Trellick Tower is an insanely tall block of council flats in Notting Hill, London, UK, famed for (among other things) being very tall and being designed by an architect with the same surname as a James Bond villain - the Hungarian Erno Goldfinger.
It has somehow survived vilification, crime, vandalism and the 1980s in order to actually become trendy and get a Grade II1 listing. Some bits, like the communal drying rooms, didn't do that well - they came from the architect's dislike of washing being hung out of the windows to dry, and were apparently trashed soon after opening.
It has a certain austere beauty to it, seeming to be an unearthly combination of airport control tower, crow's nest and mountain-top fortress. Alternatively, its design - which is that of a utility tower standing next to a main tower and then joined by a series of walkways - reminds one of a rocket next to a lift-off gantry.
1 A Grade II listing is given to a building by the historical board and basically means that it must be preserved to a certain degree so that the general spirit of the architecture is maintained.
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