Barbican Centre Description and analysis of motivations behind the planning scheme - Essay Example

? Barbican Centre – and analysis of motivations behind the planning scheme 0 Introduction The evaluation of the structure and elements of planning schemes related to cities has to be based on certain criteria: first, the reasoning for the creation of an urban site needs to be identified. Then, the effects of the site on the social and economic life of the local community should be identified, as possible. Also, the resources available for the realization of the particular planning scheme have to be taken into account. In current paper another aspect of urban planning schemes is explored: the motivations that can exist behind such schemes. Particular emphasis is given to the potential influence of modern and postmodern culture on the planning schemes developed within cities. The case of Barbican Centre in London is used as an example for checking the interaction between urban planning and culture. The literature developed in this field is reviewed aiming to show that urban planning is not independent from the cultural environment of modern cities. However, the level at which an urban planning scheme is affected by culture is not standardized; the practice followed in other urban planning schemes developed locally is commonly used as the basis for defining the cultural characteristics of urban planning schemes. In the case under examination the above finding is explained as follows: the designers of the Barbican Centre were based on cultural trends used in the high majority of similar buildings across UK. Of course, differences between Barbican Centre and other sites of similar use have not been avoided, a fact that it is related to the personal perceptions of its designers but also to the needs that the specific Centre has to cover. In addition, through the years, the alterations of certain of the Centre’s initial parts have been necessary under the influence of postmodern culture, an issue discussed analytically below. 2.0 Barbican Centre as a planning scheme reflecting modern and postmodern culture 2.1 Barbican Centre – Description and key characteristics The interaction between the Barbican Centre and the modern/ postmodern culture can be understood only by referring primarily to the key characteristics of Barbican Centre, meaning especially its construction elements/ structure both in its initial phase, in 1982, and after its two refurbishments, in 2006 and in 2012. The Barbican Centre in the City of London can be characterized as an exceptional architectural work. The idea for the Centre’s establishment can be identified in 1955 but it was quite later, in 1982, that the Centre was finally completed;1 the Queen was invited to open the Barbican Centre in 1982, an invitation to which the Queen responded positively.2 At that time, the Barbican Centre was thought to be an exceptional work, not just in aesthetic terms but also in functional terms: the Centre included not only theatres and cinema but also ‘a library and a series of galleries’.3 Figure 1 – Photos of Barbican Centre, as in 1982 (E-architect 2013) The cost of Barbican Centre has been estimated to ?153m.4 In 2006 the refurbishment of the Centre was considered as necessary so that certain functional weaknesses of the Centre to be addressed; the works done on the Centre in 2006 reached a cost of ?14m.5 Today, the Barbican Centre is the largest complex of buildings dedicated to art.6 The Centre is consisted of a series of buildings of different size; the London Symphony Orchestra is one of the most important buildings of Barbican Centre.7 The annual visitors of Barbican Centre are about 1.5million.8 An important characteristic of the construction process has been its duration.9 In fact, when the Centre was finally completed its main construction material, ‘the concrete hulk, had fallen out of fashion’.10 The access to the Centre is rather strange: ‘at street level the available connections are limited’.11 Instead, the Centre can be accessed easier by ‘walkways that have access to the Centre’s second floor’.12 Also, the spaces within the Centre are not well organized and orientation within the building is rather difficult.13 The refurbishment of 2006 aimed to address the above problem. Indeed, the Centre’s reception was expanded while bold signs were added.14 Figure 2 below shows the Centre’s reception area after the refurbishment of 2006. Figure 2 – Reception area in Barbican Centre after the refurbishment of 2006 (Source: Long 2006) The increase of accessibility to the Centre’s areas was also achieved through ‘the development of a new bridge for helping visitors to move faster across the Centre’s areas’.15 Also, the entrance of the Centre at Silk Street was refurbished.16 The above street aimed to be, according to its planners, just ‘a service road’;17 however, in the context of the refurbishment of 2006 the entrance of the Centre towards the Silk Street was alternated, new elements were added and existed elements were replaced.18 The new entrance offers to the Centre’s visitors a first view on the Centre’s areas (Figure 3).19 Figure 3 – The entrance at Silk street as refurbished in 2006 (Source: Long 2006) In 2012 a further refurbishment of Barbican Centre was decided under the pressure for more cinemas. Indeed, the Centre’s cinema was refurbished (Figure 4) while two new cinemas were developed.20 Figure 4 – The initial cinema of Barbican Centre, after the refurbishment in 2012 (MovieScope Magazine 2012) For the financial year 2004/2005 the profits of Barbican Centre were estimated to ‘?8 million, approximately ?2.5 million more compared to the period 2003/2004’.21 The well-organized productions had highly contributed in the above outcome.22 In addition, the various spaces of the Centre are periodically reviewed for potential technical/ construction damages and failures.23 In 2006 major refurbishment tasks were developed aiming to increase the Centre’s attractiveness to young people.24 Moreover, an important problem of the Centre had to be addressed: Barbican Centre’s value in terms of aesthetics cannot be doubted; still, the Centre has been proved non-navigable, a problem related to the Centre’s complexity.25 Figure 5 - (Barbican Centre 2011/2012 Annual Report, p.27) The refurbishments of Barbican Centre have been welcomed by the public, a fact verified through the Centre’s increased income for the period 2011/2012, as compared to the earned income of 2010/2011 (Figure 5). However, if reviewed carefully the table in Figure 5 reveals that the income from the Centre’s art programming is lower at 2011/2012, if compared to 2010/2011 (Figure 5). At this point, the following issue should be explored: why the refurbishments of Barbican Centre were considered as necessary since the effects of these works on the financial performance of the Centre have been limited? The answer would be that these works have been unavoidable in order for the Centre to keep its alignment with its cultural environment. This view is verified through the literature referring to the relationship between urban planning and culture, as the relevant studies are analytically presented below, in the section 2.2.1. Moreover, in the section 2.2.2 the actual relationship between the Barbican centre, in its current form, and the modern/ postmodern culture is critically explored. 2.2 Analysis of the planning scheme used in Barbican Centre based on the literature related to modern and postmodern culture In general, the Barbican centre seems to be influenced by a series of cultural trends, as involved in urban planning. Particular emphasis should be given to modern and postmodern culture which has been highly represented in modern cities worldwide. In London also, the modern and postmodern culture has been highly involved in architecture. The case of Barbican centre is an example of the above view. The relationship between the modern/ postmodern culture and the architectural characteristics of Barbican centre is analytically presented below. 2.2.1 Modern and postmodern culture – characteristics and involvement in urban planning One of the most important characteristics of modern urbanization is the simultaneous development of ‘culture, space and economy’.26 This means that in modern cities the promotion of culture can be achieved only if combined with the promotion of economy and under the terms that the necessary space is available. In any case, the modern city can be used as a cultural centre, as indicated in Figure 6 below; in the particular Figure the role of modern city in promoting culture is made clear. Figure 6 – The modern city and its involvement in the promotion of culture and urbanization (Stern and Seifert 2007, p.14) In order to understand the role of culture within cities it is necessary to refer to the elements of culture, as part of modern cities. In the context of the city, culture has a different meaning than its common one. Normally, culture is a term use for showing either ‘the intellectual achievements or the ethics of a particular society’.27 However, when referring to a city, culture reflects ‘the built environment and even parks and memorials that indicate the local identity’.28 On the other hand, the strong economic pressures in the global market from 1970s onwards, led to the differentiation of cities’ priorities: instead of emphasizing on their social needs, cities had to take into consideration their economic resources, as these resources would also support cities’ cultural development.29 In this context, the cultural plans of cities had to be controlled as of their financial needs and could not be evaluated only in terms of their ‘political and social goals’.30 However, the level at which the cultural plans of a city incorporate plans for renovation of sites related to culture is not standardized across cities.31 Apart from the resources available, the structure of each city, its infrastructure and its social/ cultural needs are used as the basis for taken such decisions.32 O’Donnell (2008) also claims that the cultural heritage of each place is not related only to the place’s physical assets but also to ‘people and traditions’.33 It has been further noted that public space should reflect a series of values/ ethics but also the perceptions/ beliefs of citizens.34 This means that when developing a site that will be used for cultural purposes the appropriateness of a place, in terms of space available, is just one of the issues that should be addressed. The potential responses of local population to the specific project as well as the alignment of the site with local culture should be also checked. In any case, today the priorities of modern cities are different compared to the past. More specifically, for the modern city its influence both at local and at international level can be more important than its role in preserving local culture.35 The above trend is an implication of the continuous expansion of globalization.36 This means that the built environment of modern cities should reflect not just the local culture and ethics but also the international trends of urban culture; the latter is reflected to the built environment of big cities worldwide, such as New York, Sydney, Tokyo and so on. According to the above, culture is highly related to urban planning, especially in cities. The modes of culture developed in modern cities should be also discussed. Reference should be made in particular to modern and post-modern culture, as factors affecting urban planning. In this way, it will be possible to check whether the site under examination, i.e. the Barbican Centre, is aligned with the trends and rules of modern and post-modern culture. The term modern culture first appeared in ‘the book Modern Painters of John Ruskin, a book written between 1843 and 1860’.37 The above term has been extensively used in studies published after the 1880s.38 For Ruskin, the term modern reflects the potentials of ‘natural sciences to be involved in knowledge’.39 Through a different point of view, modern culture has its roots in Enlightenment.40 At that time, modern culture reflected the ‘universalism and the freedom from law’.41 In other words, modern culture shows the independency of culture from the rules of the governors and the emphasis on creativity and innovation.42 As for post-modernism, as related to culture, the particular concept is used for showing the ‘elimination of categorical distinctions’.43 In any case, post-modernism can have a series of aspects. Using a general definition, post-modernism can be described as the concept that shows ‘the multiplication of voices, questions and conflicts that has shattered great traditions’.44 According to Turner, modernism refers mostly to the ‘culture of the twentieth century’45 while post-modernism reflects the period that followed the modernism and is characterized by ‘a more tolerant pluralism’.46 Using a similar approach, Monclus and Guardia note that post-modernism emphasizes on ‘the significance of values and the diversity of cultures’.47 Larsen (2004) supported that when referring to a city ‘post-modernity, means almost everything that goes against and even destroys this notion of the city and of place in general’.48 It is noted though that in the context of a city, post-modernity cannot exist unless a period of modernity, reflected in the area’s extensive urbanity, has come first.49 2.2.2 At what level the planning scheme used in Barbican Centre is aligned with the modern and postmodern culture The relationship between Barbican Centre and culture is reflected to the following fact: the Barbican Centre has been developed in an area that is of critical importance for the British economy: the City of London. This means that the designers of the Centre aimed to secure the Centre’s potentials to attract investments for the realization of its artistic programs. Also, as part of the City of London, the Barbican Centre has contributed in the area’s cultural development, a fact that has increased the area’s popularity both as a centre of commercial activities and as a place of residence. The above view is aligned with the study of Stern and Seifert (2007), as presented in the section 2.2.1, who noted that modern urbanization is highly based on the promotion, simultaneously, of ‘culture, economy and space’.50 Indeed, Barbican Centre is an extensive complex incorporated buildings of various artistic purposes, including theatres, cinemas and galleries.51 In other words, in the case of Barbican Centre the availability of space has been a key factor for promoting culture in the context of a quite strong economic environment, the City of London. According to the literature presented above, the characteristics of Barbican Centre, as a complex of building, need to be aligned not only with the British culture but rather with the international culture, as reflected in all big cities internationally. This means that the style of design of the Centre’s buildings, the decoration used, the green areas and all other elements of construction involved in the particular site should be similar to those of other cities’ cultural centres. Figure 7 – Lincoln Center, New York (Central Park’s website) Figure 8 – National Art Center of Tokyo (Notes from Tokyo, 2013) A comparison between the Barbican Centre’s buildings (Figures 1-4 & 9-12) and those of Lincoln Center in New York (Figure 7) and of Nogizaka, the National Art Center of Tokyo (Figures 8, 8a) proves that there are many similarities between the three sites, the Barbican Centre, the Lincoln Center and the Nogizaka, as cultural centres of big cities. Of course, the extensive use of postmodern culture in Nogizaka, as compared to the other two sites, is clear. This fact could be easily explained: Tokyo is a big city but it is also the capital of Japan where advanced technology is highly promoted. The country’s national art center is expected to reflect this trend. In New York and London the effects of postmodern culture on urban planning seems to be at similar level, i.e. at average level. Figure 8a – Nogizaka - National Art Center of Tokyo (Where in Tokyo 2013) Barbican Centre has caused important conflicts as of its aesthetic value; indeed, recently the buildings of the Centre were recently voted as ‘the ugliest in UK’.52 However, the existence of extensive green and play areas can limit the impressions caused by the above view.53 Certain aspects of the Centre’s sites are presented in Figures 9 to 12 below. The relevant photos are important to understand the current value of the Centre, in terms of aesthetics, and its potential alignment with the modern and postmodern culture. Figure 9 – The Barbican Centre (Barbican Centre 2011/2012 Annual Report, p.19) Figure 10 – The Barbican Centre (Barbican Centre 2011/2012 Annual Report, p.20) Figure 11 – The Barbican Centre (Barbican Centre 2011/2012 Annual Report, p.26) Figure 12 - Barbican Centre, Conservatory (Barbican Centre Website, Visitor Info, 2013) As made clear through the photos presented in Figures 9 up to 12 but also to those presented in Figures 1 up to 4, the Barbican Centre has been initially developed following the urban trends held in London in the period of the Centre’s establishment, i.e. in 1970s - 1980s. According to the literature presented previously, in section 2.2.1, cities can promote both modernism and postmodernism. Modernism has been proved to reflect the cultural trends of a particular period, that of the 19th century,54 even if modernism, as an idea, can be identified in the cultural trends of Enlightenment.55 As for the key characteristics of modernism, these seem to be the following: a) universalism,56 b) no acceptance of distinctions57 and c) emphasis on creativity.58 The structural characteristics of Barbican Centre, as a complex site, seem to meet the above criteria. Indeed, in the site’s photos, as presented above, the efforts of the Centre’s designers to promote creativity, to use building patterns that are popular in big cities worldwide and to promote innovative ideas, such as sustainability, are made clear. In its initial form, the Centre is clearly aligned with the rules of modernism. The doubt of widely used building rules, a characteristics of post-modernism, is reflected in the plans on which the refurbishments of the Centre, in 2006 and 2012, was based. More specifically, in Figure 1 a series of photos of Barbican Centre in its initial status, in 1982, is presented. The emphasis on the size of the building blocks rather than on their aesthetic value is clear. It is for this reason that, in terms of their design, the buildings incorporated in the Barbican Centre can be characterized rather as out-of-date. It is obvious that the key aim of the Centre’s initial planners has been the potential of the buildings to host large events and, not so much, to give the impression of an integrated work of art. In other words, functionality and not aesthetics has been the key motivation behind the Centre’s planning scheme. It should be noted, that in its initial form, the planning scheme of Centre was aligned with modernism but not at satisfactory level, a fact that it is made clear if comparing the Centre’s photos with the photo representing the Lincoln Center in New York (Figure 7), where modernism has been effectively combined with post-modernism. In any case, the interventions made in the Centre’s areas between 2006 and 2012 seem to be based on different motivations: these interventions have been based on the need for aligning the Centre with the cultural trends of post-modernism that emphasizes on innovative schemes/ symbols, on the impression of freedom and on the doubt of existing traditions/ building rules. In Figures 2-4 and 9-10 the emphasis on post-modernism is clear, even if not at the same level as in Figures 8 and 8a where the National Art Center of Tokyo is presented. 3. Conclusion The development of urban planning in cities worldwide has been based on certain principles and trends. A similar practice has been followed when designing and establishing the Barbican Centre in the City of London. The particular site is considered as the largest Art Center in Europe, a fact that it is not sufficient for proving the Centre’s value not just as a complex of buildings but also as a place for the promotion of culture. The literature related to urban planning, as reviewed for this study, has proved that culture is highly involved in the development of modern cities. Still, the level at which culture is taken into consideration when designing urban plans is not standardized. This fact is verified through the case of Barbican Centre. The designers of the Centre have focused on the size of the site, aiming to ensure that it could host a high number of events. Through the years the change of the above priority has been made clear. The Centre’s areas should be renovated promoting more on elements that are common in post-modernism, such as increase of green areas, addition of elements based on advanced technology and change of the shape of the buildings’ key areas, making architectural lines less sharp. In this way, the attractiveness of the Centre to the public would be radically increased. The years that follow will prove the effectiveness of this practice, as the last refurbishment of the Centre was just in 2012. References Allan, K., The Meaning of Culture: Moving the Postmodern Critique Forward (Westport: Greenwood Publishing Group, 1998). Amit-Cohen, I., ‘Synergy between urban planning, conservation of the cultural built heritage and functional changes in the old urban center—the case of Tel Aviv’, Land Use Policy 22, 2005, pp.291–300, retrieved 3 July 2013, . Arvanitaki, A., Productivity of Culture, ECCM Symposium, ATHENS, 18-20 OCTOBER 2007 Urban Development Planning and Culture, retrieved 3 July 2013, . Barbican Centre, 2013, . BBC News , ‘1982: Queen opens Barbican Centre’, retrieved 3 July 2013, . Central Park Website (2013) Lincoln Centre. Retrieved 3 July 2013, . Davis, T., Suny Series in Postmodern Culture: Kurt Vonnegut's Crusade: Or, How a Postmodern Harlequin Preached a New Kind of Humanism (New York: SUNY Press, 2006). E-architect, Barbican Centre, 2013, . Goheen, P., ‘Public space and the geography of the modern cit’, Progress in Human Geography 22, 4, 1998, pp. 479-496, retrieved 3 July 2013, . Larsen, S., The City as a Postmodern Metaphor, KONTUR nr. 10 – 2004, 27-33, retrieved 10 July 2013, . Long, K., ‘Barbican refurbishment by Allford Hall Monaghan Morris’, Building magazine, October 2006, retrieved 3 July 2013, . Marshall, T., ‘Why it’ll be a happy birthday for Barbican’, Islington Gazette, March 9, 2012, retrieved 3 July 2013, . Miles, M., Cities and Cultures (London: Routledge, 2007). Mitchell, W., ‘Barbican's 30th anniversary plans include opening new cinemas with dystopian film programmes’, Screen Daily, March 8, 2012, retrieved 3 July 2013, . Monclus, J. and Guardia, Manuel, Culture, Urbanism and Planning (Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., 2012). MovieScope magazine, ‘Barbican Centre announce programme for new cinemas’, September 26, 2012, retrieved 3 July 2013, . Norcliffe, G., Bassett, K. and Hoare, T., ‘The emergence of postmodernism on the urban waterfront - Geographical perspectives on changing relationships’, Journal of Notes from Tokyo, National Art Center, Retrieved 3 July 2013, . Transport Geography, Vol. 4, no 2, 1996, p. 123 – 134, retrieved 3 July 2013, . O’Donnell, P., Urban Cultural Landscapes & the Spirit of Place, ICOMOS QUEBEC 2008, retrieved 3 July 2013, . Scruton, R., Modern Culture (New York: Continuum, 2006). Smith, A., ‘Barbican Centre smashes records with ?8m takings’, The Stage News, October 21, 2005, retrieved 3 July 2013, . Stern, M. and Seifert, S., Culture and Urban Revitalization: A Harvest Document, University of Pennsylvania, January 2007, retrieved 3 July 2013, . Turner, T., City As Landscape: A Post-Postmodern View of Design and Planning (Oxon: Taylor & Francis, 1996). UN Habitat (2004) Dialogue on urban cultures: globalization and culture in an urbanizing world, World Urban Forum, 2004, retrieved 3 July 2013, . Where in Tokyo, National Art Center: Nogizaka, Retrieved 3 July 2013, . Read More