Update: the Barbican Quarter Action campaign is hosting a meeting for residents and neighbours at 7pm on Tuesday 17th January 2023 in St Giles Church, Cripplegate. The Barbican Association reports: “This meeting will focus on the arguments against demolition of the existing buildings and for their re-adaptation and repurposing. Joining the BQA Group will be read more
For the past five years Culture Mile has been a programme of activities and projects in the north west of the City, a way of branding the area, and a team coordinating development. Some of that is changing, but quite how much won’t be clear for a few months. City Corporation committees have now approved read more
The other day I received in the post a lavish publication from the Canary Wharf Group with 30 pages of promised treats from new restaurants, bars, shops and leisure experiences to penthouse flats for sale or rent. It promoted a covered ice rink and display of Winter Lights, with everything also accessible on a smartphone read more
Winners have been announced for the competition I wrote about in July to deliver in Spring 2023 “temporary public realm interventions in Smithfield and East London that collectively develop a deeper understanding of the public’s experience of streets and public spaces”. A news release announced that Re-Fabricate and the DisOrdinary Architecture Project won the competition read more
The excellent Barbican library always has some quick choice selections on show, with timely topics, and I noticed on my last visit there was one offering more than books. Enjoy our warm and welcoming spaces this winter where there is something for everyone. Further investigation led me to an offer of grants of up to read more
Community Matters reports that the City Corporation is making some changes to the controversial London Wall West scheme for 780,000 sq ft of offices. Earlier posts here. “The City of London Corporation’s Policy and Resources Committee has voted to reduce the size of proposals to redevelop Bastion House and the existing Museum of London site, read more
I dropped into Barbican Library yesterday for an informative chat about the proposed community room, and on the way out spotted a pile of EC1 Echos. I’m keen to see more free distribution of the Echo in the City … particularly since I’m fortunate to be favoured with space for three pieces in this edition. read more
Update: The City’s Policy and Resources committee approved proposals for the CultureMile BID on October 20, with little discussion. Several members pressed for clear methods for resident involvement. Guidance was that this would be through steering groups. There was no specific mention of a community forum. Video of the committee discussion here. Proposals for a read more
Barbican Library is running two information sessions to explain in more detail plans for a new community room, which I wrote about here. The first session is on Tuesday October 18th 1-2pm, and the second Tuesday October 25th 7-8pm. More below. As well as providing space for events, the community room could act as a read more