london Archives - au pays des merveilles

When Lies and I visited London, we ran into a picture of the Barbican Centre’s Garden Room on a viny sleeve that immediately sparked our interest for this botanical walhalla. In the ever growing list of botanical gardens that I’ve visited, this one definitely is my favorite. Besides its beautiful collection of plants, the Barbican Estate is also an architectural highpoint. Designed by British firm Chamberlin, Powell and Bon in the 1950s, this complex houses 2014 apartments, a library, several restaurants, two schools, a museum, several theatres, an art gallery and much more. Curious yet? I’ve prepared an overload of photos for you below, but I recommend you just visit this place yourself if you’re ever in London. I promise, you won’t be disappointed!

Barbican Centre, Silk Street, London EC2Y 8DS - website - facebook - twitter

Back in October, Lies and I headed to London for a visit to our friend Camiel. Trips like these are my favorite: no pressure, no tight schedule, but quality time with friends and seeing the city through the eyes of a local. We spent our time in Camiel’s neighborhood in South London, Hackney Wick (here’s a tip for pizza and beer and brunch) and on the other side of the city, in Brixton Village (see Laura’s guide for tips), Clerkenwell and Dulwich. We savored the food at local markets, chatted with inspiring artists (like painter Jo Dennis) and artisans (like this leather bike saddle designer), explored the city on our rental bikes, enjoyed some down time at Camiel’s impressive home, marveled at the pink plastic beauty of the Serpentine Gallery Pavilion by Selgascano and discovered the breathtaking garden room of the Barbican. I have many pictures of that last one in store for you later, but for now I’m leaving you with these fragments of the rest of our trip to London!

au pays des merveilles

EXPLORED_ The Barbican in London

FRAGMENTS_ a weekend in London