Earlier this week, we learned about the leaning houses of Canada’s Dawson City — the second largest city in Yukon. Website Boing Boing explained the reason for the architectural anomaly:
“Dawson City exists in a subarctic climate, the sort of place with a lot of permafrost—soil that remains frozen year round. In order for permafrost to happen, the mean annual temperature has to be colder than 0 degrees Celsius (32 degrees Fahrenheit). But, in Dawson City, as in other parts of the Arctic, climate change has brought with it warmer mean temperatures. That means melting permafrost, a problem that affects the structural integrity of buildings built on the once-solid ground.”
Many slanted structures shift because of natural phenomenon, but others were intentionally designed to tilt. Bent on exploring this architectural slant, we rounded up other leaning buildings past the break.
Capital Gate, Abu Dhabi
The Guinness Book of World Records certified Capital Gate as the “world’s furthest leaning man-made tower.” The 35-story, Abu Dhabi-based skyscraper stretches an impressive 520 feet into the air, boasts an 18-degree slant, and was built using 49 piles drilled about 100 feet into the earth’s surface. It’s a dramatic, modern wonder to behold.