Can you tell me about yourself?
Aisha: I was born in Edinburgh, Scotland and lived there until my mid twenties. It was a childhood ambition to live in London and I’m happy call it home for the past 10 years.
Ezo: Born in Derby during a brief stay. Back to London till I was 3. Off to the UAE. Then a stint in Eastern Europe. Edinburgh for Uni plus work. And, finally back to London for the past 10 years.
Ada: Ada is from London and has lived in the Barbican since she was born!
What is your occupation?
Aisha: I’m a designer and entrepreneur. I initially moved to London to pursue a masters at Central St Martins and on completing that I have founded a couple of companies, worked as a freelancer and am in the early stages of launching a new company.
Ezo: I write a lot of code for a living. I’ve bankrupted 2 of my own (awesome) startups. Now, I consult on mobile development while figuring out my next venture.
Ada: I have patrons who support my creative and experimental endeavours of playing, drawing, building and dancing!
What drew you to move to the Barbican?
We purged and packed our belongings to travel for a couple of years and on our return we decided to flat hunt in central London. Although we weren’t specifically looking to live in the Barbican we fell in love with this flat at first sight.
It was in the right location and fulfilled our most important criteria; big windows and lots of daylight. We knew the area fairly well having worked nearby in the past and from frequenting the Barbican Arts Centre.
How long have you lived on the estate?
We have been in the same flat in the Barbican for 5 years. It’s the longest we’ve lived anywhere!
What is your favourite feature of the barbican flats?
The large windows make the top of the list of our favourite feature. They flood the flat with natural daylight, offer great views and slide open so wide that it feels as if we brought a bit of the outside into our home.
How have you found it living here?
We love it and it’s the most we’ve ever felt at ‘home’ anywhere. We’ve been very lucky to have a wonderful landlady who we have a good relationship with. However, the thing that is really unique about living in the Barbican Estate is the experience beyond it’s impressive architecture.
We have friendly neighbours, a beautiful garden for Ada to run around in with other young residents, a shop that stocks delicious local produce and a super library in the Barbican Centre. It is an ideal place to raise a child and that is something that we only appreciated after living here. The location is really convenient and we get around using our favourite method of transport - our feet!.
