London's modern architecture

Always having been a growing and changing city, there is an incredible variety of architecture here. These are examples of London's newest buildings and styles. They are all located in the central business district in the City of London proper. I took these pictures during a class walk of Roman ruins. My professor explained that under this oldest section of London, about 20 ft down, is the layer that contains the remains of the Roman city.

This creates a problem for new development. You can't get a permit to build unless you promise that if you hit something in the Roman layer (which always happens) you will call the British Museum. The museum sends out archeologists to the site and you have to pray that they don't find anything interesting. If they do, it can mean your project gets delayed for months or years. This is a country that actually cares about its heritage. On another note, the building in the picture below reminds me of R2D2 in Star Wars .