Can London鈥檚 newest skyscraper be both a wonder and a blunder? Academic James Woudhuysen has it both ways

My wonder is the collective organisation that transformed London鈥檚 skyline with the Swiss Re building. The list starts with Swiss Re鈥檚 faith in Foster and Partners; continues with engineer Arup鈥檚 designs for the steel diagrid, which deals with the forces that put the thin ring beams in massive tension; and also includes subcontractor Waagner Biro which designed, fabricated and installed the superb steel and glass dome that caps the building. The completed project adheres admirably to US architect Louis H Sullivan鈥檚 1896 essay The Tall Office 星空传媒 Artistically Considered; and to Frank Lloyd Wright鈥檚 development of Sullivan鈥檚 鈥渇orm follows function鈥� theory 鈥� the idea that architectural beauty can transcend mere function, provided form and function 鈥渁re one鈥�.

There were blunders too: the protracted planning stage was striking evidence of today鈥檚 failure of nerve in all matters constructional and urban; the official insistence that the building be no taller than the precedent set by its near neighbour, Tower 42 鈥� it would have been so efficient to scale it up; the PC bias toward bike parking and showers for sweaty cyclists over parking spaces; and finally, all attempts to justify the building as 鈥渟ustainable鈥�, rather than as the human triumph it is.

James Woudhuysen is professor of forecasting and innovation at De Montfort University, and co-author of Why Is Construction So Backward? (Wiley, 拢29.99)