goodrichard.com

To mark my new link to my Flickr online photo albums (which feature a set of London) and the Museum of London’s recent small but informative ‘Bravo Barbican!’ exhibition, this post celebrates the 25-year history of the City’s most arguably historical and architectural landmark.

Completed in 1982, with architectural plans drawn up as long ago as the 1960s, the unmistakable 35-acre Barbican complex rose from the ashes of post-war London. Conceived in the 1950s by architects Chamberlain, Powell and Bon, it was charged with bringing people back into the City. With its precinct of residential flats, entertainment venues, schools, shops, and open spaces, it wowed and displeased with equal measure.

Costing £161 million to build (around £400 million in today’s money), in 2007 it houses a concert hall, two theatres, two art galleries, and a library. In addition, three restaurants, a lakeside terrace, a conference centre, and even a tropical conservatory, ensure its standing on the cultural landscape is a valid one.

I’ve always been a fan of its brutal concrete architecture, and now, I realise why. Le Corbusier heavily influenced Chamberlain, Powell, and Bon, and the three architects’ single vision for modernist living relied strongly on the values of Brutalism and Modernism.

I too am an admirer of Le Corbusier’s work, and of the 1920s/1930s Modernism movement, so it could be that the stark lines of the Barbican estate were always going to appeal to my subconscious mind. With its almost cubist lines, sharp angles, cylindrical pillars and plant tubs, at first glance it appears to be a melting pot of styles, but look harder and the stark modernist values are clear to see.

The skywalks are the threads which hold the estate together, and they make it very easy to walk a distance without crossing a single road, and can give some impressive vistas of the City. The vast groups of buildings on the feel very self-contained and give off an air of community, but the derelict pubs that are dotted around the centre suggest a somewhat different story.

With a manmade lake at its centre with gushing fountains, living there would certainly be an unusual experience, especially if everyday business is gone about cast in the shadows of the three sky scraping residential tower blocks.

I walk through the estate every day on my way from Liverpool Street to Holborn, and constantly marvel at its almost bleak beauty. The thing I particularly like is the entrance halls to some of the lower level flats, which have angled windows lining the thin galley-like rooms.

Residents’ books, clothes, shoes, and other belongings are paraded for all to see. They’re not only in the hallways themselves either, but often on the windows, therefore painting a very small picture of the person living there, and giving equally small glimpses into their lives.

Voted both the best-loved and least-liked building in London, the Barbican embodies an architectural vision for post-war modern living, and it is one that, despite its detractors and critics, still stands as proudly as it did in 1982.

Bravo Barbican!

This entry was posted on Friday, March 23rd, 2007 at 9:45 pm and is filed under London. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.