Harmony or conflict? In the foreground Tallinn's old town showcasing the town hall tower. Behind it is the Maakri Quarter, the area defined as 'most suitable' for high-rise development in the city. Photo: Scanpix - Wojtek Buss
The Postgirobygget building - 110 metres and 26 floors - in Oslo is perhaps the least successfully implemented Nordic high-rise building design. Firstly, it has a relatively dark brownish metal-cladding-type facade. Secondly, the building is rather voluminous and thirdly it is inauspiciously positioned in the lowest part of what is called the Oslo 'amphitheatre', the green hills which surround the city at the end of the Oslofjord.
The building is therefore very visible to anyone living or working on the hills around the city centre as well as to many in the city-centre. The fantastic view from the top of the Postgirobygget is however enjoyed only by those working in the building.
Oslo and Stockholm very eager
In the Nordic context Oslo is clearly edging ahead in the field of high-rise development in the established city centres. This conclusion is amplified by the fact that they are currently in the process of adding ten relatively high and voluminous buildings in a ribbon several hundred metres long - the Barcode-project - close to the two already existing rather massive constructions Postgirobygget and the Oslo Plaza Hotel (117 metres and 37 floors). The effect, seen from the sea, is to portray a dark and brooding wall rising up behind the light, playful and very popular new shore front opera building designed by Snøhetta.
In Stockholm developers are pushing to build more extensively around the Central Railway Station as well as in other parts of the commercial city centre. For example a 16 storey high new hotel and large conference facility is currently under construction just south of the station rendering the famous profile of the City Hall (Stadshuset) much less visible. In a few years we might see a 100 metre (30+ floors) high hotel just across from the main entrance to the Station. The spire of the Klara church will get a real visual competitor if this comes to fruition.
Stockholm has something unusual to boast in this regard, namely, as a skyscrapers' interest-group fighting to launch new high-rises and arguing that. More than anything, sheer height, or simple magnitude, is important. Close to Nortull, a couple of kilometres north of the Central Station area, plans exist for two new 140 metre-high towers called Tors torn. This is similar to what is planned for Copenhagen's northern harbour Marmormolen. One difference here however is that a connecting bridge between the two towers is planned which will be accessible to both bicycles and pedestrians. Large ships can even sail underneath.
Who is behind the push for more high-rise development?
The driving force behind many of the new densification projects in Stockholm is Jernhusen, the property-company of the state-owned SJ (Swedish Railways). Similarly, in Oslo it is primarily HAV (owned by the city's Port Authority), ROM (owned by the Norwegian State Railways) and Entra (owned by the Ministry of Trade and Industry).
Slower high-rise growth in Helsinki and Copenhagen
Copenhagen did not participate in the international trend which began in the 1920s to build higher. In this city it has long been a major building principle that new structures should relate to their surroundings. This is similar to Helsinki where no centrally-located building, except the Hotel Torni, is more than eight floors high.
There have however been a few exceptions in the Danish capital, like the SAS Royal Hotel. This rather famous building was completed in 1960 and designed by the renowned architect Arne Jacobsen. It rises 77 metres or 22 floors in height. Since the building has a light and almost dull grey/green finish the contrast against the sky is rather smooth.
Metro potentials and public protest
Recent years have seen strong forces wanting to build high "dead" in the centre of Copenhagen. One example is the 130 metre high Scala Tower close to the Tivoli. Thus far, it seems unlikely that it will be built. The reason is twofold; strong public protest against "skyscrapers" in the city centre and secondly the fact that the authorities have already invested heavily in a new metro system.
The most sensible course of action then it is argued is to utilise the potentials inherent in such transport facilities before increasing the height of buildings in the historic centre of the city. This is also what is happening. The ´new town' Ørestaden between five and eight kilometres from the centre – on the way to Copenhagen International Airport – is rapidly growing and will soon have tens of thousands of new homes and workplaces. Later other large developments will follow.
Helsinki invested in its first metro-line almost thirty years ago (opened 1982) and it is currently in the process of being extended to cover the west of the city and the neighbouring municipality of Espoo. As with Copenhagen this has opened the way for large new developments to be planned up to 15 kilometres from the city centre.
Some 70% of all land in the Finnish capital is owned by the municipality itself. If they sell or rent land to property developments it is not necessarily to those who are willing to pay most. Rather it is generally to whose who have the best solutions to the requirements attached to the utilisation of the actual plot. Such demands are again decided upon by the City Council based on proposals from the planners.
Currently there are, in addition to the Hotel Torni in the centre of town, there are only three high-rises in the Greater Helsinki area, the Nokia and Fortum buildings in Espoo and Cirrus in Vuosaari. All three are however 10 kilometres or more from the city centre. In a not too distant future we could however conceivably envisage the first 30-storey building less than five kilometres from the centre. At the old rail-yard in Pasila, such structures were included in the winning scheme for the site-transformation by the architect office of Gino Zucci.
Worldwide participation
Reykjavik with its surrounding communities has approximately 200 000 inhabitants. In the heyday of the economic boom fuelled by the liquidity of the Icelandic banks the new bourgeoisie in the Icelandic capital readied themselves to move into new flats in housing-towers of up to 20 floors by the waterfront. It particular the Skuggaverfi project offered such opportunities. However with the financial collapse after 2007 many of these projects were abandoned. People living behind the Skuggaverfi development however remain physically of not metaphorically 'in the shade' due to the fact that the towers block the sun's rays, particularly as the summer solstice rises to only to 50° at most while in winter the sun rises to only 3° here at 64°N.
In many if not most of the capitals and bigger cities of the world strong political, economic and ideological forces exist exhorting the need to build high. In January this year the 828 metre and 160 floor high Burj Khalifa opened in Dubai after six years under construction. It is the tallest building in the world and was designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, the Chicago based architects who have been in the skyscraper business since 1936.
In Paris one of the ideas for the future of the city, launched by President Nicolay Sakorzy, is to build a 40 kilometre long wall of skyscrapers around the French capital.
The Baltic challenges
Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania achieved their independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. The capital city of each country fortunately retained its historic 'old town' centre more or less intact. Characterising each was the medieval layout with narrow, winding streets, open-air markets and other public spaces and buildings of most types, styles and ages, all of which were low with a maximum of, at most, six floors.
The exception was usually a large city centre hotel approximately twenty-stories high built in the 1960s or 1970s. For the rest, modern buildings were primarily housing with flats in the so-called Krutsjov or Bresjev style further away from the city centres and sometimes reaching eight or ten floors in height. In Riga the ´Stalinist' Palace of the Collective Farmers, later the Academy of Science, the broadcasting house, the press centre and the television tower could all be added to the skyscraper endowment of the Soviet inheritance.
It would however be fair to say that 'high-rise' construction – at least in terms of building height - in these cities has historically meant the church, its bell tower or the watch tower of the castle. For Vilnius it is the 68 metre high bell tower of St. John's church (1571). For Riga it is the 123 metre high St. Peter's church spire (rebuilt with a steel skeleton between 1967 and 1983 after it was destroyed during World War II) and for Tallinn the 124 metre tall church of St. Olav's.
Old town centres represent history, tradition and also a greater potential to generate income from tourists and local residents. (Just check the prices to buy or rent apartments in such locations). Vilnius' 'Old Town' joined the UNESCO list of world heritage sites in 1994. Three years later Riga and Tallinn were also accepted into this prestigious group.
The charming structures make all three locations unmissable tourist destinations. Developers however are also attracted to these unique settings. In Vilnius this fascination began in 2000-01 with the first 33 floor commercial building began construction. Almost 129 metres high the building was almost double the height of the previous highest in the locale, the church-tower of St. John's.
In the same year Riga saw the construction of the Hansa Bank (now Swed Bank) headquarters rising to 121 metres in height. In 2006 the 113 metre high Tomimae commercial centre was erected in Tallinn. Common to all is the possibility for the occupants to look down on the magnificent roofscapes of the historic buildings nearby.
Protection Zones Ignored?
Since all of these new "skyscrapers" were located in or very close to the so-called 'protection' or 'buffer-zones' allotted to the heritage sites, the new structures naturally generated a significant amount of discussion. Local grassroots activists and sections of the professional communities protested. UNESCO was, moreover, far from happy with this haphazard modernity. In particular, they were concerned about the impact on the skylines of the old town centres.
In December 2006 an international conference was convened to discuss the issues in Vilnius. It was organised by city authorities and attracted key representatives from Riga and Tallinn as well as from UNESCO. A number of common conclusions were reached for all three cities.
The advice given was that more detailed studies of the various skylines and of possible building-profiles, more openness in the processes together with planning decisions to increase the density of the already emerging high-rise zones, should be combined in a bid to halt the move towards 'eclecticism' across the entire skyline of each city. Vilnius and Riga have more or less followed these recommendations while Tallinn it would appear has not.
Who will win?
St. Petersburg has for several years seen a heated debate over Gazprom's plan to build its new headquarters called the Oktha Tower, a structure some 403 metres high in the city. These plans have been met with consistent resistance from local and international architect's organisations, patriots as well as representatives of UNESCO's World Heritage Committee. In Moscow, President Dmitry Medvedev has recently joined the groups of opponents while Prime Minister Vladimir Putin remains a supporter of this "symbol of progress". What the final result will be remains at present unclear.
A little further down the Gulf of Finland, in Tallinn, they may soon be able to take the lead in the unofficial Baltic-Nordic tall building race. As is well known, the highest building in the Baltic-Nordic area is currently the "Turning Torso" in Malmö, a twisted white tower structure, rising 190 metres towards the sky on the shores of the Øresund. But in Estonia's capital this is soon to be beaten by some 20 metres. The point is that permission has already been given to build as high as 210 metres, however only for one building!