The architects who made among the best use of beton brut and brave new forms in damp, grey climates were those who saw new opportunities to create exciting new skylines with new materials.
Once the gavel came down and agreement had been reached on the synthesis report in Copenhagen last Saturday, the grey faced climate scientists and government officials were treated to a rousing, amateur dance display.
While we'll likely spend today putting off until tomorrow grey-cloud thoughts about climate change, water shortages and sunburn, we Brits know better than anyone that fair weather is just that – it doesn't last.
Our native sporting style mirrors our climate (wet and grey, lifted by the occasional bright spot); and generations of Saturday practice on sticky, muddy, rain-soaked fields seem to reveal themselves in our patterns of play.
When the film premiered, Chaplin was much older, he was in the midst of another round of legal battles with former spouse Lita Grey, and the economic and political climate of the world had changed.
Where there were rivers, now are flooded areas - grey forests, drowned and dying leaking climate-warming methane into the atmosphere.
Northern Europeans – Brits, especially – spend all year locked inside the damp, grey prison that is Northern Europe's climate.
Even if it's grey and rainy outside, and rapidly escalating climate change has made a joke out of the usual seasonal indicators.
The only people who acknowledged the possibility of climate change were Ted and Alicia, the grey nomads, who attributed it to a wide range of forces.
However, given that the financial climate is reminiscent of concrete – tough, grey and utterly depressing – helping confused consumers make decisions could be a useful selling point.
