Calatrava, in his love of nature themes, has likened his slender spire to a wisp of smoke, a tree trunk, and a snail shell. A spire of light shines upward from the point and illuminates the night sky, extending the proportions even further. Each of its 150 floors rotates two degrees from the orientation of the floor below it, decreasing in width as the tower ascends. This spiraling form helps dissipate heavy wind downdrafts common in Chicago and other cities with tall buildings. The entire structure perches on seven, W-shaped columns that guard a 56-foot-tall glass atrium like a prized crystalline egg.
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