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
| Mar 24, 2014
Frank Lloyd Wright's S.C. Johnson Research Tower to open to the public—32 years after closing
The 14-story tower, one of only two Wright-designed high-rises to be built, has been off limits to the public since its construction in 1950.
| Mar 21, 2014
Forget wood skyscrapers - Check out these stunning bamboo high-rise concepts [slideshow]
The Singapore Bamboo Skyscraper competition invited design teams to explore the possibilities of using bamboo as the dominant material in a high-rise project for the Singapore skyline.
| Mar 19, 2014
Federal agency gives thumbs up to tall wood buildings
USDA's support for wood projects includes training for AEC professionals and a wood high-rise design competition, to launch later this year.
| Mar 18, 2014
Koolhaas, OMA selected to design San Francisco high-rise residential tower
The project includes a 550-foot residential tower on one end of the block and two podium buildings and a row of townhouses filling the remainder of the property.
| Mar 17, 2014
Rem Koolhaas explains China's plans for its 'ghost cities'
China's goal, according to Koolhaas, is to de-incentivize migration into already overcrowded cities.
| Mar 13, 2014
Austria's tallest tower shimmers with striking 'folded façade' [slideshow]
The 58-story DC Tower 1 is the first of two high-rises designed by Dominique Perrault Architecture for Vienna's skyline.
| Mar 12, 2014
London grows up: 236 tall buildings to be added to skyline in coming decade, says think tank
The vast majority of high-rise projects in the works are residential towers, which could help tackle the city's housing crisis, according to a new report by New London Architecture.
| Mar 4, 2014
Kettler to begin construction on Bethesda high-rise apartment complex
The 101-unit high-rise, called Element 28, is designed to achieve a LEED Silver certification.
| Feb 25, 2014
NYC's Hudson Spire would be nation's tallest tower if built
Design architect MJM + A has released an updated design scheme for the planned 1,800-foot-tall, superthin skyscraper.
| Feb 20, 2014
5 myths about cross laminated timber
A CLT expert clears up several common misconceptions and myths surrounding the use of wood as a building material.
