The Shard
Glass supertall skyscraper of jagged spires, housing offices, a hotel, restaurants and a public viewing platform.
Location
About this audio guide
This guide to The Shard in London traces a 2002 letter from a heritage official meant to kill the project, and the insult that became the building's name. It follows developer Irvine Sellar's dinner in Berlin with architect Renzo Piano, who sketched a spire on a restaurant menu inspired by Canaletto's paintings of church spires and ship masts crowding London's skyline. Years of planning battles followed, along with a 2013 protest that saw six women scale the glass overnight. Stand on the south bank of the Thames for the view Piano was chasing.
This audio guide was created using AI.
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