The shadow knows

Herzog & de Meuron, the Swiss architectural firm responsible for the much-praised "Bird's Nest" Olympic stadium in Beijing, has unveiled plans for a skyscraper in Paris that, the firm claims, will cast no shadow on the more traditional buildings surrounding it.

From one angle, the glass-sheathed building appears to be a massive pyramid, dominating the skyline; from another, it presents as a thin, tall shard. Unless Herzog & de Meuron have repealed the laws of physics, the idea must be that it is this thinness that creates the unobtrusiveness, minimizing shadow in two directions. (An alternative suggestion, put forward by Gizmodo, is that the structure will be "made of cloned cells from the Invisible Girl.")

The architects say their shape allows for "optimum solar and wind power generation," though they skimp on the details. The project is scheduled to be completed by 2014, in the Porte de Versailles area of the city. From the action in forums on sites where the design has been presented, Parisians are divided as to whether this will be a brilliant addition to the cityscape -- or whether they'd rather see it not casting its shadow in Dubai, where it might fit in better.

A strikingly different view from another angle is after the jump.

Via Gizmodo and Dezeen.