The international Emporis Skyscraper Award has been presented by the Emporis database in Frankfurt since 2000. The winners have included renowned architectural offices such as Toyo Ito Architects, Foster & Partners – which have received the award twice – and the Spanish architecture company Santiago Calatrava. Each year, an international jury of architecture experts evaluates buildings that are at least 100-meters-high or at least 30-stories-high in terms of design and functionality. In addition to the winner of the Emporis Skyscraper Award 2010, Hotel Porta Fira (see pages 42 to 47) in 
L´Hospitalet de Llobregat, near Barcelona, designed by Toyo Ito Architects, two other Schüco reference buildings came in the top ten: Capital City in Moscow and Torre Telefónica Diagonal ZeroZero in Barcelona.

Construction of the Capital City twin towers in the new Moscow International Business Center (MIBC) on the banks of the Moskva River was completed in 2009. While St. Petersburg Tower has 62 floors, Moskva Tower has 73, rising to a height of 303,3 m, making it Europe’s highest building. Restaurants and stores, as well as a spa and fitness center, are housed in the base of the multifunctional complex. Above it, there are offices up to the 17th story. The private area with luxury apartments begins on the 19th floor. The apartments become more and more exclusive the higher they are. For the planning, the builder client, Capital Group Holding, hired renowned experts to ensure that the project was successful. In 2011, an international jury selected the scheme as one of the top ten buildings over 100-meters-high within the framework of Emporis Skyscraper Award. The architects and planners from NBBJ have a wealth of experience carrying out large international projects, a result of working for one of the world’s largest architectural firms, located in ten offices throughout the world including regional support offices in Moscow and Beijing.

The architectural idiom of pure geometrical shapes is rooted in 20th century Russian Constructivism, which consciously used art and architecture to convey information. The orthogonal towers consist of stacked cubes twisted in relation to one another on a vertical axis. The cubic floor plans allow for a generous spatial design as well as extremely efficient building technology. The twisting breaks up the geometric rigidity, making the skyscrapers more dynamic. Schüco aluminum façade systems were used for the façade. Vertical strips alternating with light and dark panels stress the partially flush shiny glass elements. The large module widths and installation heights created by using the thermally insulated façade system, Schüco FW 60+, afford the residents magnificent views of the river, the glamorous business center, and the historic city center.