Only relatively recently have the attic storeys of buildings in European cities been seen as a location for idyllic, elitist residences. Rising property prices and a growing desire to enjoy an urban lifestyle have focused attention on these spaces. The wish for a life “up in the clouds”, so to speak, in areas of social tension, has been vividly dramatized by the office for subversive architecture (osa) in an art installation entitled “Intact”. On a derelict railway area in a poor part of East London, the architects transformed a signal box raised on columns into an image of a dream house.