Lakhta Center

This guide to the Lakhta Center in Saint Petersburg opens with three world-renowned architects walking off Gazprom's 2006 design jury in protest, warning that a headquarters tower here would threaten the historic skyline near Smolny Cathedral. You'll hear how UNESCO weighed in with a warning it had used only once before, and how the entire project then shifted north to Lakhta, clear of the old rooftops it had threatened to overshadow. Freed from those restraints, the design grew taller still, twisting a full ninety degrees from base to spire.