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Torre Bicentenario
Coordinates: 192528.7N 991027.6W

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Torre Bicentenario (Bicentennial Tower) was a

skyscraper project planned for construction in Mexico City. Torre Bicentenario
If built, at 300 meters (984 ft) tall, it would surpass the Torre General information
Mayor as the holder of the title of Tallest Building in Mexico Status Never built
and same height as the highest building in Latin America.
However, such title is uncertain, as Costanera Center's main Type Commercial
tower in Santiago, Chile, is reaching the same height and is Location Pedregal 24, Molino del Rey
already in advanced construction. And though both heights Lomas de Chapultepec, Mexico
are handled as "a minimum of 300 meters for each tower", City
Torre Bicentenario would have had a roof height of 300 m.,
Cost US$ 610 million
while Costanera Center's main tower's last floor tops at 265
m. Both towers, however, will probably be surpassed when Owner Grupo Danhos, Pontegadea
"Los Faros de Panam", in Panama City, Panama, reaches Height
346 m. in late 2011, though Panama's project is currently on
hold. Torre Bicentenario was officially canceled, as Roof 300 m (official) 350 m
announced by the local government and the involved (unofficial)
investors on September 28, 2007. However, some facts Top floor 295 m (968 ft)
indicate that the tower might be built, but not to be
Technical details
completed on the scheduled date.
Floor count 70
Floor area 390,000 m2 (4,200,000 sq ft)
Contents Design and construction
Architect Rem Koolhaas
1 Name and design
2 Controversy Developer Grupo Dhanos
3 See also
Structural Arup
4 External links
5 Sources engineer

Name and design

The inauguration date was planned to be September 16, 2010, which is the day of the 200th anniversary of the
Mexican War of Independence, hence the building's name. The building was designed by renowned Pritzker
Prize winner Rem Koolhaas, who took inspiration from the Pyramid of Kukulkan at Chichen Itza. Of its 70
floors, about 85% were being planned for offices, and the rest to commercial public services such as
restaurants, auditoriums and a convention center.

The tower would have featured an interior atrium, starting on the 15th floor and ending way up to the 40th
floor. This in order to allow air and light to flow freely inside the tower and providing natural light to some
inside offices. There was also a skygarden planned where the two pyramids meet.

Arup was responsible for the tower's engineering. The 300-meter tall tower would have stood on a rocky site,
with a low-conductivity for seismic waves.

Controversy
The Torre Bicentenario Project was controversial from the beginning because of regulations in the area that ban
construction over three stages tall, as well as irregular funding and previous acts of corruption from
construction companies to members of the party that governed the City at that time. Nevertheless, Mexico
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City's government gave the project irregular backing and made exceptions to building rules and environmental
regulations for the building, whilst trying to sell it as an achievement for the city. Population in the adjoining
areas showed complete opposition to the project from the start, but the government continued forward, trying to
market it as an accomplishment because it would become the tallest building in Latin America. Aside from the
special treatment awarded to the builders, the ban on tall structures in the area and the problems perceived by
the area's resident, the Torre Bicentenario Project was also opposed by the federal agency for Culture and the
Arts, INBA, which had declared (since August 13, 2007) that the building that stands on Torre Bicentenario's
projected site, a petrol station known as Super Servicio Lomas which was built by architect Vladimir Kaspe in
the 1940s on a revolutionary and functional model was catalogued as a building with artistic value. Another
point of contention against the project came from the local administrator (Jefa Delegacional) (Borough) Miguel
Hidalgo, Gabriela Cuevas because of the planned construction of an underground parking lot under part of a
public park Chapultepec Park. The project was eventually cancelled.

See also
Torre Bicentenario II

External links
Torre Bicentenario project page at OMA (http://www.oma.eu/index.php?option=com_projects&view=pro
ject&id=497&Itemid=10), Rem Koolhaas' firm
Official site in Spanish (http://www.torrebicentenario.com)
The tower on Arup's website (http://www.arup.com/americas/newsitem.cfm?pageid=10143)

Sources
"Construirn en Mxico la torre ms alta de Latinoamrica" (http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/notas/43865
7.html) (in Spanish). El Universal. July 23, 2007. Retrieved 2007-07-23.
"Incumple predio para Torre Bicentenario con requisito de uso de suelo" (http://www.eluniversal.com.m
x/notas/438607.html) (in Spanish). El Universal. July 23, 2007. Retrieved 2007-07-23.
"Modificar GDF uso de suelo para construir Torre Bicentenario" (http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/notas/
438632.html) (in Spanish). El Universal. July 23, 2007. Retrieved 2007-07-23.
"Buscar INBA impedir construccin de Torre del Bicentenario" (http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/notas/4
38687.html) (in Spanish). El Universal. July 23, 2007. Retrieved 2007-07-23.
" 'Tiembla' la Torre Bicentenario" (http://www.reforma.com/ciudad/articulo/407/812557/default.asp?Plaz
aConsulta=reforma&DirCobertura=&TipoCob=0) (in Spanish). Reforma. July 23, 2007. Retrieved
2007-07-23.

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This page was last edited on 23 September 2016, at 09:43.

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