Barbican Centre

Brutalist. Encapsulating. Timeless. Anyone who knows London, knows the Barbican Centre. A complex of modernist apartment and office buildings that sprung out of the soil of post-war London.

Today, in the middle of the maze sits the Barbican Centre. A world-leading creative & cultural institution, host to contemporary art exhibitions, orchestral splendours, film nights, and tucked within one of its many harsh crevices – a little gift shop filled with London mementos.

Stemming from a chance meeting at a trade fair, Barbican’s retail development team took interest in our product selection, and commissioned us to design a bespoke piece, exclusively for the Barbican.

As a young company we were thrilled to be given such an open brief, with the Barbican being a true architectural wonderland to get lost in.

Documenting the area proved challenging at first, with each building having many interesting sides. Combining recognised landmarks from the surrounding area, such as the One London Wall and Tower 42, we wanted to find a balance between geometric perfection and a chaotic tangling of buildings.

The commission includes greetings cards and singer-sewn notebooks, that come in either grey or citrine, as well as a highly detailed A3 colouring-in poster, packaged in a sturdy slide-lid tube. Everything is available from the Barbican, both online and in store.

Barbican Notebooks by The City Works

More of our commissions

Bodleian Libraries

Bodleian Library – The City Works – Stationery Set1

Highline Building

Elephant and Castle Hampton Street Mural Highline Building, by The City Works for University of the Arts London 3
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