The 40 storey high glass tower, officially known as “30 St. Mary Axe” – but nicknamed the ‘gherkin’ by Londoners – is the winner of the most prestigious British award for architecture, organised each year by the RIBA. The winner, Lord Norman Foster, receives a prize of 35.930 dollars. The building, designed for insurance company Swiss-Re, is the first to be constructed in the financial area of Britain’s capital for twenty five years.

It immediately became a 21st century icon and even managed to place the jury in agreement, for the first time in the history of the award, the vote was unanimous. Reasons for the choice? The intelligent organisation of the internal spaces, innovative ventilation system and eco-compatible design criteria. E.S.