Today, for the first time, a picture was published of the young man who ten days ago fell to his death from the terrace of a notorious rooftop restaurant in the City of London.
He is the sixth person to have committed suicide by jumping from the roof. The first case was in 2007; the two most recent incidents happened despite the installation of high security barriers.
This tragic case has reminded me of some things I learned on the previous occasion.
The exclusive Coq d’Argent, address No. 1 Poultry, occupies part of a site bought by property developer Peter Palumbo, a friend of Princess Diana.
The whole area was previously occupied by old buildings in the ‘Victorian Wedding Cake’ style, and Palumbo was obsessed with getting hold of the site and replacing "those wretched buildings" with something in the Post-modern style, designed by an architect of his choice.
He had to fight a 25-year battle to get hold of the site and obtain planning permission for his new buildings. It seems a very strange obsession. He no longer owns the site.
The Coq d’Argent restaurant has been described as cursed.
Perhaps influences from the past are still around. For centuries, the site was used as an ancient burial ground where hundreds of corpses of affluent Londoners were buried in shallow graves. A Roman Temple – to Mithras - was discovered close to the site.
Or could it be something to do with the design and symbolism of this ugly and sinister-looking pink and yellow building?
As can be seen in the pictures, the restaurant is striking in appearance, from above in particular. It appeared in the James Bond-themed film sequence for the 2012 Olympics opening ceremony that featured the Queen. In the film, diners at Coq d’Argent can be seen waving to a helicopter which supposedly contains Her Majesty and James Bond actor Daniel Craig, who fly over the restaurant on their way to the Olympic Stadium in Stratford where ‘the Queen‘ parachutes in.
Why are people drawn to takes their lives at that particular place? Could it have been designed as a sacrificial temple?
