Messeturm
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Coordinates: 50°06′44″N 8°39′10″E / 50.11222°N 8.65278°E
| Messeturm | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Information | |
| Location | Frankfurt am Main, Germany |
| Status | Complete |
| Constructed | 1991 |
| Height | |
| Roof | 256.5 metres (842 ft) |
| Technical details | |
| Floor count | 63 |
| Companies | |
| Architect | Murphy/Jahn |
The Messeturm is a skyscraper in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Its name translates as "Fair Tower" ("fair" in the sense of "trade fair") in German. It is the second tallest building in Germany and the also the second tallest in the European Union. The Messeturm's ground floor area is just 1,681 m2 (18,090 sq ft). The Messeturm is directly located in the Frankfurt Trade Fair grounds. Helmut Jahn designed the Messeturm in the Postmodern architectural style.
Used as an office building, the Messeturm is 257 metres (840 ft) tall and has 63 floors. It was the tallest building in Europe from its completion in 1991 until 1997 when it was overtaken by the Commerzbank Tower, also located in Frankfurt, and only two meters taller.
The construction of the building's foundation set a world record for the longest continuous concrete pour. Ninety trucks poured concrete for 78 hours into the 6-metre (20 ft) deep foundation.
The 36.3 metres (119.1 ft) high pyramid on the very top of the Messeturm is what makes it most remarkable among other usual skyscrapers.
Similar designs by other architects include the Bank of America Plaza (1992) in Atlanta, Georgia and the Key Tower (1991) in Cleveland, Ohio. Frankfurters often call it "The Pencil" due to its shape.
The tower uses numerous geometric shapes in its design such as the square footprint which is the main shape used throughout the tower. It then rises to a cylindrical shape which finally completes in a pyramid.
It is the only building in Germany with its own postal code (60308).
There are 900 parking places in a public parking garage and a direct connection to the subway.
The building also appears in the European tileset for the game SimCity 4.
[edit] Gallery
 The inner city ring with the Messeturm in the background |
 The Messeturm from the roof of Maintower |
 The Messeturm at night |
 Messeturm from street level |
[edit] See also
- List of tallest buildings in the European Union
- List of tallest buildings in Germany
- List of tallest buildings in Frankfurt
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Messeturm, Frankfurt |
- Messe Tower in the Structurae database
- The Messeturm on Emporis.com (General database of skyscrapers)
- The Messeturm on SkyscraperPage (Diagrams of skyscrapers)
- Translated version of the German article
