they have been blamed for casting a shadow over urban areas and occasionally creating a 'death ray style' beam of sunlight capable of melting cars on the street so architects have now designed skyscrapers which don't block out the light by diffusing it onto a wide area in a bid to tackle the problem of shade encroaching on public space in london the revolutionary 'no shadow' design is the brainchild of architects nbbj, who used a computer program to design two buildings, which work together to disperse and refract sunlight they are designed so that when one building creates shade, the other can act as a huge curved mirror, allowing the light to be reflected downwards into its shadow architects have designed skyscrapers which don't block out the light by diffusing it onto a wide area  the theoretical development has been touted for construction at the greenwich peninsula, close to the o2 arena, but similar buildings could be constructed in cities all over the world christian coop, nbbj's design director, said: 'the relationship between the sun and shadow is the relationship between the two buildings he said the project is about 'improving the quality of our urban environment finding a way in which we can have the tall buildings we need without losing natural light on the areas below' mr coop hopes that architects will use this type of modelling to see how their designs will affect the light levels around their buildings the revolutionary 'no shadow' design is the brainchild of architects nbbj, who used a computer program to design two building  the theoretical development has been touted for construction at the greenwich peninsula, close to the o2 arena  he said the method could also be adapted to control how much sunlight is reflected at different times of year it is hoped that the design would avoid a repeat of london's disastrous 'walkie talkie' dubbed the 'walkie scorchie' which directed  fierce beams of sunlight capable of melting cars on the street peter murray, head of the new london architecture (nla) forum, said the 'no shadow' design was a 'perfectly feasible' theory he added  that one of the problems people have with skyscrapers is the long shadows they cast: 'if you can reduce that, that must be a good thing' they are designed so that when one building creates shade, the other can act as a huge curved mirror, allowing the light to be reflected downwards into its shadow  planning permission has been approved or is pending approval for 236 new high rise buildings in central london, pictured is the gherkin, the cheesegrater and the walkie talkie  dr philip oldfield, an expert in tall buildings at the university of nottingham's department of architecture, said: 'what's great about the project is the focus on tall building form and shape, not only to look dramatic, but to contribute to creating a comfortable space at ground level' planning permission has been approved or is pending approval for 236 new high rise buildings in central london described by the nla as a 'veritable tsunami of towers', most will be apartment blocks rising from a minimum of 20 storeys to the current permitted maximum of 75 sydney's one central park has moveable mirrors that reflect light onto shaded areas below or block the sun during the hot summer it is hoped that the design would avoid a repeat of london's disastrous 'walkie talkie' which directed fierce beams of sunlight capable of melting cars on the street  the 'walkie talkie' was dubbed the 'walkie scorchie' after reflected light caused damage to cars and other buildings 
nbbj greenwich london
architects nbbj have designed skyscrapers which don't cast a shadow . firm is trying to tackle problem of shade encroaching on public space . they used computer program to design two buildings which disperse light . theoretical skyscrapers  touted for construction in greenwich, london 