The Barbican Arts Centre, surfacing from a challenging year, will be celebrating its 40th Birthday in March 2022. It is the largest multi-arts centre in Europe, encompassing an art gallery, theatres, concert halls, cinemas and a much-loved conservatory, and regular collaborators include the London Symphony Orchestra and the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Sir Nicholas Kenyon, the Barbican’s former Managing Director who stepped down in September 2021 compiled an in-depth exploration of the centre, drawing on the vast array of material available in its archives, much of which has never been seen before. It includes plans and photographs from the brutalist centre’s design and construction, original signage and branding, and brochures and programmes. All this is accompanied by a wealth of photographs of the huge range of performances and exhibitions that have taken place over the years, from early RSC performances to the popular Rain Room installation of 2012 to today’s programme of events.

Foreword by Fiona Shaw

Includes:

• Cultural historian Robert Hewison on how the centre came into being
• Architectural historian Elain Harwood on its architecture
• Music critic Fiona Maddocks on music
• Writer and theatre critic Lyn Gardner on theatre
• Editor and creative director Tony Chambers on visual art
• Author and film critic Sukhdev Sandhu on film

288 pages