BARBICAN: A Unique Walled City Within the City

Gail Borthwick
University of Edinburgh 2011
Barbican: The outwork intended
to defend the drawbridge in a
foriied town or castle. Also an
opening or loophole in the wall
of a fortress, through which guns
may be ired. (Brewers’ Dicionary
of Phrase and Fable, 1870.)
A walled city.
 CONTENTS
4 PREFACE

6 INTRODUCTION

11 BACKGROUND

THE PHYSICAL SITE

PRECEDENTS

PLAN FOR GREATER LONDON

ARCHITECTS + POLITICS

THE STATE OF ARCHITECTURE + URBANISM IN THE WORLD

CIAM’S EVOLUTION

TEAM 10

GOLDEN LANE COMPETITION

28 THE PROPOSALS

BEFORE CHAMBERLIN, POWELL + BON

ORIGINAL FEASIBILITY STUDY BY CPB - 1955

CPB PROPOSAL - 1956

INBETWEEN PROPOSALS

CPB PROPOSAL - 1959

45 ANALYSIS

PROGRAMMING

THE URBAN DESIGN PHILOSOPHY

DETAILS + SYSTEMS

ECONOMIC + SOCIAL + POLITICAL

74 CONCLUSION

76 BIBLIOGRAPHY

78 FIGURES
PREFACE
Living in London years ago I had always been fascinated with the
Barbican. I was in London whilst doing a co-op internship from
architecture school and spent a lot of ime exploring the city’s
architecture. I always saw those three towers wrapped in the gloomy
grey of London’s autumn sky. There was something defensible about
their appearance when I walked across the bridge from the tube staion.

Being a child of the generaion when the Barbican and many other public
housing estates were built in Britain –and being a child that lived in one
of those failing estates in Edinburgh – I was always curious about what
went wrong with so many of them. Yet, here was one that thrived and
I was really fascinated by it – so why not study something you love and
igure out why it works when most others were unsuccessful.

When you talk to people about the Barbican there are generally two
reacions – one from architects that burble on about how fabulous
it is – all hooked on trendy mid-century Modern design – all whilst
siing around their Noguchi cofee tables. The other reacion from
non-architects is that they ind its Brutalist concrete cold, hard and
unwelcoming. For them it conjures up popular images of Britain’s history
of urban decay from failed atempts at urban renewal with featureless
sky-high tower blocks that are now rouinely being torn down. It invokes
depressing images of pensioners struggling up stairs because the lits
have been vandalized, of alienaion in anonymous towers with the wind
whistling around them.

The Barbican creates strong reacions in most people – both negaive and
posiive. I decided to submerge myself in the Barbican culture for a few
solid weeks to see if I could understand both views more fully. I crashed
a graduaion event, spent days in the library, stalked the common areas
of the Arts Centre, lounged in the open spaces outdoors listening to T
Rex, had cocktails, cofee, went to dance performances, visited all the art
exhibits, went on a tour, visited a friend in a lat, enquired about rentals
in the real estate oices. I tried to see it as others see it – those that live
there and those that visit.

I admitedly sill remain passionately besoted with the project. I think its
ulimate uniqueness is what makes it work. Its historic past is somehow
present, yet subtly so. I had the feeling of being in a secret garden –
safely enclosed within its concrete immensity – in a surrepiious enclave
but welcome and comfortable – ater a few weeks of soring out the
navigaion that is.

4
5
INTRODUCTION
The Barbican is an outlier – a unique project built at a peculiar moment
in London’s history, on a site available by extraordinary circumstances,
designed by remarkably talented, thoughful architects.

From 1851 to 1951 the resident populaion of the square mile of the City
of London fell from 128,000 to 5,000. Over-crowding, squalor, unhealthy
housing condiions, light to the suburbs, and mostly the Blitz created
an ater hours ‘City of cats and caretakers.’(Cement & Concrete Assoc,
1972, p.2) During the day over 500,000 commuted to the City to work
creaing massive traic congesion. Yet the Barbican site sat empty,
almost completely razed by the Blitz. A unique opportunity to rebuild
from scratch – to shape into whatever form the architects wished – a
Modernist’s dream come true – the tabula rasa.

Would that be the same Barbican that is rouinely derided as a

windswept, brutally inhuman environment, a baling labyrinth,
a classic piece of 1960s megalomaniac city planning gone wrong,
a bleak concrete neo-Corbusian high-rise experiment? Indeed it
would. And is that the same Barbican that was last year oicially
listed in its enirety as a complex of high architectural and historic
merit? It is. So there is a puzzling divergence of views, shall we
say. What is it, then, the Barbican - a relic of past mistakes, or a
model for the future? (Pearman, 2002)

The talented architects given the commission, Chamberlin, Powell &

Bon (CPB), were fairly inexperienced as pracicing architects – they
were academics with only one project between them as a team – the
acclaimed Golden Lane council housing estate to the north of the
Barbican site. But the quality of this project earned them an opportunity
to design a masterpiece that took three decades to complete.

While the scheme has its detractors, there is no denying that it is a

highly sought ater address in the City for its oasis of calm in the freneic
business world. Even throughout the latest economic downturn there is
a shortage of rentals and units for sale in this EC2 locaion. Its popularity
as an arts venue is undisputed, with world class art, dance, music and
theatre events selling out year-round, and it is home to the London
Symphony Orchestra.

There are three central reasons for the project’s success while other
post-WW2 housing projects are being demolished rouinely in Britain. 1.
The architects started with a sound urban design concept. 2. They were
designing for an end-user that required a high value development. 3.
The Corporaion of the City of London (the Corporaion) was a client that
understood this and was willing to inance this level of quality.

The architects understood the power of a thoughful, solid urban design

6
strategy on a ight site. They allowed the architecture to progress over
ime – through architectural invenion. When the irst proposal was
made public it received accolades from the architectural community as
ataining ‘a level of comprehensive planning never before seen in the
City.’ (Browne, 1954, p.403)

The Barbican was built for a middle-to-higher income group of

professionals, working in the city, and generally childless. It was also
to be unsubsidised - self-sustaining inancially once constructed. It
is important to keep in mind that the Barbican’s sponsor was the
Corporaion, but it is not comparable to other public housing that they
were building for poor and working class Britain (Fig. 1).

Thus the level of design required to atract these tenants that would be
willing to pay a higher rent would need to be superior and ameniies
much more sumptuous. The Corporaion invested in the professional
services required to design well and the materials to build a quality,
enduring project.

Overall the project had an excepional team in the client and the
architects. The architects were thoughful from both a design perspecive
and a inancial feasibility point of view. While they certainly were
well versed in theory, they were no nonsense professionals that were
interested in having projects built. The Corporaion was an enlightened
client willing to take a chance on a new approach in urbanism. Their
connecions with poliicians and inluenial authoriies were also
signiicant in geing the project of the ground.

Fig. 1 Cover from the City of London’s iniial

adverising brochure for rening a lat in the
Barbican.

7
Fig. 2 Barbican Site Plan.

Private Garden Area Terraces - Ben Johnson House

Aldersgate Boundary Frobisher Cresent

Barbican Centre

Shakespeare
Tower

Barbican
Centre

8
Beech Street Underpass Vehicular Access to Barbican Centre

KEY
Site Boundary
Residenial Areas N
Amenity Areas
Private Garden Areas
Barbican Centre
Ancient Monument

St Giles Public Amenity - Lake

Fig. 3 Barbican site pre-bombing 1939 - shading
shows exising buildings.

Fig. 4 Barbican site post-bombing 1945 - white

shows buildings that were destroyed.

10
 BACKGROUND
THE PHYSICAL SITE

Destrucion – a radical opportunity given to the City of London.

The City of London was heavily bombed in December 1940 during World
War 2 (WW2). By the end of the war most of the Barbican site had been
enirely destroyed. There were only two small but signiicant structures
remaining on the site – the badly damaged St Giles Church, Cripplegate
and a long-standing remnant of the ancient Roman Wall. Yet it was
precisely this tabula rasa and the City’s willingness to fund a large project
that enabled the bold vision of the Barbican redevelopment.

Prior to the war the area housed wholesale warehousing. This building
typology was no longer needed when the patern of distribuion of goods
between manufacturer and retailer changed ater the war. This was
exaggerated by transportaion problems created by the destrucion of
infrastructure by the bombing as well as Abercrombie’s Greater London
Plan of 1944 that called out for this industrial relocaion (Fig. 3, 4).

In 1944, the Town and Country Planning Act granted power for local
authoriies to acquire land through compulsory purchase in order to
create a simpler and more expedient procedure for redevelopment of
areas that had endured extensive bomb damage (Jackson, 1965). This
gave the City an extraordinary opportunity to master plan the Barbican
area.

The Barbican estate is situated on approximately 40 acres on the east

side of the City of London. Bounded by Aldersgate to the west, Moorgate
to the east, Fann Street to the north and London Wall to the south. The
residenial complex is made up of 2,113 residenial units intended to
house 6,500 residents – though it is currently thought to house only
about 4,300 - in units ranging from studio to six bedrooms, with majority
being one or two-bedroom units. The integrated Arts Centre includes a
concert hall, theatre, art galleries, library, restaurants, bars, conservatory
and two schools. All situated within extensive landscaped gardens and
water features and connected by a highwalk elevated pedway system.
There is also parking for 2,500 spaces below grade. It was the largest
housing scheme in Europe when it was built. The original plan was
designed to house 300 persons per acre.

The Barbican estate was designed between 1954 and 1959. There were
many groups involved over ime in the design but eventually the irm
of Chamberlin, Powell & Bon (CPB) landed the commission. It became
their lives’ work. The original proposal difers signiicantly from what
was eventually built. The residenial porion was built between 1963

11
 and 1976 and the arts centre was completed and opened by the queen
in 1982 ater 11 years of complex construcion. The estate has now
been Grade II listed for both its exterior and interior elements due to its
architectural and urban design signiicance of the Modernist period.

The housing estate consists of three 43-storey tower blocks and a series
of terrace blocks that rise 7-storeys above a raised podium that encloses
transportaion infrastructure below. There is 22 acres of open space
including 8 acres of landscaped gardens and water features. The historic
St Giles Church and the remains of the ancient Roman Wall have been
incorporated as elements of the composiion.

There were paricular challenges to the site construcion due to the

numerous underground train lines that ran below the site. This created
extensive design challenges to ensure that the site was insulated from
vibraions and noise – paricularly for the Arts Centre. The project also
ran extremely over budget due to these special structural requirements
(Marin-McAulife, 2011)

The estate was promoted by the architects from the beginning to

be unsubsidised – that it would pay for itself. In order to do this the
Corporaion needed a high rental income, thus the project has always
been marketed to aluent, middle-class city workers (Fig. 5, 6).

PRECEDENTS

The Barbican Centre was not without precedent and it is evident in

CPB’s proposals that they were very familiar with the Adelphi. In 1764
the four Adams brothers engaged in an innovaive town-planning
scheme on the banks of the Thames in London called The Adelphi. The
scale and ambiion of the Adelphi is a historical reference of large-scale
development with complex circulaion and funcions on muliple levels.
The Adelphi had integrated streets and thoughfully designed buildings
on a terrace formed of massive vaults that opened onto the River. The
development was designed with a range of housing types, shops, tavern,
public building and chapel. The inluence of the Adelphi is clearly evident
in the Barbican scheme – these buildings have inluenced paricularly
the terrace buildings. Robert Adams is paricularly known for the level
of detail in his interiors – as is the Barbican (Fig. 7). It is also signiicant
that a project of this scale was designed as one integrated scheme with
one design irm, thus there is coninuity in the concept that binds the
project together. Unfortunately due to poliical situaions that resulted
in zoning changes and the unfortunate inancial decisions of the Adams

12
Fig. 5, 6 Original markeing brochures. Adverising
to atract moneyed professionals to the scheme.

Fig. 7 The Adelphi by Adams was a precedent in

muli-level circulaion and mixed-use develop-
ment as well as having only one architecture irm
master planning and designing the project.

13
Fig 8 Christopher Wren’s 19666 master Plan for
the City of London ater the Great Fire. Monumen-
tal architecture and grand boulevards.

Fig 9 Plan for Greater London of 1944 by Patrick

Abercrombie. The Barbican site is zoned as Com-
mercial Use. One of many analysis maps - Social
and Funcional Analysis Map.

Fig 10 Howard’s Garden City concept. Based on

central city with smaller satellite communiies,
separated by green parkways. This was the basis
for Abercrombie’s plan and Britain’s New Town
concept.

14
brothers the scheme began to collapse in the 1780s and was eventually
demolished in 1936.

PLAN FOR GREATER LONDON

London coninued to expand rapidly ater WW2 as it had before the war.
The 1944 Abercrombie Plan for Greater London was developed to take
advantage of the opportunity to rebuild ater the damage caused by the
Blitz. The City had always regreted not incorporaing Christopher Wren’s
plan for rebuilding ater the Great Fire three hundred years earlier.
(Cantacuzino, p.71) Wren’s plan was based on monumental boulevards
with a formal grid and grand classical buildings (Fig. 8). Abercrombie’s
plan was intended to control the city’s expansion by creaing green belts
ive miles wide as bufer areas, connected by parkways to self-sustaining,
controlled, planned communiies surrounding the city – Britain’s New
Town strategy. These would incorporate new housing, industry and
supporing ameniies and infrastructure for the community. This concept
of the New Town was developed to accommodate the growing urban
populaion of Britain and address the issue of traic congesion and
unsanitary living condiions (Fig. 9). Abercrombie’s plan speciically zoned
the current site of the Barbican for oice and commercial development.
(Abercrombie, 1944, p.38)

This concept of relief of congesion and controlled growth of the city

was based on Ebenezer Howard’s Garden City Movement principles
from turn of the nineteen century. Howard’s plan stated that each
satellite community would house 32,000 people on 6,000 acres, based
on a concentric patern with open spaces, public parks and radial main
boulevards emanaing from the centre. It would be self-supporing and
when it reached the maximum populaion, an adjacent Garden City
would be created. There would be several Garden Ciies as appendages
of a central city of 50,000 and people linkages would be by road and rail
(Fig. 10). This was a very popular movement in the United Kingdom.

Abercrombie’s 1944 Plan for Greater London addressed ive major

problem areas hindering the city’s controlled development:

Reducion of Traic Congesion: The plan proposed to separate local

and through traic in order to keep these new and exising communiies
traic free (Abercrombie, 1944, p.110).

Improve Housing Stock: Restricions on density, but requirement for

mixture of typologies of houses and lats, combined with green space.
Decentralisaion of large ciies was required to improve quality of life.
15
 Planning of employment opportuniies close to home can be achieved
with New Town (limited size) planning (as in CIAM charter also). With a
density preference of 100-136 persons per acre, with a mix of two-thirds
houses, one-third lats. The plan called for an exodus to relocate up to
600,000 residents from central areas of London (Abercrombie, 1944,
p.174).

Open Space Strategy: In the past there had been an inadequacy and
misdistribuion of open spaces. The plan called for 4 acres of open space
per 1,000 people for highly developed areas with a further 3 acres per
1,000 people to be incorporated into the connecing green belts. There
would be a mixture of sizes and types of spaces, small neighbourhood
play areas and larger recreaion centres (Abercrombie, 1944, p.97).

Zoning of Funcional Uses: There had been indiscriminate and mixed

development due to the rapid industrialisaion of the City. The plan
called for a re-situaion of industry from the centre, creaion of outer
satellites within metropolitan traic area and dispersal to locaions
remote from the metropolitan area (Abercrombie, 1944, p.30).

Infrastructure and Architectural Control: There had been a lack of

coherent architectural design development. Thus strict control of street
architecture, focal points, road juncions, street crossings, bridgeheads
was to be followed. The plan stated that it expected that the post-war
trend in design would see the Modern movement’s inluence increase in
this regard (Abercrombie, 1944, p.179).

The Barbican design was quite contradictory to this – at a ime when

the idea of suburbanizaion was being promoted CPB were promoing
re-populaing the City. They were suggesing reducing congesion by
decrease of commuing. They originally suggested more than double the
density than the Abercrombie plan proposed. Their eventual open space
raio was signiicantly lower. However, they did agree somewhat with the
concept of zoning of usage – keeping the Barbican non-oice at least and
the need for comprehensive architectural control of the project. Within
the city planning departments and the poliicians there was growing
concern about the appropriateness of the Abercrombie plan to resolve
the City’s problems. Of course each party had its own reasons.

ARCHITECTS + POLITICS

Housing the masses of people that locked to ciies due to

industrialisaion became the biggest issue for twenieth century Europe.
In Britain the century was known for its architectural focus on public
16
housing and density/tower block strategies. Post-war the issue was
exacerbated by the legacy of destrucion from the bombings.

The Corporaion and the London County Council’s (LCC) Planning

Department had iniially developed separate reconstrucion plans
for London post-WW2 in 1947. These plans basically followed the
Abercrombie plan – there was nothing controversial or invenive about
them. Eventually these plans were combined into one comprehensive
plan. Building construcion licensing bureaucracy was ineicient.
Between the end of the war and 1952 only ive permits had been issued–
four of these were for repair work – not new construcion (Heathcote,
2004, p.57). There was a desperate need for commercial buildings and
a growing trend pushing for residenial in the City also. Transportaion
infrastructure – roads and train lines - were also badly damaged creaing
congesion problems city-wide and dissaisfacion among the populaion.
There was growing quesioning of the 1944 Plan for Greater London –
speciically the lack of residenial zoning within the City.

The LCC Planning Department were employing a signiicant number of

architects at this ime – there was over 1,500 employed – it had become
the largest architecture irm in the world at the ime. This was a very
acive group from 1945 to 1965. This was due to post-war expansion,
but also the strong leadership and excepional quality of work they
produced. Rebuilding and modernisaion of schools, housing, planning
and municipal building design was their role, but their emphasis was on
housing.

John Henry Forshaw was in charge unil 1945. He had developed

the 1943 and 1944 plans for the city with Abercrombie and was also
responsible for the studio or group working set up within the LCC.
Unfortunately, at this ime the department lost design control to
the Valuers Department that had generally been responsible for site
acquisiion and management. Housing development and construcion
were not moving fast enough. There was a growing lack of support for
his master plan – people needed housing desperately. With this acion
Forshaw resigned from the oice.

Robert Hogg Mathews succeeded him in 1946. Mathews had strong

opinions about the work the Valuers Department was churning out – he
felt it was monotonous, thoughtless, dated, pre-war theory – ‘sheer
bad architecture’. (Harwood, www.oxforddnb.com, 2009) The London
architecture community was appalled with the work produced by
the Valuers – paricularly their absence of open space or community
faciliies. By 1949 Mathews had won back control for the Planning
Department. (Harwood, 2009, www.oxforddnb.com) Mathews built a
17
 solid respectable reputaion for the department. Projects such as the
Royal Fesival Hall designed in-house aided in creaing this reputaion.
This project was led by Leslie Marin, who was to become Mathews’
successor as the Head of the LCC’s Planning Department from 1953
unil 1956. This three-year appointment was providence for CPB. Marin
became a supporive champion of CPB. This secured their consideraion
and invitaion to compeiions and commissions from the LCC – including
his support for the their work on the Barbican site.

The LCC’s Planning Department was folded into the Greater London
Council (GLC) in 1965 and thus lost its unique status. Alison Smithson
worked their briely in 1949 and wrote the following regarding its demise;
‘Even developer’s architects should at last feel shame if they now have
to pause to compare their standard with what the LCC achieved in their
own schemes … Too bad we did not lose the architects not employed by
the LCC when it ceased to exist. (Smithson, Architectural Design, 1965,
p.428) While it existed it was a powerful and talented group of architects
that, while at imes were challenging for CPB to work with, were valuable
contributors and criics to the progress of the eventual proposal that was
accepted for the Barbican development.

At this ime poliically the government was considering implementaion

of a new voing system that would give power to an authority based
on its number of electoral residents. Since there were only about 5000
residents in the City, the Corporaion feared being swallowed up by
the power of its overwhelming neighbour the LCC, thus redeining the
Barbican site as residenial would mean potenial votes for the City. Also
supporing this residenial strategy was Duncan Sandys, the Minister of
Housing and Local Government (also carrying some clout as Churchill’s
son-in-law), who believed that any plan that did not focus on residenial
would create the efect of further congesion during the day and
deserion of the City at night. He was not concerned with loss of revenue
from non-commercial enterprise, believing that ‘apart from providing
dwellings for oice workers, this would help bring back some life to the
City outside business hours.’ He outlined these concerns in a leter to
the Lord Mayor (Sandys, 1956, p. 275). As a result of his intervenion the
Barbican site became forever divided into a strictly commercial site along
Route 11 to be designed by the Corporaion Planning Commitee/LCC
and a residenial complex to the north of this extending all the way up to
Golden Lane.

CPB not only knew Leslie Marin but, Chamberlin had become
acquainted with Sandys. During their reiteraions of the Barbican
proposal the two had met on occasion to discuss the project. They knew

18
he supported a residenial-focussed scheme – and theirs in paricular.

CPB were deinitely proponents of the post-WW2 Modernist movement.

While they had taught at Kingston Polytechnic (now Kingston University
School of Architecture) prior to their irst project at Golden Lane, they
didn’t write architectural papers. There is very litle documentaion
to show that they were engaged in the architectural community. Elain
Harwood with English Heritage, who is researching a book on their
pracice, has found very litle archival documentaion – in fact Powell
had atempted to destroy much of it before his death. They appear to
not have been interested in any sort of legacy. They were very socially
engaged – but only with the people that were important to them – not
with other architects. They were considered to be champagne socialists
with a love of expensive cars and holidays. Chamberlin also was widely
known to be a conscienious objector. They did meet Le Corbusier
when they atended the CIAM meeing in Aix in 1953 to present their
winning design for the Golden Lane project but there is no record of
their involvement with CIAM or Team 10 beyond this (Harwood, staic.
royalacademy.org.uk, 2009). They were engaged in the work and geing
on with the business of being architects – not espousing and ruminaing
over theory that seemed to be going on in the European architecture
community at the ime.

THE STATE OF ARCHITECTURE + URBANISM IN THE WORLD

Modernism can quite clearly be divided into two eras - pre and post-
WW2. The European group Congres Internaionaux d’Architecture
Moderne (CIAM) was instrumental in deining not only the Modern
movement but its two eras also. CIAM was originally created in 1928
to promote the Modern movement. At that ime most of Europe,
including the United Kingdom was sill heavily supporive of a Beaux-
Arts style of design – seeing Modernism and its materials as a machine
age phenomenon and therefore, not suitable for the design world. Le
Corbusier was at his most inluenial in the sphere of urban planning at
this ime, and was a founding member of CIAM.

CIAM’S EVOLUTION

Le Corbusier was heavily inluenced by problems he saw in industrial

ciies at the turn of the century. He thought that industrial housing
schemes led to crowding, diriness, and moral decay. He led the Modern
movement to create beter living condiions and a beter society through
19
 housing concepts. Ebenezer Howard’s Garden Ciies of Tomorrow heavily
inluenced Le Corbusier and his contemporaries. In current imes his
earlier public housing projects are thought to have had the efect of
isolaing poor communiies in monolithic high-rises and breaking the
social ies integral to a community’s development.

Never the less, Le Corbusier’s 1952 Unite d’Habitaion in Marseille

(Fig. 12, 13) remains iconographic today not only for its social planning
context and massive scale, but for the fact that it ‘had abandoned the
pre-war icion that reinforced concrete was a precise machine-age
material’ (Banham, 1966, p.16). It is considered the irst genuine post-
WW2 architecture of signiicance. Le Corbusier referred to it as a verical
garden city. It included included shops, nursery school, gymnasium,
running track, theatre, hotel and roof garden. This building shows that
there was an evoluion away from the iniial CIAM principles. It was ime
for a new vanguard to evolve the next movement. CIAM iniially had
planned for succession in the group, therefore when the Team 10 group
came forward they were contented to step aside.

While iniially they were a very inluenial group in Modern movement

theories on urban design and architecture, CIAM’s status and concepts
began to be quesioned by a younger generaion of designers
paricularly ater WW2. These younger architects saw CIAM’s approach
as a pragmaic and dogmaic approach to design — with litle regard
for individual diference and needs, but mostly they found fault with
its unlinching support for the high-rise housing blocks that were
standardising communiies and taking the soul out of inner ciies — this
universalism in design had become oppressive.

CIAM’s early stand on planning was that ‘urbanisaion cannot be

condiioned by the claims of a pre-existent aestheicism; its essence
is of a funcional order… the chaoic division of land, resuling from
sales, speculaions, inheritances, must be abolished by a collecive
and methodical land policy’ (Van Den Heuvel, Risselada, 2005, p. 92).
Iniially CIAM’s urban goals were very clear - a desire to re-shape ciies
and towns from a chaoic jumble of streets, shops, and houses - which
was representaive of most old European ciies - to a zoned city, of
standardised, ordered dwellings with diferent zones for work, home,
and leisure. The ulimate plan for them required a mass land clearance
to begin anew – to have complete control over the scope of the design.

Their Athens Charter followed in 1933. It is one of the most controversial

documents produced by CIAM. Its intent was to commit CIAM members
to rigid funcional ciies, with ciizens to be housed in high, widely
spaced, monotonous apartment blocks. Green belts would separate each
20
Fig. 11 The rigid form of Le Corbusier’s 1925 Plan
Voisin based on CIAM’s Athens Charter planning
principles of separaion of funcions.

Fig. 12 Le Le Le Corbusier’s 1952 Unite

d’Habitaion in Marseille - considered the irst
truly post-war Modernist building. Detail of
beton brut concrete base.

Fig. 13 Unite d”Habitaion - iconographic for its

social planning theory and massive scale. A city
within a city.

21
Fig. 14 Patrick Geddes famous Valley Diagram
was used by Team 10 to explain their concept of
‘house-street-district-city’ which was intended
to replace the four funcions of CIAM’s Athens
Charter ‘dwelling-work-recreaion-transportaion’.
Team 10 used it to relate concept that as popula-
ion increases so must density in order to retain
sense of community.

Fig. 15 Golden Lane Site Plan from 1951. The

Barbican site is directly adjacent to the south.
The formality of this plan is evident and carries
through to the Barbican design.

22
zone of the city. The charter was not actually signed unil 1943. By that
ime, in the midst of the war, prioriies and view points of the younger
CIAM members on what a city required for its inhabitants’ well-being had
altered and become more introspecive and human-centered.

Young Briish architects Alison and Peter Smithson, led the unashamed
opposiion to CIAM’s principles at the 1956 CIAM meeing. They felt
strongly that the inhabitants of a city needed a sense of belonging within
a community – that the sterile blocks of Le Corbusier’s Plan Voisin (Fig.
11) were alienaing and did not address the human need to belong to
a community. The Smithsons worried that CIAM’s ideal city would lead
to isolaion and community breakdown. This controversy eventually led
to the dissoluion of CIAM and the formaion of the new vanguard –
Team 10 – headed up by Peter and Alison Smithson – known also as the
founders of this New Brutalism movement – as a reacion to CIAM.

According to Reyner Banham, the New Brutalist movement was never

simply an architecture style. It was a poliical aestheic. It was an
aitude that nothing was too good for ordinary people. Its urban design
theory responded to the way people lived. It was about the honest use
of materials – thus the layperson’s common assumpion that equates
concrete with Brutalism. Most importantly it was about a consideraion
of social planning in terms of creaing healthful habitats for all of its
residents – using architecture as a tool to afect change in the world. The
movement was about ‘an ethic not an aestheic’ (Banham, 1966, p.10).

TEAM 10

By the mid-1950s acceptance of Modernism as an architectural form

world wide was clear, but Team 10 were afraid the movement was in
danger of creaing a desolate and hosile urban environment which did
not support the concept of a social community and were afraid its legacy
would create issues for decades to follow.

Team 10 leaders had a European representaion: Jaap Bakema, Georges

Candilis, Giancarlo De Carlo, Aldo van Eyck, Alison and Peter Smithson
and Shadrach Woods. Alison Smithson created a publicaion that closed
out and summarized CIAM’s tenets and added as a prologue the Aim of
Team 10 as follows:

The document spoke of a new start ‘concerned with inducing as it

were into the bloodstream of the architect, an understanding and
a feeling for the paterns, the aspiraions, the arifacts, the tools,
the models of transportaion, and communicaions of present
day society, so that he can as a natural thing build towards that
23
 society-realisaions-of-itself.’ To this end, Team 10 aims to invent a
working-together-technique. The goal is to arrive at a ‘meaningful
grouping of buildings, where each building is a live thing and a
natural extension of the others. Together they will make places
where a man can realize what he wishes to be.’ (Van Den Heuvel,
Risselada, 2005, p.92)

The Aim of Team 10 (1962) abstracted above, and The Doorn Manifesto
(1954) were the two main papers that stated the intent of Team 10. The
Doorn Manifesto stated that the soluions to urbanisaion would be
found in architectural invenion rather than in culture or social behaviour
and that inherently ‘any community must be internally convenient’
(Smithson, 1982) and therefore density must increase as populaion
increases to keep this physical sense of community. They used Patrick
Geddes’ Valley Diagram to explain this idea of the populaion/density
raio (Fig. 14). Geddes diagram relates to the concept of ‘house-street-
district-city’. It was intended to replace the four funcions of The Athens
Charter ‘dwelling-work-recreaion-transportaion’.

Team 10 wanted to ensure that contextualism played a strong role

in their theoreical discourse – that local and regional qualiies were
considered. These qualiies or characterisics included historical and
social aspects. They wanted to create living buildings that were a natural
extension of each other with recogniion of the sensiivity required to
produce architecture of value. Key to Team 10 was consideraion of the
requirements of the individual in a design soluion – thus not a universal
soluion, which was the concept that Modernism and CIAM to that date
had been promoing. At this point this was all theory – Britain had yet to
build its irst large-scale post-WW2 architecture project, but it was about
to and it had to be done expediently.

GOLDEN LANE COMPETITION

Ater the war in 1951 the City of London Corporaion held a compeiion
for a public housing estate to be built adjacent to the north edge of the
Barbican site – Golden Lane. This area had also been severely damaged
by WW2. Architect Geofry Powell won the compeiion out of 183
entries. Powell was an instructor at the Kingston School of Architecture
at the ime. The Corporaion had asked for 940 lats, Powell was able
to it in 1,400 units. He designed the scheme to have a ‘village-like
character’. He explained that the surroundings were so roten that
he designed the scheme to look inwards. He felt the spaces and the
relaionships between the buildings were as important as the buildings
themselves. Before winning Golden Lane, Powell had worked with Powell
24
Fig. 16 The 16-storey tower at Golden
Lane with its iconic roof projecion.

Fig. 17 Terrace houses at Golden Lane.

Fig. 18 Terrace houses at Golden Lane.

25
 & Moya on Churchill Gardens in 1946 in Pimlico and then the Shacklewell
estate in Hackney while employed by Brian O’Rourke. The basic strategy
for these projects is a composiion of tall lats, row houses, enclosing
formal courtyards and an infusion of colour on the facades. This is a
formula that is evident and carried through to the Golden Lane scheme
by Powell (Harwood, 2009).

Peter (Joe) Chamberlin and Christof Bon who had also entered the
compeiion, taught along with Powell at Kingston. The three of them
had agreed that if one of them won they would form a business
partnership to take on the project. Golden Lane was a signiicant project
not only because of its large scale but it marked the irst interpretaion
of the design principles post-WW2 architecture in the United Kingdom.
Alison and Peter Smithson were also entrants in this compeiion and
received a great deal of press due to their powerful markeing campaign,
connecion with CIAM, TEAM 10 and the support from architecture criic
Reyner Banhmam. Even with this clout, their potenial client was not
necessarily ready to embrace these new ideas and this is potenially why
they did not win the compeiion.

CPB were educated, as were other architects of their generaion, in the

tradiion of Beaux-Arts Classicism, but as most architects of their ime
now espoused post-WW2 Modernist theory in their roles as academics
and pracicing professionals. Yet the powers that controlled government
and thus development at that ime were of an older conservaive regime.
The design and construcion industry was crippled by a ight economy
post-war. Thus, geing commissions was a challenge that needed
thoughful tacics. Perhaps not surprisingly then, Powell’s winning
scheme for Golden Lane was originally a very conservaive design -
similar to pre-war estates in London. Ater they won the compeiion it
evolved into its post-WW2 style with the inluence of his partners during
the subsequent concept design phases

For the Golden Lane project the emphasis was on the housing needs
of working class, single people and young couples, rather than larger
families. Eighty percent of the units were studios and one-bedroom lats.
The designed density was 200 people per acre, which was considered
high but sixty percent of the area of the site was designed as open
space. The urban design of the site is paramount to the success of the
project. In April 1957 Powell claimed in the Architectural Associaion
Journal ‘There is no atempt at the informal in these courts. We regard
the whole scheme as urban. We have no desire to make the project look
like a garden suburb.’ (Harwood, htp://staic.royalacademy.org.uk, 2009)
The Barbican design also followed these basic concepts. As CPB was able

26
to develop a level of conidence with their client, they were appointed
as the oicial architects for the project, they exerted more freedom –
eventually creaing a much more exciing design than irst proposed.
(Heathcote, 2004, p.167)

Today the Golden Lane lats are sill in very high demand. While the
locaion obviously plays a role, the atracion cannot be denied that it is
the quality of the design that has made it such a popular to live (Fig. 15,
16, 17, 18, 19).

Fig. 19 Portrait of Geofry Powell, Christof Bon,

and Peter (Joe) Chamberlin from the Architect’s
Journal, January, 1953. They won Men of the
year from the magazine in 1952 for their Golden
Lane design.

27
THE PROPOSALS
BEFORE CHAMBERLIN, POWELL & BON

Architects and planners viewed post-war reconstrucion as an

opportunity to prevent the piecemeal development that lacked aestheic
coherence that had occurred pre-war-WW2. It was an opportunity
for a comprehensive plan, but with no concurrence on what level of
comprehensiveness was acceptable. CPB was not the irst architecture
irm to propose a redevelopment scheme for the Barbican site. In 1954
both the Corporaion and the LCC Planning Department had developed
plans for the site – both rather convenional and non-controversial.
Also invited to propose a plan by the New Barbican Commitee was the
architecture irm of Kadleigh, Whifield & Horsburgh (KWH).

KWH had previously proposed (and later constructed) a soluion for

the High Paddington site that incorporated a strategy that allowed for
building within an exising community and over exising transportaion
infrastructure with litle disrupion to on-going acivity. The architecture
community including the LCC were impressed with this design and
strategy and asked the irm to produce a proposal for the new Barbican
site. The brief requested the following programme:

Suitable accommodaion for a variety of uses all urgently needed in

the City

1. Adequate parking faciliies

2. Respect for the historical associaions, tradiions and monuments
of the City
3. To achieve a form of development that would pay its own way
4. Gardens and open spaces
5. A sense of community
6. Buildings in a form worthy of the inest City monuments in
contemporary materials and in the service of contemporary
necessiies without undue overshadowing within and around the
site (Architectural Journal, 1954, p.458).

Their design proposed a mainly commercial soluion in order to meet the

brief that called for a scheme ‘that would pay its own way.’ Residenial
at that ime generally meant subsidised public housing. This also fulilled
the zoning of the 1944 Greater London Plan. It had extensive deep
excavaions to the site, which caused it to aestheically and contextually,
completely turn its back and disengage from the surrounding healing city.
While the scheme was rejected there are many concepts that permeated
the eventual scheme, such as deep excavaion, the depressed podium,
long terraces surrounding a park (Fig. 20, 21).

A great deal of confusion prevailed over what the direcion of the

plan should be and what enity should direct it. To further complicate

28
Fig. 20 Kadleigh, Whifield & Horsberg’s 1954
proposal for the Barbican site. It involved deep
excavaions that turned the site inwards from
the surrounding city. It was predominantly a
commercial scheme.

Fig. 21 Model of Kadleigh, Whifield & Horsberg’s

1954 proposal for the Barbican site.

Fig. 22 Model of LCC’s commercial scheme along

Route 11.

29
Fig. 23 CPB’s 1955 iniial master plan layout for
the Barbican site.

Fig. 24 Model of CPB’s 1955 design proposal. It a

achieved a density of 30 persons per acre with the
use of a terrace grid with enclosed courtyards.

Fig. 25 Sketch of interior courtyard of CPB’s 1955

design proposal.

30
the situaion the Royal Fine Art Commission (RFAC), who reviewed
architectural proposals, became involved and recommended that the
LCC and Corporaion plans be combined into one – this became known
as the Marin/Mealand Report. The Improvements and Town Planning
Commitee (ITPC), who were part of the Corporaion, recommended that
the Corporaion hire CPB to consider the viability of rezoning the site as
residenial.

As stated in the Greater London Plan of 1944, the Barbican site was
zoned for oice and commercial uses. Yet some in power felt it was
essenial to incorporate residenial to bring back life to the square mile
and perhaps just as importantly to add potenial voters. Minister of
Housing and Local Government Duncan Sandys and the local alderman
Eric Wilkins paricularly championed this.

ORIGINAL FEASIBILITY STUDY BY CPB - 1955

CPB was commissioned to produce a residenial-focussed viability report

for the site in 1955. They also included their proposed design for the
site, though it was unsolicited. Chamberlin had strategically met with
Duncan Sandys during their work on the report and was quite sure of
his enthusiasm for their ideas prior to submiing their report. The irm
had earned a great deal of notoriety and respect from the Golden Lane
project, thus earning them an outstanding reputaion.

Their original feasibility study and design proposal (was based on

a density of 300 persons per acre and included all of the ameniies
required by the brief. The Greater London Plan of 1944 only called out a
rate of 200 persons per acre for the residenial areas that surrounded the
Barbican site in Finsbury, Shoreditch, and Stepney. This density was later
adjusted to 230 persons per acre – the LCC felt 300 was too dense and
thus it was reduced in the next proposal. It is interesing to note that this
is considerably higher than any density ever proposed by Le Corbusier
(Fig. 23, 24, 25)

The iniial massing clearly shows the last vesiges of the CIAM groups’
inluence with its series of replicated courts and monolithic terrace
buildings. But CPB are very interested in achieving that high density and
this rigid formaion achieves that.

CPB understood that the cost of the land in such a prime business
locaion required a higher density if they wanted to create high rental
revenue to maintain the scheme as unsubsidised. CPB also pointed out
that due to the value of the land it was unlikely that a private developer
31
 would be willing to take on the project as their return of investment
period would be too long to endure from a business proit perspecive
– that the Corporaion would be the best client capable of carrying this
cost (Heathcote, 2004, p.87). They also suggested that the market for the
development should be above working class – willing and able to spend
more of their income on rent. Quoing the report; ‘young professionals,
likely to have a taste for Mediterranean holidays, French food and
Scandinavian design’ (CPB, 1955, p.7). This was coninually reinforced
throughout subsequent proposals by inclusions of up-market cultural
features such as the resurrecion of Wren’s Temple Bar as a monument
on the estate and the addiion of the Guildhall School of Drama and
Music.

This proposal also suggested the idea of pedestrianisaion of the site –

not a new concept of that era but potenially the largest implementaion
of the concept at that ime. Thus they completely disregarded the
exising road system and treated the enire site as a blank canvas. The
shops and other commerce were proposed to enice local workers to the
site to create revenue for the retailers, since the tenants alone would
not be a large enough criical mass to provide suicient income for the
retailers.

Innovaive systems of district heaing and a vacuum waste-disposal

system were also introduced with this report. While there is sill no
menion of an arts centre, beyond that of possibly a cinema, it is clear
that CPB saw this project requiring and elite tenant in order to be
proitable. As well they are addiionally very aware of the privileged
physical locaion and the signiicance of the scheme to the City’s
prominence:

Should be urban in character although residenial, and should

at all costs avoid the appearance or the suggesion of suburban
development which would be so inappropriate…..an estate of
this size should relect the presige of the City…..of good quality,
preferably having some characterisics which are at least outstanding
if not unique (CPB, 1955, p.10).

Their report was also very clear that they agreed with the LCC layout
for the Route 11 oice zone to the south adjacent to the residenial and
they were pleased with zoning the this space separate to their scheme.
Jointly LCC and the Corporaion decided that while there was a need for
commercial development, that it should be adjacent but separate. The
plan called out a total of six - eight and eighteen storey buildings to be
leased and built by diferent developers on 28 acres of land. These were
glass and steel construcion that would be set back and provide contrast
to the concrete, wood and brick of the residenial development (Fig. 22).
32
The urban design concepts that were to be carried through all proposals
and eventually into construcion were clearly pointed out in this
proposal; privacy, formal urban layout, quality ameniies to suit aluent
tenants, signiicant public space and quality views.

CPB PROPOSAL - 1956

There was disagreement within the Corporaion with regard to this

division between residenial and commercial use. Sandys support for
CPB’s residenial-focussed scheme resolved this. His intervenion forced
the decision to be made that the site be divided into two zones. The zone
south of Route 11 would be strictly commercial and designed by the LCC.
CPB would design the residenial (or non-commercial) project to the
north with the addiion of 10 more acres that would bring the Barbican
site up to the edge of the Golden Lane site and a total of almost forty
acres.

The 1956 proposal coninued to promote very high densiicaion and

discussed the issues of commuter congesion more directly. Now they
also had the support of Sandys for a fully residenial scheme so they
were able to quash the Naional Town Planning Policy that was sill
currently ‘directed towards the prevenion of overcrowding in central
areas by the encouragement of decentralizaion’ (CPB, 1956, p.2).

This proposal took a drasically new direcion with the massing from that
proposed in their feasibility study – the massing of the housing would
provide fewer but larger areas of open space. This is the introducion
of the concept of the three towers, with terrace housing rising from a
podium wrapping around open areas and water elements. This proposal
avoids the repeiion and monotony of the solids and voids of the irst
plan, thus creaing a sense of place and unique idenity to each locaion.
This change occurred to accommodate the space needed for the now-
required three schools, while maintaining the high density. The point
towers were added to accommodate this density (Fig. 26, 27, 28).

The architects refer to the well-respected old Adelphi as a precedent

for mixed-use, muli-level circulaion strategies in this version of the
proposal. By this ime the Adelphi had been torn down but it was a very
popular and well-known urban design model in the City and it is clear
that CPB were very familiar with it.

They focused on a pedestrian friendly site with lush and spacious open
areas. The architects were very cognisant of keeping the sight, sound,
smell and danger of traic out of the residenial zone by separaion
33
Fig. 26 CPB’s 1956 proposal. This proposal incor-
porated three towers, terraces and a pyramidal
conservatory as a focal point in the landscape.

Fig. 27 CPB’s site plan for their 1956 proposal. The

eventual built form is evident in this plan. The
over all open space h remains unchanged from
this proposal onward.

Fig. 28 Secion from CPB’s 1956 proposal demon-

straing the podium/highwalk concept of tucking
spaces underneath to make double us of the ight
site area.

34
of diferent types of traic on diferent levels – vehicular and rail. The
perimeter roads and highwalks would serve as a boundary between
residenial and oice development – the outside world was to be kept
at a distance. With the rail lines and other services below podium,
pedestrian circulaion and gardens were layered above, thus giving one
space two levels of funcions.

To turn exising desert into a garden surrounded by lats and

containing the schools. The layout is spacious; the buildings
and the ground between them are composed to create a clear
and coherent sense of order without monotony. Unhindered by
traic which would be excluded from the site, an oasis would
be formed dedicated to pedestrians who, moving about the
new development, would be faced with constantly changing
perspecives of terraces, lawns, trees and lowers framed by the
new buildings or relected in the ornamental waters (CPB, 1956,
p.6).

They coninued to advance the discussion with regard to inancial

feasibility too – that the units would be highly coveted and quick to rent
since there was currently a shortage of residenial but only a temporary
shortage of commercial since rebuilding of oice space was underway.
The report stated that currently 450,000 people commute to the City
to work, therefore there would be a great demand for these units (CPB,
1956, p.2).

The exising City of London School for Boys, Guildhall School of Music
and Drama, City of London School for Girls had become overcrowded on
inadequate sites in their present locaions - small, poor locaions in the
middle of busy commercial areas. They developed an amenity-sharing
strategy to support the Corporaion’s noion of the inclusion of the City
of London Schools (at this point there was to be two schools – one for
girls, one for boys). This was to be a potenial cost sharing opportunity
- allowing tenants of the estate to use the pool for physical recreaion
outside of school hours, thus creaing cost savings by sharing usage.
(CPB, 1956, p.4)

This proposal removed the on-site shopping – relegaing it as part

of the oice development on the north side of Route 11. With the
explanaion that it would be too busy and bustling and ‘alien to the quiet
and sense of seclusion which would be characterisic of a residenial
neighbourhood.’ (CPB, 1956, p.4) The scheme coninued to become more
inward looking and exclusive.

A iner grain to the proposal was added with the development of

ameniies within the lats. CPB stated that excepional ameniies would
be needed in order to jusify higher rents. The interior layouts of the
35
 lats became much more luxurious. Higher technical standards – central
heaing, constant hot water, good lit service, eicient means of refuge
disposal, well-proporioned rooms, signiicant views to open space,
luxurious elements such as spiral staircases, double height vaulted rooms
were all added to accentuate this idea of luxury.

They included a Summary of Principles for the project:

1. 300 people per acre

2. Inclusion of the 3 City schools grouped so that their main
elements form a cultural centre
3. Careful planning of the space between buildings to meet the
open space requirements
4. Creaion of pedestrian oasis within the residenial area
5. Close integraion with surrounding development

Again they reiterated that the only way to provide a feeling of

spaciousness to the ight development was with high-density by
concentraion. This was to be achieved using a diversity of building
types – tall towers and terrace blocks – creaing connecion and variety
both verically and horizontally. The terrace roofs were to be laid out as
an extension of a garden - as the ith elevaion, thus when you looked
out of the towers you saw a pleasant view of the rootops of the terrace
buildings (Fig. 29).

They proposed that the ancient Roman wall be incorporated into

the design and St Giles Church be repaired to become part of the
programme. This interest in incorporaing elements of the history of the
site added a level of culture as well as textural fabric to the project.

For this proposal they had been asked to provide a layout for an alternate
smaller scheme – only 15 acres - but they decided that given the
increased programme requirements - the inclusion of the three schools
and the open space requirements – as well as keeping the density at 300
people per acre – it was:

desirable (a) to develop a large area of housing at high density,

(b) to establish three schools referred to in the Barbican area and
(c) to include a substanial amount of open space in the layout.
We do not consider that these requirements can be fulilled
saisfactorily within the more restricted limits of the smaller site
and we have note, therefore, prepared and alternaive scheme
(CPB, 1956, p.9).

36
Fig. 29 CPB’s 1959 site model. The materiality at
this point appears to be much lighter in colour
and weight. At this ime the architects were
considering a white marble cladding.

Fig. 30 CPB’s 1959 site plan. Note the large

enclosed north-south motorway that the client
had required to be included. Also evident in the
model above.

Fig. 31 Perspecive secion of the theatre space

showing exiing strategy, circulaion and canile-
vered upper balconies that allow a more inimate
connecion between audience and actor.

37
Fig. 32 CPB’s 1959 proposal included diagrams
used to design the modular kitchens and baths
that they were designing.

Fig. 33 Also details that explained where speciic

kitchen items and supplies would be stored.

Fig. 34 During construcion the exterior inish had

not been resolved. These inish samples are sill
visible on the foundaion walls below Frobisher
Crescent. The inishes were considered in terms of
cost, durability, and aestheics. The original choice
was the white riven marble, upper let. The even-
tual choice was the bush hammered concrete,
upper right.

38
INBETWEEN PROPOSALS

The next proposal was not produced unil 1959. There was a lot of
jostling for inluence in the meanime. Many groups and commitees
gave their input into the plan – the LCC, the Corporaion’s schools, the
ITPC, the City Engineers. In all of this CPB played general consultants and
catered to these commitees’ queries by producing plans and feasibility
studies.

To move forward for planning approval there were some condiions

placed on CPB’s design – the density was to be reduced to 230 persons
per acre, there was to be 1.5 acres of open space per 1,000 residents, the
girls’ school was to be given 2 acres of land, that the system of elevated
walkways integrate with the commercial complex being designed to
the south of the site, the addiion of a lending library, a road was to run
north to south through the site (this thankfully, was later deleted ater
some tacical manipulaions by CPB including excessive cost esimates)
(Fig. 30).

The architects organized tours for the commitees to Europe so that they
had a reference of the quality, style and speed of reconstrucion of the
new post-WW2 work going on there. These tours included Marseille to
tour Le Corbusier’s Unite d’Habitaion, Berlin to visit Hans Scharoun’s
Berlin Philharmonic Hall, which was under construcion at the ime.
They also visited Teatro San Erasmo in Milan – which was a theatre in
the round. Thus, the arts centre had become an established programme
element with the intenion of creaing income and atracing the correct
residents.

There was also extensive consultaion with the structural engineers -

Ove Arup. The innovaive structural system to create the podium was
a complex soluion that required intensive invesigaions to resolve its
design. It also had to be designed to bufer the noise and vibraion issues
below grade.

CPB PROPOSAL - 1959

In the 1959 proposal perhaps the most telling move that signiied
the designers wish to create an exclusive oasis for the residents is the
removal of the proposiion to place the Temple Bar in the scheme. This
had been suggested in 1956 to bring the public into the site. They also
removed the grand entrance - in efect cloistering the site.

The Arts Centre was a new programme element within this proposal –

39
 there was currently no other residenial complex in the United Kingdom
that compared - cinemas, art galleries, concert hall, library, and theatre
venues. But it was understood that these could not be inanced by a
patron populaion of only 6,500 residents – especially in such close
proximity to the West End with its vast cultural ameniies. CPB had done
their research and it showed that there was a need for more venues for
dramaic and orchestral aciviies, art exhibiions and lectures in the City.

Wisely, CPB engaged renowned theatre expert Dr Richard Southern as

theatre consultant to ensure the Arts Centre’s success. The popularity of
the theatre was crucial considering that CPB were considering the centre
as a inancial enterprise that would need to compete with the West End.
Dr Southern recommended a lexible format that would accommodate a
wide range of contemporary Briish theatrical styles. In the inal design
the balconies were unusually canilevered forward to create an inimate
engagement of audience with performer (Fig. 31).

This proposal is decidedly more pracical. It looked at actual details – the

urban design concept has been set – the pragmaic issues of cosing,
logisics, unit mix, etc. now needed to be reined. The structure of the
buildings is discussed in more tangible terms. It is sill speculaively vague
about speciic structural systems and cladding. Yet they do call out the
housing units will incorporate pre-fabricated systems such as window
frames, plumbing and kitchen assemblies and the possibility of precast
structural members. It is suggested that the towers will be reinforced
concrete frames with a bright white cladding in the form of a white
aggregate and marble iles (CPB, 1959, p.15).

Design of the prefabricated elements for the kitchens and bathrooms

were developed for this proposal. There are detailed sketches and
interior elevaions showing how the kitchens would be used and where
items should be stored (Fig. 32, 33).

The reducion in density to meet the LCC’s requirements was also

addressed. This required the towers be even taller and units to be more
compact to compensate. Luckily the City had just relaxed its ruling on
building height so that this density could be accommodated. This also
afected the footprint of the Arts Centre, thus requiring it to be sunken
to keep it discreet from the tenants and allow the space above to be
programmed. The Corporaion’s housing consultants had now also
recommended adjusing the mix of unit sizes drasically to accommodate
much larger families, as well as singles and newly married couples.

The basis of this proposal allowed the architects to receive planning

permission in late 1959. There was a rather quesionable couning of
40
votes by the Corporaion Court of Common Council – a one vote majority
passed the proposal quickly - though extensive revisions were expected
ater this. The eventual major changes were to the architecture only and
were due to economic and structural eiciencies. Many exterior cladding
inishes were researched and these samples can sill be seen on the walls
of the mechanical space below the podium level if you take the oicial
Barbican Tour sancioned by the Barbican Centre (Fig. 34).

Revisions to the podium and residenial buildings coninued through

to 1964 including during construcion. Arup proposed major structural
eiciency changes to the terrace buildings that completely transformed
their appearance. Arup also inluenced CPB to use in-situ concrete as
the structural and inish material throughout the site. This reduced
cost as well as afecing the structural design posiively. The Arts Centre
coninued to drasically evolve and was not fully designed and accepted
unil 1971. By this ime construcion of the residenial buildings was
coming to compleion. The interior of the units also changed drasically
including the unit mix. Eventually there were many more units with a
larger number of rooms than originally planned – also signalling the
client’s support for up-market tenants. These changes are signiicant
because the plan – the urban strategy remained solid – the architects
started with a good basis of design – they were open to changes to the
architectural elements. It was about what was in the best interest of the
project. This signiicance of ethics over aestheics is part of the post-
WW2 architecture dogma.

41
 THE PALETTE

The main materials eventually chosen were concrete with a large Penlee
Granite aggregate, with a hand worked bush hammered inish. This
was not the original choice of material or inish. During construcion
the enire exterior façade was drasically changed due to inancial and
structural consideraions. In the basement of Frobisher Crescent there
are sill samples of the various exterior inishes that were considered
based on cost, aestheics and how well they would weather. The original
choice was a riven marble ile inish.

To complement the concrete and balance the massive, monolithic scale

of the concrete a dull red brick was chosen. This material is reminiscent
of the old warehouse buildings previously on the site. This was chosen
for the public buildings, the highwalks, and some podium buildings for
contrast of colour, scale and texture.

To ofset the rigid orthogonal geometry of the towers and terraces a

semi-circular curve is prominent in the plan of Frobisher Crescent, the
vaulted canopies atop the terraces, the inverted sills at the podium
level units, the round forms in the landscape and water elements, the
waterfall.

The picturesque elements of the Roman wall and St Giles church add to
the hapic sense of the palete.

The extensive vegetaion throughout the gardens and water elements

sotens and add texture to the palete.

42
Fig. 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40
43
Fig. 41 Secion through a terrace block, podium
and railway, showing the integraion of the high-
walks and overlapping podium with the buildings.

Fig. 42 While the site has a higher density than

the Abercrombie plan recommended, due to the
overlapping of planes it sill feels spacious.

Fig. 43 Original sketch that shows the bridge

linking the north and south porions of the site.
In later version the bridge is hung from below
terrace housing that connects the two pieces of
the site.

44
There were important strategies that made the Barbican Centre

ANALYSIS
successful when it was built and that sustain its success sill today. The
process of developing the Barbican was long. Within that ime frame
Modernism was in vogue, and subsequently fell out of vogue. Yet the
Barbican has coninued to carry on successfully. Some worried at its
incepion that it would become an arts gheto – that if there were no
acivity at night, no shops, no pubs, etc. the place would be deserted.
The elements of the project that have made it successful as a thriving
community can be considered within the following key strategies:

1. The Programming – the consideraion of over all density, variety

and grouping of buildings and open space within the scheme,
the mixed-uses that contribute to the overall experience of
community, culture and experience.

2. The Urban Design Philosophy – the theory that guided the

decisions within the design scheme – the decisions regarding
mobility – pedestrian and vehicular, variety and amount of open
space and landscape consideraions.

3. Detail + Systems – the signiicance and the level of architectural

details, the atenion to detail given to the unit designs, public
realm details, innovaive systems incorporated into the scheme.

4. Social + Economic + Poliical factors that contribute to the

success of the project - socio-economic factors cannot be ignored
in the success of the Barbican, the cohesive team design, poliical
consideraions, management and ownership.

1. THE PROGRAMMING

The consideraion by the architects of individual inhabitants’ unique

requirements in a design soluion – thus not a universal soluion that
CIAM’s tenets profered – ies in directly to the aspiraions that Team 10
was promoing by the mid-ities. While CPB kept a low proile within the
Briish architectural community (they had atended at least one CIAM/
Team 10 meeing but were not acive in Britain’s New Brutalism peer
group) their planning theories were very much of the ime (Colquhoun,
1999).

45
 Density

Due to the valuable locaion of the land CPB focused on a high-density

design in order to ensure the scheme could be operated and maintained
at no cost to the Corporaion. As important as the high density was
that the design allowed for expansive open areas within the site so
that the area would feel generous and spacious to the users. The high
density housing interweaves with the system of overlapping podiums
and highwalks as terraces and pedestrian walkways sit over some of the
lower buildings. This contributes to the feeling of spaciousness yet sill
maintaining a compact site (Fig. 41). This sophisicaion in the use of
diferent planes adds to the sense of openness through the public spaces
they enclose.

The architects sill wanted to design to 300 persons per acre but at the
insistence of the client it was reduced to 230 persons per acre. CPB’s
1955 proposal had called for low, 4-storey, dense terraces, which gave a
much higher density, but less open space and much less sense of privacy
(Fig. 24). The original scheme also did not have the diversity of types of
spaces, units or privacy ofered in the later schemes.

The unit concentraion created from the composiion of the three point
towers enabled this new strategy to be successful. Twenty percent of
the units were now within the three towers. These were also the largest
units. The long terrace housing, with its compact and precise unit layouts
complements the towers’ geometry. The inal scheme had 2,113 lats
and maisonetes with a unit breakdown below (Cement & Concrete
Associaion, 1972, p.33). Seventy-ive percent of the units are smaller
and thus designed for singles or young married couples. Originally CPB
had an even larger percentage of the small units because they saw these
as most desirable to the well-heeled young singles they felt were most
suitable as tenants. The Corporaion’s housing consultants felt that
more large units would draw more families and even wealthier clients.
Unfortunately the larger units were designed to be in the towers that
have less direct access and view to the play areas. This is likely a factor
in the reason that the Barbican sill draws tenants without children as
tenants.

Studio 237 units

1 bedroom 666 units
2 bedroom 679 units
3 bedroom 90 units
4 bedroom 174 units
5 bedroom 247 units
6 bedroom 7 units
Misc maisonetes 13 units Total 2,113 units

46
Variety + Grouping

CPB had mastered the strategy of the formal layout, of creaing inviing,
habitable spaces with the Golden Lane project. The plan is formal and
ight in its organisaion but not the pedanic, orthogonal CIAM/Plan
Voisin template (Fig. 11). Plan Voisin and other similar proposals with
their separaion of funcions, visual monotony of glass towers loaing
amidst an impersonal swath of vegetaion had fallen from favour in
the architectural world ater WW2. The austerity measures and the
sufering and sacriices that people had endured during the war created
awareness in the value of the individual experience of the inhabitant
among architects and planners.

The terrace blocks are sized and placed to enclose and deine the
outdoor spaces. The open areas are of a size familiar to Londoners – the
size of the classic residenial garden squares of earlier London – a human
scale – that allows for acknowledgement of others using the space or
living on the opposite side yet sill provides a comfortable level of privacy
across the green (Cantacuzino, 1973, p.73).

The combinaion of the tall towers with the long horizontal terraces
creates and interesing mix of heights and textures. Most of the mass of
the Arts Centre is placed below the podium, thus its scale is minimized
and is not noiceable yet it is hidden amongst the residenial buildings.
Only its ly tower is above the podium level but the leafy, green
conservatory wraps around it to soten its mass. The lightness of the
bridge that links the north side of the site to the south side also ies the
site together as opposed to dividing it into two quadrants (Fig. 42, 43).

The curving Frobisher Crescent building and the open-air sculpture court
it encloses are yet another example of the variety and grouping designed
into the scheme.

Mixed-Use Programme

The mixed-use programme of the site is perhaps where the Barbican

breaks away most clearly from CIAM and their concept of the Funcional
City. CIAM called for strict zoning strategies and was very much ied to
a site orientaion that created a rigid grid to the plan. Most importantly
though was their concern with the signiicance of separaion between
the four living funcions of dwelling, work, recreaion and transport
in order to create a sense of order out of their perceived disarray of
more organically formed European historic ciies. While iniially this
was considered to be out of concern for a city’s inhabitants due to the
47
Fig. 44 View of the public spaces within the Arts
Centre.

Fig. 45 The Queen oicially opening the Arts

Centre in 1982.

Fig.. 46 View into the Concert Hall within The Arts

Centre. The acousic performance as originally
designed was poor. It was renovated to improve
this ten years ago.
48
squalor that had developed in the core of these industrialised ciies,
over ime it developed into a ixaion with the aestheics of order and
geometry (Team10online.org).

In the Barbican the buildings are oriented on the site to ensure access
to the best views for the tenants. CPB considered the mixing of housing,
recreaion, educaion and culture as key elements in the success of
the scheme – from both a social and a inancial point of view. Your
home extended out beyond the threshold of your front door into the
supporing surrounding environment – your habitat. A mixed programme
could also be used to help achieve the inancial goals for the project.

A. Arts Centre

By the ime the last phase - the Arts Centre - was inished in 1982, the
poliical climate for massive developments of this sort was changing, and
the concrete that had become popular as a post-war material, was no
longer in favour. People complained that the estate was too diicult to
navigate. The main Arts Centre entrance was intended to link the podium
with the street. This was cancelled by the City authoriies in favour of a
side entrance reached mainly by vehicular drop-of through the Beech
Street underpass – an obscure route for visitors. (Grylls, 1999)

The Arts Centre had been planned as an anchor point of the scheme. This
is where the north and south Barbican podium levels collide; the central
lake and landscaped areas are ied together with the Arts Centre. The
Arts Centre’s programme was carefully considered from the outset to
ensure that there was a synergisic relaionship between its tenants – a
close collaboraive enterprise between tenants – such as the Guildhall
School and the concert hall, the library and the Girls School, the cinemas
and the residents. The enire concept was designed to encourage and
facilitate this close relaionship.

The 1959 proposal is very clear about the signiicance that CPB thought
it would have on the overall success of the scheme as a commercial
enterprise. They researched West End faciliies and found that they were
always fully booked – that there was a market for new theatres and
concerts halls. (Heathcote, 2004, p.152)

The Arts Centre included:

* Guildhall School of Music and Drama – studios, teaching and

pracice rooms, oices, large rehearsal room, and lexible
theatre space
* Theatre originally for the Royal Shakespeare Company – for
open stage drama or proscenium stage, seaing for up to
1,250

49
 * Conference/concert hall with seaing for up to 2,000
* Public lending library, with extensive music, ine arts and
children’s collecions
* Art galleries to accommodate changing exhibits
* Cinemas – these were closed but are now being relocated
* Muliple restaurants and bars – these have just been very
successfully refurbished
* Public areas with Wi-Fi access for patrons
* Car parking for patrons
* Exhibiion/conference halls
* Hostel/YMCA
* Sculpture court – rather unsuccessful now but potenial new
use in the future
* Conservatory – open on a very limited basis, occasionally used
as a special event space – cocktail paries, recepions

‘Described as “one of the wonders of the modern world” by Her Majesty

The Queen when she opened it on 3 March 1982, the Barbican Centre
is Europe’s largest muli-arts and conference venue. It was built as
the City’s git to the naion by the Corporaion of London (the local
authority for the City) as part of a scheme to bring back life to 35 [40]
war-devastated acres in the heart of the City of London’ (Corporaion of
London, 1982).

The building of arts centres was a fairly recent phenomenon mid-century.

There were other arts centres such as the South Bank or Lincoln Centre,
which are a series of disparate elements knited together over ime or
divided by a busy street grid. The Barbican Centre was fused into one
complex from its incepion. It is sandwiched in between the lower level
car parking and higher-level pedestrian decks (Ham, 1968, p. 1237), (Fig.
44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52)

The design of the theatre is innovaive – designed with consideraion for

the individual pleasure of the user. Unlike any other theatre design of the
ime, it was designed with access to rows from muliple side wings that
allow the theatre to clear quickly and allow for extra legroom between
rows so that no one needs to get up to let people out (Fig. 53, 54, 55).
The galleries are canilevered forward to maximize proximity to the
stage of all audience members. This was unique in London theatres and
has made the theatre very popular and always booked. The thoughful
consideraion of the massing and signiicance of the cultural funcions in
the composiion is commented on by Roderick Ham in his aricle in 1968:

…a monumental quality that proclaims that it is a place of

assembly. Perhaps in these imes the arts centre is supplaning the
cathedral as the place where people go to celebrate a public ritual.
But the Barbican approach is quite diferent and probably much
more typical of the twenieth century - the century of the common

50
Fig. 47 Graduaion event in Arts Centre Public
space with access to bars and restaurants.

FIg. 48, 49 New signage system designed about

ten years ago to resolve one of the biggest com-
plaints the public had about the centre - that it
was too hard to navigate.
51
Fig. 50 Public open space in front of Arts Centre.

Fig. 51 The Barbican Lending Library inside the

Arts Centre.

FIg. 52 The Guildhall School of Music and Drama

on the let. It connects to the Arts Centre so that
they can share faciliies. Oten the students prac-
ice music on the lakefront edge.
52
 man, of the ville radieuse, of the worship of mass mobility. It is a
curiously twenieth century inversion of values that the residenial
blocks housing numbers if private individual families should be
monumental and dominate the scheme, while the great collecion
of public buildings that will atract thousands of visitors from a wide
area naionally, not to menion foreign tourists, should be almost
completely buried underground. Even the one element that must
rise above the terrace roof level - the ly tower, is disguised in glass
draperies (Ham, 1968).

While the centre received a lot of negaive criicism when it irst opened
for being diicult to navigate by the public, in more recent imes the
arts centre director John Tusa, commented that ‘a change of aitude
that has gone hand-in-hand with the shit towards more contemporary
programming in the theatres, cinemas, concert hall and art galleries.
People over 40 are more likely to complain about geing lost in a
concrete jungle. People under 40 don’t have any problem with the place.
And, since the audiences are staring to get younger, there’s less carping’
(Pearman, 2001).

‘Later, decoraive changes were made to the interior of the arts centre
(feeble inkering in Powell’s words). …. Powell lived long enough to
witness the Barbican’s return to favour. It is rightly regarded as one of
the most outstanding developments of post-WW2 architecture. It is a
landmark of the capital’ (Grylls, 1999).

B. City of London School for Girls

The project’s programme has always included the inserion of at least

one school. That the presence of the school would contribute to the
urban nature of the scheme as a whole.

The school is located adjacent to St Giles. CPB were sympatheic to the

architecture of St Giles when designing the school. There are design
elements that are relecive of the church such as the similar scale of the
massing, the materials – the use of the same brick that is used to build
up the church plinth, the repeiion of verical elements on the facade,
treatment of the parapet – replicaion of the rhythm from the church’s
parapet and façade (Fig. 56, 57).

In iniial designs the school was consuming too much of the scarce
land available on the site. CPB of course were very keen to keep the
density level high. Thus they introduced the idea to the Corporaion that
tenants could use the schools recreaional ameniies in the evenings
53
 and weekends, thus a double use of land. Unfortunately this was never
iniiated in reality. As security issues have become more stringent over
ime with regard to schools and children it is unlikely that the school
would allow the public access to their faciliies.

C. Guildhall School of Music and Drama

The inclusion of The Guildhall School of Music and Drama has created a
collaboraive, dynamic relaionship – a sharing of ideas and spaces and
enriching of cultural life of the community. The school opened in 1977
- ive years before the Arts Centre. Adjacent to the Arts Centre, it has
a honeycomb structure that provides air space between each pracice
room for soundprooing. Its theatre has completely mobile seaing so
that the stage can be any size or in any posiion used for teaching or
performance. All performances are open to the public and oten the
students pracice out on the lakeside to the enjoyment of the residents
above and visitors to the centre.

The exterior has barrel-vaulted canopies reminiscent of the terrace

buildings. The facades are in the dull red brick of the structural piers
throughout the estate. The scale again is smaller in keeping with the
other non-residenial funcions on the site (Fig. 58).

D. Conservatory + Sculpture Court

The Conservatory was designed iniially to camoulage the ly tower of

the theatre below. The programme for this and the Sculpture Court was
to be a desinaion to go from the City at night for dining or cocktails, a
place of relaxaion, special events. Unfortunately it is a very underused
part of the centre at this point – with access to the conservatory only for
four hours on Sunday aternoons and the sculpture court is an vacant
open space with a few seaing benches. But the complex does coninue
to evolve. With the recent transformaion of the Frobisher Crescent
building into residenial there is the possibility that the space will be
repurposed to engage with this building (Fig. 59, 60).

The Barbican Tenants Associaion has a very strong presence and to-date
have lobbied to have the Sculpture Court remain vacant because they felt
it would be too noisy for the adjacent tenants. They are quite a powerful
group and have managed to have St Giles stop ringing the church bells.
There are currently discussions underway to inhabit the court for urban
agriculture, bee keeping, or a new play area (Marin-McAulife, 2011).

54
Fig. 53 Perspecive secion detailing the integra-
ion of the Arts Centre below the podium, the
conservatory and housing.

Fig. 54 Inside the theatre. There are no aisles

inside the theatre. Patrons enter from the side
doors. This allows the theatre to empty faster and
gives width between rows so that patrons do not
have to stand up to let others pass.

Fig. 55 Inside the theatre. The upper balconies

canilever forward in order to allow patrons a
more inimate connecion with the performers.
55
Fig. 56 St. Giles Church on the south side of the
site. The church was rehabilitated in order to be
incorporated into the plan. It is used for church
services and is now used for performances also as
part of the Arts Centre.

Fig. 57 London School for Girls is set on the south

side of the site and separated by the lake to
provide some privacy to the school. Its design
incorporates elements of geometry and materials
to assimilate with its neighbour St. Giles.

Fig. 58 The Guildhall School of Music and Drama

adjacent to the Arts Centre.

56
2. THE URBAN DESIGN PHILOSPHY

Highwalks + Traic Segregaion

The architects saw value in the separaion of transportaion, as did the

CIAM and Team 10 groups. It is important to note that this segregaion
of transit should be seen as segregaion from the dangers of vehicular
traic and its intrusion on the quality of the residents lives. It was a
consideraion again of the individual – not the universal concept that
CIAM had preached. Mobility played a very important role in CPB’s
design. The design of the pedestrian highwalk system is an integral
element of the project. The concept of living within walking distance
of work and ameniies to reduce congesion and thus life stress was an
important factor in the project.

Some criics iniially viewed the highwalk system as an unsuccessful

aspect of the project. Yet considering CPB’s interest in creaing a
cloistered oasis for its inhabitants, the highwalks do just that – creaing
a fortress-like boundary surrounding the site. The City originally
planned extensive highwalk connecions to the surrounding commercial
developments. Some of these were built and at some point the City
abandoned the plan because they were not used. What remains now
is a fragment of a once extensive network of elevated streets. In the
post-war reconstrucive phase of the city, highwalks were considered
as the obvious soluion to the diiculty of pedestrian and vehicle
incompaibility, and a natural partner to the newly introduced tall tower
– allowing access at below grade parking level and pedestrian levels.
Thus the City of London incorporated the provision for raised pedestrian
walkways connecing major public buildings at irst loor level. In the
Barbican Centre they are negoiated well by only the residents that are
familiar with their trajectories and connecions (Knobel, 1981, p.238).
Bradley and Pevsner also commented on the failure of the overall
network to be completed or maintained and its steady decline over the
past few decades (Bradley, Pevsner, 1997, p.286).

While the idea of traic segregaion was certainly not new, it was
becoming a popular strategy. As cars became more common in every
household, the streets became more congested and the stress of dealing
with traic becoming more prominent. Not only was human safety to
be considered but noise and polluion issues. The incorporaion of the
podium in tandem with the highwalk system created a vehicle-free
site where the architects were able to create a truly livable residenial
precinct that was sheltered. Also by rouing traic around or below the
site the architects were able to reclaim land for public garden spaces,
therefore improving ameniies for the residents.
57
 This pedway strategy was originally designed to create a dynamic
interface with the workers adjacent in the City. This would further
their case for the inclusion of ameniies that would also be enjoyed
by City residents beyond the Barbican. They ‘proposed that the whole
residenial estate should be conceived and planned as pedestrian
precinct…..the creaion of this oasis free of traic would not only
appeal to residents but, we believe, would also appeal to City workers
encouraging them to take short cuts through the estate’ (CPB, 1955,
p.11). By 1956 the LCC had efecively removed the retail element to
the commercial development. CPB happily adjusted to this change in
programme and therefore, the dynamics of the circulaion. Conceivably
this is the moment where their move towards the idea of an exclusive
enclave begins to take root (Fig. 61, 62).

‘It has always made sense for safety-sake to separate people and traic
but had never been done on a suiciently large scale to make it work.
They were all shelved due to expense and inevitably people want the
shortest route – preferring the traic risk than climbing extra steps
(Browne, 1960, p.858). In reality, the pubic criicized this segregaion
as hard to navigate and complicated. The system made it diicult to
ind your way to the Barbican Arts Centre. This aligns with the desires
of the architects – privacy for the residents. The highwalk system does
enforce the impression of a fortress, but as its name implies; Barbican
by deiniion is a fortress. It does not weave itself into the surrounding
cityscape at all – it protects what it holds inside (Pearman, 2001).

The highwalk/podium concept received a lot of criicism in other housing

schemes of the era. Alice Coleman in paricular, negaively portrayed
them in her book Utopia on Trial in 1985. She stated that they created
‘lapses of civilized behaviour’ and ‘increased the incidences of liter,
graii, vandalism, feces and urine, and the incidence of children in care’
(Coleman, 1985, p.170). This argument was very popular and perhaps
valid in many public housing schemes. Many lower income housing
estates found them to be places where crime and danger lourished.
Again, the Barbican was designed for a completely diferent, middle-
class resident, with very few children or youths wandering the highwalks
unatended. Unfortunately the general public has painted the Barbican
unfairly with the same brush.

58
 Fig. 59, 60 The conservatory and Sculpture court
above the submerged theatre - thus, double use
of the space.

Fig. 61 One of the sheltered highwalks. This one

connects to the commercial development.

Fig. 62 Highwalk with the scheme.

59
Fig. 63 Cover of an original markeing brochure
for the Barbican. Showing the concept of the
grand or sublime nature of the project.

Fig. 64, 65, 66 Sketches done on site emphasizing

the concept of the sublime and the picturesque.

60
Landscape + Open Space

In Bradley and Pevsner’s book; The Buildings of England, they refer to

the landscaping at the Barbican as designed in the realm of the sublime
and the picturesque – beholding greatness and awe in its aestheic and
spiritual capacity:

The aestheic is rather that of the Sublime. It is apparent in the

stunning height of the tower blocks seen from below and in the
tremendous unbroken length of several lower blocks, no less than
in the thrillingly veriginous crossing of the lake on a gangway
slung between the tall columns of the cross slab. From here one
can overlook the rushing water of the cascades as if from a bridge
across some mountain gorge (Bradley, Pevsner, 1997, p.286), (Fig.
64, 64, 65, 66).

Appreciaion of the natural world became a key element in Briish

aestheic theory from the eighteenth century - that sublime or grand
objects illed the imaginaion and produced a ‘pleasing astonishment’
through their magniicence (Addison, 1907, p.62). The architecture of
the Barbican can certainly be seen as mimicking that of the grand scale
of nature – paricularly the imposing strength of the three massive
towers – yet they appear tamed by the natural, sublime forms of the lush
landscape and water elements below – thus sotened by nature. The idea
of the picturesque is indeed emphasized by the careful arrangement of
the landscape about the crumbling remains of the Roman Wall and St
Giles church.

This blending of new construcion with the exising – acknowledgement

of the past – through the inclusion of St. Giles Church and the old
crumbling Roman wall brings a depth of character and layers of
complexity to the project through its variety of elements, textures and
scales. The coninuity of the landscape elements – both hard and sot
is key to the success of the treatment of the open space elements. The
lake element forms a strong visual link between the two formal courts
and gives a sense of separaion and privacy to the School for Girls. Both
water and vegetaion elements are used extensively within the project
both horizontally and verically from early on. The concrete shell window
boxes along the terrace blocks were incorporated into the balcony edges
of the lower terrace buildings that surround the formal garden squares
that soten the concrete edge and appear as a coninuaion of the garden
areas below somewhat overhanging the common squares. At one end of
the lake a great waterfall, appearing seemingly from nowhere plunges
into the lake -dramaic, and unexpected in the middle of the City. There
are grand fountains and viewing islands where you can sit surrounded by
water (Fig. 67, 68).

61
 The relaionship of the textures with the red brick used in the schools,
the rich hardwood window frame details, and of course the most
extensive material – the hammered concrete has developed a hapic,
textural palete (Fig. 36). The extensive red brick hardscape is reminiscent
of the historic building material of the site – the brick of the warehouses
and tenements that once stood there. The small scale of the brick also
breaks down the massive monolithic scale of the concrete.

The site layout is spacious in spite of its high density – the gridded
relaionship of open spaces to buildings creates a sense of order, yet
variety. The total open space including highwalk area is twice the area
of the site due to the podium. It is a formal, yet asymmetrical layout.
In their proposal CPB stated that they felt that ‘a deinite formality
to the layout should be atempted as opposed to the informality so
characterisic of much contemporary open planning.’ Of paramount
importance to CPB’s overall plan was control over the ground plan – the
urban spaces. They understood the qualiies of these London garden
squares and wanted to recreate their character and scale – their sense
of place (CPB, 1956, p.11). All of the other elements were changeable
and did change – such as the architecture – but the plan for the ground
planes remained constant.

3. DETAILS + SYSTEMS

The extensive customised details and the specialised systems included in

the project were the items that gave the project its level of quality and
exclusiveness. These were the items that CPB believe would draw the
up-market tenants to want to live here – these would make the place
desirable and comfortable – representaive of the quality of design.

The details of the project can be looked at on two levels – the

architecture and the urban design. With regard to the architecture
we can look at the meiculous atenion to the design of some of the
elements within the residenial units and the Arts Centre. At the urban
level there was a great amount of efort employed to ensure that there
was control over the consistency of urban elements throughout the
Barbican Center and the adjacent commercial site and its proposed
pedway connecions.

62
Fig. 67 The focal point water and vegetaion ele-
ment at the east porion of the site.

Fig. 68 Integrated concrete shell widow boxes line

the edge of the courts - acing as an extension of
the vegetaion below.

63
 Architectural Details

Double-Sided Cupboard - The under sink vacuum waste system was

paired with a unit-by-unit daily waste collecion system (Fig. 69). Each
unit has a small cupboard that connects the inside of the lat to the
public circulaion. The unit provided for package delivery, postal delivery
and waste collecion. This was typical of the ime – this idiosyncraic
atenion to small details. The delivery/collecion cupboards are sill
in use. This was a system that CPB had observed when visiing Le
Corbusier’s Unite d’Habitaion.

‘Barbican’ Basin - A special porcelain basin was designed to it into

the small toilet rooms within in each unit. A special porcelain had to
be developed in order to get the sharper edge to the basin without
breakage/chipping that the architects had demanded. It took six months
to design this unit (Fig. 70, 71).

Kitchen Design - The kitchens for all units – regardless of size - were
designed quite uniformly. The kitchen counters incorporated sink,
drainboard, and burner rings.

The wall units incorporate and inset oven and refrigerator into an
unbroken façade of white glass front cabinets with minimal handles.
There was extensive ime put into research of how people cooked and
used a kitchen. For example the burner rings were placed in a row with
a space in front so that you could conveniently place whatever you
planned to cook directly in front of the burner while preparing (Fig. 72).

The custom nature of the kitchens and bathrooms broke away from the
post-war austerity of Great Britain. The bathrooms and kitchens were full
of bespoke elements that were pre-fabricated. In that era this was seen
as lavishness, whereas today choosing your own inishes in kitchens and
bathrooms is seen as a luxury feature.

Arts Centre - The Arts Centre details were extensive – from the design
of the seaing for both the concert hall and the theatre. In the concert
hall the seats were designed to be extensions of the loor – curving up
to form the chair back (Fig. 73). Firehose reels were given their own
bespoke niche moulded into the concrete walls (Fig. 74, 75). Light
ixtures throughout the centre are locaion-speciic designed (Fig. 76).
Doors leading into each row of seaing in the theatre are designed to seal
the theatre when closed and open to allow patrons to exit quickly (Fig.
77).

Unit Layouts - In all there are over 140 residenial unit types within the
complex to suite the needs of diferent types of residents. All units are
64
Fig. 69 The double-sided cupboard sill in use for
rubbish collecion, postal deliveries. Another door
inside the lat opens so to access from inside. This
was a concept that CPB saw in pracice when they
visited Unite d’Habitaion in Marseille.

Fig. 70, 71 Hand basin designed for toilet room.

There were models on the market at the ime that
would it into he compact toilet rooms but the
architect decided to design there own. It took six
months to design.

Fig. 72 Modular kitchen layout designed for each

unit type. Integrated sink washboard and burners.
Oven and refrigerator are designed into the end
wall cabinetry.

65
Fig. 73 Overhead view of the seats designed by Robin Day in
the concert hall. The wooden loor curves up to become the
back of the seat in front.

Fig. 74, 75 Fire equipment niches and other items such as lit
call butons, were custom designed throughout.

Fig. 76 Custom lighing design throughout Arts Centre.

66
laid out to ensure that the main living spaces have access to the best
views and available daylight. In the terrace housing all living spaces face
inwards to the green courts. The tower living areas all face the best views
of London (Fig. 79). Many are completely unique and only have a few
of their type in the scheme. There are units that have spiral staircases,
upper half-storey lots, converible library annexes, double height spaces,
balconies, roof terraces, and carports (Fig. 78).

The amount of work that went into the design of units is substanial from
the point of view of an architect’s oice. Designing 140 unit types shows
the signiicant amount of efort and fee that the Corporaion was willing
to invest in the project as well as the interest of CPB in pleasing their
well-heeled tenants.

Interesingly, the architects wanted to leave the interior of each lat

uninished – in keeping with their Modernist ideology they felt the
tenants would want to decorate for themselves. This was quite unusual
for public housing in that era and many on the LCC commitee were
hesitant to support this (Cantacuzino, 1973). Ironically, now that the lats
have landmark lising the current residents must seek permission even to
change the paint colour on their units.

Though the three tower blocks appear to be triangular they are actually
polygonal in plan. Each loor of each tower holds only three units with
the living rooms placed to ensure natural daylight from two direcions.
These units are either three or four bedrooms, each with shallow
balconies that run the length of the facades to provide access to fresh
air and protecion in inclimate weather as well as provide a means to
wash the windows. Each of the towers also has highly coveted 2-storey
penthouses on the top loors. They are aligned structurally with Beech
Street below the podium and each is rotated to ensure the best views to
the south, east and west. Each unit was planned so that the living room –
the room tenants spend the most waking hours in - has access to daylight
from two sides thus maximizing orientaion (Heathcote, 2004), (Fig. 79).

The longer terrace blocks mainly contain the medium and smaller sized
lats with one and two bedrooms. The top loors also house some larger
penthouse maisonetes with roof terraces and vaulted roofs over two-
storey living rooms. Means of access to these units also varies. Some
units are accessed along a double-loaded corridor from a common lit,
while others share a common stair with lit serving only a pair of lats per
loor (Fig. 80).

The curving Frobisher Crescent building was originally planned as

residenial two-storey maisonetes but was programmed as oice space
67
 in the 1970s. In the last few years they have been converted to 140
addiional lats that are in the process of being sold by the Corporaion.
Since the recent economic downturn some of these units have yet to be
sold. Unfortunately they were not built out to the original maisonete
designs – thought all of the kitchens and baths were stored and available.
The manner in which we live has changed and the small modular kitchen
for example does not suite current market trends. The adjustable
wooden shuter elements have always created a unique yet funcional
character to these units. The shuters enclose a usable balcony area on
the inner curve. Their view looks on to the Sculpture Court.

Urban Design Details

Both the architects at CPB and the LCC Planning Department strictly
controlled the design of the public elements within both the residenial
and adjacent commercial developments. In a scheme of this scale there
are literally miles of railings and ramps to be considered – these can have
a signiicant efect on the success of the scheme from an aestheic and
funcional point of view. While this may seem trivial relaive to the scale
of the major architectural elements, this strategy ensures that there will
be a system of consistent elements that ie the project together into a
coherent, aestheically pleasing composiion. If this isn’t implemented
then ‘the inal efect will be visual chaos’ (Browne, 1960, p.858), (Fig. 81).

Standardisaion of design elements for the project included details

for lampposts, lighing, structural form of bridges, railings, strategy
for bridges – paricularly podium to podium connecions, parapet
treatments, use of structure as inish (no paining), ramp formaion,
planings, stairs, ire equipment. There was a great desire ‘to prevent
uncontrolled piecemeal development with no aestheic coherence.’
(Heathcote, 2004, p.73)

Criics commended CPB for their treatment of the site as a ‘single

enity, otherwise it would be uneconomical and ineicient with muliple
developers tripping over each other to get things excavated and built.
Very key to their scheme is the coninuity of details tying site together –
which would be diicult to maintain with separate owners, developers
and designers. (Browne, 1954)

68
Fig. 77 Outside view of theatre seat row access.
When performance begins these side wings close
up to create a very inimate performance space.

Fig. 78 Plans for double height terrace lat with an

outdoor garden.

Fig. 79 Terrace loor plan, showing each of the

three units on each loor has living room with
access to light from both sides. The towers were
three and four bedrooms units with some larger
penthouses on top.

69
Fig. 80 Archive photo of interior of unit.

Fig. 81 Sketches from Kenneth Browne’s aricle

regarding the importance of site details. Calling
out the diference between control over items
such as bridge structure, railing, street furniture.

70
SYSTEMS

Waste Disposal System

The Garchey vacuum waste system was quite unique at the ime, though
it was designed in 1927. Waste is vacuum pumped with water from the
kitchen sink to a central retenion locaion. It was touted as the answer
for large housing estates to reduce the foul smelling and unhygienic
waste chutes in landings. It was integrated into the design of the scheme
in order to reduce the amount of refuse that needed to be collected from
each unit. This was an issue that all UK housing schemes were trying to
resolve at the ime – the Barbican was seen as an innovator with this.
The system had worked well unil food preparaion and the way we eat
changed. Food is prepared and packaged now in materials other than
cans and glass. Also residents are now interest in recycling, thus the
enire system needs to be revisited. Over ime twenty-ive percent of the
units are no longer in working condiion and have been removed or are
unused due to unfamiliarity with the system and issues of odour (Fig.
82).

Structure

Ove Arup designed the podium structural system speciically to reduce

any noise or vibraions from underground trains to ensure residents and
paricularly concertgoers were not afected (Harwood, 2009).

4. ECONOMIC + SOCIAL + POLITICAL

This project was at a scale of comprehensive planning never before seen

in the City. Treaing the site as a single enity made sense; otherwise
it would be uneconomical to develop. Coordinaion between diferent
developers would delay the project – paricularly with regard to the
complicated excavaion of the site due to the train tracks below and the
structural complexiies inherent in the design of the podium.

Yet it was sill not inancially feasible from a developer’s point of

view. Thus, massive municipal inancing and poliical support of
the Corporaion was needed for the project to be undertaken. The
willingness of the Corporaion to invest deeply in the project played a
huge role in ensuring the quality of the design work and the quality of
the inal construcion product.

Duncan Sandys’ rejecion of the proposed commercial scheme and the

Abercrombie Plan, was ground breaking in a inancial-strapped economy.
His conident announcement to the Lord Mayor that he wanted to see
71
 residenial on the site instead of a proitable commercial scheme was
unheard of. CPB had developed strong poliical relaionships with Leslie
Marin and with Duncan Sandys. This patronage gave CPB security that
their plans had strong support in order to move forward. Yet sill with this
support the project moved litle by litle – eventually taking almost three
decades from beginning to end. Marin was responsible for creaing a list
of approved architects for the LCC projects and CPB was on the list and
kept busy with other projects throughout the Barbican project. So the
oice proited from that relaionship beyond the Barbican.

Ulimately the fact that the housing was designed for a well-of resident
has had a strong inluence on the success of the project. Most of the
residents were – and sill are - professionals working in the City. The
complex is esimated today to only have 4,300 residents – two-thirds of
what it was designed to hold. Oten the units are used only as weekend
homes. Today they have a very inluenial residents’ associaion. They put
out a very impressive glossy magazine called Barbican Life that publishes
aricles on real estate, issues that relate to maintenance of the complex,
health care aricles, what’s on at the Arts Centre. They have a residents
associaion that has about forty oicers looking ater issues ranging from
communicaions to regulaions for planter boxes. This strong community
engagement is deinitely a factor in ensuring the ongoing success of the
Barbican (Fig. 83).

The owners also pay a substanial maintenance fee of about $5,000 per
year on average. This pays of operaions and maintenance to ensure the
scheme is in good repair. Thus the owners remain engaged and have a
vested interested in the upkeep of the public areas.

72
Fig. 82 the Garchey under-sink vacuum waste
system. It worked using water to suck away waste
to a central locaion below the podium where it
could be removed from one cetral locaion.

Fig. 83 Cover of the Barbican Residents Associa-

ion quarterly magazine. They have a very strong
voice in running the scheme.

73
CONCLUSION
While some, such as Reyner Banham refer to the scheme as ‘Britain’s
largest voluntary gheto’ due to its exclusivity, monoculture and single-
class community (Banham, 1974, p.222); there is no denying the success
of the Barbican project. Whether despised or cherished, the Barbican
is the masterful creaion of a unique refuge of calm in one of the most
bustling inancial centres in the world.

It is the ambiious work of thoughful architects working with an

enlightened client at a very rare ime in history. The partners Chamberlin,
Powell and Bon had always been most interested in urbanism and
coninued to work on urban issues beyond the Barbican. They rejected
Abercrombie’s plan and CIAM’s planning principles. They were interested
in the repopulaion of the City at a ime when the trend was towards
suburbanisaion.

By 1982 when the Arts Centre was inally opened the style of the
complex was out of date – the world had moved on to high-tech,
lightness and transparency – glass and steel. Also there was a change in
planning views from the 1950’s to 80’s. There was a new trend towards
diversity and small intervenions as opposed to single vision, conformity
and giganism of the post-WW2 architects. Yet the Barbican is sill very
popular as a place to live and for cultural events. It has shown itself to
be adaptable and changeable – a very signiicant atribute for successful
architecture.

Clearly, Barbican was intended for a higher income rental populaion. The
inclusion of the cultural Arts Center, the ingenious development of the
muli-level landscaped podiums, the high quality inishes and materials,
and variety of dwelling types are indicaive of the well-heeled market
for which Barbican was intended. Chamberlin, Powell and Bon became
beter known for their later extensive university work. Their thoughful
urban strategy to create new residenial communiies in central London
can now hardly be denied as signiicant both architecturally and
poliically – the Barbican houses more than ity percent of the electoral
populaion for the City. Criicism that The Barbican and Golden Lane
are closed enclaves rather than integrated communiies has validity.
There are really no comparable large public housing schemes that they
could be compared to. The Barbican beneited from excessive public
investment, the beneit of advantageous site acquisiion, the investment
for new infrastructure, inclusion of specialized cultural faciliies, and the
design of superior housing and materials.

The architects were thoughful in their consideraion of the value of

the land and its locaion. It was not that their interest was to only build
an exclusive high-end project. They were skilled, business-minded
74
architects that wanted to see the project realised. Sensibly, considering
the signiicant value of the land, its locality and their interest in
urbanism, high end residenial was the logical answer. These were not
architects that were ixated with socio-poliics, theory and legacy. They
were pracical architects. They were talented and as a partnership the
dynamics of their relaionship and skills worked well - Powell was the
main designer, Chamberlin was skilled at public relaions and business,
the planning and the big thinker, Bon focused on the details.

The achievement of the project, and the fact that Golden Lane is also a
success demonstrates that post-WW2 dense housing projects can work,
but there are complex other issues to consider. The Barbican is a unique
soluion to a disincive urban condiion. It is a well-executed resoluion
to the site issues that required signiicant inancial and poliical support,
an atenive design team, and an understanding of the importance of
the quality of the materials and details, the blending and variety of
programme elements. Its scale, ambiion and resiliency have created a
unique and monumental contribuion to the world urban architecture.

Fig. 84 View across the lake to the lakefront en-

trance to the Arts Centre.

75
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78
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79