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I don't like the Barbican. Sure, there are positives about it, such as the fact that it contains a large cultural centre, but even there I find the design very middling and very opaque.
My vision of a good cityscape is one of small plot sizes, unconcentrated land ownership, permeable street patterns, as many entrances as possible, and the Barbican scores extremely low on all of these. Moreover, it was built still based on the Buchanan dogma of putting car traffic at ground floor level and much else of the life of the city on the first floor, leading to a huge barrier block where cycling is banned.
I can well imagine that it's great for those who enjoy living in the tower blocks and other flats there, but it's not my kind of city design.
Oliver Schick
Barbican is bloody amazing, such a shame there are not more places like it, although I wonder if it would HAVE been such a grand project if it wasn't for the Germans so kindly clearing the space for it.