; a mobile habitat that could arrive and be bolted together overnight, providing the architectural landscape for an instant community. Today, walking into the Duveen Galleries situated at the heart of Tate Britain, and stumbling upon ‘State Britain’ the latest installation by artist Mark Wallinger, I am reminded of the Archigram dream that architecture could bring change – but now it is not an instant community but instant protest that spreads out before you.