In the last decade, the most unique, innovative, and lauded skyscrapers have had one thing in common: a twist. Not a metaphorical one, but a literal twist where the design of the building has some element that appears to twist.

Supposedly a mix of complex computing power, trend cycles, and sustainability have been driving this new design, claims a new study from the Chicago-based Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH).

The CTBUH lists all 28 of the twisting towers built or under construction, but Ursini says that there are still more that have just been proposed—meaning this is a trend that will be around for a while. Key to its staying power, he says, will be its emergence with another construction trend: green building. "If the twist reduces energy you consume in the building," by reducing solar heat gain with placement of the windows as it does in some buildings, for example, "that will be the primary thing," he says.

In other words, if these towers can provide benefits like that beyond pure aesthetics, skylines worldwide may only get more twisted.

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