Standing at the end of a spit of land jutting out into the harbour basin, the Hyatt Regency hotel in Dusseldorf’s Medienhafen district is one of the city’s flagship buildings. The Hafenspitze master plan, which comprises a footbridge, two glass-clad towers and a seven-storey office block, is the work of sop | architekten.

The timeless and striking architectural effect of the 65m-high twin towers is created simply by the forms of the structures and the spatial relationship between them. Two parallel high-rise slabs create a virtual cube whose projections and recesses lend it a sculptural quality. The building’s interplay with the surface of the water and the surrounding open spaces underscores the symbolism of the design, the winner of a 2000 international competition that attracted entries from various globally renowned architecture firms.