The Barbican Centre is a performing arts centre in the Barbican Estate of the City of London and the largest of its kind in Europe. The centre hosts classical and contemporary music concerts, theatre performances, film screenings and art exhibitions. It also houses a library, three restaurants, and a conservatory.
The Barbican Redevelopment Scheme was a project of staggering scale and complexity. It took nearly three decades to design and build and includes over 2,000 flats, two schools and an arts centre. It required the realignment of an Underground line and the excavation of 190,000 m³ of soil and at its peak employed a thousand workers.
The Barbican Centre designs were approved in 1971 and included a concert hall with a capacity of 2,000, a theatre with a capacity of 1,300, an art gallery, a lending library, the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, cinemas, catering facilities, foyers and car parks.
Karena Johnson has been appointed the new Head of Creative Collaboration & Learning at the Barbican. Currently Artistic Director and CEO of Hoxton Hall, Karena will join the Barbican in September 2022 and will oversee the Barbican’s innovative learning programme; community projects and events, its public programme, as well as Barbican Futures, the driving force behind the Barbican becoming a more inclusive, diverse, and welcoming international centre for art, education, and enterprise.
Arts Centre website
Wikipedia
Walks and tours
Barbican renewal
Community and learning
Contacts