Investor optimism is back. New buildings are now starting to rise up once more. How will this affect the skylines of city centres? Mladen Petrov Developers have long been consumed by an obsession with skyscrapers. The capitals of Central and Eastern Europe were supposed to become new Manhattans, and had even started to evolve in this direction – albeit only in the form of visualizations. This vision of a high-rise zone in the heart of Warsaw seemed to be evidenced by the existence of such office buildings as Warsaw Financial Center (168m including the aerial), Rondo 1 (192m) and Warsaw Trade Tower (208m), to add to the highest building in Poland – the Palace of Culture and Science (230.68m), which was built in the 1950s. Other skyscrapers were supposed to join them. Things are somewhat different in Sofia, where the 104m Rodina hotel built in 1981 remains the&