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The Barbican

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Re: The Barbican

#81

Post by philipwhiuk »

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…

> It's also five minutes from the Elizabeth Line

And about 200ft. Such is the maze-like nature of the Barbican.

Re: The Barbican

#82

Post by philipwhiuk »

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?

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.

Re: The Barbican

#83

Post by philipwhiuk »

phoh wrote: post #72
mullingitover wrote: post #12

Not mentioned in the article, but this was what J. G. Ballard's novel (and later film) High Rise was based on.

i think that was Trellick Tower, by Ernő Goldfinger (who incidentally the Bond villan was named after) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trellick_Tower https://architectureau.com/articles/the-brutality-of-vertica...

Trellick is what people film when they can't get the Barbican to work (bluntly)

Re: The Barbican

#84

Post by philipwhiuk »

KaiserPro wrote: post #18

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 estat…

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

Re: The Barbican

#85

Post by frereubu »

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 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.

Re: The Barbican

#86

Post by porphyra »

pkd wrote: post #2

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

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.

Re: The Barbican

#88

Post by hnlmorg »

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?

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.

Re: The Barbican

#89

Post by stavros »

oniony wrote: post #22

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…

Can you just walk in? Or do you need tickets? I see there are free tickets but they're sold out.

Re: The Barbican

#90

Post by derriz »

cal85 wrote: post #44
derriz wrote: post #38

(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?

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”).

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.
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