‘Barbicania - Ila Bêka & Louise Lemoine’

Barbicania is a feature-length film capturing a month long immersion in the life of the Barbican Centre and Estate in London, one of the most representative achievements of brutalist architecture. The film, built as a personal diary, recounts on a daily basis what the directors duo has discovered during their urban trip from the top floors of the towers to the underground levels of the art centre. Barbicania invites you to discover the personalities, lifestyle and architectural landscapes that make the Barbican so special. Drawing an intimate human map of the place, the film questions the durability of this post Second World War utopia.

For more than fifteen years, the artist-videographer, producer and editor duo Ila Bêka and Louise Lemoine - aka Bêka & Lemoine - have been making their mark on the international architectural scene with a body of work renowned for its innovative nature and tender yet caustic humour. 

Their films break with the usual representations of contemporary architecture by giving centre stage to both its uses and people. In particular, they examine the roots of architectural practice and the way in which the environment feeds our imagination. Made famous by their film Koolhaas Houselife, they are also known for their video collection/series Living Architecture, which was acquired by the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 2016, and their films are regularly selected for major festivals, museums and art centres.