Batumi Tower

The Batumi Tower (Batumi Technological University Tower) is a skyscraper in Batumi, Georgia. At 200 m tall, it was the tallest building in Georgia until 2023. The main construction material used is concrete, and a ferris wheel is embedded into the skyscraper. It is in the modernist style and was designed by Metal Yapi. Construction work was completed in 2012, and multiple other skyscrapers have been built directly adjacent to it.

History
Construction on the tower was supported by Mikheil Saakashvili, who initiated the ground-breaking at the construction site. The tower was completed in 2012, but remained empty until 2 years later. In 2015, it was put up at auction and at there was speculation that it was to be renovated and converted into a hotel. As of 2024, the building was still undergoing renovations, but multiple floors have been completed.

Design
The tower has a modernist design, and is unique in that at the 330-foot mark on the tower, there is a Ferris wheel embedded in the corner of the facade The windows are arranged in vertical, randomly-alternating stripes, and a diagonal concrete line separates different parts of the facade.

The shape of the building itself can be compared to the Transamerica Pyramid, a building with a similar "pyramid" shape that slopes upward. The building extends from two other multi-story buildings, which serves as the tower's lobby. The entire complex takes up 2 addresses, and has an above-ground parking lot outside.

Both of the other buildings in the complex are designed in the same manner, with white-concrete and blue glass walls. The smallest of the two has a futurist awning which doubles as a valet lot, and the taller one serves as a secondary office space.

Controversy
The tower is controversial due to its purpose. Multiple companies and prominent Georgian figures advocated for the tower to become an education facility, and the idea was so heavily criticized that the tower was repurposed and left abandoned, later being sold by the government to a hotel, as of 2024.