Science Fiction classics at the Barbican Library

This week we have added more to our Into the Unknown post: the Barbican Library is having its own little exhibit of classic science fiction memorabilia!

Into the Unknown: Science Fiction at the Barbican Centre

From June 3 to September 1, our favourite retrofuturistic wonderland the Barbican Centre is holding a Science Fiction retrospective!

Into the Unknown explores the ability of science fiction to investigate 'the mysteries of what is still to be discovered, and the power of human ingenuity to unravel them."

Barbican Conservatory: concrete jungle

Every summer, once a week, the Barbican opens a very special section to the garden-loving public. The Barbican Conservatory is London's second-largest greenhouse, next to Kew Gardens. Unlike the greenhouses in Kew Gardens, it's relatively small, split into several levels, and is in the heart of the city.

summer at last!

While New Jersey & New York have been basking in the summer sunshine, London was dull and rainy.

The caryatids of St Pancras Church

Summer flowers like the delphinium bloomed bravely in the face of constant damp, wet winds and thunderstorms.

But this week temperatures soared and the city changed. A sunny weekend led to blazing sunshine over the next few days and Londoners were ready to make the most of it.

they paved paradise, and put up...

...a paradise.

Brutalist architecture is called so for a reason. Distressed textures, the muddy colour of raw concrete and the stark lines of mid-20th-century* design exemplified this style. Many condemned it (and still do!) as ugly and intrusive.

open city | open heart

Living on the fringes of big cities as the wonder | wander | women do, we often get friends passing through. But after hitting the big tourist attractions, taking in a couple of shows, and having tea at the Savoy or drinks under the King Cole mural at the St Regis, our friends can tire of the crowds and famous sights. So we take them to places beloved by locals.

Image courtesy of Lola Abrera

birthday at the Barbican

It was a warm, sunny Sunday, the day before my birthday, and my friend J had the perfect present: tickets to the Digital Revolution exhibit at the Barbican Centre.  

The Barbican Centre is a stunning modernist complex split into several levels, with a cafe, a library, an exhibition space and several theatres. A lot of the free space was given to the Digital Revolution exhibit, with video game spaces, shops, and kinetic installations that responded to touch like these motion-sensitive robots.

Minimaforms' installation Petting Zoo