Peter Chamberlin: The Latest Architecture and News

Musicians of all ages and genres feature the Barbican in their music videos. Youtuber Phil Gyford’s playlist “The Barbican in Music Videos” compiles songs from artists including British rapper Skepta, UK rock band Coldplay, the infamous electronic musician Moby, and guitarist James Morrison. Even modern pop artist Dua Lipa strut her stuff through the Barbican while singing her song, “Blow Your Mind (Mwah).”

But what makes the Barbican the perfect set for a professional music video? Perhaps artists were attracted to its remarkable Brutalist style. Maybe the architecture was used for it’s historical or political significance.

A higher percentage of the world’s population lives in cities than in any point in history, and with an ever increasing demand for housing, some of the planet’s older and more condensed cities are struggling to keep up. This crisis is currently front and center in London, where median housing prices 12 times the median income have prompted a large number of radical solutions to quell the storm, but with politicians so far declining to take decisive action a viable answer remains a distant possibility.

In a new video produced by a collaboration between The Architectural Review and the Architecture Foundation, Phineas Harper proposes London take lessons from housing solutions from the past. The example on display here is The Barbican, a massive housing block constructed in the 1960s and 70s, and featuring amenities such as an arts center, music school, restaurants, pub and a cinema, all while providing comfortable, affordable housing for the middle-class professionals at which it was targeted. The video recounts the tale of the project's inception and its design ideals, revealing how this 50-year-old fortress in central London could be an inspiration for the architecture - and the politics - of today.