Which architect designed London’s Shard skyscraper?

Renzo Piano designed London’s Shard skyscraper.

Piano conceived the tower as a vertically fragmented glass form inspired partly by the masts of sailing ships and the spires depicted by the eighteenth-century painter Canaletto. The design uses a series of angled glass façades that appear to meet at the top, giving the building its distinctive “shard” appearance.

The tower stands beside London Bridge station and was developed by Sellar Property in association with the State of Qatar. Construction began in 2009, the building was topped out in 2012, and it opened to the public in 2013. Its architectural height is 309.6 metres.

A common mix-up is to credit Norman Foster, whose nearby 30 St Mary Axe is another internationally famous London skyscraper. The Shard is also different from the City of London’s broader cluster of towers: its sharply tapered profile and mixed-use interior were central to Piano’s concept.