Messeturm

The MesseTurm is a 63-storey, 257m 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 1991 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. Despite its name, the Messeturm is not used for trade fair exhibitions but as an office building.ConstructionThe 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 6m deep foundation. Its ground floor area is just 1681m2, and features a 36.3m pyramid at the top.