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The Barbican

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Re: The Barbican

#151

Post by LeanderK »

sambeau wrote: post #122
xnx wrote: post #3

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...

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 Príncipe Felipe. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_of_Arts_and_Sciences#/med...

I didn't enjoy the city of arts and sciences tbh, it felt disconnected, artificial, maybe almost totalitarian in its will to show off. I also thought that, if you look past the immediate effect, it just didn't feel that good looking. A bit similar to how I often feel about Zaha Hadids work.

In comparison, in the barbican I felt like I could sit there for hours and enjoy the architecture. It has so many interesting details and aesthetically pleasing corners.

Re: The Barbican

#152

Post by ChuckMcM »

Interesting that they took out the hospital/clinic ? Seems like it would be useful. In the US there are 'golf course to the grave' type communities for adults who want to go smoothly from the 50's into the afterlife. And when I was a teen I read Silverberg's book "The World Inside"[1] which postulated the "Urbmon" a complete community in a single structure. That has always fascinated me, the question of "Can you build a carbon neutral self sustaining human community?" I presume you can but how effective would it be? The Barbican looks like an interesting take on mixed use.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_World_Inside

Re: The Barbican

#153

Post by lmm »

dreghgh wrote: post #80
hnlmorg wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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. ;)

Go for it, which major art galleries, auditoriums and cinemas are 15 minutes from the Barbican?

No single big name (although the Guildhall gallery is underrated) but there are a lot of trendy small galleries in the Old Street/Shoreditch area. Sadler's Wells Theatre is extremely reputable and just up the road. There's an Everyman in broad street and two full-on arts cinemas by Shoreditch High Street. That whole area has changed a lot over the last 20 years or so.

Re: The Barbican

#154

Post by pledg »

zeristor wrote: post #106
philipwhiuk wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It's also five minutes from the Elizabeth Line And about 200ft. Such is the maze-like nature of the Barbican.

Actually the Barbican station has a lift that goes to the Elizabeth line at the far end.

It also depends where you are in the Barbican. It spans between the Barbican station and Moorgate. If you are at the latter you can enter Elizabeth line from there too.

Re: The Barbican

#155

Post by pledg »

frereubu wrote: post #85

The apartments are lovely, but the service charges are eye-watering, ranging from around £6,000 per year for a two-bedroom, to £14,400 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…

That’s on the cheap end of zone 1 London for service charges, especially anything with a porter and gardeners. If you were buying now you’d renew the lease for about £20k, which is a tiny fraction of the purchase price you’d be paying. (Source: did it in 2022)

Re: The Barbican

#157

Post by jjani »

The stunning architecture is what makes it unique. Truly beautiful and one-of-a-kind, it's a work of art. Most of the functional stuff mentioned (underground parking, cradle to grave amenities, online community, (music) academy inside the complex) is bog standard living in much of Korea, and I imagine modern China as well.

Re: The Barbican

#158

Post by crabmusket »

DrakeDeaton wrote: post #70

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 bet…

I visited after having read Jane Jacobs the year before and becoming quite sympathetic to her vision of city life and active neighbourhoods through mixed uses. The Barbican felt like the philosophical opposite.

I read somewhere, I wish I could remember where, that some urban designers in the 60s had the feeling that people should spend their recreation time in their private homes rather than outside.

The Barbican felt like it had achieved that ideal of lifelessness, with bizarrely large and featureless open spaces, scant seating, etc. Of course that contrasted with the spaces around the arts centre which were bustling.

Re: The Barbican

#159

Post by talldan »

freyfogle wrote: post #131
petercooper wrote: post #4

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 conven…

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 a…

> There was not only no dishwasher, there was literally no space for a dishwasher.

This is quite common for older places in the UK. Some places might have been updated to allow for a dishwasher, but there are probably rules against that in the Barbican.

Re: The Barbican

#160

Post by yardie »

smusamashah wrote: post #137
yardie wrote: post #61

"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 th…

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?

It's very, very expensive to bring something back to operational after decades of neglect. Spend thousands of euros on a car worth at most 1000€

Also, we already have a car. Why would I want someone else's scraps?

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