Studio: Reflect Studio
Role: Design & Direction

Inspired by the brutal architecture of the Barbican estate, its most iconic features were distilled to simple, bold shapes in lush and playful colours.

Barbican Centre is a performing arts centre in the Barbican Estate of the City of London, UK. The centre was developed by architects Chamberlin, Powell and Bon as part of a utopian vision to transform an area of London left devastated by bombings during the Second World War. Listed as a A Grade II building, the Barbican is one of London’s best examples of Brutalist architecture. When Reflect Studio was asked to create a collection, the brief was to celebrate the Barbican architecture in a fresh way, playfully contrasting with the venue’s typical B&W brutalist aesthetic. The target audience was the architecture-fan visitors of the venue, who have a discerning eye for design and are looking for a memento of their visit to the Barbican. Inspired by the brutal architecture of the Barbican estate, its most iconic features were distilled to simple, bold shapes in lush and playful colours.

The starting point was exploring how the architecture of the barbican can be reinterpreted in different ways and even boiled down to simple, yet recognisable shapes. Barbican’s famous architectural features such as balconies, towers, semi-circle windows, arches and barrel shapes were spotted and distilled into a distinctive visual language using simple shapes that are evocative of the building and are instantly recognisable. The resulting collection of products is a lush, youthful and playful celebration of the brutal architecture of the Barbican Centre.

Visual Index

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