Location Reviews

Barbican is a strange but oddly charming little area forming part of the City of London financial area of east central London. You could hardly claim the Barbican to be a pretty area - in fact it's quite monstrous or "brutalist", as architects like to describe it. But therein lies its appeal; the display of raw materials - concrete in particular - present in the huge functional buildings that were constructed here, without the purely decorative elements seen in the Victorian and Georgian buildings that dominate other parts of London, make the Barbican really quite magnificent. In the fairly recent past, post-war architecture in London was really very unfashionable. Prince Charles has famously said that all buildings should be designed in Georgian or classical style and has been very critical of modern architecture, especially in London. Apparently much of the public agree with him. Personally I don't - I think architecture should move with the times. The 1950's were a new era with different demands and requirements and a new vision for the future. It would be silly to keep throwing up mock representations of the past at great expense, especially after the destruction of the war and the urgent need to provide decent housing for the masses that had been made homeless. Clearly I'm not alone in growing in appreciation for the sort of brutalist architecture of which the Barbican is a fine example. Not so long ago flats in the Barbican or Golden Lane estates really weren't that expensive, at least by London standards. More recently they have surged in popularity. No longer seen as ugly, these flats are now coveted. Out of my reach, I'm afraid!