I’ve been to the Barbican a couple of times now (typically for concerts or art shows), but I’ve never forked out the time to go for an architecture tour till this time round. The docents were knowledgeable and brought us to places that were closed off to the public. We even got to see the sculptural additions of the mid ’90s, where decorative features and random statues were added to the mix (to soften the brutalist architecture) – it was weird to say the least.
One of my favourite bits about the tour was how it quelled the myths and preconceived notions of the space. For example, the Barbican estate was never considered as council housing, but was owned and managed by the city of London. This meant that there was a right to purchase, but in reality it’s just extremely expensive housing that is mostly privately owned. In many ways, it seems to be the elevated form of socialism. What I would give to look inside these homes and a deep study into the quirks of these folks! I remember there was a book a while back that did give some overview on the residents of the Barbican, but it turned out to lack depth (on people, not design.) I was not very interested in the standard usage of Dieter Rams knobs (though I can appreciate them, kinda.) Okay, I realise how this sounds. Please ignore my lack of shame and applaud my desire to understand the human mind? Moving on…
The vision of the 50’s to create an all encompassing space for living, work and play seemed to have hit the nail on the head, yet I don’t feel like we see more of these estates (not just in London, but around the world.) Is this because it’s too esoteric and not necessarily beneficial for ‘all of society’ as compared to an ‘elite few’? Just a thought.
After the tour, I walked around a little more and spent almost half an hour trying to find an escape from the estate. Can’t say that was fun…
Denise Taw 