Day 49: Baby Shard

Inside each of our lifts is a a distinct lack of buttons (as you're allocated a lift automatically on passing through the security gate or select from a panel) but there is a striking image of the building exterior on a small screen inside that sometimes depicts the logo of the inhabitants of that floor. There is something slightly surreal about it and I've been trying to fathom if it's a photograph (lavished with HDR) or an artist's impression but annoyingly it doesn't linger long as our lifts, once they arrive, are pretty speedy reaching their destination.

The vivid blue of the lunchtime sky drove me outside to try to capture a similar image of my own. I don't think I'm standing in the same spot and possibly a fish-eye lens was deployed in the one in the lift. But pondering afterwards, my attempt did make me understand why our building was formerly known as the Baby Shard before being named as the Place, and then renamed finally as The News Building when it became clear it was to become the new home of News Corp's enterprises. Obviously we are a mere pip squeak compared to our loftier big brother, but we share some characteristics. We both have the glass windows extending beyond the building structure, which in the Shard' case is exaggerated by the infamous jagged top where the viewing platform is. Our glass panels extend beyond the sides of the building forming quirky angles more visible at ground level.

I seem to have involved everyone in the quest to discover whether the lift images are an artist impression or not. Some say the white shirted men striding purposefully in front of the building seem too similar. I think the clue that possibly gives away that the picture in the lifts is not real, is that the lampposts look different. Our building was officially opened in September, we arrived in late November. It seems surprisingly to me that the lampposts would have been substituted in that brief time, but we will continue scrutiny.

PS we have a neon sign on the front of our building that glows white, or it did. In the last few days the white was replaced by red, white and blue, the next day the colours are cycling at some speed, then there's a single colour. It's intriguing why we abandoned the white for this multicoloured show each day, no one seems to know why, I wonder what it'll look like tomorrow.

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