Design

London's Worst Building

The Walkie Talkie has been named the ugliest British structure completed in the last 12 months, but there are reasons beyond aesthetics to dislike it.
London's Walkie Talkie building, left.AP Photo/Frank Augstein

To say that London’s Walkie Talkie building has had a seriously rough ride since opening last August is an understatement.

The central London skyscraper (officially named 20 Fenchurch Street) had already melted cars with a “death ray” caused by its reflective glass before it even finished construction. Once open, its sky garden was criticized for falling short of promises to be a truly public space, and for feeling like “an airport terminal.”