Architecture is perhaps the most
beautiful form of engineering. When done
properly, it’s a sublime art form that can last for thousands of years. When it isn’t, it can be disastrous. It was interesting to read an article about a
building in London that has a bit of a problem.
The building has a rather innocuous
name of 20 Fenchurch Street. The locals
refer to it at the Walkie Talkie because its shape resembles an old handheld two-way
transceiver. The problem is the building’s
south facing exterior. Like most modern
buildings, it’s mostly a highly reflective glass. That highly reflective surface has caused
problems on the street below.
This isn’t the first time a
building has had problems with the physics of light. The Disney Concert Hall in downtown Los
Angeles had a similar problem. The
swooping, highly polished exterior looked good on paper, but they hadn’t
considered the effect sunlight has on the surrounding buildings when it is
magnified by the stainless steel exterior.
The solution was to dull the finish on the building, so it wasn’t as
reflective.
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| courtesy Wikipedia |
Obviously, at this stage in
construction, it’s far too late to alter the exterior to correct the
problem. It would be prohibitively
expensive to correct the curve, so they will have to change the reflective
properties of the windows. It will
change the overall intended look of the building, but I imagine that solving
this problem could make the building more attractive.
This is the big problem of aesthetics
over function. There is a huge drive to
make skyscrapers a distinctive monument.
Even though most are privately owned, they are seen as a source of
national pride. With all the emphasis
placed on design, it’s tough to make a functional building that stands out from
the crowd. You hope that this type of
death-ray building won’t happen again, and this will be an example to future
architects of what not to do.
