Building the Gherkin

Can a single building impact the career of an architect the image of a global company and even the skyline of a big city Just a month and a day after the disastrous attack on the World Trade Center in New York the first steel beam of a new tower is erected in London One question is on everybodys mind is it the right decision to build a new iconic tower in the midst of Londons financial district on a site that has already been bombed before The 40storey steel and glass tower sparks further controversy Norman Foster one of Britains most visionary architects calls his design for the new Swiss Re London headquarters radial socially technically architecturally and spatially In fact its size and shape are so radical that it is almost immediately nicknamed the erotic gherkin Will the Gherkin become the landmark they all dream of