The Alas Building is a residential and office building located in the San Nicolás

San Nicolás, Buenos Aires

San Nicolás is one of the neighbourhoods of the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina, sharing most of the city and national government structure with neighboring Montserrat and home to much of Buenos Aires' financial sector...

 section of Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...

, Argentina

Argentina

Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

. It stands at a height of 141 metres (463 ft) and houses 41 floors.

Alas was the tallest building in Buenos Aires between 1955 and 1995, when it was surpassed by the Le Parc tower

Le Parc tower

Le Parc Tower is a high-rise building located at the intersection of Avenida Cerviño and Fray Justo Santamaria de Oro in the neighborhood of Palermo in Buenos Aires, Argentina....

. It has long been a vital part of the skyline of Buenos Aires, together with other, neighboring buildings on Leandro Alem Avenue

Leandro Alem Avenue

Avenida Leandro N. Alem is one of the principal thoroughfares in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and a commercial nerve center of the city's San Nicolás and Retiro districs.-Overview:...

, such as the similarly Rationalist Comega Building (1930), as well as those built in the International style

International style (architecture)

The International style is a major architectural style that emerged in the 1920s and 1930s, the formative decades of Modern architecture. The term originated from the name of a book by Henry-Russell Hitchcock and Philip Johnson, The International Style...

 during the 1970s (notably the Catalinas Norte development). Recently, however, it was overshadowed by the construction of several towers in the Puerto Madero

Puerto Madero

Puerto Madero, also known within the urban planning community as the Puerto Madero Waterfront, is a barrio of the Argentine capital at Buenos Aires CBD, occupying a significant portion of the Río de la Plata riverbank and representing the latest architectural trends in the city of Buenos...

 area; as of 2009, it remains the 20th tallest building in Argentina.

Commissioned in 1950 by President Juan Perón

Juan Perón

Juan Domingo Perón was an Argentine military officer, and politician. Perón was three times elected as President of Argentina though he only managed to serve one full term, after serving in several government positions, including the Secretary of Labor and the Vice Presidency...

 for the Association of Unionized Latin American Workers (ATLAS, S.A.), he ordered that plans include an underground bunker

Bunker

A military bunker is a hardened shelter, often buried partly or fully underground, designed to protect the inhabitants from falling bombs or other attacks...

 for use in case of war or a coup d'état

Coup d'état

A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...

. Perón, however, did not seek refuge there during the June 16, 1955, bombing of Plaza de Mayo

Bombing of Plaza de Mayo

The bombing of Plaza de Mayo was a massacre which took place in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on June 16 1955.At 12:40 pm, a number of aircraft from the Argentine Navy and Air Force strafed and bombed Plaza de Mayo square in Buenos Aires, in what remains to this day the largest aerial bombing ever on...

 by the Argentine Navy

Argentine Navy

The Navy of the Argentine Republic or Armada of the Argentine Republic is the navy of Argentina. It is one of the three branches of the Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic, together with the Army and the Air Force....

 in an attempted coup, nor was he able to do so during his eventual overthrow

Revolución Libertadora

The Revolución Libertadora was a military uprising that ended the second presidential term of Juan Perón in Argentina, on September 16, 1955.-History:...

, three months later.

The building was transferred to the Argentine Air Force

Argentine Air Force

The Argentine Air Force is the national aviation branch of the Armed Forces of the Argentine Republic. , it had 14,606 military and 6,854 civilian staff.-History:...

 after the 1955 coup, and renamed ALAS ("wings"). The bunker was later converted into Argentine Public Television

Canal 7 Argentina

Canal Siete, TV Pública or TV Pública Digital is an Argentine television network founded on October 17, 1951. Between 1979 and 1999, the network was known as Argentina Televisora Color . During the 1978 World Cup, it was known as A78TV.Owned, financed and operated by the Argentine State, Canal 7 is...

 studios. These were relocated to Figueroa Alcorta Avenue

Figueroa Alcorta Avenue

Avenida Figueroa Alcorta is a major thoroughfare in Buenos Aires, Argentina, with a length of over along the city's northside.-History:The rapid northward growth of the city of Buenos Aires during the late nineteenth century was facilitated by plans for a number of boulevards in the area by Mayor...

in 1978, though two underground floors are still in occupied by parking spaces, a gym, the boiler room, bike racks and other amenities.