When skyscrapers turn hot attractions

The concave building nicknamed the Walkie Talkie on London’s Fenchurch Street may have made tempers rise as well as temperatures, but it has also probably earned itself a place in a future Bond movie, perhaps a remake of Goldfinger, which featured a killer laser beam.

Seemingly a typical glass-and-steel frame office tower, it emits a death ray when the sun rises to the occasion at certain times of the year, and is definitely an urban legend in the making. Maybe the promoters of the building have a historical bent of mind, considering several structures of the ancient world, not to mention Archimedes’ defence of Syracuse from a Roman armada 22 centuries ago, are credited with sunlight-related magic and mayhem.

After all, the main feature of this new London architectural attraction — along with the Gherkin, the Shard and the Cheese Grater — cannot have been the result of a miscalculation, as its architect designed a hotel in Las Vegas that also ended up as a giant parabolic reflector.

An office building that can also fry cars and cleverly-placed eggs, singe welcome mats and idling hedge fund managers alike, as well as dole out free, instant (and sudden) tans in an adjoining street, has the potential to become a great tourist draw. Soon, other cities may aim to get their own multipurpose fryscrapers.