This month, London’s Barbican Estate turns 50. Long admired (and reviled) as one of British Modernism’s most important set pieces, its harmony may be under threat.
The combined residential and arts complex welcomed its first tenants in June 1969, attempting to lure middle income residents to what was then a depopulating city center. The complex’s success, now recognized by historic preservation orders, has been all but total. The design by architects Chamberlin, Powell and Bon has created a dense, self-contained neighborhood that still stands as the best-known British reminder that Modernist architects can indeed create elegant, desirable places to live.
