Pages

Pages

Thursday, February 02, 2012

Golden Boy and Gherkin

Today on a  rare excursion to London, attending a conference, I saw this (above) with its inscription - This boy is in memory put up for the late FIRE of LONDON occasioned by the Sin of Gluttony 1666 and below - the 'Gherkin' tower, so-called because of its shape. Maybe it's an over-imaginative juxtaposition, but I can't help thinking the two monuments are related. But without doubt a certain seventeenth century Norwich physician and philosopher would have approved of Sir Norman Foster's quincuncial lozenge design in glass.
                                                                        


2 comments:

  1. Where is the golden boy located? At least in that inscription the fire is blamed on gluttony there and not on Catholics, as The Monument's inscription used to. I do think, though, that the other nickname for the 'gherkin" tower, "crystal phallus", is the slightly more amusing one.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Nick i added the link to Wikipedia to answer your query on where the Golden Boy is located and the Gherkin's other lesser-known nick-names !

    ReplyDelete