User:Stcao/TurningTorso

Structural Description
The Turning Torso, designed by Santiago Calatrava, is one of the more unusual structures, rotating 90 degrees from bottom to top, located in Malmo, Sweden. It is a 54 story residential building that reaches a height of 190 meters, about 623 feet. The structure consists of nine cubes, each of five floors, that slowly spiral upwards. Most of the load of the structure lies in a circular reinforced concrete core. The Turning Torso has a spine that attaches to each of the cubes, transferring forces to the core. It is a structure that is not completely considered structural art due to its elegance and uniqueness and takes precedent over efficiency and economy.

Economic
From both a social and economic stand point, the Turning Torso brought controversy to the city of Malmo, Sweden. There have been many mixed feeling about the structure due to its uniqueness compared to everything else in the area, as well as the amount of money that was put into the project. Malmo is an area without a lot of sites to see, people in neighboring areas say it's a town that one would just pass through. Sweden and Scandinavia in general does not have a very prominent skyline, so the structure of the Turning Torso was very out of place, especially for such a small town that holds the tallest building in Scandinavia. It is an "un-Swedish" structure, but one that attracted a lot of people to the area.

The amount of money invested into the Turning Torso was extremely high. It was said to have cost about 1.5 billion Swedish crowns, which is roughly 222 million US dollars. The cost was not economical at all for such a large residential building. It would be more economic if the structure brought in more money from tourism, but it is more of a private building, although small groups of people are allowed to visit the top floor during the summer months through scheduled appointments.

Elegance
Although the Turning Torso is not completely economical nor completely socially accepted, it is one that is symbolic and does indeed carry some elegance. Before the structure was built, the city of Malmo did not have many tourists. The addition of the Calatrava's building was one that completely changed the profile of Malmo and put it on the map. It became a popular landmark for the small area. The structure was built in Malmo because local politicians thought it was important for its inhabitants to have a symbol. It is not only the tallest building in Sweden, but all of Scandinavia, as well as the tallest residential building in the EU. Since it is such a prominent landmark of Malmo, the only landmark in Malmo, it adds to the elegance of the structure. Rotating 90 degrees from the bottom up, the Turning Torso is meant to resemble a twisting human spine. The structure is more symbolic than it is elegant since it is so out of character with its surroundings.

Efficiency
Calatrava's design of the Turning Torso is one that is only somewhat efficient. It creates a lot of livable space for people without taking up a lot room on the ground, but it is not completely necessary. It was important for Malmo to have a symbol since it is a prominent city in Sweden that did not have a big attraction to draw people in, but this was too excessive. Malmo is a small city and to have a residential building that is 54 floors, being the tallest residential building in the EU, is much to extreme.