Shining high above lowrise Gothenburg, Sweden, Karlatornet is now the tallest structure in Scandinavia. Like many solitary towers rising in cities once unconcerned with such heights, the 807-foot luxury highrise stands alone among clouds. Designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), the $525 million tower is the firm’s first in Sweden. When it topped out in 2022, Karlatornet dethroned Santiago Calatrava’s Turning Torso in Malmö, which had held the title of Scandinavia’s tallest since 2005. Like its predecessor, Karlatornet plays with twisting. But where Calatrava’s tower leans into a single, full-bodied spiral, SOM’s features multiple, surface-level “twists,” localized in its upper-middle section, all while maintaining an orthogonal frame.
