The
Shard
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____________________
in
the
year
2000
by
an
Italian
architect
called
Renzo
Piano
,
whose
work
also
includes
the
Pompidou
Centre
in
Paris
and
the
Lloyds
building
in
London
.
He
____________________
____________________
to
____________________
____________________
____________________
by
church
spires
across
the
city
of
London
.
In
1998
,
a
property
developer
called
Irvine
Sellar
purchased
a
site
near
London
Bridge
in
the
London
borough
of
Southwark
,
and
later
met
with
Renzo
Piano
in
a
restaurant
in
Berlin
to
discuss
the
redevelopment
of
the
area
.
It
____________________
____________________
____________________
that
Mr
Piano
at
first
rejected
the
idea
ofdesigning
a
tall
building
,
as
he
believed
they
were
?
statements
of
arrogance
?
;
however
,
he
____________________
____________________
to
participate
in
the
project
and
began
drafting
a
design
of
the
Shard
on
the
back
of
a
menu
.
