To think the Barbican Estate in London is a masterpiece?

[zymbole]

I never really liked concrete or 1960s architecture until I did the Architecture Tour on the Barbican Estate a few days ago. Now I “understand” it and can really appreciate it. Living there would be a dream. AIBU to consider it a masterpiece?

I should think many of the slums were too far gone to be refurbished.

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2016/dec/02/thats-me-paul-pryde-moss-side-manchester

@MoiraPlunkett thank you - that’s an interesting article.

There was a great deal of worthy activism in ‘60’s rebuilding. But it was, in many cases, an imposition on communities who were powerless to argue against the social ‘improvers’ employed by the state.

That is very true. I remember reading the memoirs or diaries of someone who worked in building conservation and in the 1960s in Bath, attempts to prevent some Georgian terraces from being demolished was countered aggressively with “you want to keep the workers in the slums. You want to prevent working people from having a decent standard of living” etc etc.
Also in many cases I think developers saw their chance to make large sums of money.

I never used to like it, but I’ve come to understand it. I had relatives living in town houses in central London that are now worth squillions. They were thrilled to move to modern council flats with bathrooms, decent kitchens and heating.

It’s great how we all differ so much. I’m a country girl who spends life on the farm and my idea of a heavenly retirement is a smaller country cottage with manageable land.

The thought of retiring to somewhere like the Barbican is honestly my idea of hell on earth. Though I imagine some people think the same about my plan!

Ugh, it’s horrible! No decent views and too many people crammed into a small area. 🫣

Yanbu. I went to DDS graduation there and was quite wowed .

No, not a masterpiece. An interesting, well recognised and pretty unique concept - yes.

I don’t find it visually pleasing but I do appreciate how unusual it is. And how brutal. Would love to live there for the location in London but not for the estate. It always feels lonely somehow.

Concrete, and this type of building always makes me think of falling over and breaking a tooth on it. I don’t know why! Not a very comforting, homely thought is it?

Gorgeous

I lived there for four years. Loved it!

Really? 👀

Photo 9 of the outside looks like the opening scene of a post-apocalyptic film to me. And the outside space is just...well.

Did you need a trail of breadcrumbs to figure out getting in and out? I would 😂

You eventually learn your way around but it is a warren and there were parts I didn’t know well (once ended up in a loading area for the theatre and had to backtrack quickly). I still remember a very wet evening when we were able to go from our flat to the cinema all undercover. I felt very lucky that evening and generally as it was a great place to live especially if you worked in the City as we did.

If you like that, you might like the Brunswick Centre!

Lucky you! Is it true residents can go down and listen to the BBCSO rehearse in the afternoons? This is the dream, to wander down in your loungewear and slippers on a Sunday afternoon and catch a world class orchestra for free ...

@BabydogBabydoggy glad that you enjoyed living there

I can see the appeal of that closed community but then half the appeal is lost because people can just wander in? Also, some posters have mentioned that the area is really quiet at the weekend. I would consider that a massive bonus!

The issue became that policy prioritised high rise flats and some councils, Glasgow in particular, were just throwing them up. This led to disasters, whether they were building related (Ronan Point, which collapsed like a house of cards) or design (Manchester’s Hulme Crescents, which were declared unfit for families only a few years after opening).

high rise flats aren’t inherently bad or unsuitable for families. You can go to plenty of cities where people live in them. But they need to be properly maintained and secured. It is very tempting to be cheap about it when it is public housing. If you visit New York City you will see private flats that are very similar on the outside to housing projects but cost many times more. The insides are completely different.

I don’t want to romanticise slums though. In Glasgow, up until through the 60s, you had families living in single-end tenements. That is, one room, no bath or toilet. In other cities there were houses but they were unfit. They had never been built properly and were not fixable. Back in the 1930s Orwell toured slums and wrote about them in The Road to Wigan Pier. He described houses that were literally falling to pieces.

I would quite like to retire to a nice flat in a city, but the Barbican isn’t my first choice; not keen on the location. A nice 1930s mansion block though…

beautiful but the price!!! yikes

Why would anyone pay over the odds? That’s fucking stupid!
It doesn’t matter how much they pay anyway (a fool & their money are easily parted) there’s never been a supply in the UK that’s more than 30% of cocaine; well according to police every interception has never tested as high as that.

Imagine paying way over the odds for a 70% mix of petrol/talc/paracetamol/glucose etc… no thanks next joke.

EDT: Sorry Op but that’s a eyesore

Not sure you quite understand how it works....like any market there are different price points and qualities. Of course no one is going to pay more for less beyond the first time.

What a de 'rail' ! (Pun intended)

I have found my tribe ! I just afore modernism.

Yes, I think the interior is beautiful and I love the sense of being way up high in the city. I get that the balcony itself isn't very attractive, but it could be improved with a bit of planting to soften it, and I love the angles of the building, and those views. I disagree that the shots of the estate look post-apocalyptic - I think it looks striking, green and well maintained.

Unfortunately I don’t know about the free music but the buildings are so well built and maintained that it was a great place to live. The walls are so thick you can’t hear your neighbours no matter what they do (our neighbours had a small baby and we never heard a peep). They also used to collect the rubbish daily, deliver your post to your door daily and had somewhere parcels could be left for you which was great as we were at work all day. You also had access to the private gardens.

It’s busy around the centre but not in other areas and generally quiet during the weekend which I loved yet only a 25 minute walk to Covent Garden!

TY78910 · Yesterday 21:43
If you like that, you might like the Brunswick Centre!

Yes, and Trellick Tower.