Barbican Centre Barbican Centre is owned, funded, and managed by the City of London Corporation, the third-largest arts funder in the United Kingdom. It was built as The City's gift to the nation at a cost of £161 million (equivalent to £480 million in 2014) and was officially opened to the public by Queen Elizabeth II on 3 March 1982. The Barbican Centre is also known for its brutalist architecture. The second-floor library is one of the five City of London libraries. It is one of the largest public libraries in London and has a separate arts library, a large music library
Sony Centre for the Performing Arts hosted the Canadian premiere of the Philip Glass/Robert Wilson opera "Einstein on the Beach". Designed by Peter Dickinson, the Sony Centre is a distinctive building and an example of a mid-twentieth century Modern performing arts venue. It is four storeys high and is broken up into three main forms: the entrance block, auditorium and fly tower. The central form of the building is highly symmetrical with an open floor plan. Structurally, the Sony Centre is not overcomplicated and uses steel trusses and concrete to hold the majority of the building together. In addition to the structure, the Sony Centre auditorium