Building Utopia: The Barbican Centre

Building Utopia: The Barbican Centre
Author: Nicholas Kenyon
Publisher: Batsford Books
Total Pages: 445
Release: 2022-02-10
Genre: Architecture
ISBN: 1849947805

A beautifully designed celebration of the 40th birthday of the Barbican Arts Centre, in the heart of the City of London. It is the largest multi-arts centre in Europe, encompassing an art gallery, theatres, concert halls, cinemas and a much-loved conservatory, and regular collaborators include the London Symphony Orchestra and the Royal Shakespeare Company. Compiled by Nicholas Kenyon, the Barbican Centre's Managing Director 2007–2021, this is an in-depth exploration of the centre, drawing on the vast array of material available in its archives, much of which has never been seen before. It includes plans and photographs from the centre's design and construction, original signage and branding, and brochures and programmes. All this is accompanied by a wealth of photographs of the huge range of performances and exhibitions that have taken place over the years, from early RSC performances to the popular Rain Room installation of 2012 to today's impressive programme of events put together in conjunction with schools and the local community. The book's authoritative and evocative text includes: Foreword by Fiona Shaw Introduction by Sir Nicholas Kenyon Cultural historian Robert Hewison on how the centre came into being Architectural historian Elain Harwood on its architecture Music critic Fiona Maddocks on music Writer and theatre critic Lyn Gardner on theatre Editor and creative director Tony Chambers on visual art Author and film critic Sukhdev Sandhu on film With listings of Barbican events from 1982 to the present day, and snippets of oral history from some of the many people associated with the centre over the years, this sumptuous book is an invaluable companion to one of the world's most important cultural spaces.

Barbican Centre

Barbican Centre
Author:
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2019
Genre: Photography
ISBN: 9780500294666

The Barbican Centre in the City of London is the largest multi-disciplinary arts centre in Europe. Designed by Chamberlin, Powell & Bon as part of the Barbican Estate and to provide homes for both the London Symphony Orchestra and the Royal Shakespeare Company, the building is internationally renowned not only as an example of radical, visionary architecture in the Modernist tradition, but also for its outstanding programme of more than 2,000 cultural events each year: plays, concerts, films, exhibitions and more. A new title in the Pocket Photo Books series of immersive visual guides to the experience of place, this compact album of more than one hundred photographs by Harry Cory Wright presents the dramatic spaces, rich textures and carefully selected materials of the Barbican Centre in all their detail. From the flowing, multi-level space of the foyer and the calm wooden-panelled concert hall to the surprising intimacy of the theatre and the soaring jungle of the conservatory, the Barbican Centre offers the visitor an extraordinary variety of experiences within a single building. This book captures their full range, providing exceptional insights into one of the most significant and exciting modern buildings in Britain and a thriving cultural hub in the heart of London.

Postwar Modern

Postwar Modern
Author: Jane Alison
Publisher: National Geographic Books
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2022-07-26
Genre: Art
ISBN: 3791379356

This landmark volume offers a major re-assessment of the art that emerged in Britain in the twenty years following the end of the Second World War: a period of anxiety, profound social change and explosive creativity. Published to coincide with the Barbican Centre’s 40th anniversary, it draws together the work of fifty artists, exploring a period straddled precariously between the horror of the past and the promise of the future. Spanning painting, sculpture, architecture, ceramics and photography, Postwar Modern will explore a rich field of experiment which challenges the idea that Britain was a cultural backwater at this time. Through new texts by Jane Alison, Hilary Floe, Ben Highmore, Hammad Nassar and Greg Salter, the book looks afresh at celebrated artists such as Francis Bacon, David Hockney, Lucian Freud and Eduardo Paolozzi, shown in dialogue with lesser-known figures. These will include those, like Francis Newton Souza, Avinash Chandra and Robert Adams, who were acclaimed by contemporaries but neglected in subsequent history-making; others, like Kim Lim, Anwar Jalal Shemza and Franciszka Themerson, are only now attracting the attention they deserve. Throughout their work, vital shared preoccupations become visible: gender, class, race and nationhood; the body, the bombsite, and the home. It is a period resonating strongly with our own: as the UK emerges from more than a decade of austerity and confronts the challenges of post-pandemic reconstruction, society is asking similarly deep questions about who we want and need to be.

The Barbican Estate

The Barbican Estate
Author: Stefi Orazi
Publisher: Batsford Books
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2020-10-08
Genre: Architecture
ISBN: 1849945667

A beautifully produced book to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Grade II listed brutalist icon, the Barbican Estate. 2019 marks the 50th anniversary of the first residents moving into the Barbican Estate in London. This new book is a celebration of this unique complex – looking at the design of the individual flats as well as its status as a brutalist icon. Author and designer Stefi Orazi interviews residents past and present, giving an insight into how life on the estate has changed over the decades. The complex, designed by Chamberlin, Powell and Bon, is now Grade II listed, and is one of the world’s most well-known examples of brutalist architecture. Its three towers – Cromwell, Shakespeare and Lauderdale – are among London’s tallest residential spaces and the estate is a landmark of the city. This is a beautifully illustrated, comprehensive guide to the estate, with newly commissioned photography by Christoffer Rudquist. It will show in detail each of the 140 different flat types, including newly drawn drawings of the flats as well as original plans and maps. Includes fascinating texts by leading architects and design critics, including John Allan of Avanti Architects on the unique building materials and fittings of the flats, and Charles Holland of Charles Holland Architects (and FAT co-founder) on the home and how these concrete towers have become such an integral part of Britain’s domestic and architectural history.

Rise Up

Rise Up
Author: Stormzy
Publisher: Random House
Total Pages: 256
Release: 2018-11-01
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1529119014

*A 2018 BOOK OF THE YEAR* ‘An inspirational must-read.’ Evening Standard ‘A very important book.’ Will Gompertz, BBC ‘A motivational, inspirational oral history.’ Nikesh Shukla, iNews ‘Don’t sleep on it... the future is looking #Merky.’ Metro ______________________ ‘It’s been a long time coming, I swear...’ In four years Stormzy has risen from one of the most promising musicians of his generation to a spokesperson for a generation. Rise Up is the story of how he got there. It’s a story about faith and the ideas worth fighting for. It’s about knowing where you’re from, and where you’re going. It’s about following your dreams without compromising who you are. Featuring never-before-seen photographs, lyrics and contributions from Team #Merky, Rise Up is the #Merky story, and the record of a journey unlike any other. ______________________ Edited and Co-written by Jude Yawson Contributions by Team #Merky Images by Kaylum Dennis

AI

AI
Author: Mark Fisher
Publisher:
Total Pages: 235
Release: 2019
Genre: Art and technology
ISBN: 9781527233454

Key features include Margaret Atwood’s essay ‘Are Humans Necessary?’ tracing the history of robots in literature and culture; a fictional piece written by the late cultural theorist Mark Fisher in collaboration co-curator Suzanne Livingston; xenopoet Amy Ireland and computer generated 3D poems/ ‘modules’ that pose a challenge to the limitations of human language and Demis Hassabis, co-founder of Google DeepMind, and professional Go player, Fan Hui, describe how their experience of the Alpha Go program changed their perceptions of human vs artificial intelligence.

Tower Bridge, London

Tower Bridge, London
Author: Harry Cory Wright
Publisher: Pocket Photo Books
Total Pages: 176
Release: 2019-03-21
Genre:
ISBN: 9780500294673

Tower Bridge is one of the most famous bridges in the world. Designed by Sir Horace Jones (1819-1887) and engineer Sir John Wolfe Barry (1836-1918) over a period of eight years, it was the largest and most advanced bascule bridge ever completed when it opened in 1894, requiring 11,000 tons of steel and involving more than 400 construction workers. This impressive feat of engineering helped sustain the growing commercial activity at the docks and warehouses in East London, and the sudden influx of daily commuters brought in from the newly built London Bridge station. Still in full use today, the bridge is lifted an average of 850 times a year. This Victorian masterpiece remains a highly important crossing on the River Thames, as well as being one of London's defining landmarks. This compelling album of photographs by Harry Cory Wright allows us to experience the awe-inspiring structure of Tower Bridge in exquisite detail, from the intricate machinery and original mechanisms inside the control rooms and secret corridors, to the great cavernous space within the bascule chamber. It includes an interview with Senior Technical Officer Glen Ellis, who shares his own daily experience of lifting the bridge, evoking an incredibly vivid sense of 'being there'.

The Language of Cities

The Language of Cities
Author: Deyan Sudjic
Publisher: Penguin UK
Total Pages: 225
Release: 2016-10-06
Genre: Architecture
ISBN: 0241188059

The director of the Design Museum defines the greatest artefact of all time: the city We live in a world that is now predominantly urban. So how do we define the city as it evolves in the twenty-first century? Drawing examples from across the globe, Deyan Sudjic decodes the underlying forces that shape our cities, such as resources and land, to the ideas that shape conscious elements of design, whether of buildings or of space. Erudite and entertaining, he considers the differences between capital cities and the rest to understand why it is that we often feel more comfortable in our identities as Londoners, Muscovites, or Mumbaikars than in our national identities.

The Night Village

The Night Village
Author: Zoe Deleuil
Publisher: Fremantle Press
Total Pages: 234
Release: 2021-08-03
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1925815668

When Australian expat Simone moves to London to start a career, getting pregnant is not on her agenda. But she's excited to start a new life with her baby and determined to be a good mother. Even though her boyfriend Paul's cold and grey apartment in the Barbican Estate seems completely ill-suited for a baby. Even though Simone and Paul have only known each other for a year. Even though she feels utterly unprepared for motherhood. The arrival of Paul's cousin Rachel in the flat should be a godsend. But there is something about Rachel that Simone doesn't trust. Fighting sleep deprivation and a rising sense of unease, she begins to question Rachel's motives, and to wonder what secrets the cousins share.