Turning Torso is a neo-Futuristic residential skyscraper in Sweden and the highest building in Scandinavia.
Located in Malmö on the Swedish side of the Strait of Eresund, it was built and belongs to the Swedish cooperative association HSB. It is considered the first twisted skyscraper in the world.
The project was designed by a Spanish architect, construction engineer, sculptor and artist Santiago Calatrava and officially opened on 27 August 2005. The tower reaches a height of 190 meters (623 feet) with 54 floors and 147 apartments.
In August 2015 it was announced that the building is the winner of the 10-year award of the Council for High Buildings and Urban Habitat. In 2005, it was awarded the "Emporis Golden Skyscraper" award.
The rotating torso is based on Calatrava's sculpture entitled "Rotating torso", which is a piece of white marble based on the shape of a wriggling man. It is the first "spinning" tower.
In 1999, former CEO of HSB Malmö Johnny Örbäck saw the sculpture in a brochure presenting Calatrava in connection with his contribution to the architectural competition for the Ersund Bridge. It was on this occasion that Erbäck was inspired to build the HSB "Rotary Torso". Shortly afterwards, he went to Zurich to meet Calatrava and ask him to design a residential building based on the idea of winding cubes.
It's a solid, fixed building, built in nine segments of five-storey pentagons that curl up against each other as they rise; the uppermost segment curves 90 degrees clockwise in relation to the first floor. Each floor consists of an irregular pentagonal shape rotating around a vertical core, which is supported by an external steel frame. The two lower segments are designed for use as office space. Segments from three to nine houses 147 apartments.
Construction began in the summer of 2001. One of the reasons for the construction of Turning Torso was to restore the recognizable Malmö horizon after the removal in 2002 of the Kockums crane, which was less than one kilometre (0.62 miles) from Turning Torso. Local politicians considered it important for Malmö residents to have a new symbol instead of the crane, which was used in shipbuilding and to some extent symbolized the urban roots of the blue collar.
The construction of part of this building was shown on Discovery's Extreme Engineering TV show, which described how the building's floor was being constructed.
Prior to the construction of the Tournament Body, the 86-meter (282-foot) Crown Prinsen was the tallest building in the city.
The apartments were originally supposed to be sold, but lack of interest led to the apartments being rented out. The owner tried unsuccessfully to sell the building several times. The construction costs were almost twice as high as expected.
On 18 August 2006, Austrian parachutist Felix Baumgartner parachuted onto the Rotary Torso and then jumped off it.
The 49th floor has a public viewing platform and the 50-52nd floor houses a private club, conference rooms, reception and restaurant.
The 53rd and 54th floors in the "Swivel Body" are conference rooms booked and managed by Sky High Meetings. Since 2009 the owner of HSB has decided to allow the public to visit these floors, but only on special scheduled days and advance booking is required.
