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. The question on everybody’s mind is: is it the right time to build a new iconic tower in the midst of London’s financial district– especially on a site that has been bombed before? The 40 storey steel and glass tower sparks further controversy. Norman Foster, one of Britain’s most visionary architects, calls his design for the new Swiss Re London headquarters “radical–socially, technically, architecturally and spacially”. Its size and shape are so radical that it is almost immediately named “the erotic gherkin”. A chronicle from blueprint to construction.

SPECIAL FEATURES – Norman Foster In Coversation, Robin Partington’s Architecture Masterclass, Featurette, Behind The Scenes, Theatrical Trailer