Browse our photo archive of the Barbican's construction
Building the Brutal
Photographer Peter Bloomfield was commissioned by the Barbican to document the final stages of building's construction. His beautiful images - which have never been shared with the public - capture the astonishing scale of the construction effort.
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Piers Gough on the Barbican
When architect Piers Gough came to study at the Architectural Association in the sixties, the Barbican represented the three-dimensional future of the city. Here, he looks at how its baroque confidence has influenced his buildings.
Long Read: 35 Years of Firsts
We look back through 35 ‘Firsts’ from our boundary-pushing heritage over the last three and a half decades including a short essay by Cerys Matthews.
Timeline
Watch
Watch: Barbican, 1969 - from London Metropolitan Archives
This film from the London Met Archives, documents the development scheme for a residential area in the City following the destruction of the area after World War II and the start of building works in the Barbican.
Watch: Look at Life, Top People (1960)
In this archive film, see an overview of high-rise construction activity in 1960s London. From the crane operators who built the sky-scrapers to the tenants in the penthouses, this newsreel provides a birds-eye view of London, including the Barbican.