Cayan Tower
A 75-story residential tower that corkscrews a full 90 degrees from base to roof — each floor rotated exactly 1.2 degrees from the one below.
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Designed by SOM and opened June 2013, Cayan held the world record for tallest twisted skyscraper until Shanghai Tower opened in 2015. The spiral is structural, not decorative — every floor plate turns around a fixed cylindrical elevator core, so the geometry compounds continuously for 306 metres.
What to look for
- Titanium-coloured metal panels on the concrete columns — placed to block direct sunlight from the apartments, not for aesthetics
- The staggered screen panels repeating up the facade, each offset 1.2 degrees from the floor below
- The five-story parking garage at the base behind the tower — the only horizontal mass against the constant twist above
The tower is residential; approach from the Dubai Marina waterfront for an unobstructed view of the full twist.
Cayan Tower is one of 33 sights worth the detour in Dubai, all bundled offline in Voyage GO — download the Dubai pack and it sits on your map with no signal, filling your travel passport the moment you walk past.
More to see in Dubai
- Burj KhalifaHalf a mile of reinforced concrete, straight up — the tallest structure on Earth since 2009.
- Burj al-ArabA hotel shaped like a dhow sail, planted on its own man-made island 280 meters off the beach.
- Dubai MallIn 2023 it drew a record 105 million visitors — up 19 percent year-on-year from the 88 million recorded the year before.
- 23 MarinaFifty-seven swimming pools stacked into one tower — and since 2026, visible war damage on the skyline.
- Palm JumeirahSand and stone stacked on the Persian Gulf to form a palm shape — only legible from the air, and reportedly still sinking 5 mm every year.
- Rose Tower (Rose Rayhaan by Rotana)A 333-metre hotel on Sheikh Zayed Road that actually outreaches the Burj Al Arab — and most people walk past it.