The Barbican complex comprises of around 2,000 upmarket flats, maisonettes and houses, as well as the Barbican Arts Centre, the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, the Barbican public library, and the City of London School for Girls.
During World War II the City suffered serious damage and the decision to build new residential properties aimed at well-heeled professionals and international businesspeople was taken in the late 1950s.
The appropriately named Speed House was the first to open in 1969, but extensive industrial disputes led to the last building, Shakespeare Tower, not being completed until 1976.
The Barbican complex was Grade II listed in 2001, being designated a site of special architectural interest for its scale, its cohesion and the ambition of the project
It’s also architecturally important as one of London’s principal examples of concrete brutalist architecture.
Here’s how it looked at night in December 2024,
Join in with the forum discussion
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In photos: Imran Qureshi – Where the Shadows are so Deep, The Curve, Barbican
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