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All Georgia Batumi Batumi Tower Ferris Wheel

Batumi Tower Ferris Wheel

The first skyscraper to include a Ferris wheel built into the facade.

Batumi, Georgia

Added By
Henrik Johansson
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Tower in Batumi, Georgia   Андрей Бобровский/CC BY 3.0
Tower in Batumi, Georgia   Андрей Бобровский/CC BY 3.0
Batumi Technological University Tower.   Sarah Murray
Андрей Бобровский/CC BY 3.0   Batumi, Georgia
Batumi Technological University Tower.   Andrzej Wójtowicz
Batumi’s seafront Miracle Park with the tower of BatumiTechnical University on the left.   Colin Hepburn/CC BY-SA 2.0
Batumi Tower peeking out behind an apartment building   WanderLush / Atlas Obscura User
Batumi tower   Sarah Murray/CC BY-SA 2.0
Tower with ferris wheel seen in the distance.   Khuroshvili Ilya/CC BY-SA 2.0
The Batumi Technological University Tower is clearly visible in the city’s skyline.   hrnick / Atlas Obscura User
The Batumi Technological University Tower is clearly visible in the city’s skyline.   hrnick / Atlas Obscura User
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About

When the Technological University Tower in Batumi, Georgia was completed in 2012, it was the first building to include a Ferris wheel built into the facade. Hanging 330 feet (100 meters) above the ground are eight air-conditioned cabins with room for a total of 40 people. It would offer a great view over Batumi, if only it was operational.

The Ferris wheel—as well as the 280-foot (85-meter) mast with a sail on top of the tower—proved to be a challenge for the architects and engineers designing the building, and required wind tunnel tests. Further complicating the construction, the tower was built in a moderate seismic zone. During an earthquake, the soil underneath the tower liquefies, and so strategies to prevent this were also developed.

What's more, the plans to open a technological university in the city fell short, and the building stood empty for two years before it was sold in 2015. The plan was to transform the tower into a hotel since many had criticized the building for not being suitable as an education facility. Still, rebuilding it would require massive investments.

Still today the tower stands empty in downtown Batumi. Whether it ends up a hotel or university or something else, it will certainly have something special to offer its visitors in the future.

Update November 2024: The tower has found a new use as a casino and luxury apartments.

Related Tags

Architectural Oddities Towers Amusement Parks Engineering Architecture

Know Before You Go

The Batumi Technological University Tower is located in downtown Batumi and is clearly visible in the Batumi skyline.

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Added By

hrnick

Edited By

saszito, Meg, WanderLush

  • saszito
  • Meg
  • WanderLush

Published

September 20, 2017

Updated

November 22, 2024

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Sources
  • http://www.cowi.com/menu/project/buildings/highrise/batumi-technological-university-tower-in-georgia
  • http://agenda.ge/news/31333/eng
  • https://www.skyscrapercenter.com/building/batumi-technological-university-tower/15223
Batumi Tower Ferris Wheel
Ninoshvili St
Batumi
Georgia
41.654165, 41.636526
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