Turning Torso

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Turning Tower

Turning Torso, the tallest building in Scandinavia
General information
Type Commercial office
Rental apartments
Architectural style Structural Expressionism
Location Lilla Varvsgatan 14, 211 15
Malmö, Sweden
Coordinates 55°36′48″N 12°58′35″E / 55.61333°N 12.97639°E / 55.61333; 12.97639Coordinates: 55°36′48″N 12°58′35″E / 55.61333°N 12.97639°E / 55.61333; 12.97639
Construction started 14 February 2001
Completed 27 August 2005
Opening 1 November 2005
Inaugurated 27 August 2005
Height
Roof 190 m (623 ft)
Top floor 178.79 m (586.58 ft)
Technical details
Floor count 54
Floor area 27,500 m2 (296,008 sq ft)
Lifts/elevators 5
Design and construction
Architect Santiago Calatrava
Main contractor NCC
References
[1][2][3][4]

HSB Turning Torso is the tallest skyscraper in Sweden and the Nordic countries, situated in Malmö, Sweden on the Swedish side of the Öresund strait. When completed, it was the tallest building in Scandinavia. A similar, taller skyscraper featuring a 90° twist is the Cayan Tower, located in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Prior to the construction of Turning Torso, the 86‑metre (282 ft) Kronprinsen had been the city's tallest building.[5]

The project was designed by the Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava and officially opened on 27 August 2005. The tower reaches a height of 190 metres (623 feet) with 54 storeys - 147 apartments, relax/lounge/spa/gym, wine cellar followed by around-the-clock concierge service 365 days a year.[6]

Design

The vision of HSB Turning Torso is based on a sculpture called Twisting Torso, which is a white marble piece based on the form of a twisting human being, created by Santiago Calatrava.

In 1999, HSB Malmö's former managing director, Johnny Örbäck, saw the sculpture in a brochure presenting Calatrava in connection with his contribution to the architectural competition for the Öresund Bridge. It was on this occasion that Johnny Örbäck was inspired to build HSB Turning Torso. Shortly afterwards he travelled to Zurich to meet Calatrava, and ask him to design a residential building based on the idea of a structure of twisting cubes.[7]

This is a solid immobile building constructed in nine segments of five-storey pentagons that twist relative to each other as it rises; the topmost segment is twisted 90 degrees clockwise with respect to the ground floor. Each floor consists of an irregular pentagonal shape rotating around the vertical core, which is supported by an exterior steel framework. The two bottom segments are intended as office space. Segments three to nine house 147 apartments. The apartments were initially supposed to be sold, but insufficient interest resulted in the apartments being let. The owner has several times unsuccessfully tried to sell the building. The construction costs were almost double the estimate.[citation needed]

Construction

Illustration of the general structure of the Turning Torso. (1) shows a typical floor plan, where the grey circle denotes the core and blue shapes denote the steel framework. (2) shows the way the nine segments fit around the core, and (3) is a dimetric projection of the tower.

Construction started in the summer of 2001. One reason for building Turning Torso was to re-establish a recognizable skyline for Malmö since the removal in 2002 of the Kockums Crane, which was located less than a kilometre from Turning Torso. The local politicians deemed it important for the inhabitants to have a new symbol for Malmö in lieu of the crane that had been used for shipbuilding and somewhat symbolised the city's blue collar roots.[7]

The construction of part of this building was featured on Discovery Channel's "Extreme Engineering" TV programme which showed how a floor of the building was constructed.

Events

On 18 August 2006, Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner parachuted onto the Turning Torso, and then jumped off it.[8]

Floor 53 and 54 in the Turning Torso are conference floors booked and managed by Turning Torso Meetings. Since 2009 the owner HSB has decided to let the public visit floor 53/54 - only on special scheduled days and pre-booking is required.

Tourist Info

Turning Torso is a private, residential building and is therefore not possible to visit other times than stated above. Public access is restricted.[5]

Gallery

  • View of the Turning Torso and the Western Harbour area in Malmö

  • View at night

  • View from below

  • View from Ankargatan

  • Aerial view

See also

References

  1. ↑ Turning Torso at CTBUH Skyscraper Database
  2. ↑ Turning Torso at Emporis
  3. ↑ Turning Torso at SkyscraperPage
  4. ↑ Turning Torso at Structurae
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Mapes, Terri. "The Turning Torso in Malmo, Sweden". About.com. Retrieved 24 February 2013. 
  6. ↑ "HSB Turning Torso - Overview". Urbika. Retrieved 24 February 2013. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 "HSB Website". HSB Website. Retrieved 7 August 2011. 
  8. ↑ "Felix Baumgartner jumps from Turning Torso". YouTube. Retrieved 5 December 2010. 

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Turning Torso.


Timeline of tallest buildings in Malmö
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