Comment by rors

The Barbican is not a typical brutalist construction. The term brutalist refers to béton brut, which means raw concrete. I.e. you can see the shape of the wooden slats used as a cast. The concrete in the Barbican was finished by drilling to create a dappled pattern, which obliterated the shape of the slats.

There are also lots of post modern elements. For example, the columns of the girl’s school have pyramids at the top to resemble pencils.

The south bank has more buildings that are a purer expression of brutalism.