An extraordinary use of the VR medium, Common Ground explores South London’s notorious Aylesbury Estate, currently subject to a ground-breaking but controversial regeneration project.

Aylesbury is the largest social housing estate in Europe. Home to more than 7000 residents, it stands as a monument to both the history and future of British social housing.

Common Ground is a multi-layered immersive journey into the human face of the current crisis in the UK housing system, and the politics and history that have led here. Intelligently and creatively combining 360˚ video, 3D modelling, archival footage and interactive real-time environments, director Darren Emerson has built a visceral, moving and dynamic study not just of the physical space of the estate but of its inhabitants’ lives.

This work examines how urban planning, long-forgotten utopian ideals and the instability of changing politics affect everyday people, while exploring notions of community, the disenfranchisement and demonisation of the working class, and the sense of betrayal that residents feel when they are forced to move on.