Barbican

I just came back from a short visit in London and among some other places i never saw before in my previous visits, was the enormous Barbican complex next to the 'city'. despite its huge scale and its central position, you will probably not find it on the 'must do' list of London unless you go to a performance at the Barbican Arts Center.
the complex was built between 1965 and 1976 on an area that was badly damaged during World War II. it was designed by architects Chamberlin, Powell and Bon and it covers an area 160.000 m2. instead of rebuilding the London historic street maze, the architects chose to create a concrete mega-structure maze (try to find your way out without the yellow line...) with more then 2000 apartments, museum, art center, lake and retail. Although the design was inspired by the 'brutalism' of the 50's and Le Corbusier’s Unité d’Habitation, its dimensions and complexity make it a thing apart with no similar developments in the UK. however, the attitude toward the project changed in the last decades and if once it has been voted as London's 'ugliest building' today it considered as a jewel of concrete Brutalist architecture. in 2001 the Minister for the Arts even announced that the Barbican complex will be listed as Grade II (buildings of special architectural or historic interest) and considered a landmark.