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I'm actually going to defend Piano's scheme because I work next door to it and walk through it daily on the way to the tube. I welcome this bold splash of colour in the middle of our grey and rainy city. A new square has been created where none existed before. The ground level opens itself up to its surroundings, rather than forming a corporate barrier as so many office buildings do. The units are being taken over by restaurants and galleries. As with parts of Bankside I can see this space becoming lively and animated...creating its own communal critical mass. Yes it is tall, but its not an unfriendly development. Its a balance between permeability and commercial attractiveness, of course, as it must always be. St Giles is arguably no more grotesque than Centrepoint if truth be told, although it does a much better job of dealing with humans at street level. If we as designers were less preoccupied with classification and more focused on how buildings actually relate with their urban environment and human occupiers we would take the time to understand why this building works rather than adopt the all too easy casual cynicism about all things bright, colourful and new .

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