Photos

HSB Turning Torso is a Deconstructivist skyscraper in Malmö, Sweden, located on the Swedish side of the Öresund strait.It was designed by the Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava and officially opened on 27 August 2005. The tower reaches a height of 190 metres (623 feet) with 54 stories. Upon completion, it was the tallest building in Scandinavia, the tallest residential building in the EU and the second tallest residential building in Europe, after the 264-metre (870 ft)-high Triumph-Palace in Moscow. A similar, taller skyscraper featuring a 90° twist is the Infinity Tower, currently under construction in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Prior to the construction of Turning Torso, the 86-metre (280 ft)-high Kronprinsen had been the city's tallest building.

The tower's design is based on a sculpture by Calatrava called Twisting Torso. It uses nine segments of five-story pentagons that twist as it rises; the topmost segment is twisted ninety degrees clockwise with respect to the ground floor. Each floor consists of an irregular pentagonal 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 luxury apartments.

The Twisting Torso sculpture is a white marble piece based on the form of a twisting human being. The organizers of the European housing exhibition Bo01 to be held in Malmö 2001 contacted Calatrava asking him to design a temporary pavillion for the exhibition. At the same time a high-rise building was proposed for the exhibition site and discussions started with Calatrava about the design of it. Johnny Örbäck, former CEO and Board Chairman of the developer the Malmö branch of the co-operative housing association HSB, later became the main figure and claimed that he had seen the sculpture in 1999 and that he himself contacted Calatrava to ask him to design a building using the same concept. Construction started in the summer of 2001.

One reason for the building of Turning Torso was to re-establish a recognizable skyline for Malmö since the removal of the Kockums Crane in 2002, which was located less than a kilometre from Turning Torso. The local politicians deemed it important for the inhabitants to have a symbol for Malmö — Kockumskranen, which was a large crane that had been used for shipbuilding and somewhat symbolised the city's blue collar roots.