The Isozaki Atea twin towers, in Bilbao

Bilbao

Bilbao ) is a Spanish municipality, capital of the province of Biscay, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. With a population of 353,187 , it is the largest city of its autonomous community and the tenth largest in Spain...

, Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

 are the tallest residential buildings in the city and the Basque Country

Basque Country (autonomous community)

The Basque Country is an autonomous community of northern Spain. It includes the Basque provinces of Álava, Biscay and Gipuzkoa, also called Historical Territories....

. The towers are 83 metres (272.3 ft) tall and have 22 floor

Storey

A storey or story is any level part of a building that could be used by people...

s. The first two floors have a mixed-commercial usage, with the rest having residential usage. The towers are part of a five building complex, the other three buildings have a height ranging from 6 to 8 floors.

Atea means Gate in Basque

Basque language

Basque is the ancestral language of the Basque people, who inhabit the Basque Country, a region spanning an area in northeastern Spain and southwestern France. It is spoken by 25.7% of Basques in all territories...

, and the complex is intended as the entrance to the Ensanche

Ensanche

Ensanche means "widening" in Spanish. It is used to name the development areas of Spanish cities around the end of the 19th century, when the demographic explosion and the Industrial Revolution prompted the tearing down of the old city wall and the construction of neighborhoods under grid plans.The...

of the city, located right at the beginning of the Ercilla street.

External links

• Emporis.com
• "Isozaki Atea" on Architecture News Plus