Flying Trees and Sunken Squares

Explore the history behind the creation of the open spaces, gardens, and conservatory that are found across the Barbican Estate and Arts Centre.

For over a decade (1940–1956), the devastated postwar site where this exhibition now stands was a wild landscape. Debate on the urban role of open space raged on, while weeds gently but effectively regenerated the City from its ashes. A monumental landscape emerged, combining low and high rise buildings and spaces, creating an enclosed, urban fabric within the City.

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