The twist
Each block rotated slightly against the one below.
Ralf Roletschek — CC BY-SA 1.0 fi · Knuckles at Swedish Wikipedia — CC BY 2.5 · Superbass — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Håkan Dahlström from Malmö, Sweden — CC BY 2.0
Turning Torso is the tallest building in the Nordic countries at a hundred and ninety metres, and the best-known work of Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava. The idea comes from a sculpture of his depicting a twisting human torso: nine cubic blocks stacked on each other, each rotated slightly against the one below, completing a full ninety-degree turn from base to summit. It was finished in 2005 and changed Malmo's identity outright. The city had been known for its shipyards, closed in the 1980s and leaving broad unemployment and an abandoned industrial quarter on the waterfront — so the tower was built on the dockyard ground itself as a declaration of a different city built on knowledge and services, and the sustainable Vastra Hamnen residential district grew around it. The building is entirely residential and office space with no floor open to visitors — no observation lift, no rooftop restaurant. You see it from outside only, and the best photo points are the Vastra Hamnen quay and Ribersborg beach, where it reflects on the water at sunset.
Each block rotated slightly against the one below.
A sustainable district built on the old shipyards.
Lilla Varvsgatan 14, 211 15 Malmo
ScaniaparkenScaniaparken lies at the north-western tip of Malmö, at the edge of **Västra Ham7 minutes walk4.4
Ribersborg BeachRibersborg is a sand strip running some four kilometres along the Oresund strait14 minutes walk4.6
Malmohus CastleMalmohus is the oldest surviving Renaissance castle in the Nordic countries, bui15 minutes walk4.3
The Museum of Technology and Maritime HistoryThe Museum of Technology and Maritime History is part of the Malmo museum comple15 minutes walk4.5
KungsparkenKungsparken is Malmo's oldest public park, opened in 1872 on ground that had bee19 minutes walk4.7No — the tower is entirely private apartments and offices with no observation deck or public restaurant, unlike comparable towers elsewhere. Upper floors are occasionally used for private, invitation-only events. To see Malmo from height, use the open waterfront viewpoints or the Oresund Bridge from a distance instead.