Archinect - News

Another free climber scales London's Shard skyscraper

2019-07-08T14:39:00-04:00

A free climber has scaled the Shard, one of the tallest buildings in Europe. [...] Onlookers posted footage of the climber, who, according to the Daily Mirror, made most of the ascent without ropes or suction cups.

"Police were called at 5.15am on Monday 8 July following reports of a free climber on the Shard. Emergency services attended and the man went inside the building where he was spoken to by officers. He was not arrested," The Guardian quotes a section of the Metropolitan police report from this morning.

The daredevil free climber has been identified as 19-year-old George King who shares images of risky free climbs on his Instagram account.

View this post on Instagram Freesolo the shard. 45mins. A lot of misinformation about suction cups in the media at the moment. Here is a little snippet video. Enjoy I was thirteen and on a school trip when I first laid eyes on The Shard. I felt an immediate passion to climb it - the same type of passion I want to the world to feel. In the past I’ve been called a daredevil, an adrenaline junkie, a reckless teenager and much more. I’ve always found that these names come from those who are ignorant or misunderstood about what I real...

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.

10x10 London auction renders 100 drawn perspectives around The Shard

2014-10-30T18:14:00-04:00

10x10 Drawing the City London is an annual fundraising event established by British architect Tim Makower and organized by charity group Article 25 that gets its name from the 100-square grid that captures one particular area in the city of London.

Each square of the grid is assigned to 100 participants, who are typically some of the U.K.'s most well-known and emerging architects, designers, and artists. Participants will then create and donate an original work of art inspired by the buildings and public spaces within their assigned square. For 2014, The Renzo Piano-designed Shard will be the center of the grid.

This year's set of participants include notable names and 10x10 favorites like Norman Foster, Ivan Harbour, Sheila O'Donnell, C.J. Lim, Piers Gough, Chris Wilkinson, textile designer Celia Birtwell, artists Norman Ackroyd and Roger FitzGerald, and 10x10 founder Tim Makower himself.

Online bidding for the art begins November 4 through November 25, followed by an exclusive evenin...

Shard becomes London’s ‘eyeful’ tower

2014-05-12T13:22:00-04:00

The first guests at western Europe’s tallest hotel came expecting unforgettable views – but may have got more than they bargained for. The bedrooms in Shangri-La’s luxury hotel, which opened last week in London’s 310m-tall Shard building, come with binoculars so guests can survey the city’s landmarks through the floor-to-ceiling windows. But thanks to a quirk in the building’s design, some rooms also come with potentially revealing views of other guests.

William Matthews, Shard Project Architect, will leave Piano to start new practice

2012-12-21T14:21:00-05:00

He has split his time between London and the French capital for the past decade but next year will open a new office in the central London architecture hotspot of Clerkenwell where his neighbours will include Zaha Hadid Architects and Wilkinson Eyre. Before he goes, Matthews has agreed to complete all his work on the Shard including the viewing gallery, due to open in February, and the restaurants on floors 31, 32 and 33 which are expected to open in the spring.

Residential skyscrapers come of age in Britain

2012-04-12T12:23:00-04:00

Because towers take so long to plan and construct, the current crop reflect a vision up to a decade old, reckons Nick Offer of Arup, an engineering firm. Economic conditions and the scale of such projects mean that only the very brave will invest now... In 2010 the coalition scrapped the previous, Labour government’s density targets, which were designed to encourage developers to build more units. Instead it has endorsed “garden cities”

Shard casts a shadow over Tower's future as wonder of the world

2011-11-29T12:07:57-05:00

The Tower of London and the Palace of Westminster could lose their status as world architectural wonders because of the damage being done by surrounding skyscrapers. World heritage cultural organisation Unesco has warned that the Tower of London could be downgraded because of the negative impact of the [Renzo Piano-designed] Shard of Glass on its panorama.

Highest ever crane installed in London as work begins to complete Shard skyscraper

2011-09-26T16:58:27-04:00

Builders will use the machine to complete the spire of the Shard skyscraper near London Bridge in south London. When fully extended the crane will sit at 317 metres or 1,040 ft above ground level, making it seven metres taller than the building's eventual highest point (310 metres). The Shard will become the tallest building in the European Union and the 45th tallest in the world when it is completed in 2012.