It has been 50 years since the first residents moved into the Barbican Estate in 1969. The former Cripplegate area, destroyed by a bombing in December 1940, was to be the site where architects Peter Chamberlin, Geoffry Powell and Christoph Bon designed the Golden Lane Estate.
Barbican Estate 1982, London, United Kingdom. Architect: CHAMBERLIN POWELL AND BON, 1982. BARBICAN CENTRE CHAMBERLIN POWELL AND BON EXTERIOR STAIRS TO FROBISHER CRESCENT WITH BALCONIES. ©Matt Clayton 
Barbican Highwalks, London, United Kingdom. Architect: Studo Weave, 2013. Elevated view of terrace, building arrangements and tower. ©Jim Stephenson 
Barbican Estate 1982, London, United Kingdom. Architect: CHAMBERLIN POWELL AND BON, 1982. BARBICAN CENTRE ESTATE LONDON 1982 CHAMBERLIN POWELL AND BON ORIGINAL KITCHEN WITH NEON ARTWORK. ©Dennis Gilbert 
Front view of the living room. Ben Jonson House, Barbican, London, United Kingdom. Architect: Emulsion Architects , 2016. ©Ed Reeve 
Future Beauty Exhibition-Barbican, London. Architect: SOU FUJIMOTO ARCHITECTS, 2010. FUTURE BEAUTY EXHIBITION BARBICAN ART GALLERY LONDON SOU FUJIMOTO 2010 ©Edmund Sumner
Here is a quick survey of all our Barbican-related pictures: 32 projects in the archive
Living in the Barbican: It has been 50 years since the first residents moved into the Barbican Estate in 1969 . The former Cripplegate area, destroyed by a bombing in December 1940, was to be the site where architects Peter Chamberlin, Geoffry Powell and Christoph Bon in a partnership designed Golden Lane Estate. This successful intervention led to create a residential precinct where people were allowed to live “both conveniently and with pleasure”, where they would be “uninterrupted by road traffic” and be able to “move about freely enjoying constantly changing perspectives of terraces, lawns, trees and flowers”.
Apartments have individual balconies which overlook verdant landscaped squares and a lake with fountains. The buildings are isolated from the hubbub of the city and accessed by a pedestrian walkway raised above street level. The residential towers are three of London’s tallest. Designing buildings of this height required close collaboration with engineers especially Ove Arup, who were themselves newly founded in 1946, and were increasingly collaborating on complex projects with avant-garde practitioners of the built world. The towers provide a “dramatic contrast to the otherwise horizontal treatment of the buildings” and have become an iconic part of London’s skyline