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Messeturm
01-01-2014 - Messeturm - trade fair tower - Frankfurt- Germany - 05.jpg
General information
Status Complete
Type Commercial offices
Architectural style Art Deco, Postmodern
Location Friedrich-Ebert-Anlage 49
Frankfurt
Hesse, Germany
Coordinates 50°06′44″N 8°39′10″E / 50.11222°N 8.65278°E / 50.11222; 8.65278
Construction started 13 July 1988
Opening October 1990
Cost DM500 million
Owner Tishman Speyer Properties
Height
Roof 257 m (843 ft)
Top floor 228 m (748 ft)
Technical details
Floor count 63
2 below ground
Floor area 61,711 m2 (664,300 sq ft)
Design and construction
Architect Helmut Jahn
Richard Murphy
Developer Tishman Speyer Properties
CitiBank
Structural engineer Ingenieurbüro Fritz Nötzold
Main contractor HOCHTIEF AG

The Messeturm, or Trade Fair Tower, is a 63-storey, 257 m (843 ft) skyscraper in the Westend-Süd district of Frankfurt, Germany. It is the second tallest building in Frankfurt, the second tallest building in Germany and the third tallest building in the European Union. It was the tallest building in Europe from its completion in 1990 until 1997 when it was surpassed by the Commerzbank Tower, which is also located in Frankfurt.

The Messeturm is located near the Frankfurt Trade Fair grounds. Helmut Jahn designed the Messeturm in a postmodern architectural style. It is regarded as one of the design classics among European skyscrapers. Despite its name, the Messeturm is not used for trade fair exhibitions but as an office building. It is one of the few buildings in Germany with their own postal code (60308), the others being Opernturm, another Frankfurt skyscraper, and the summit station on Zugspitze.

Design

The Messeturm is similar in design to towers by other architects including the Bank of America Plaza in Atlanta, Georgia and Key Tower (1991) in Cleveland, Ohio. Frankfurters often call it Bleistift ("pencil") due to its shape. 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. Its ground floor area is just 1,681 m2 (18,090 sq ft), and features a 36.3 m (119.1 ft) pyramid at the top.

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.

There are 900 parking places in a public parking garage and a direct connection to the subway.

Gallery

Skyscrapers in Frankfurt

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Messeturm para niños

  • List of tallest buildings in Frankfurt
  • List of tallest buildings in Germany
  • List of tallest buildings in the European Union
  • List of tallest buildings in Europe
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