Though London-born, Erskine designed mostly in Sweden, a country more egalitarian than his own. In Britain, his buildings include the great Ark at Hammersmith in London, the millennium village at Greenwich (beating 400 competitors) and his largest project, the Byker rebuilding (1969-82), which is included in the UN list of most valuable 20th century British buildings. It is rare for an outstanding architect to be known for low-cost housing, but this reflected Erskine's outlook.
Byker's most distinctive feature is its wall, a sinuous building more than a kilometre long, originally intended to shield the housing from the noise from a proposed motorway, which was never built. But the wall still reinforces the feeling of neighbourhood, as well as protecting it from the wind: The Byker Wall gave every flat a subtly different view, and Byker as a whole was planned to give every dwelling a south or south-west aspect, and a view towards the Tyne.
Apart from the wall, there were 300 different dwelling types among the squares, terraces and blocks, with greenery everywhere. The generosity and design of the landscaping put Newcastle, as a landlord, in a class of its own. Unfortunately, successive councils neither kept up with the programme for thinning the trees and shrubs, nor with the running repairs. Vandalism led to buildings being left empty, and then to some demolition, prompting a grade II listing in 2003. Nevertheless, as Diana Rowntree writes, 'Byker remains a heartening spectacle. The variety of buildings, the foliage, and the rightness of the colours used on the linear pattern of railings, doors, windows and porches is a joy to behold. Erskine and his project architect, Vernon Gracie, had a gift for choosing the right colours to amuse or impress, as the place required... This is why, more than 30 years later, those small, cheaply built houses and the very original assemblages of flats at Byker can display their magical colours, and stand so proudly under the scrutiny of visitors who come from around the world to look at them. '
In the 1930s, Erskine wrote that 'architecture differs from all other major arts in that it is the art of that which is useful, but like them its symbols and poetry express the culture's priorities and its evaluation of people's needs'. This is why, more than 30 years later, those small, cheaply built houses and the very original assemblages of flats at Byker can display their magical colours, and stand so proudly under the scrutiny of visitors who come from around the world to look at them. '