rafael vinoly's 20 fenchurch street skyscraper is melting cars

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rafael vinoly's 20 fenchurch street skyscraper is melting cars

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Sep 03, 2013

rafael viñoly’s 20 fenchurch street skyscraper is reportedly melting cars
image courtesy rafael viñoly architects

 

 

following the latest controversies in international skyscraper news, we bring you another architectural mishap that is raising some heat amongst londoners. uruguayan architect rafael viñoly‘s 160 meter tall skyscraper 20 fenchurch street – otherwise known as the ‘walkie talkie’ – has been reported to be melting cars from extreme sun glare and reflections. martin lindsay, a director of a tiling company, left his jaguar XJ parked for an hour on the opposite side of the building, returning to only find warped body work and a melted side view mirror. the building, which is currently under construction, incorporates extensive glazing to maximize views on the north and south elevations, which, as a result, is causing extensive damage to vehicles parked beneath and additionally blinding passersby. a similar problem emerged in las vegas three years ago, when the concave façade of a new hotel caused reflections bright enough to melt plastic bags. the FT financial times state that ironically one of the main issues for developers of tall buildings has been a historic twist of english law known as ‘right to light’, which ensures property owners are not cast into shadow by neighbouring buildings. naturally, londoners have already given a new nickname to this very bright building, which shall be known from now on as the walkie scorchie.

 

 

a jaguar with extensive damage caused from the sun’s glare

 

 

rafael viñoly’s 160 meter tall 20 fenchurch street had a a partial redesign and sunlight reflected from its concave windows scorched pedestrians

and damaged parked cars. image courtesy CHEST

 

 

city workers walk through a beam of intense sunlight reflected from the glass facade. according to reports, it is six times as bright as average light readings in the square mile. image © leon neal/AFP

 

 

rafael vinoly’s 20 fenchurch skyscraper is currently under construction and due to complete later this year
image courtesy CHEST

 

 

construction detail of the concave facade causing the extreme reflections
image courtesy CHEST