You can find the Barbican in the City of London, offering an escape from the London streets.
After the bombing of the East End in World War II, the area was rebuilt, and the Barbican was created with the concept of designing a modern, cohesive urban complex. The aim was to create a mini-city that encouraged socialisation and cultural engagement through practical human-centred urban planning.
The architecture, designed by Chamberlin, Powell and Bon, is a masterclass in monumental chic.
Completed in 1982, the Barbican is composed of numerous elements, from three 42-storey residential towers, Lauderdale, Shakespeare, and Cromwell, to a lakeside terrace, conservatory, a private residents’ garden, and multiple terrace blocks. A common design feature repeated throughout these elements is their deep balcony beams and barrel-vaulted roofs. Contrasting the rectilinear personality of the estate, the curves of Frobisher Crescent continue to echo the architectural discourse of the design being ahead of its time.
The architects also included pedway schemes within the design, with the intention of creating lifted walkways that would allow pedestrians to walk above heavy traffic and the chaos of the street. These walkways remain a significant feature that adds to the Barbican’s personality, offering elevated views of the city.
The Barbican is unashamedly grey, undeniably, this was a key factor when the building was voted as London's Ugliest Building in 2003, but sometimes the aggregate in the concrete catches the light on a sunny day, shifting its appearance to something akin to a warm granite. It’s now one of the most desirable postcodes in London.
Beyond its ephemeral greyness, the most interesting part of visiting this architectural icon is the silence. Created as a result of the weight of the raw, reinforced concrete used to build the walls, this gives the Barbican an indistinguishable atmosphere.
Accompanying the completion of the build, the Barbican centre was also opened, a performing arts complex that is now one of Europe’s largest multi-arts venues. Showing how the original designs to encourage social and cultural engagement did succeed, as the estate functions today as both residential area, and as a hub for arts and culture.
The Barbican Kitchen offers a chance to enjoy a black coffee on a sunny day, or a peaceful evening Negroni.
There’s even hidden areas to explore at every corner, including the conservatory that is home to more than 1,500 species of plants and tropical fish - East London’s very own tropical rainforest.
If you’re heading over to EC2, here’s what you can catch:
Beatriz González: A Retrospective (Until May 10, 2026)
A vibrant, moving exploration of one of Colombia’s most influential artists. Her saturated palettes offer a jarring contrast to the grey concrete of the Art Gallery walls.
Giacometti x Lynda Benglis (Until 31 May)
A Level 2 gallery pairing that places historic Giacometti sculptures alongside contemporary works by Benglis.
Boy Blue: Cycles (11–12 April)
Acclaimed hip-hop dance theater that explores the repetitive nature of human experience.
To spend an afternoon here, enjoying a coffee by the lake or wandering the high-walks, is to realise that the modernist dream didn't fail; it simply waited for the rest of us to catch up to its aesthetic.
Image credits: The Barbican
