Foster + Partners – Russia Tower

This month we seem to be featuring luxury towers that look like ordinary objects. Case in point, the 118-floor Russia Tower has the rare distinction of resembling, at least in our eyes, a giant metronome.

Like many tower projects once destined for the skies, construction on the Russia Tower has halted in the face of declining markets and insufficient funding. At one time, construction plans included 101 elevators and an underground garage for 3,680 vehicles. The question of whether this particular monolith will ever light up Moscow skies remains in limbo, in spite of its planned opening in 2012.

Far be it for us to pooh-pooh the work of respected architects approaching 40 years of design experience, completing iconic feats of architecture like Hearst Headquarters, London City Hall, and Beijing Airport along the way. One must wonder, however, if modern tower design is experiencing a bit of whimsy. After all, when ingenious designs turn dull in transition from drawing board to reality, one must do something to turn the heads of an increasingly contentious group of “been there, done that” engineers. Find them here.

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