Turning Torso is a neo-futurist residential

skyscraper A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Most modern sources define skyscrapers as being at least or in height, though there is no universally accepted definition, other than being very tall high-rise bui ...

built in

Malmö Malmö is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, sixth-largest city in Nordic countries, the Nordic region. Located on ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

, in 2005. It was the tallest building in the Nordic region until September 2022, when it was surpassed by Karlatornet in

Gothenburg Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...

. Located on the Swedish side of the Öresund strait, it was built and is owned by Swedish cooperative housing association HSB. It is regarded as the second twisted skyscraper in the world to receive the title after Telekom Tower in

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

. It was designed by Spanish architect, structural engineer, sculptor and painter

Santiago Calatrava Santiago Calatrava Valls (born 28 July 1951) is a Spaniards, Spanish-Swiss people, Swiss architect, structural engineer, sculptor and painter, particularly known for his bridges supported by single leaning pylons, and his railway stations, stad ...

and officially opened on 27 August 2005. It reaches a height of with 54 stories and 147 apartments. Turning Torso won the 2005 Gold

Emporis Skyscraper Award The Emporis Skyscraper Award was an award for architectural excellence regarding the design of buildings and their functionality. The award was presented annually by Emporis, a real estate data mining company with headquarters in Hamburg, Germany. ...

; and in 2015, the 10 Year Award from the

Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) is an international body in the field of tall buildings, including skyscrapers, and Sustainable design, sustainable urban design. A non-profit organization based at the Monroe Building in ...

Design

Turning Torso is based on ''Twisting Torso'', a white marble sculpture by Calatrava that was based on the form of a twisting human being. 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 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. Turning Torso structure

It is a solid, immobile building constructed in nine segments of five-story pentagons that twist relative to each other as it rises; the topmost segment is twisted 90 degrees clockwise from the ground floor. Each floor consists of an irregular

pentagon In geometry, a pentagon () is any five-sided polygon or 5-gon. The sum of the internal angles in a simple polygon, simple pentagon is 540°. A pentagon may be simple or list of self-intersecting polygons, self-intersecting. A self-intersecting ...

al 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 rental apartments.

Construction

Construction started in February 2001. One reason for building Turning Torso was to re-establish a recognisable skyline for Malmö since the removal in 2002 of the Kockums Crane, which was located less than 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 Shipbuilding is the construction of ships and other Watercraft, floating vessels. In modern times, it normally takes place in a specialized facility known as a shipyard. Shipbuilders, also called shipwrights, follow a specialized occupation th ...

and somewhat symbolised the city's blue collar roots. The construction of part of this building was featured on Discovery Channel '' Extreme Engineering'' TV programme which showed how a floor of the building was constructed. Prior to the construction of Turning Torso, the Kronprinsen had been the city's tallest building. 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. Construction costs for the building were over twice the initial budgeted costs.

Events

On 18 August 2006, Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner parachuted onto the Turning Torso, and then jumped off it. Floor 49 is home to the public observation deck while floors 50–52 contain a private club, meeting events, the reception, and the venue restaurant. Floor 53 and 54 in the Turning Torso are conference floors booked and managed by Sky High Meetings. Since 2009 the owner, HSB, has decided to let the public visit these floors but only on special scheduled days, and pre-booking is required.

Gallery

File:Turningtorsoconstruction.jpg, Construction in 2004 File:Malm%C3%B6_1442.JPG, Main entrance File:Top_of_Turning_Torso%E2%80%93flygbild_06_september_2014.jpg, Top floors File:Turning_Torso–flygbild_06_september_2014.jpg, Aerial view File:Turning_Torso_bakom.jpg, View from the ground level File:Turning torso by night1.jpg, View at night File:Turning Torso 2 Jan 2024.jpg, Seen in wintry evening light, January 2024

Notes

References

External links

*
Fullscreen panorama from Turning Torso

PERI GmbH - From a sculpture to a building

"The Sculptor"
''The New Yorker'', 31 October 2005, link broken November 2011
Torso Tower Blog

Short films of Turning Torso from various locations
{{Malmö Buildings and structures in Malmö Towers in Sweden Santiago Calatrava structures Residential skyscrapers Skyscraper office buildings in Sweden Residential buildings completed in 2005 2005 establishments in Sweden Twisted buildings and structures Modernist architecture in Sweden Postmodern architecture High-tech architecture Landmarks in Sweden Neo-futurist architecture 21st-century establishments in Skåne County