Opened in London's tallest tower in Europe: "The Shard"

The building of 87 floors will house offices, luxury apartments, a five star hotel, restaurants and a spectacular viewpoint from which you can admire all the British capital

The sharp pyramid-shaped figure has transformed the landscape of London and its 310 meters have become the Shard, which opens tomorrow between admiration and criticism, the tallest building in the European Union. The imposing figure of glass skyscrapers, built on the south bank of the Thames and next to London Bridge, designed by Italian architect Renzo Piano, which displays it as "a sailboat off the River." The building of 87 floors will house offices, luxury apartments, a five star hotel, restaurants and a spectacular vantage point from which to admire the extensive British capital from end to end. The Shard, which is owned by the State of Qatar and Sellar Property Group real estate group, consists of a steel structure covered by a total of 11,000 panes of glass.

Renzo Piano

When Renzo Piano , also responsible for the headquarters of the newspaper The New York Times in New York (USA) and the airport of Osaka Kansai (Japan) presented the project called "shard of glass" (a piece of glass) and since then the tower was renamed Shard. Described by its promoters as "the first vertical city in Europe", the tower will be opened twelve years after your first draft will be held after a lunch in Paris between his promoter, Irvine Sellar , and Piano. The attacks on the Twin Towers in New York in 2001 , the financial crisis, problems with authorities in London and many critics have done, however, that the project not be completed until now.

Anti-wind

Another challenge was the wind, which sometimes stopped building its sharp pinnacle and that complicates the work of those who clean their thousands of windows, in which several employees have been key players in recent days complicated rescues.Londoners have witnessed the construction of the Shard from that in 2009 began installing its foundation and has continued his ascension to heaven from parks, streets, traffic jams on the ring roads and all points from which you can see the imposing skyscrapers. While gradually the Shard was imposing on the silhouette of the British capital, were also increasing criticism for its excessive height that some, including Prince Charles of England, consider that breaks with traditional architectural harmony of London. Others argue, however, that other city landmarks like Big Ben, St Paul's Cathedral and most recently the London Eye ferris wheel were also very controversial because of its size and transformed the landscape of the city, but now are your icons more recognizable.

Its construction will end in 2013

Although construction is not completed until 2013, the controversial building will be inaugurated tomorrow night with a laser light show will invade the skies of London.At the opening ceremony of the pharaonic construction, which many see as a challenge to the British capital to the current economic crisis, attended by Prime Minister Tasting, Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jabor Al Thani , and Prince Andrew , Duke of York and son of Queen Elizabeth II. The Shard has become the tallest building in the European Union was beating the mark since 1997 the Commerzbank Tower in Frankfurt (Germany), 259 meters high. However, the sharp pyramid of Renzo Piano can not claim to be the highest in Europe, which was recently passed by the Mercury City Tower in Moscow , 332 meters.