Exhibition center tower in Frankfurt am Main, 1988-1991
Your imagination can make it look like a rocket or like a roll of coins. As a
scepter it "sets the crown" on many comparisons. In any case, however,
it is a jewel of urban architecture: the "Messeturm", the 842-ft tall tower
on the Frankfurt Exhibition Center site.
For five years, from 1991 to 1996, the "city reaching into the sky" was
Europe's tallest skyscraper. Because downtown Frankfurt was already heavily
crowded with buildings, only a tiny lot of ground was available for all
the construction site equipment, about the size of two tennis courts.
The only way HOCHTIEF was able to complete the project in the allotted
time of only three years was with a highly sophisticated logistics system.
Time is money, particularly in the banking metropolis of Frankfurt: the first
tenants moved in on the lower floor while work was still proceeding higher up.
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