Reply To: The Spike

Firstly, let me say that I like the Spire, but let’s face it- There have been too many mistakes. The whole thing has been one long amateur hour (more like an amateur decade!).
The concept itself wasn’t exactly a “thinker” and the structure and engineering involved was relatively simple.
Any architect worth his salt should have considered environmental damage- the shot-peening just doen’t work. Much harder to tarnish a smooth surface- you don’t need to be a rocket scientist to figure that out.
Didn’t anyone even consider the shut lines just wouldn’t look right on such a vertical structure? Were any steps taken to minimize this effect? I don’t think so. Don’t think you can blame the manufacturers either- I believe they were working to ridiculous tolerences, so once again the blame lies with the architect.

And don’t even get me started on the base design- the form was just fine, the “guilding” was unneccesary- why not just stick “Superspike 2000” on it somewhere and a “as seen on TV” decal. I thought guiding had died with the industrial revolution.