Critical mass

So, the Dome is not only the most publicised waste of public money in living memory, it has now been condemned, in a poll of architects and businessmen, as the ugliest building in the world. No one is ahead of the third leader department in condemning the unimaginative exhibition the Dome once hosted, nor have we been enamoured of the inept management of the Millennium Experience. And along with every other observer not on the Government payroll, we have lamented the failed search to find a buyer for this prime piece of property.

So, the Dome is not only the most publicised waste of public money in living memory, it has now been condemned, in a poll of architects and businessmen, as the ugliest building in the world. No one is ahead of the third leader department in condemning the unimaginative exhibition the Dome once hosted, nor have we been enamoured of the inept management of the Millennium Experience. And along with every other observer not on the Government payroll, we have lamented the failed search to find a buyer for this prime piece of property.

But we admit happily to a soft spot for the look of the Dome itself. Its spike-punctured plastic shell has given birth to a thousand metaphors and made it a landmark on the Thames as the river winds its way from the Ferris wheel at the South Bank to the hooded winches of the Thames barrier. Ignore the spiteful comments of other architects, and celebrate this world-famous folly.