Sweden wins the 2020 International Highrise Award

Living high above the city: the twin towers of the Norra Tornen form the gateway to Stockhom's new Hagastaden district. The cubic modules with their protected balconies alternate in the style of an optical illusion. The jury praised the successful addition to the urban landscape, achieved by the Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) in Rotterdam.

The Stratford in London was one of the five finalists. The building's design came out of the New York office of Skidmore, Owings & Merill. The prize for highrise architecture has been awarded every two years since 2004 by the city of Frankfurt am Main, the German Architecture Museum and the DekaBank. Traditionally the award ceremony has taken place in St Paul's Church in Frankfurt.

The Stratford is an already recognizable landmark in the London district which gave the tower its name. With its deep recesses and the varying room sizes, as well as the publicly accessible green spaces, the building brings together "design living with a design hotel," according to the jury. The tower stood out from the 31 building nominations from 14 different countries.

With a swing of the hips, the OmniTurm sets itself apart from the other skyscrapers in Germany's Frankfurt am Main. The tower, designed by the Bjarke Ingels Group from New York / Copenhagen, stands out due to its "hybrid" facilities. It brings together gastronomy, office space, apartments and shops, all under one roof. The newest trend in real estate has reached Germany with this building.

This close-up shot brings it into relief: shifted and layered floors at the hip-level of the building give the skyscraper an air of levity. The jury, chaired by the Potsdam architect Anett-Maud Joppien, was enthusiastic — they considered the conceptual design of the OmniTurm as "pioneering."

Greenery sprouts and sprawls over this tower, reminiscent of the garden of Eden. No surprise then that this skyscraper in Singapore is called EDEN. Slotted panels protect the building's body while shell-shaped balconies protrude from the exterior. The sumptuous flora reflects the city's motto — "City in a Garden." The jury was enticed by just how green the building is.

Architecture from Singapore is often among the award's finalists, as is once again the case with the EDEN building. The urban "garden of Eden" left a lasting impression on the jury, most of all for its greening concept. For the jury chairwoman, Anett-Maud Joppien, the bulbous shell motifs and green jungles exert a "great attraction that one cannot escape."

Zaha Hadid is an old acquaintance among finalists and although she passed away in 2016, the company founded by the award-winning great lady of international architecture, Zara Hadid Architects, is still considered one of the most innovative firms worldwide, as seen in the Leeza SOHO building in Beijing. The glass exterior hides what are actually two towers.

The atrium between the two towers is 190 meters (623 feet) high — the highest in the world. The fascinating curved forms have a poetic effect, thanks to a modern, algorithm-supported design. For Peter Cachola Schmal, the head of the German Architecture Museum in Frankfurt am Main, the Leeza SOHO is the ideal sculptural solution for a twin skyscraper.