Height:
300.1 meters
Cost to
build: US$414 million
Completion
date: 1997
Fast fact:
There is no observatory or open area on top. The public can only get as far as
the plaza level.
With the
aid of a 50-meter mast, the Commerzbank Headquarters in Frankfurt soars past
the 300-meter mark by a whopping 10 centimeters. The building is the tallest in
Germany and second-tallest in Europe, for now. It will be surpassed by the
Shard London Bridge in 2012.
Swimming
against the tide marks it out for this list.
The
Commerzbank Headquarters was the world's first so-called ecological skyscraper,
making use of natural systems of lighting and ventilation and reducing energy
consumption as early as 1997.
In contrast
to Europe's conspicuous lack of grand skyscrapers,
this
building celebrates its rise above low-rise offices, making it not just a
symbol of Frankfurt's economy, but of Germany's attempts to pioneer
eco-architectural design.
Sometimes I envy those people who do the things that I used to do, feel the things that I used to feel, and experience the things that used to make me happy and say that life's wonderful.
ReplyDeleteFlights to New York | Cheap Flights to New York | Cheap Air Tickets to New York