The eccentric engineer

We´re all familiar with glass skyscrapers these days. Those who ever wander around London will have noticed a new one under construction, the Shard London Bridge. This startling, mirror-glassed point will, when finished, turn a part of Southwark into something more akin to a `Flash Gordon?? cartoon. Personally, I??m all in favour of that. But building shiny glass towers did not initially get off to a very good start.