Parque Central Complex
Encyclopedia
Caracas
Caracas , officially Santiago de León de Caracas, is the capital and largest city of Venezuela; natives or residents are known as Caraquenians in English . It is located in the northern part of the country, following the contours of the narrow Caracas Valley on the Venezuelan coastal mountain range...
, Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
adjacent to Paseo Vargas.
Within the complex are the Twin Towers of Parque Central which are two skyscrapers that, for decades, have become Caracas' architectural icon. From 1979 (when the West Tower was opened) until 2003, they held the title of tallest skyscrapers in Latin America until they were overtaken by Torre Mayor
Torre Mayor
The Torre Mayor is a skyscraper in Mexico City, United Mexican States. With a height of 225 metres to the top floor and 55 storeys, it's the second tallest building in Latin America, surpassed by Ocean Two in Panama City with 236 metres...
in Mexico City. Today the Parque Central Towers are South America's tallest skyscrapers (also from 1979) and the second tallest in Latin America.
When the complex was finally opened in 1983, it was considered the "most important urban development in Latin America". Since then Parque Central is a point of reference in Caracas and its main landmark. It houses many cultural and government institutions and is adjacent to the cultural district of museums in Caracas.
History
In 1969 Enrique Delfino Arriens engineer and CEO of the construction Delpre CA submitted the draft to the president of Central Park Centro Simón Bolívar during the period of the then President of the Republic Rafael Caldera for the construction of an urban development between Lecuna avenues and Bolivar of urbanization El Conde de Caracas.In 1970 begin to construct the buildings Tacagua, Caroata, Catuche, Tajamar, San Martín, El Tejar Anauco Mohedano and all these eight buildings for residential use with 317 apartments each, a height of 120 meters and 44 floors, these buildings are finished build 1972, while two commercial and office towers, known as Central Park Towers, were constructed in 1979 and 1983. The building Anauco apart-hotel became a 4 star Hilton in 1973 until 2003, since then is administered by the Venezuelan government and is known as Anauco Suites.
Within the Central Park complex also houses the Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Caracas, The Children's Museum of Caracas
Children's Museum of Caracas
Children's Museum of Caracas is a privately managed museum foundation in Caracas, Venezuela's capital city, established in 1982 and aimed at teaching children about science, technology, culture and arts....
, The Plenary Hall, 8 conference rooms, a swimming academy, movie theaters, a heliport, A parish center, among others.
Delfino also constructed the Complejo Cultural Teatro Teresa Carreño
The Twin Towers
The Twin Towers of Central Park or Central Park Towers are a pair of 225 m tall skyscrapers. Since the construction of the east tower in 1979, the 56 storey skyscrapers have been the tallest in South America; the west tower wasn't completed until 1983. Until 2003, they were also the tallest in Latin America until surpassed - by less than 1 m - by Torre MayorTorre Mayor
The Torre Mayor is a skyscraper in Mexico City, United Mexican States. With a height of 225 metres to the top floor and 55 storeys, it's the second tallest building in Latin America, surpassed by Ocean Two in Panama City with 236 metres...
in Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
.
They were designed by the Venezuelan architect Daniel Fernández Shaw. Construction was carried out by the Centro Simón Bolívar, State Authority for the company's urban development Caracas. In mid-2006 the Central Park Station on Line 4 Metro de Caracas opened nearby. Currently, the complex hosts 12 state agencies. The estimated working population of each tower is 7,500.
The towers take their name from the green refuge in the heart of Caracas' urban jungle
Jungle
A Jungle is an area of land in the tropics overgrown with dense vegetation.The word jungle originates from the Sanskrit word jangala which referred to uncultivated land. Although the Sanskrit word refers to "dry land", it has been suggested that an Anglo-Indian interpretation led to its...
, but are still in the midst of a vast complex of office buildings and amenities. The view from inside offers panoramic access to the city and the surrounding mountain
Mountain
Image:Himalaya_annotated.jpg|thumb|right|The Himalayan mountain range with Mount Everestrect 58 14 160 49 Chomo Lonzorect 200 28 335 52 Makalurect 378 24 566 45 Mount Everestrect 188 581 920 656 Tibetan Plateaurect 250 406 340 427 Rong River...
s.
On February 14, 1982, high rise firefighting and rescue advocate, Dan Goodwin
Dan Goodwin
American Dan Goodwin is a building, rock, and sports climber, as well as a stage-four cancer survivor, originally from Kennebunkport, Maine, United States, and living as of 2010 in Lake Tahoe, California.-Building climber:...
, at the invitation of the Venezuelan television company, Venevisión
Venevisión
Venevisión is one of Venezuela's largest television networks and a Venezuelan cable and terrestrial television network, which is owned and presided over by Gustavo Cisneros...
, scaled the outside of the Parque Central Complex.
Just before midnight, October 14, 2004, a fire
Fire
Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material in the chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction products. Slower oxidative processes like rusting or digestion are not included by this definition....
broke out in the East Tower, which housed government offices. The fire affected regions from the 34th floor to the 50th floor. The tower sustained major damage because firefighting efforts were hampered by non-working automatic sprinkler and standpipe systems. It was feared that the concrete-and-steel structure could be damaged severely enough to collapse, and internal firefighting efforts were pulled in the interest of safety. Two steel decks partially collapsed, and deflection in some steel beams was later found to be severe. The fire burned itself out in the early morning of October 16.