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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Lifestyle
Oliver Wainwright

‘Excessively wasteful and giving off Swarovski vibes’: our critic on the ‘tiara bridge’ for the late queen

Carbon intensive … an image of the proposal.
Carbon intensive … an image of the proposal. Photograph: Foster + Partners/AFP/Getty Images

Is a £46m glass tiara the right way to remember the UK’s late queen? The Elizabeth II memorial selection committee certainly think so, in their choice of a glitzy glass bridge designed by Norman Foster for her permanent memorial in St James’s Park, announced on Tuesday.

As architects go, the 90-year-old Foster is perhaps the closest we have to a national treasure, so he might seem like a fitting choice – an establishment figure and safe pair of hands, who knew the queen personally. It could be an apt final project for the architect lord, although he shows no signs of slowing down.

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