Completed in 2003 and opened in 2004, this 41-story tower in the City of London is better known as the Gherkin, after its rounded, tapering shape. Designed by Foster + Partners with the engineers Arup for the insurer Swiss Re, it stands on the site of the Baltic Exchange, which was badly damaged by an IRA bomb in 1992.
Its outer skin is a diagonal lattice of steel that braces the building on its own, without extra stiffening. Despite its curved outline, the only curved piece of glass is the lens-shaped cap at the very top. Gaps in each floor form six shafts that draw fresh air through the building, part of a design meant to use about half the energy of a typical office tower.
The tower won the 2003 Emporis Skyscraper Award and quickly became one of London's best-known modern landmarks.
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