QUIRKY WORLD ... Skyscraper that sent tempers soaring scales new heights

ENGLAND: A London skyscraper that made headlines for reflecting sunlight at an intensity that melted parts of a Jaguar car in the street below has been awarded the annual Carbuncle Cup that highlights perceived architectural horrors.

Officially called 20 Fenchurch Street, the 37-storey office tower in the City of London’s financial district was nicknamed the Walkie Talkie due to its curved shape before the car-melting incident in 2013 spawned a new moniker, the Walkie Scorchie.

Organised by Business Design magazine, the Carbuncle Cup is awarded by a panel of architecture critics who take into account comments sent in by readers. One of them, Ike Ijeh, said City of London planners were as much to blame for approving what he described as “a gratuitous glass gargoyle graffitied onto the skyline of London” as the building’s renowned Uruguayan architect, Rafael Vinoly. “If anything summarises what makes a building a Carbuncle, this is it,” Ijeh wrote in an article on Business Design’s website.