Barbican Estate, City of London Corporation. Text and photos by Nico Macdonald.

The Barbican is a large estate of well-designed and built apartments on the north-west edge of the City of London, the capital's financial district. They were designed and built in the 1960 and 70s, on open ground that had been razed by aerial bombing early in the Second World War (though St Giles-without-Cripplegate survived). A 'barbican' is a gate, and at one time the City of London was enclosed by a wall, only accessible through a small number of gates, at which taxes were collected. Those wanting to avoid taxes setup outside the City Wall, and markets such as Whitecross Street flourished. The 'stink' industries were forced to operate outside the City walls. Tanning in Shoreditch, ironwork at Aldgate, and slaughterhouses in Smithfield. (Today the air in London is cleaner than at any time since that late sixteenth century.)

The Barbican complex was designed by architects Chamberlin, Powell and Bon. It incorporates a walkway (the Podium) that runs throughout the complex above street level, and extends its tentacles into the surrounding city. It also encloses the Barbican Arts Centre, one of the busiest cultural venues in Britain, and a greenhouse second in size only to that at Kew Gardens, in the West of London. Quoted in the Guardian newspaper architect Piers Gough noted that: "The Barbican was one of the last great flourishes of civic pride. It showed public confidence that has now disappeared."