Unity Tower

Unity Tower in April 2020

Szkieletor in July 2016

Unity Tower is the name of the second tallest skyscraper in Kraków , in the Grzegórzki district , which was developed from a ruined investment , popularly known as Szkieletor . Until 2020 it was a 92 meter (24 storey) high, unfinished skyscraper, which was originally the headquarters of Naczelna Organizacja Techniczna (hence also sometimes called Wieżowiec NOT or Biurowiec NOT - "NOT high-rise" or "office building") should be. Construction of the house, designed by architects Zdzislaw Arct and Krzysztof Lesnodorski, began in 1975. In 1979, however, the construction work was stopped due to economic and financial problems. The skyscraper is located near Rondo Mogilskie and Krakow University of Economics .

The nickname Szkieletor was given to the skeleton-like building ruin from the figure Skeletor from the comic series Masters of the Universe , which was popular in the 1980s .

Planned use

Panorama of Krakow with “Szkieletor” (left) seen from the Prądnik Czerwony settlement. On the right the Wawel .

Example for use as advertising space

In the 1980s, the idea of completing the unfinished building as a residential building to counteract the housing shortage came up , but this was not realized. In the 1990s, a hotel chain became interested in the house, but because of the unclear ownership structure, it was not sold. In 2004 a British investor planned to blow up the ruins and build two lower apartment buildings in their place. In 2005 the previous owner “Węglozbyt” finally sold the building for 30 million złoty to Treimorfa Project sp. z oo , whose majority owner is Verity Development sp. z oo is. As a result, plans became known to increase the building from the current 92 to 130 meters. However, there was resistance from the monument protection authorities. Eventually they agreed on a height of 102.5 meters. Opened in 2020, the building contains apartments, a hotel, and office space, plus a gallery or café at the top. In addition, lower, 25-meter-high buildings were built around the main building.