Building the Gherkin 18 years old

Can a single building impact the career of an architect, the image of a global company and even the skyline of a big city?

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 everybody’s mind: is it the right decision to build a new iconic tower in the midst of London’s financial district, on a site that has already 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 ‘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?

Credits

Building the Gherkin Cast

Name	Character
Norman Foster He was 69, 41 years old when he died	as Himself

Building the Gherkin Crew

Name	Department
Mirjam von Arx as Director. She was 39 (now 58) years old	Directing
Mirjam von Arx as Executive Producer. She was 39 (now 58) years old	Production
Diego Baldenweg as Original Music Composer. He was 25 (now 44) years old	Sound