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 14, 2013
25 cities with the most Energy Star certified buildings
Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., and Chicago top EPA's list of the U.S. cities with the greatest number of Energy Star certified buildings in 2012.
| Feb 28, 2013
Lend Lease builds world's tallest timber apartment building
Construction giant Lend Lease recently put the finishing touches on Forté, a 10-story apartment complex in Melbourne, Australia's Victoria Harbour that was built entirely with cross laminated timber (CTL) technology.
| Feb 21, 2013
AIA College of Fellows awards 2013 Latrobe Prize for 'The City of 7 Billion'
The American Institute of Architects (AIA) College of Fellows has awarded the 2013 Latrobe Prize of $100,000 for the proposal, “The City of 7 Billion.”
| Feb 21, 2013
Holl videos discuss design features of Chengdu ' Porosity Block' project
Architect Steven Holl has released two short films describing the development of Sliced Porosity Block in Chengdu, China.
| Feb 21, 2013
Construction team chosen for world's tallest building in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
Construction team chosen for world's tallest building in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
| Feb 17, 2013
Pakistan to get world's tallest tower in $45 billion deal
Newly signed mega deal will fund construction of several massive developments in Karachi, including a mixed-use tower that will dwarf the Burj Khalifa.
| Feb 13, 2013
'Vegetative tower' apartments to revive NYC site
A Manhattan site formerly slated for development with a "tower of cubes"—a now-defunct project by Santiago Calatrava—will be revived with a 998-foot, 300,000-sf apartment building by Morali Architects.
| Jul 9, 2012
Modular Construction Delivers Model for New York Housing in Record Time
A 65-unit supportive housing facility in Brooklyn, N.Y., was completed in record time using modular construction with six stories set in just 12 days.
| Jul 2, 2012
San Francisco lays claim to the greenest building in North America
The 13-floor building can hold around 900 people, but consumes 60% less water and 32% less energy than most buildings of its kind.
| Jun 13, 2012
Thornton Tomasetti founding principals receive CTBUH Fazlur R. Khan Lifetime Achievement Medal
This is the first time the CTBUH Board of Trustees has awarded the prize to two individuals jointly.