Robots of Brixton is a sci-fi animation by Bartlett School of Architecture graduate Kibwe Tavares in which a downtrodden robot workforce battles with police against a backdrop of dystopian architecture in scenes reminiscent of the 1981 Brixton riots in London.

Tavares, who has now set up animation and architectural imagery studio factory fifteen, made the film as his final design project for his masters degree.

Update 31/07/11: see Dezeen's top ten stories about robots.

Here are some more details from Kibwe Tavares:

Brixton has degenerated into a disregarded area inhabited by London's new robot workforce - robots built and designed to carry out all of the tasks which humans are no longer inclined to do. The mechanical population of Brixton has rocketed, resulting in unplanned, cheap and quick additions to the skyline.

The film follows the trials and tribulations of young robots surviving at the sharp end of inner city life, living the predictable existence of a populous hemmed in by poverty, disillusionment and mass unemployment. When the Police invade the one space which the robots can call their own, the fierce and strained relationship between the two sides explodes into an outbreak of violence echoing that of 1981.

Direction, animation, modeling, lighting, texturing etc: Kibwe Tavares
Photographer, Brixton riots: David Hoffman
Sound designer: Mourad Bennacer 
Music: "The Great Insurrection", DJ Hiatus