I鈥檝e been increasingly worried about the possible collapse of the construction industry into a rather deep recession for some time.

I have tended to keep my concerns in check, having gained a reputation for being gloomy.

But while it鈥檚 tricky to tell accurately with the available data, the new orders figures just don鈥檛 seem to be healthy enough to me to support the current level of construction output. Ergo 鈥� to my mind at least 鈥� a nasty drop in output of new work seems highly probable.

So when the normally jolly construction survey headed south, as it did in the latest month, it made me even twitchier still.

But it wasn鈥檛 until this morning that I saw the full picture. It鈥檚 the Shard that we should be worried about.

Being a broadly rational fellow I recognised this as a moment of madness. But that doesn鈥檛 stop the workings of superstition even within the most sober.

Were I a soothsayer I鈥檇 be tugging at the Emperor鈥檚 toga crying 鈥渃ave speculum鈥� or some other oblique nonsense.

And here鈥檚 why.

Today sees the official opening of Sellar鈥檚, Piano designed Shard, the tallest tower in Europe.

You couldn鈥檛 imagine a worse combination of concepts and words were you seeking an ill omen.

Let鈥檚 see.

Sellar鈥檚: Said quickly together with market and that鈥檚 not good.

Piano: Doesn鈥檛 that mean soft in music?

Shard: A fragment of a brittle object. Surely that implies breakage.

Tallest tower: I鈥檒l come back to that later鈥�

Europe: Well, least said soonest mended.

Now I could have delved deeper into the murky history of Southwark where this erection is located.

I could have explored the theme of brash money. I could have explored the rather worrying biblical themes in story of the Tower of Babel.

There are so many aspects to the Shard that could be grasped by a suspicious mind as signs of imminent doom.

But for me the clincher has to be the seemingly more rational Skyscraper Index and the Shard being proclaimed the tallest tower in Europe.

So I looked back to my on the subject written in November 2008.

I rather wish I hadn鈥檛鈥�

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