History
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.
