Blog: Visiting the Shard

February 01, 2013 /

London, England

By Signe Cecilie Jochumsen

Photo: Signe Cecilie Jochumsen

Honestly. I love the Shard. I don't care that it's paid for by a rich Sheik from Qatar, or that its exclusive office space will be used solely by the corporate sector.

Also I don't care that the Shard mimic a phallic symbol rising up into the sky. And I don't care that some may say that it looks evil. I think it's a beauty.

Following generation of towers like Foster's Gherkin, the Shard offers 72 deluxe habitable floors of the in total 95-stories including the impressive upper floor open-air observation deck. The Shard is located at the south bank next to London Bridge and is an extraordinary engineering achievement and an breathtaking piece of architecture: it's simple, yet multifaceted. Dominant, yet gracious. Masculine, yet with a feminine appearance. It looks good all the time, day and particularly night. But there is a certain time of day, when the sun is setting, when the light catches the Shard's glass panels and it reflects perfectly into my living-room window in Holloway, north London. For five or 10 minutes, it looks like a thousand-foot blade of fire.

Congratulations London with the Shard and all the big, amazing things that mankind can create.

Photo: Signe Cecilie Jochumsen