Beautiful and meaningless: the world's first Ferris wheel on the facade of a skyscraper in Batumi

Georgian Batumi, which is called the "Black Sea Singapore", is full of unusual architectural solutions. It was here that the world's first high-rise building with a Ferris wheel on the facade appeared. It is installed on the 27th floor at a height of 100 meters.

Source: Atlas Obscura

The skyscraper of the former Black Sea Technological University, on the right — the Trump Tower skyscraper under construction

Initially, the Black Sea Technological University was supposed to be located in this 200-meter-high Batumi Tower, built in 2012 according to the project of a young Georgian architect David Gogichaishvili. This Georgian-American university with teaching in English was supposed to issue international diplomas, but it never opened.

For several years, the 36-storey building was empty, until in 2015 it was sold at auction for $ 25 million. The buyer of the unusual skyscraper was the construction company RED-Co (Real Estate Development Company), owned by Celwood Investment Limited with registration in Belize.

The building is unique, because on its 27th floor there is a panoramic Ferris wheel with eight capsule booths, which can accommodate 40 people.

The structure was designed, mounted and installed by a company from Ukraine. They claim that there is no such Ferris wheel anywhere in the world. It looks very non-trivial, but it is not entirely clear why, sitting on the 27th floor, to admire the views from the 31st. After all, you can just look out of the window of a skyscraper or climb to its roof.

In an unusual skyscraper and in adjacent buildings, the new owners have placed a residential complex, as well as a 5-star hotel Le Méridien Batumi with a casino, spa and fitness center, outdoor and indoor swimming pools, restaurants. For the reconstruction, RED-Co additionally invested about $ 15 million.