A residential complex of around 2,000 flats, maisonettes, and houses in central London, The Barbican Estate is a prominent example of British brutalist architecture, which was orginally built as rental housing for middle and upper-middle-class professionals and remains an upmarket estate to this day; home to around 4,000 people, half the population of the City of London.
A radical model of city living and a symbol of post-war optimism, many are familiar with its towers and walkways, though what happens inside — and who the residents are — remains largely unknown. Luckily for the inquisitive among us, Hoxton Mini Press lift the air of mystery and intrigue with the publication of Barbican Residents, a new 240-page hardback from photographer Anton Rodriguez who himself spent several years living in the Barbican Estate.
An earlier edition of the book was published in 2016 but available only at The Barbican Centre shops. The updated version, with new and expanded content including over 30 interviews with residents old and new, is again accompanied by Rodriguez’s remarkable photography and offers a wider audience the opportunity to peek into the private residences and lives of those fortunate enough to live in this illustrious complex.
Home to the Barbican Centre, the Museum of London, the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, the Barbican public library, and the City of London School for Girls, The Barbican Complex is Grade II listed as a whole and, as Olivia Laing comments in her foreword: “a vision of public generosity that is becoming vanishingly rare.”
With concept and photography by Anton Rodriguez, Barbican Residents is published by Hoxton Mini Press is available for pre-order online.
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Barbican Residents Photography, Anton Rodriguez / courtesy Hoxton Mini Press.
