Some Kind of Utopia

The Barbican is a space-age kind of place. It was designed to be a kind of inner city oasis - a living centre with high-rise apartments that you get to on highwalks (a bit like a series of bridges) with a lake and an arts centre as its heart. Scenes from the latest James Bond movie were shot there. Lauch and I actually got engaged there exactly a year ago yesterday.



We turned up there yesterday to see a movie and found a dome! A dome which is actually an artwork.




It's a geodesic dome that is a teahouse. You can go in and get little cups of hibiscus tea from a waiter for free. You sit on triangular raw wooden tables and stools and drink this tea that is like blackcurrant herbal tea, deep hot pinkyred and STRONG.

And all the waiter will say to you is "I'm sorry. Goodbye."



I think the concept of the dome to recreate some of the futuristic housing designs of the fifties. Why did the waiter say "I am so sorry. Goodbye?" Apparently they were alluding to the relationship between the built environment and nature. Yes, hello global warming. I am so sorry. Goodbye.