Here's a side of modern architecture we don't see every day. According to a report by the BBC, light reflected from an 37-story skyscraper under-construction in London could be responsible for melting parts of a Jaguar parked nearby.
The case of the melting Jaguar took place in London last week when Mr Martin Lindsay discovered minor damage to his car, which had been parked for two hours in the vicinity of the curved glass facade of 20 Fenchurch Street (aka the "Walkie-Talkie" skyscraper) in the City of London.
Several sections of the car, including the wing mirror and badge, appear to have been melted by sunlight reflecting off the building, and the vehicle is said to have required a total of £946 (U$1,468) in repairs.
The building developers, Land Securities and Canary Wharf, have duly agreed to pay the bill.
The BBC also quotes the following joint statement from the developers:
"We are aware of concerns regarding the light reflecting from 20 Fenchurch Street and are looking into the matter. As a precautionary measure, the City of London has agreed to suspend three parking bays in the area which may be affected while we investigate the situation further."
Source: BBC
But seriously. It looks like a stupid design to me and is ugly to boot. But do to the available energy from sunlight varies during the day it is conceivable that the problem areas are fairly small and putting up a solar thermal collector would turn a liability into an asset.
p.s. I don't know if 'slowburn' was being facetious but a solar collector at the focal point would have to be mobile in 2 dimensions to accommodate the movement of the sun or it would have to be a massive fixed structure to always cover the focal point: either of these alternatives might be just a little inconvenient for other people in the vicinity.