Also known as: The Montreal Tower Built: 1987 Designed by: Roger Taillibert Type: Tower Maximum Height: 575 feet / 175 meters Location: Olympic Park, Montréal, Canada
H istory commonly rewards those architects who go out on a limb. Who do something different. Who take a common concept and not only see it differently themselves, but also allow others to see it in a new light. That is what's happened here. If it weren't for its unfortunate name, The Montreal Tower, the word "tower" might not spring to mind at all. The designers have gone beyond the shaft-into-the-sky concept that has already been done in Toronto, Vienna, Tashkent, San Antonio, and a hundred other places. The 575-foot-tall Montreal Tower's graceful 45-degree lean makes it the world's tallest inclined tower, but it was destined for greatness anyway. The tower is one of the focal points of Montreal's Olympic Park. Much of the hard work in building the tower was done before assembly. 300 steel modules were constructed, then fitted together like a giant puzzle. This saved time, allowing the tower to be completed a year ahead of schedule. Another important construction note has to do with gravity. Because of the tower's massive base, the center of gravity is actually in the triangle near the ground. This allows the tower to lean freely without supports. The tower weighs a mere 8,000 tons compared with 14,000 tons if it had been made of concrete. The tower's base extends 92 meters below ground.
MARK LIM
Wednesday, June 14th, 2006 @ 8:12pm
Rating: Five stars. It's the most wondeful place I ever visited so far. I left great memories with my wife in 2005 during our honeymoon in Montreal. We tour the inclined viewing tower, biodome and the insectarium....
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MARK LIM
Five stars.