Is the sky the limit?

Everybody knows, especially the older generation that grew up reading the Grimm Brothers' story of 'Rapunzel' or Charles Perrault's 'Sleeping Beauty', that they live in towers. And these, in their modern form, are what a number of developers are now planning to build in Warsaw. None of them wants to keep anybody there against their will, but they are encouraging us for our own good to move into these modern offices with a view to the horizon. The results of such negotiations will be revealed over the next few months. But right now we can finally disclose details of Echo Investment's latest project. The developer has revealed its long anticipated design for a skyscraper in the heart of Warsaw. Q22 will rise up to almost 200m (including the spire). A few days after I saw the design, representatives of UBS confirmed that the Ilmet building (which is located near Q22) is to be removed from the panorama of the capital city in the second half of next year. It will be replaced by an almost 190m skyscraper. Walk a few hundred metres further and you will find yourself at the crossroads of ul. Grzybowska and ul. Żelazna, the planned location for the 140m Liberty Tower, the design of which is also featured in this issue. Walk another half kilometre towards Wola district and we come across the Warsaw Spire complex, which is already under construction and will rise to a height of 220m. Looking at the map of Warsaw we can find many more places where investors would like to have tall buildings. We detail just a few of these. Skyscrapers evoke both interest and a measure of controversy, in short: a guaranteed shot of adrenaline. My blood pressure doesn't actually go up when I see another skyscraper, though; but I do I wonder whether there will be anyone willing to live in these towers - because, as you all well know, life is not a fairytale...