A Year in Pictures – 4 March 2015 – The Battle of the Pointy Things

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This afternoon I took a walk over London Bridge to attend a meeting in Southwark and of course had the opportunity, in doing so, of considering The Shard (originally known as London Bridge Tower before its nickname—now a sine qua non of "iconic" buildings—was coined). Actually I like The Shard, although my feelings towards what it represents in the landscape of London are ambivalent. It has a way of capturing and reflecting light that makes it an object of real beauty, while at the same time being, well, enormous.

After the meeting, instead of diving straight into the Tube, I went back to the bridge for another look at the Shard, but also to see whether I might get a photo of The Walkie-Talkie (aka 20 Fenchurch Street) that would convey effectively just why I believe that building is so very (make that very very) wrong for London (no, make that ANY city). However the sight of the W-T bullying its neighbours and glowering down at Old Father Thames was frankly so upsetting that for today's image I have decided to run with the one you see above.

The concrete spike that appears to be dominating the tallest building in the European Union (though not the EU's tallest freestanding structure) stands at the south-eastern end of London Bridge and has no sign or label that might cast some light on how or why it came to be there.

We will return to Southwark, by the way and all being well, and we are certainly not done with 20 Fenchurch Street.