Frank Gehry's Twisted High-Rise Gets Approval To Become Berlin's Tallest Building

A design by Frank Gehry, the iconic architect behind the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao and many other stand-out buildings, has been chosen to be the tallest in Berlin.

A German panel selected Gehry's design of a 300-unit, 492-foot high tower that will be the tallest residential building in the city, according to Curbed.

The warped, curving tower has a motion to it that resembles others by Gehry, such as New York City's tallest residential building at 8 Spruce Street.

Texas-based real estate firm Hines, which previously collaborated with Gehry on the Miami Worldcenter and Berlin's DZ Bank, will be developing the project.

Gehry Partners LLP was competing against David Chipperfield, Adjaye Associates and seven other practices in an invited competition for the 300-unit residential tower, according to Architecture & Design. The jury reportedly chose Gehry's design because of its rotating, stone-clad cubes which it said was the "most compelling" of the entries. The cubes are rotated towards key view points in Berlin, such as the nearby Karl-Marx-Allee.

"Gehry's design is strong in visual expression and introduces an unusually eccentric, new pattern for this location. Nevertheless, the facade radiates agreeable tranquility," competition judge and director of the city's urban development department, Regula Luscher, told Architecture & Design.

The majority of the 500,000-square-foot space will be apartments and penthouses but a portion of the tower will function as a hotel.

Gehry originally designed a group of similar towers for his hometown of Toronto, but the city council rejected the plan, according to Architecture and Design.