An Architectural Glass Canvas

I was recently back in London, England, and was inspired by some of the great new architecture on the city skyline, including the new Shard Tower being built in Southwark close to London Bridge. Designed by Renzo Piano Building Workshop the "Shard of Glass" will open in 2012, and will be the tallest building in the European Union and the 45th-tallest building in the world, standing 310 m (1,017 ft) tall. It will also be the second tallest free-standing structure in the United Kingdom. This area of London has transformed itself in recent years with proximity to the city's financial district on the other side of the river, where the now familiar "Gerkin" building and historical Great Fire of London Monument stand.

It seems to me that many of the most inspiring architectural building's being built today convey not just sculptural qualities, but also a real desire to reflect the natural beauty of large scale crystal prisms. As a crystal artist who has spent 30 years creating sculpture, it is interesting to view such heralded architect's as Renzo Piano, Daniel Libeskind and Frank Gehry using many of the same shapes and forms I use in my work to convey their large scale architectural masterpieces.

The Royal Ontario Museum "Crystal" which Libeskind famously designed on the back of a napkin, sadly didn't crystalize into the initially anticipated reflective glass design first proposed due to cost concerns and engineering issues when faced with the severe Canadian winters. The new addition to the Art Gallery of Ontario designed by Gehry however, delivered a far more successful result using natural materials within the building itself, and in supporting the long curved glass facier which runs for one full city block and houses the Galleria Italia which faces out onto Dundas St. West. Daniel Libeskind's autobiography "Breaking Ground" (which I highly recommend) is a fascinating insight into one of the world's great architectural visionary's, and helps to explain the level of politics and ego's involved in making these multi-million dollar development projects a reality.

Renzo Piano has designed the Shard Tower with 72 habitable floors, plus 15 further radiator floors in the roof. The building has been designed with an irregular triangular shape from the base to the top, and will be clad entirely in glass. The top of the tower evokes open sails, a reminder of the many merchant ships which used the River Thames for commerce. A viewing gallery and open-air observation deck - the UK's highest - will be located on the 72nd floor.

This inspiring new crystal edifice nearing completion reflects one of my artistic aspirations, to one day work on an architectural scale project similar to the Shard where the building itself becomes the canvas for communicating global messages based upon our shared humanity.