Cue references to that old Arthur C. Clarke story

[james_davis_nicoll]

A new London skyscraper dubbed the "Walkie Talkie" has been blamed for reflecting light which melted parts of a car parked on a nearby street.

Comments

[bunsen-h.livejournal.com]

Wow. I knew about the Vdara but not that the same evil genius was behind them both. Seriously... one doesn't do something like that twice by accident.

[liviapenn.livejournal.com]

And like, I totally understand if he just likes convex/concave shapes and shiny surfaces. But... maybe don't put the giant concave lens on the side of the building that faces the sun in summertime, you know?

[bunsen-h.livejournal.com]

If you're going to do a shape like that, the concave shape pretty much has to be on the "front face" of the building; otherwise you're losing much of the dramatic flair. And I'm not sure how much choice he has about which is the front face — that's likely to be constrained by the site.