Letter: A towering eyesore

Sir: I was fascinated to read Maxwell Hutchinson's views on the architect Richard Seifert ('Back in the high life again', 23 February) who, among other things, was responsible for the NatWest Tower. This building may well be a technical tour de force but I find Mr Hutchinson's comment, 'Whether it was a quality architecture did not matter', astonishing. I have yet to meet anyone in the City who regards the NatWest Tower as anything but an eyesore. It does not even look finished, its black central core being exposed at the top like the chewed end of a pencil. It may well be a landmark, but that is only because it was designed without any sense of scale for its surroundings.

Again, whenever I discuss this, the only positive comment I ever hear is that from above, the NatWest logo can be seen. Thank God Seifert wasn't asked to design buildings for Lloyds, Barclays or Midland or we would no doubt have black horse-, eagle- and griffin- shaped buildings dotted around London.

Yours faithfully,

DJ MORRISH

Whiteparish, Wiltshire

24 February