[HN Gopher] The Barbican
___________________________________________________________________
The Barbican
Author : farslan
Score : 345 points
Date : 2025-05-12 15:28 UTC (7 hours ago)
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| pkd wrote:
| This was great and the photos were good too!
|
| I have a similar sort of fascination with a structure closer to
| me: Habitat 67 in Montreal. I have at various points considered
| buying a unit there but practicality prevents me from doing so
| each time. I don't know how long I'll resist.
|
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habitat_67
| JimDabell wrote:
| Habitat 67 reminds me of The Interlace in Singapore. I'm
| guessing The Interlace took some inspiration from it.
|
| https://www.architectural-review.com/today/the-interlace-in-...
| jgilias wrote:
| Curious, what are the practical concerns? The place looks
| fantastic to me!
|
| I really miss more bold architectural and city planning
| experiments. Like, I get it, if it's a flop, it's a pretty
| expensive one. But still, it feels like the design-space there
| is just really under-explored.
|
| Maybe there's some AI-driven simulation way to explore the
| design-space and arrive at viable solutions before committing
| too much funds.
|
| One can dream.
| porphyra wrote:
| I visited outside it twice but they are very strict with
| protecting the privacy of the residents, so you aren't allowed
| in. I could only take some photos from street level outside.
| dllu wrote:
| Thanks for reminding me of this cool building --- I just
| updated the Wikipedia article with an infobox and a photo that
| I took in 2019.
| xnx wrote:
| Possibly getting some more attention now because of some scenes
| from Andor 2 that were shot there:
| https://www.reddit.com/r/london/comments/1kb8k4u/lloyds_of_l...
| paulsmith wrote:
| Yep, and S1E7: https://moviemaps.org/episodes/9c8
|
| I was reading this post and thinking, huh, this would be a good
| set for a Coruscant shot in Andor, and sure enough ...
| fmajid wrote:
| The Scarif transport network scenes in Rogue One were shot at
| London's Canary Wharf Underground station, however.
| SideburnsOfDoom wrote:
| That and it's also in the spy thriller series _Slow Horses_
|
| which is good too, it's a mix of Black comedy and spy tension.
| ukoki wrote:
| Michael Fassbender's character has an apartment there in The
| Agency as well
| tialaramex wrote:
| Living in the Barbican seems so very typical for a spy that
| it'd be like a give away.
|
| James Bond obviously doesn't live there, but I can imagine
| any number of John le Carre's later characters (the early
| novels are set before it was built) would make sense.
| Grosvenor wrote:
| Don't they all live in Dolphin house? I swear Neil
| Burnside did.
| masfuerte wrote:
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolphin_Square
| sambeau wrote:
| The really amazing architecture of Coruscant is from the City
| of Arts and Sciences in Valencia:
|
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_of_Arts_and_Sciences
|
| In particular, the Museo de las Ciencias Principe Felipe.
|
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_of_Arts_and_Sciences#/med...
| petercooper wrote:
| It's one of my favorite places to spend time when in London. It's
| comfortable, clean, quiet, aesthetically striking, easy to loaf
| around at, and there's high brow art in numerous forms to enjoy -
| it's kinda like BBC Radio 3 if it were a neighborhood. It's also
| five minutes from the Elizabeth Line and the parking is good
| which is unusual for the City. It's strikingly non-commercial -
| there are no chains or even convenience stores there, though
| there is a fantastic music shop. It's one of those rare places
| you can feel more intelligent and cultured by merely being there.
|
| I'd love to retire there when the kids are gone, although there
| are a lot of oddities about Barbican living to contend with that
| are probably more fun to read about than deal with for real.
| simonw wrote:
| "kinda like BBC Radio 3 if it were a neighborhood"
|
| Thanks for that, put a smile on my face.
| philipwhiuk wrote:
| > It's also five minutes from the Elizabeth Line
|
| And about 200ft. Such is the maze-like nature of the Barbican.
| zeristor wrote:
| Actually the Barbican station has a lift that goes to the
| Elizabeth line at the far end.
| freyfogle wrote:
| I lived there for three years, rented a flat. Living in the
| Barbican was fantastic, livign in my flat was not fantastic. I
| used to joke it was a time machine to 1965. There was not only
| no dishwasher, there was literally no space for a dishwasher.
| Day one that seems funny, a few days later less so. I was
| spending a fortune in rent to spend 30 minutes every day
| handwashing my dishes. I did know people who had bought and
| renovated, they had amazing places. Oddly on my hall of 10
| there were 10 flats of which 4 were empty. I don't mean someone
| just came occasionally I mean 100% empty with no furniture,
| with rich people just using it as an investment. Overall though
| was a greart experience, it's a fantasic place.
| moomin wrote:
| Always great to see more people who love the Barbican as much as
| I do. A gloriously inventive space that feels like it comes from
| an alternate timeline. There's also an integrated complex
| including a theatre housing the RSC, a concert hall that hosts
| the LSO, a library and I think a cinema.
|
| Fun fact: a good chunk of the video to "As It Was" was shot
| there.
| probabletrain wrote:
| > all the photos where shoot with the Leica M11 + 35mm Summilux
| FLE
|
| These photos look great, but I'm having a hard time figuring out
| exactly why.
|
| The Barbican certainly looks better here than from what I
| remember of seeing it through the naked eye.
| munificent wrote:
| Good camera + good lens + good photographer + good processing.
|
| Photography is a deeper, more subtle art than a lot of people
| realize. Two people can take a picture in the exact same
| location and time and get wildly different results.
| enneff wrote:
| It's hard to explain just how nice Leica lenses can be in the
| right hands. There is a reason they have a cult like
| following.
| munificent wrote:
| Oh, yeah, but oof the price.
| Karrot_Kream wrote:
| Whether this was done on-camera or in post, there's color
| grading happening here. The moody, almost film-like quality
| present in these pictures is also really popular in high
| production TV shows right now. Also a good eye for fun
| compositions, like the shot with the wall/barrier present in
| the left to offer the feeling of being closed or restricted.
|
| Notice how the shadows are somewhat teal-tinged and the
| contrast is toned down. There may or may not be some grain or
| vignetting added in post as well. There are Lightroom color
| profiles that can get this sort of color feel on application.
| But the compositions and natural lighting are pure photographer
| skill to chase.
| Reason077 wrote:
| There's a pretty great cinema and theatre / concert hall complex
| in the basement too, which I can recommend visiting. Oh, and a
| tropical garden (Barbican Conservatory)!
| tetris11 wrote:
| When people point to examples of bad brutalist architecture, I
| point them to the Barbican as a beautiful counter-example.
| rwmj wrote:
| And the Brunswick Centre
| (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brunswick_Centre) which is not
| too far away. Having said that the exceptions don't make the
| rule.
| ninalanyon wrote:
| Exceptions prove the rule. Prove means test.
| gwern wrote:
| Note that he did not use the expression you are criticizing
| him for misusing.
|
| The rule is the rule, and exceptions are the exception.
| Exceptions do not _make_ the rule, by definition, so if
| your only defense of Brutalism is to say 'look at this one
| exception out of the tens of thousands that got built,
| which doesn't suck!', then you have conceded the point
| about Brutalism sucking.
| ddalex wrote:
| The Brunswick Centre is one of my favourite parts of central
| London
| notahacker wrote:
| Centre Point and it's lesser known baby brother One Kemble
| Street are pretty attractive buildings too though the former
| has the characteristic brutalist issue of not being great at
| street level. Depending on where you approach it from, the
| Barbican can have that issue too...
| munificent wrote:
| My appreciation of Brutalist architecture seems to be in direct
| proportion to the number of plants it incorporates.
|
| A Brutalist building with zero plants looks like a totalitarian
| prison hellscape designed to destroy your soul before it
| destroys your body.
|
| A Brutalist building surrounded by trees with every nook
| containing greenery and vines dangling down looks like some
| kind of idyllic Star Wars planet populated by fuzzy hobbit-like
| creatures.
|
| I'm not sure why I find this effect so strong. Perhaps because
| flat gray concrete is aesthetically ambiguous. When paired with
| greenery, it looks like stone. In it's absence, it looks like
| industrial mechanism.
| chilmers wrote:
| Agreed. I think greenery and water enhances most
| architectural styles, but Brutalism is the only one that
| absolutely _requires_ it. I wonder how differently the
| perception of the style would be if the Brutalist estates in
| the UK that became a byword for grimness and ugliness had
| been embowered and properly maintained by their housing
| groups and local councils.
| empath75 wrote:
| With greenery on it, the concrete takes on the aspect of a
| cliff or a rock face, so it feels more they homes were carved
| out of stone, than poured out of a truck.
| SirFatty wrote:
| "There's an underground parking garage for the residents, but
| half of it is empty and filled with 20-30-year-old cars whose
| owners are no longer known."
|
| Of all the great information, that's the bit that sticks in my
| mind for some reason. I'd like to pics of that...
| mullingitover wrote:
| Not mentioned in the article, but this was what J. G. Ballard's
| novel (and later film) _High Rise_ was based on.
| phoh wrote:
| i think that was Trellick Tower, by Erno Goldfinger (who
| incidentally the Bond villan was named after)
|
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trellick_Tower
|
| https://architectureau.com/articles/the-brutality-of-vertica...
| philipwhiuk wrote:
| Trellick is what people film when they can't get the Barbican
| to work (bluntly)
| 01HNNWZ0MV43FF wrote:
| Ooh, another arcology. There's a little one in Alaska
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Begich_Towers
| didsomeonesay wrote:
| Oh that the was fascinating, too. From visiting more than a
| decade ago, I understand that most of the permanent population
| of Whittier lives there (except for some hotel employees) and
| that they have an underground passage connecting it with the
| school building opposite (so students in winter can get there
| without putting on a coat).
| arnab_optimatik wrote:
| The events, cultural activities and especially some of the
| curated exhibitions at the Barbican have been outstanding. Highly
| recommend to anyone visiting London.
| sagacity wrote:
| What a coincidence, I just visited last week. The article's
| comment about it being hard to navigate is completely accurate
| but I found it to be fun. You may be getting lost, but there's
| always an interesting view towards another part of the building
| enticing you to go there... It's almost like the design of Breath
| of the Wild or something.
| rjmunro wrote:
| I'm surprised the article doesn't mention the concert hall. It's
| one of London's most famous, with almost 2000 seats, and it's the
| London Symphony Orchestra's main home.
|
| Until last lear, The Lead Developer conference
| (https://leaddev.com/) was held there, but it's moved to a larger
| venue for this year (I don't think the size of the main hall was
| the problem, it was the areas for break out etc.) They had a
| great talk about the history of the place:
| https://leaddev.com/leadership/you-are-here-the-story-of-the...
|
| The Barbican Theatre is one of the London homes of the Royal
| Shakespeare Company, although they are looking to
| farslan wrote:
| OP here. I hadn't a chance to visit it. Because of that, I also
| don't have any photos from there. But good point. I actually
| just received one of the books I recommend at the end of the
| blog post, which actually goes into the Barbican Event centre
| in more detail.
| curiousgal wrote:
| Too bad the staff of that hall are completely incompetent. Put
| me off going there ever again.
| turnsout wrote:
| What's the story?
| libraryofbabel wrote:
| The concert hall and theater is indeed the main reason most
| people who aren't residents end up in the Barbican. When I
| lived in London it was almost a classical music rite of passage
| to get completely lost on the wrong concrete overhead walkway
| while rushing to get to an LSO concert there.
|
| Unrelated, but recently the complex has been appearing in the
| general consciousness again as the excellent Apple TV
| series/spy novels Slow Horses (about a bunch of outcast MI5
| agents) is set near there.
| ssalazar wrote:
| The Agency on Showtime also prominently features the Barbican
| as the protagonist's residence with a number of great
| exterior shots.
| sdenton4 wrote:
| (Indeed, Belle and Sebastian's "If You're Feeling Sinister -
| Live at the Barbican" is my favorite B&S album, and is quite a
| lot better than the original studio recording. So the Barbican
| has an odd warm place in my heart despite knowing nothing more
| about it until today.)
|
| (That same Live at the Barbican album is weirdly hard to find
| because it was a damned Apple Music exclusive. Travesty...)
| KaiserPro wrote:
| RANT ALERT:
|
| The barbican is odd, mainly because its the only brutalist
| "council housing estate" that actually mostly worked as
| intended[1]
|
| If you compare the layout/style to say the haygate estate
| (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-13092349 where
| attack the block was filmed) or the lesser known aylesbury
| estate, its more enclosed, but no less brutalist.
|
| What _is_ different is that unlike the southwark estates, it
| always had the _original_ tenancy requirements upheld (either by
| tenant action, location or happenstance.) [2]
|
| This meant that it didn't have the massive abandonment in the
| 90s, left to rot throughout the 00s. The _quality_ of the haygate
| estate was actually pretty high, secure entry, gardens for the
| low rise, district heating, trees and playgrounds.
|
| What was fucked up was that the heygate was a dumping ground for
| undesirables. this mean a spiral of drugs, crime and antisocial
| behaviour. The barbican escaped most of this because people were
| too fucking posh.
|
| The social life of the barbican was upheld because of the huge
| amounts of money poured into the cultural centres that are hidden
| (and I mean hidden, the place is a fucking impossible maze) Most
| of the tenant social clubs were disbanded on the other estates,
| and the halls sold off or leased out to businesses.
|
| In many way, the barbican isn't a great estate in terms of
| building quality. Its the same as any >60s council property. They
| all had to be big enough, have a separate kitchen and decent
| storage.
|
| [1] well its not a mixed class housing estate, its all full of
| posh design types, and a handful of tenants left over from the
| 80s
|
| [2] to get a council house, you had to be of good standing, and
| have a job. It wasn't a place to dumo drugadicts or problem
| families.
|
| TLDR: the barbican is decent housing because it was reasonably
| well maintained, and wasn't filled with families in distress, or
| habitual criminals. We need to build more council estates to the
| same standard, with the same rules as the 60s.
| eilzo wrote:
| The Barbican was never built as social housing - the intended
| occupants were always central London professional workers and
| they charged market rates.
| notahacker wrote:
| Which in a way actually does align with the OP's view on why
| it never became known as a dangerous sketchy place.
|
| Much more thought gone into the aesthetics of the Barbican
| than the Heygate Estate though, which is why the Heygate
| Estate was the one that ended up as every film scout's first
| choice of "scary, deprived place" even though it reportedly
| actually wasn't bad by the standards of south London postwar
| estates. And that's before taking into account the Barbican's
| arts facilities and all the money spent maintaining its
| communcal areas
| empath75 wrote:
| Yeah, there's an _artistry_ to the barbican that isn't
| captured by just listing off the features of the complex
| and apartments. Whoever designed it had excellent _taste_.
| KaiserPro wrote:
| I mean kinda.
|
| But a _lot_ of council estates were well designed, but
| suffered from failed assumptions. The underground parking
| in the barbican for example was the same design that
| cause so many issues for estates elsewhere. They were
| hidden and that meant crime, unless there was tight
| access control.
|
| https://modernistpilgrimage.com/2015/10/18/trellick-
| tower-lo... The trellick tower is fucking ugly on the
| outside, just like the barbican, but even the trellick
| has some smashing design features. Like most estates at
| the time, the three bed flats had an upstairs. Not only
| that, they were bright! Had a balcony.
|
| The difference between the trellick and the barbican is
| the barbican had middle class people growing plants on
| the balcony. Until the hipsters moved in, the trellick
| just had shit.
|
| https://municipaldreams.wordpress.com/ has some brilliant
| insight into council housing, the history, the plans and
| lots and lots of pictures.
|
| I think the biggest thing to take away is that for a long
| while council housing _had_ to be better than private. It
| was partly slum clearance, partly vote winning, partly
| "you fought for this in the war"
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parker_Morris_Committee has
| the general plan.
|
| Separate kitchens, storage, decent square footage,
| working heating as a _minimum_ something which even 500k
| flats struggle to do now.
| KaiserPro wrote:
| Thats my point, because it wasn't run within the confines of
| the 1970+ social housing straight jacket (funding not
| dependent on tenants, no ability to control who was placed in
| there, centralised funding formula that meant you might gets
| loads of money one year, and none over the next ten.)
| philipwhiuk wrote:
| Heygate is the answer to the question "can we solve a social
| problem with a building". The answer is no.
|
| See also: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YqP21MQKvA
| KaiserPro wrote:
| Yup. "vandalism, overcrowding and poor maintenance", as a
| mechanic would say: "there's your problem mate."
| projektfu wrote:
| No, it's definitely ugly and an abomination. One of London's
| worst and probably, unfortunately, historically protected.
| eilzo wrote:
| To each their own :). One of my favourite places in London.
| philipwhiuk wrote:
| It's far from the worst, but it's going up the list because we
| keep knocking them down.
| scoofy wrote:
| I'm glad people appreciate the building. You all can have it...
| it's just not for me.
| oniony wrote:
| So strange to talk about the Barbican Centre as a curiousity and
| to not mention the greenhouse! I used to work around the area and
| would take 'short cuts' from the Barbican tube station through
| the Barbican Centre to the City. I got lost many, many times,
| would end up in dead ends, or the other side of lakes to where I
| wanted to be. Or stuck behind a metal gate I could not open. The
| place often taunts you with a view of right where you want to be
| but from behind a thin metal fence or gate that requires a key or
| fob.
|
| Anyhow, one day I went a different way and there was this
| massive, tropical greenhouse. Kinda hard to believe if you've
| ever seen the place.
|
| https://www.barbican.org.uk/whats-on/2025/event/visit-the-co...
| farslan wrote:
| Op. The greenhouse was closed, hence I hadn't a chance to
| photograph the place. There are too many details about that
| place, and I only shared the pieces that I've had chance to
| thoroughly visit.
| oniony wrote:
| Yeah, was not a criticism, merely a "and you think that's all
| weird, there's also this" kinda statement.
| farslan wrote:
| All good, thanks for mentioning it. I really want to visit
| it. The tour guide said it's open on certain days/hours.
| fch42 wrote:
| You can booked timed tickets at
| https://www.barbican.org.uk/whats-on/2025/event/visit-
| the-co... but when it's open on weekends, one can also
| often just walk in. It's a great place to visit. Entrance
| is free.
|
| As far as I'm aware, the Barbican Conservatory
| (Greenhouse) will close for refurbishment at a point next
| year though. When you go currently, they'll have details
| of the plans for public consultation. So see it while you
| can (or then again in 2030 or so).
| mattkevan wrote:
| I love the greenhouse, it's one of my favourite places in
| London. Walking around it, exploring the different levels and
| observing the plants covering the concrete and ductwork makes
| me feel like I'm in some kind of retro-futuristic space
| arcology.
|
| Such a contrast to the Sky Garden in the City which has all the
| charm of an airport departure lounge.
| Angostura wrote:
| Don't forget the only reason the greenhouse (conservatory)
| exists is to camouflage the fly-tower from the theatre stage
| below!
| halfdaft wrote:
| It is! - except it's to hide the fly tower from the outside.
| The fly tower wasn't part of the original design. The first
| resident theatre company to be - the Royal Shakespeare
| company insisted upon one so the architects but came up with
| the genius idea of hiding it with a conservatory. I
| discovered this when working in the theatre space. I went
| exploring the fly tower (as you do) and opened a door at the
| top. I assumed I'd see some dark service corridor, but
| instead emerged into the warm, humid, nighttime air of a huge
| conservatory - it was easily the most magical architectural
| experience I've ever had.
| stavros wrote:
| Can you just walk in? Or do you need tickets? I see there are
| free tickets but they're sold out.
| darajava wrote:
| Yeah you need tickets for the greenhouse. They're usually
| sold out for a few days ahead. You don't need a ticket for
| the rest of it though!
| stavros wrote:
| Thank you!
| phatfish wrote:
| In the days where work events were worth attending, we had one
| at that conservatory. It is indeed worth a visit.
| wgrover wrote:
| Here's a cross-section through the theatre portion of the
| Barbican showing the complexity of the engineering:
|
| https://www.reddit.com/r/architecture/comments/5w9ep7/cross_...
| dabreegster wrote:
| This is incredible. I remember failing to hunt some down
| earlier, but does anyone know of really detailed plans or 3D
| models?
| Ericson2314 wrote:
| One thing that I think is underappreciated as a distinguishing
| factor of brutalism is how _three-dimensional_ it is.
|
| Whether its the Barbican, or "Grad Center" at Brown University,
| there are all sorts of elevated walkways that you can see from
| other levels, defying "every floor is like every other floor"
| expectations.
|
| I think I have vague memories of when being a small child, being
| filled with wonder at various municipal buildings that did this.
| Though my memory hazy and I cannot remember the specific
| buildings.
| bobthepanda wrote:
| These became less popular over time due to cost and safety
| reasons.
|
| Interbuilding passageways complicate future renovation and
| redevelopment, and spreading eyes on the street thinly makes
| all walking areas harder to secure.
| the_mitsuhiko wrote:
| > Interbuilding passageways complicate future renovation and
| redevelopment
|
| They are also incredibly inconvenient. London had many
| walkways because they wanted to give cars priority, and they
| largely became unused and became a source for litter.
| hnlmorg wrote:
| I used to work on a top floor of the building next to it so had a
| first class view of the estate. Been there a few times and a
| friend used to live there too.
|
| He would rave about the place but I'm not a fan of it personally.
|
| Aesthetically it's out of place and (in my personal opinion) a
| bit of an eye sore.
|
| The maze like design seems fun at first but it's less amusing if
| you're the one who's actually lost in there and have somewhere to
| be.
|
| The apartments are small and impossible to get the temperature
| right (too hot in summer, too cold in winter).
|
| But because its iconic people still pay an obscene amount to live
| there.
|
| The on-site amenities are pretty good, but its central London,
| you're not far from literally anything you could imagine or
| desire. So I'm not sure that's as much a selling point now than
| it was when the estate was built.
|
| It's one of those places you'd have to really love in spite of
| its warts because it's so impractical by modern standards.
| dreghgh wrote:
| > The on-site amenities are pretty good, but its central
| London, you're not far from literally anything you could
| imagine or desire.
|
| This is totally inaccurate. It's the business district. If not
| for the Barbican, the nearest serious art gallery, repertory
| cinema, music auditorium, are all around half an hour away.
| hnlmorg wrote:
| I know the area well. It's actually more like 15 minutes.
| Quicker if you take the tube.
|
| But even half an hour isn't a long walk. ;)
| dreghgh wrote:
| Go for it, which major art galleries, auditoriums and
| cinemas are 15 minutes from the Barbican?
| philipwhiuk wrote:
| I mean there's a cinema, art gallery and auditorium in
| the Barbican Centre itself.
|
| In theory Leicester Square is a 15 minute drive. In
| practice you'd have to be mad to drive yourself but you
| could Uber it.
| hnlmorg wrote:
| Tottenham Court Rd is 10 mins by bike, 30mins to walk and
| less than 15 mins by tube.
|
| It's also a route I've done often, hence how I know.
|
| And if you cannot find an art gallery, auditorium nor
| cinema in Soho then you're doing something very wrong.
| dreghgh wrote:
| There are many cultural centers in the West End,
| Kensington, and boroughs outside the City, but none of
| them are 10 or 15 minutes from the Barbican center (hence
| your not being able to name a single one).
|
| There is a theatre at Tottenham Court Road. It is over 30
| minutes away from the Barbican centre by foot (but about
| 10 minutes by Elizabeth line).
|
| The nearest major art gallery to TCR is not in Soho, but
| 15-20 minutes from Tottenham Court Road. There are two
| other major galleries closer to the Barbican than
| anywhere near Soho. Both are at least 25 minutes by foot
| and at least 25 minutes by tube.
|
| There isn't an auditorium in Soho, unless you can name
| one? St-Martin-in-the-fields is no closer than the
| National portrait gallery, 20 min by foot or 15 by bus
| from TCR. Easily 25-30 minutes from the Barbican centre
| by any means of transport.
|
| Likewise there are several repertory cinemas in Soho but
| none of them are 0 minutes from Tottenham Court Road.
|
| Your claim of 15 minutes by foot was completely
| laughable. My claim of around 30 minutes in each case was
| accurate.
| hnlmorg wrote:
| The problem isn't naming them, the problem is you
| shifting goal posts by saying "major". Which could just
| as easily exclude the amenities at the Barbican too,
| given "major" is an entirely subjective term.
|
| Also I never claimed 15 minutes _by foot_. And given how
| good public transport is in London, it's a silly argument
| for you to make that we can only talk about out walking
| somewhere.
|
| Plus even if we were just talking about walking, as
| myself and others have pointed out to you, half an hour
| isn't far to walk in central London. Londoners do it all
| the time.
|
| There really isn't any need for you to be taking such an
| aggressive tone here.
| dreghgh wrote:
| Name any art gallery which you think is a major art
| gallery, ie of comparable or greater size and prestige to
| the Barbican art gallery and is 15 minutes from the
| Barbican center, including by public transport?
|
| You can't, because there isn't one.
|
| You made an incorrect statement, and now you're defending
| it, but without providing _any example at all_ of what
| you are claiming exists. So it 's a little bit cheeky to
| claim that I am shifting the goal posts.
| hnlmorg wrote:
| Tate Modern: 10 mins by bike
|
| https://maps.app.goo.gl/sdW7h8zMb7qj42Nd8?g_st=ic
|
| But if you really care about art then you aren't going to
| limit yourself to "major" art galleries (again, speaking
| from experience here).
|
| This whole argument is absurd. I dont understand why you
| find it so controversial to claim that a flat in central
| London would be near pretty much anything you could want.
| Business district or not, I stand by my statement. If it
| weren't true then people wouldn't pay the premium to live
| in central London.
| NoboruWataya wrote:
| Half an hour is pretty much nothing in London. But if you
| factor public transport or cycling into the mix then there
| are loads of places you can get to in less than half an hour.
| For example about 10 minutes cycle to the south you have the
| Southbank Centre, BFI, Tate Modern etc.
| grumpy-de-sre wrote:
| One of the very few places in London that I ever felt truly at
| peace.
|
| I think the heavy maze like structure was incredibly effective at
| blocking out the sound of the city and the water features /
| conservatory made it an amazing place to chill out for a relaxing
| lunch.
|
| Not quite cyberpunk, not quite solarpunk but somewhere in between
| and utterly unique.
| drcongo wrote:
| Glad you enjoyed your visit, lovely photos too.
| farslan wrote:
| Thank you!
| SideburnsOfDoom wrote:
| FYI, there's also a conservatory (A glass roofed garden room) on
| level 3
|
| I was fortunate enough to be in there recently.
| derriz wrote:
| (Not very) interesting that the author of the piece refers to it
| as "Barbican" while I've never heard it referred to without the
| definite article - i.e. "The Barbican". Is there any significance
| to this?
| farslan wrote:
| You're right. I submitted it as The Barbican here, because that
| felt more natural for me. I just updated the title of my blog
| post to The Barbican as well
| cal85 wrote:
| The building complex is always called "the Barbican", but the
| surrounding map area and its tube station are named just
| "Barbican". Also, the arts theatre place within the Barbican
| seems to be officially named "Barbican Centre" (but people
| always say "going to see X at the Barbican").
| derriz wrote:
| That makes sense. I still find hard to imagine saying
| something like "I live in Barbican" if I didn't live in _The_
| Barbican. But going to "Barbican" if traveling by tube would
| be obvious.
| manmal wrote:
| Having watched Slow Horses recently, I immediately recognized the
| building. My employer's HQ is near Barbican too, such an
| underrated part of the city.
| EbNar wrote:
| That's amusing... I learned about this building during my english
| proficiency exam, as the "listening" part narrated its story.
| graemep wrote:
| I have lived there many years ago and it was amazing.
|
| Theatre, concert hall, library, cinema and a few other things in
| the building. well kept gardens. Friendly and peaceful.
| Karrot_Kream wrote:
| > Leica M11 + 35mm Summilux FLE
|
| I've never shot Leica. Is this color grading something you can
| pull straight out of the camera, or is this applied in post?
|
| (Also wow that is expensive kit.)
| farslan wrote:
| People always ask which camera or lens I use, hence I added it
| upfront. Leica's are expensive I agree. It was a dream of mine
| to use it though for almost two decades. I finally was in a
| position to get it three years ago.
|
| To your question, the RAW's, unprocessed files are not like
| this from a Leica. You need to color grade (photographers say
| "post processing"). Color grading is used mostly for Video. In
| Photography, there are a lot of other things, it's mostly about
| light, not color. Highlights, Shadows, Contrast, Blacks/Whites
| etc.. Of course colors are also very important.
|
| If you want good colors straight out of the camera, you could
| look into FujiFilm.
| Karrot_Kream wrote:
| > If you want good colors straight out of the camera, you
| could look into FujiFilm.
|
| This is why I was asking. I've never shot Leica so was
| curious if Leica worked like Fuji and offered interesting
| color profiles in body.
|
| > Leica's are expensive I agree. It was a dream of mine to
| use it though for almost two decades. I finally was in a
| position to get it three years ago.
|
| Yeah sorry I don't mean to throw shade with that comment.
| Your compositions are great and interesting and your moments
| seem deliberate. Artistry went into this, these are good
| photos :)
| Etheryte wrote:
| That's exactly why I carry Fuji, but at the same time, their
| camera lineup is all a bit wonky. The features are split
| between a number of models, but none of them carry a good
| subset for me. I wish they made an X100VI with a removable
| lens, so in essence an X-Pro4 or similar, but it doesn't look
| like that's even on their roadmap. I like the form factor,
| dig that it has IBIS, but really wish I could slap different
| glass on it.
| trainyperson wrote:
| The Barbican is one of my favorite places on Earth and this post
| in a simple way does such a good job of capturing the beauty and
| wonder I associate with it. Others have mentioned the greenhouse
| and the concert hall; I'll the exhibition space which
| consistently hosts great exhibits including the only good AI-
| themed museum exhibit I've ever seen (and it was back in 2019).
|
| For those interested / invested, they recently launched a
| Barbican renewal project: https://www.barbican.org.uk/our-
| story/press-room/barbican-un...
| yardie wrote:
| "There's an underground parking garage for the residents, but
| half of it is empty and filled with 20-30-year-old cars whose
| owners are no longer known."
|
| Years ago I bought a flat and it came with an underground parking
| garage. Once we were settled in I break the garage lock and
| inside was an old Peugot, cans of old motor oil, and all sorts of
| junk shoved in between the garage door cracks. It was hell to get
| rid of the thing. The tires were flat. No title meant no tow
| trucks wanted to touch it and no scrap yard was willing to accept
| it. After too many months I was able to get the city to declare
| the car derelict. And then I had to pay a scrap yard to accept
| it.
| smusamashah wrote:
| As a total noob about the cars or buying flats or the location
| you are from, my first though was that why didn't you get it
| fixed and drive it away. But you won't have the papers then. Do
| the scrap yards not accept it for the same reason?
| DrakeDeaton wrote:
| Part of the thinking behind the Barbican's somewhat hidden
| entrances to the estate and tts maze-like layout was that they
| would reduce foot traffic, and it totally worked. Not many people
| use the public estate high-walks as a shortcut to get across the
| City. This has a wonderful effect wherein you're surrounded by
| the hustle and bustle of the City, while being just a touch
| insulated from it.
|
| I lived there for the better part of a year and it completely
| changed my perspective on living in London. More city-life should
| be like the Barbican.
| justincormack wrote:
| The whole city was supposed to be covered by high walks, but
| few are left and the plan didnt work.
| freyfogle wrote:
| If you know where to look there are still a few old wall maps
| left in the Barbican that show the old high walks
| globular-toast wrote:
| Odd use of "nit". Generally one nitpicks someone else's work, but
| I guess you can do you own nitpicking? Don't think this is
| common, though.
| petepete wrote:
| For this crowd, maybe "all the photos where shoot with the
| Leica M11 + 35mm Summilux FLE btw" might be more apt.
| farslan wrote:
| Funny because I always thought of `nit` as something like
| `btw`. It never occured to me it's actually an abbrevation of
| nitpick :) Learnt something new today. I'll fix it, thank
| you!
|
| (English is my second language, so stuff like this can happen
| sometimes)
| codeulike wrote:
| There's also the Barbican Centre that a cinema/theatre/concert
| hall, they have some great stuff there
|
| https://www.barbican.org.uk/
| vr46 wrote:
| I have many memories of barrelling through on skates with
| friends, and one of my favourite memories is of filming a mate
| skating through some flaming cones that another friend had made,
| basically mini molotov cocktails of small bottles filled with
| paraffin, we set them in a long line outside the church opposite
| the water and spent an hour skating around and filming ourselves.
| This was pre-2001, I cannot believe some of the shit we used to
| do.
|
| Elsewhere in the place, I have loved going to exhibitions,
| theatre plays, gigs and the cinema. It's a one-stop cultural hub
| that evokes the glamour of flying in the olden days.
| earlyriser wrote:
| It looks a lot like Mass Effect Citadel, with the water reservoir
| in the middle. I'm surprised to not found some link documenting
| if it was inspired by it.
| frereubu wrote:
| The apartments are lovely, but the service charges are eye-
| watering, ranging from around PS6,000 per year for a two-bedroom,
| to PS14,400 for the more expensive ones:
|
| https://themodernhouse.com/sales-list/thomas-more-house-ii
|
| https://themodernhouse.com/sales-list/Lauderdale-Tower-II
|
| https://themodernhouse.com/sales-list/willoughby-house
|
| https://themodernhouse.com/sales-list/ben-jonson-house-iii
|
| And all are sold on that weird UK feudal relic, leaseholds, so
| you're just buying for a certain number of years - a couple of
| the ones above only have ~80 years remaining.
| nbevans wrote:
| 6k is pretty typical for any premium apartments in London.
| That's actually pretty cheap for that location.
| IshKebab wrote:
| Oh no. PS14k/year. I guess I won't buy that PS2.5m central
| London flat after all.
| devnullbrain wrote:
| The inaccesibility for mere mortals ruins any claim it has to
| being a representative of brutalism, IMO. Of course it looks
| nice, it was made by _the_ City of London at eyewatering cost
| with absurd levels of craftmanship. The movement wouldn 't have
| such a bad image if other buildings had that kind of budget for
| upkeep and gardening. But they don't: they're rotten and
| barren.
| mjamil wrote:
| It is utterly weird to me that so many commenters here appreciate
| the Barbican's aesthetics. To me, it is an ugly eyesore that's a
| legacy of the brutalist wave of the mid-20th century. I lived
| close to it (in Islington) for many months, and avoided walking
| through it to get to the City (where I worked).
| eszed wrote:
| Like - at least in my opinion - many brutalist buildings, it's
| ugly from the outside and gorgeous on the inside. I've explored
| it many times, and agree with everything in this article and in
| the positive comments in the thread. And... I kinda agree with
| you, too. What experience - interior or exterior - architects
| should prioritize is an interesting conundrum.
| xixixao wrote:
| I agree the interior is nicer than the exterior.
|
| But it's still dreary, in person, on a cloudy day. This style
| looks good in drawings, well lit and edited photos, but I
| think it's a false/failed direction in living reality
| (specifically the facade, the building shape, "tunnels" etc).
| ljm wrote:
| Maybe because other brutalist estates in London aren't nearly
| as well kept or, uh, wealthy, than the Barbican is. And perhaps
| it's uncommon to wander through such estates when you don't
| live in them.
|
| The old Robin Hood Gardens before they were demolished were
| quite unwelcoming, looking from the outside. You wouldn't go
| anywhere near those kind of estates unless you were a resident,
| and you'd have a very different impression as someone who saw
| what it was like internally.
| frutiger wrote:
| Heh, very strange to see someone mention this online. (I grew
| up in the non-Brutalist but nearby Aberfeldy Estate, and now
| live a few thousand miles away).
| IshKebab wrote:
| It's definitely one of the _least bad_ brutalist constructions.
| It 's also quite nice if you're walking around inside it on the
| walkways.
|
| It's awful if you're walking along actual roads though. I would
| avoid it too.
| electrosphere wrote:
| I often take my friends to the walkway where they filmed the
| Imperial capital scenes in Andor.
|
| The Barbican is Coruscant.
| vkazanov wrote:
| Oh... barbican...
|
| Me and my 10 year old kid were playing quake 1 together, a map
| pack called Brutalism jam. Having discussed the style we went to
| barbican, saw the greenhouse and walked around the complex for a
| while.
|
| The kid couldn't stop talking about it for months! Amazing place
| (also a surreal map pack).
| hkt wrote:
| It is a tragedy that this kind of visionary architecture isn't
| the mainstay of housing in the UK. I used to live in Park Hill in
| Sheffield, and the sheer beauty of those clean lines against a
| blue sky is hard to understate.
| tim333 wrote:
| I have fond memories of classical concerts there when it was the
| place to go.
|
| It was also the setting for part of Harry Styles As It Was
| https://youtu.be/H5v3kku4y6Q
| mrtksn wrote:
| My office was right next to Barbican, I was going to rent a place
| there but I cheaped out. Still bitter about it.
|
| The thing about Barbican is that it is an opinionated living
| complex. People who built it had an idea on how the urban living
| is supposed to be and sculptured that in concrete. Very few
| things are changeable there, that's why it also feels like a
| different time.
|
| I enjoyed walking from my office to the tube and get amazed by
| this giant place everyday. Never seized to amaze me. I would
| occasionally go there and work at the public places, it was often
| empty enough to find corners or passages where I can just
| observer the life happening in distance.
|
| Here's a couple of photos: https://dropover.cloud/09cb4c
| rriley wrote:
| The Barbican is such a striking example of an architectural
| utopia, built not just as housing, but as a statement about how
| people could live, work, and engage with culture in one
| integrated space.
|
| Few others worth exploring...
|
| Walden 7 (Spain): A labyrinthine, colorful complex by Ricardo
| Bofill with inner courtyards and skybridges, aiming for a more
| social urban life based on B.F. Skinner's Walden Two philosophy.
|
| Arcosanti (USA): Paolo Soleri's desert experiment in "arcology",
| architecture + ecology--exploring sustainable living in a compact
| footprint.
|
| Unite d'Habitation (France): Le Corbusier's "vertical garden
| city" combining apartments, shops, and communal spaces into one
| concrete megastructure.
|
| Habitat 67 (Canada): Modular housing units stacked like Lego,
| Moshe Safdie's vision for dense yet humane urban living.
|
| Auroville (India): Founded in the 1960s as an experimental
| township aiming for human unity beyond politics and religion.
| tweetle_beetle wrote:
| I'm not sure how to feel about most of those these days. They
| are iconic and I'm glad that experimental ideas actually made
| it to completion, but ultimately they have failed at
| reimagining life for ordinary people.
|
| In the cases of the buildings, over time their value has
| increased faster than an average dwelling in the vicinity,
| making them more exclusive and restricting access to those
| higher and higher up the socio-economic ladder - effectively
| turning them into gated community without the residents needing
| to feel the guilt of living behind physical gates.
|
| The buildings are still there, and they have inhabitants, but
| the investment potential has long outlived any philosophy. I
| guess you could argue there are some secondary effects from
| their influence, but I wonder how the architects would feel
| today.
|
| See also Park Hill
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Park_Hill%2C_Sheffield
| verytrivial wrote:
| The video for the Dua Lipa track "Blow Your Mind (Mwah)" was shot
| on the estate for anyone interested in listening to that 2017
| banger again.
| jbl0ndie wrote:
| Every detail of the Barbican is a joy. Even the skirting board
| where the wall meets the flooring is gently curved, making it a
| easy to clean.
|
| Another fun Barbican fact is their Garchey System for waste
| disposal.
|
| The wet food waste is collected communally and taken away by
| custom-built tanker vehicles that connect to the holding tanks.
| https://www.barbicanliving.co.uk/barbican-now/garchey/the-ga...
| renewiltord wrote:
| Fortunately, nothing like this will be built ever again because
| we wouldn't want to ruin the character of the neighbourhood.
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