Archinect - News

Reflecting on an era of architectural icons

2017-05-01T13:54:00-04:00

And still they come. The Gherkins, Shards, Walkie-Talkies, Cheesegraters, Scalpels, giant iPhones, Bird’s Nest stadiums, flying tabletops, big pants. Like the conveyor belt of consumer items that older readers will remember in Bruce Forsyth’s Generation Game, the supply of funny-looking buildings with funny names seems never-ending. Nicknames are converted into brands; satire and marketing merge.

There has been an era of architectural invention like few others, combined with a sense of hollowness, the feeling of not knowing what it’s all for.

London's Gherkin is put up for sale

2014-07-29T11:21:00-04:00

London's Gherkin skyscraper has been put up for sale, with interest expected from Chinese, other Asian, and US buyers, estate agency Savills has said. The City of London tower is expected to fetch offers in the region of £650m, the firm said.

'Act of Parliament', by Shift//Delete, turns the Gherkin into the world's biggest penis

2013-05-31T17:47:00-04:00

... we have turned the Gherkin into the worlds tallest penis. A penis that is being gratified by our parliament with a sexual act. A 180m high erection for deregulation and global capitalism. We have created this art work for all those that are suffering cuts to their budgets, benefits, working hours, rights, freedoms and quality of life as Parliament perpetuates the age old practice of taxing the poor for the mistakes of the rich.

Architect behind the Gherkin says he has finished designing strangely shaped edifices

2011-06-30T18:52:23-04:00

As the architect of such curvaceous London landmarks as "the Gherkin" and the City Hall building described as a "glass testicle", it is something of a Damascene conversion, but Ken Shuttleworth has called time on strangely shaped edifices.