Move over citrus, your days of being associated with the word “twist” may soon be coming to a close as skyscrapers, and not martini glasses, are the new prime location for all things twisting and turning.
The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat defines a twisting building as one that progressively rotates its floor plates or façade as it gains height. Often, the floor plates are shaped similarly in plan and are turned on a shared axis a consistent number of degrees from the floor below. Not only does this practice lead to some of the most eye-catching skyscrapers in the world, but it also provides benefits in the form of improved aerodynamics and energy-efficiency.
For example, the Shanghai Tower, which stands 2,073 feet tall, has a twist that reduces wind-load by 24% and saved $58 million in structural material over the course of construction.
Once a novelty when the world’s first twisting tower, Turning Torso, debuted 11 years ago, a proliferation of twisting skyscrapers is now beginning to spread around the world. The United States is about to get its first twisting high-rises in the form of Miami’s Grove at Grand Bay towers, Russia is constructing a 462-m twisting tower in St. Petersburg that, among twisting skyscrapers, will be second in height only to the Shanghai Tower when completed, and the Diamond tower in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia will not only become the third tallest twisting tower in the world, it will also be the only tower to twist a full 360 degrees along its height, and will also have an average floor rotation of 3.871 degrees (F&F Tower in Panama City has the record for the “tightest” twist with an average rotation per floor of 5.943 degrees).
As of July 2016, there are a total of 28 twisting buildings around the world that are over 90 meters tall. CTBUH has ranked each of these buildings, from tallest to shortest, while also including their floor count, completion (or estimated completion) year, average floor rotation, and total rotation from the ground floor to the top floor plate.
Shanghai Tower (Shanghai, China), Lakhta Center (St. Petersburg, Russia 2018), Diamond Tower (Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, 2019), Ocean Heights (Dubai, UAE), and Cayan Tower (Dubai, UAE) are the five tallest towers currently built or under construction.
For the full list, click here.
Related Stories
High-rise Construction | Jan 27, 2017
Silverstein Properties waffles on what to do with Far West Side property
The company has gone from a two-tower design, to a supertall, and now, supposedly, back to a two-tower design.
High-rise Construction | Jan 26, 2017
Paris tower provides office space and three hotel complexes across its three superimposed volumes
Equipped with hanging gardens and a panoramic viewpoint for its top tier, Jardins de l’Arche Tower will rise in Paris’s La défense business district.
Architects | Jan 24, 2017
Politicians use architectural renderings in bid to sell Chicago’s Thompson Center
The renderings are meant to show the potential of the site located in the heart of the Chicago Loop.
High-rise Construction | Jan 23, 2017
Growth spurt: A record-breaking 128 buildings of 200 meters or taller were completed in 2016
This marks the third consecutive record-breaking year for building completions over 200 meters.
High-rise Construction | Jan 20, 2017
CTBUH’s tall building predictions for 2017
Woodscrapers, the automobile industry's expansion into the tall building development business, and Nairobi's climb toward becoming Africa's skyscraper hub are just a few of the topics CTBUH's 2017 tall building predictions report focuses on.
High-rise Construction | Jan 19, 2017
Goettsch Partners to design Shenzhen-based headquarters complex
The Chicago architecture firm won a design competition for the project anticipated to be completed in 2019.
High-rise Construction | Jan 6, 2017
76-Story luxury apartment tower in Chicago’s South Loop gets name and begins construction
The building was designed by Rafael Viñoly and is scheduled for completion in 2019.
High-rise Construction | Jan 4, 2017
In search of better data to optimize tall buildings
In spite of the ability to build tall and taller buildings—usually fully glazed, often in extreme climates with increasingly smart technologies—it could be argued that we are not similarly “rising to the occasion” in terms of optimization, writes Gensler's Russell Gilchrist.
High-rise Construction | Dec 15, 2016
Shenzhen’s newest supertall tower has topped out
The 350-meter-high building was designed by Morphosis and will provide over 2 million sf of office and retail space.
High-rise Construction | Dec 13, 2016
The tallest building in Manhattan’s Meatpacking district tops out
The office, designed by CetraRuddy, will be completed in 2017.