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Print Size: 11" x 14" (Frame Size: 16" x 20") Photographer: Brett Whittaker
When it was determined that the historic Baltic Exchange building was damaged beyond repair by a bomb blast, British authorities announced their interest in an “architecturally significant” replacement. Norman Foster’s energy efficient glass design climbs 591 feet high but its narrow curved footprint allowed the 40-story building to retain the traditional streetscape of the surrounding low-scale neighborhood. The building is known officially by its address, 30 St. Mary Axe, and sometimes for its owner (Swiss Re, a global insurance company) but it is usually called “The Gherkin” for its shape, or alternately, “The Crystal Phallus” (also a play on London’s historic Crystal Palace).
