Vagabond
Barbican sabreurs James and Nic have been exploring some of the best wine bars in our area and recently discovered Vagabond in Paternoster Square. The concept is simple but brilliant — over 100 wines on tap, ready for you to sample in a 25ml taster, 125ml small glass, or 175ml large glass. The wines are separated [...]
Balfour Winery
Some of you may have noticed the “Balfour” wine bars in Bow Churchyard and West Smithfield. In the autumn 2025 Barbican Life magazine we visit the winery that supplies them! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rI0zzGE5sDs
From show flat to showroom
How research into Miriam Howitt’s original Barbican interiors helped shape a new furniture collection for MADE, by Peter Duckworth When I wrote about the Barbican’s original show flats, and the work of architect and designer Miriam Howitt, for Barbican Life, I did not expect the research to travel far [...]
BIKE MATTERS
As cycling becomes more mainstream and the number of people relying on their bikes to get around increases, so does the need for better and more secure parking as well as for safer streets and pavements. With this in mind, the Barbican Bike User Group was recently established to [...]
Barbican’s own Agony Aunt
Kevin Kiernan presents another selection of letters received by Ann Drewes, Barbican’s own Agony Aunt. Dear Auntie Ann I know it’s about time I grew up, but I love cartoons/comic strips eg: Dilbert, Peanuts, Calvin and Hobbes, and Hagar the Horrible. The H the H strip is very [...]
What the Dragons Have Seen
A funny thing happens when you live in the Barbican long enough: the extraordinary gradually becomes ordinary. The lakes become part of your daily route. St Giles' Cripplegate becomes a familiar landmark rather than a remarkable medieval survivor. The architecture that fascinates visitors becomes the backdrop to collecting a [...]
Ridgeview Wine Estate Tour
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKtqDJWbzrM
Every Journey Shapes Britain
Did your family come to Britain from another country? Whether it was you, your parents, or your grandparents – we want to hear your story. The Migration Museum explores how migration has shaped who we are today – as individuals, as communities, and as a nation. We are opening [...]
Theatre Previews
Gary Donaldson previews the big shows in the Barbican’s theatre this summer. From 30 July in the Barbican Theatre, a musical of a very different nature arrives in the shape of “Death Note: The Musical”, a world premiere of a brand-new production, featuring a revised script and new music [...]
A well-oiled machine?
Most of the time the financial markets generate investment returns that outstrip cash, in terms of both growth and income, over the longer term. Occasions where, over a rolling 10 year period, the stock market has lost money are few and far between. The most recent examples are the [...]
INSIGHT Exhibition Review
Miranda McArthur’s’ quarterly review of the Arts, Gallery and Museum scene. Born in America in 1834, James McNeill Whistler spent some of his teenage years at the Imperial Academy of Arts in St Petersburg, trained at West Point, moved to Paris, and lived and worked for much of his [...]
From Blitz to Bloom
The Secret History of the Barbican’s Landscape by Alessandro Ferrari, Andrewes House, Barbican. The Barbican’s greenery was never intended as an afterthought. It was a fundamental architectural participant from the first sketch. The architects Chamberlin, Powell and Bon were not just building towers. They were three neighbors from Chelsea [...]
CONFESSIONS OF A CONCIERGE
Arthur Copus reflects on 20 years behind the reception desk at Lauderdale Tower* After pounding the mean streets of W1as a postman for eight years I decided to look for a new challenge and after a couple of front-of-house jobs in Victoria and Islington I was successful in applying [...]
Growing Together
The Barbican Horticultural Society Goes Digital The Barbican Horticultural Society may have been around for many years, but there’s nothing outdated about its website, launched in May, writes Holly Spice, its designer. For more than 45 years, the Barbican Horticultural Society has helped residents explore the unique pleasures (and [...]