Centro Financiero Confinanzas

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Centro Financiero Confinanzas

The tower in 2004.
General information
Status Incomplete
Type Office
Hotel
Aparthotel
Location Caracas, Venezuela
Construction started 1990
Owner Corpolago C. A.
Height
Roof 190 m (620 ft)
Technical details
Floor count 45
Floor area 121.741 m²
Design and construction
Architect Enrique Gómez and Associates.
Developer J. David Brillembourg.
Structural engineer Brewer and Brewer Engineers S.C.

Centro Financiero Confinanzas also known as Torre de David (the Tower of David), is an unfinished skyscraper in Caracas, the capital of Venezuela. It is the third highest skyscraper in the country after the twin towers of Parque Central Complex. The construction of the tower began in 1990 but was halted in 1994 due to the Venezuelan banking crisis. As of 2013, the building remains incomplete.

History

This tower in downtown Caracas is nicknamed "Torre de David" after David Brillembourg, the tower's main investor who died in 1993. During the banking crisis of 1994, the government took control of the building and it has not been worked on since. The building lacks elevators, installed electricity, running water, balcony railing, windows and even walls in many places.[1]

Venezuela's massive housing shortage led to occupation of the building by squatters in October 2007. Residents have improvised basic utility services, with water reaching all the way up to the 22nd floor. They can use motorcycles to travel up and down the first 10 floors, but must use the stairs for the remaining levels.[2] The residents live up to the 28th floor, with many bodegas[1] and even an unlicensed dentist[1] also operating in the building. Some residents even have cars, parked inside of the building's parking garage. Seven hundred families comprising over 2,500 residents live in the tower today.[1][3][4][5]

The complex has six buildings: El Atrio (Lobby and conference room), Torre A that is 190m tall and stands at 45-stories still includes a heliport, Torre B, Edificio K, Edificio Z, and 12 stories of parking.

In fiction

"Tower of David," an episode of the US television drama Homeland, was set in the building (but filmed in Puerto Rico).[6]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Romero, Simon; María Eugenia Díaz (1 March 2011). "CARACAS JOURNAL; In Venezuela Housing Crisis, Squatters Find 45-Story Walkup". The New York Times. Retrieved 3 March 2011. 
  2. ↑ Mead, Derek. "Inside Caracas' Tower of David, the World's Tallest Slum". Vice. Retrieved 25 January 2014. 
  3. ↑ Grant, Will (18 December 2010). "Venezuelan squatters bank on the future in office tower". BBC Online. Retrieved 3 March 2011. 
  4. ↑ http://www.messynessychic.com/2013/05/07/anywhere-but-here-deserted-banking-empire-turned-skyscraper-slum/
  5. ↑ "The world’s tallest slum: Rare look at an illegal ghetto in the sky". Vocativ. 2013-08-01. 
  6. ↑ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2916290/

External links

  • Torre David – a documentary film about Centro Financiero Confinanzas.
  • Short documentary about residents of the Centro Financiero Confinanzas
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Coordinates: 10°30′19″N 66°53′56″W / 10.50528°N 66.89889°W / 10.50528; -66.89889

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