$1B US Embassy in London 'Far From Subtle'

Architecture critics aren’t too impressed with the winner in the US State Department’s competition to design its next London embassy. “Cool, remote and far from subtle” reads the Guardian’s headline; “all the glamour of a corporate office block,” harrumphs Nicolai Ouroussoff for the New York Times. The security and public-image challenges, in particular, are noted. “Hard to think of a project,” Ouroussoff writes, “that more perfectly reflects the country’s current struggle to maintain a welcoming, democratic image while under the constant threat of attack.”

Adds Jonathan Glancey of the (projected) $1 billion design from Philadelphia firm KieranTimberlake: “Cool, remote and superficially transparent, the winning design does reflect what we can divine of the US political process—nominally open to all and yet, in practice, tightly controlled.” With meadows and a moat as much for defense as looks in the area along the Thames, it’s unclear how long the project might take to finish.
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