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So remember when this skyscraper melted a Jaguar recently? Now the building's architect has spoken out saying, "We made a lot of mistakes with this building, and we will take care of it."

The maybe not so funny part - it's the second time this mistake has happen for Rafael Viñoly. The Uruguay-born, NY-based architect’s Vdara Hotel in Las Vegas opened in 2010 with the same kind of incredible singeing strength.

Viñoly expressed a comically/dangerously flippant attitude towards the misfire in an interview with The Guardian’s Oliver Wainright:
  • "I knew this was going to happen," said Viñoly, speaking to the Guardian on Friday. "But there was a lack of tools or software that could be used to analyse the problem accurately."
  • "When it was spotted on a second design iteration, we judged the temperature was going to be about 36 degrees," he said. "But it's turned out to be more like 72 degrees. They are calling it the 'death ray', because if you go there you might die. It is phenomenal, this thing."
  • (re: the Vdara) "That was a completely different problem," said Viñoly, insisting he was following a masterplan that specified arc-shaped towers. "We pointed out that would be an issue too, but who cares if you fry somebody in Las Vegas, right?"
  • When I first came to London years ago, it wasn't like this," he said. "Now you have all these sunny days. So you should blame this thing on global warming too, right?"
I suppose someone shouldn't let him build another building. Next time he'll be frying human beings.

[The Guardian via Dezeen]