Austria's tallest tower shimmers with striking 'folded façade' [slideshow]

DC Tower 1, the tallest tower in Vienna, Austria, is now open. Designed by Dominique Perrault, this tower is one of two; the second is still under construction.

The building contains apartments, a hotel, a restaurant, and offices. But its main feature, aside from its height, is its dramatic folded glass façade.

The second tower will have a similar face, and will be angled in such a way that the two towers will frame views of the city from the Danube river.

“From the start the project offered a site with incredible potential: an open terrain, facing Imperial Vienna, embedded in the geography of the Danube, lying on a plateau on the river’s eastern bank, like a bridgehead to two Viennas.” said design architect Dominique Perrault.

Check out the tower below. All photos courtesy of Dominique Perrault Architecture.

DC 2 will be built with its facade facing that of DC 1.

"Towers floating above the ground are too severe, like architectural objects, objects in themselves. They must land, take root in the soil of cities, in places where their urban substance is found," Perrault said.

The interior of the towers is finished with materials that imitate the slick metal and glass exterior.

The building is intended to retain an industrial feel on the inside as well as the outside.

"The exposed concrete framework is touchable. Stone and metal used in lobbies and circulations contribute to the tower's generous and reassuring physicality," Perrault said.

From inside and on top of the building, visitors can see both The Danube and the entire city.

"The towers function as two pieces of a gigantic monolith that seems to have split into two unequal halves, which then open to create an arch with undulating and shimmering facades that bring the newly created public space to life in the void created there," said Perrault.

The 58-story tower soars above a public plaza in Vienna's Donau City district.

Renderings depict the two DC towers. Courtesy Dominique Perrault Architecture

The Green Building Initiative™ (GBI) announced today that between Feb. 13 and April 15 it will provide free access to its online certification course for Green Globes Professionals™ (GGPs). GGPs help guide building projects in achieving Green Globes® ratings, awarded for environmentally-focused design and construction.