Torre Insignia is a building designed by Mario Pani Darqui

Mario Pani

Mario Pani Darqui was a Mexican architect and urbanist, one of the most active under the rule of president Miguel Alemán Valdés...

 which is located on the corner of Avenida Ricardo Flores Magnon and Avenida de los Insurgentes Norte

Avenida de los Insurgentes

Avenida de los Insurgentes , sometimes known simply as Insurgentes, is the longest avenue in Mexico City and said to be the longest in the world with a length of on a north-south axis across the city...

, in the Tlateloco housing complex

Unidad Habitacional Nonoalco-Tlatelolco

The Unidad Habitacional Nonoalco-Tlatelolco is the largest apartment complex in Mexico, located in the Cuautemoc borough of Mexico City. It was built in the 1960s by architect Mario Pani. Originally, the complex had 102 apartment buildings, with its own schools, hospitals, stores and more, to make...

 in Cuauhtémoc

Cuauhtémoc, D.F.

Cuauhtémoc, named after the former Aztec leader, is one of the 16 boroughs of the Federal district of Mexico City. It consists of the oldest parts of the city, extending over what was the entire city in the 1920s. This area is the historic and culture center of the city, although it is not the...

 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...

. At its completion in 1962, the tower became the second tallest building in Mexico after the Torre Latinoamericana

Torre Latinoamericana

The Torre Latinoamericana is a building in downtown Mexico City, Mexico. Its central location, height and history make it one of the city's most important landmarks...

. The tower is not currently in use and is currently being renovated. It is currently the tallest building in the Tlatelolco area and the third highest in the Avenida Insurgentes. The building housed the headquarters of Banobras

Banobras

Banco Nacional de Obras y Servicios Públicos, SNC or Banobras is state owned development bank in Mexico. Its core business is sub national and project finance...

. The building has a pyramid shape and was built with a reinforced concrete frame. It has been remodeled at least twice and is one of the most important buildings in the city, besides having the largest carillon in the Americas with 47 bells made by Petit & Fritsen

Petit & Fritsen

Royal Bellfounders Petit & Fritsen, based in Aarle-Rixtel, the Netherlands, is the oldest family-owned business in the Netherlands, with the foundry dating back to 1660. Included on List of oldest companies...

.

Descriptive Report

• Its height is 127 m (416.7 ft) and it has 25 floors
• It is shaped like a triangular prism
  Triangular prism
  In geometry, a triangular prism is a three-sided prism; it is a polyhedron made of a triangular base, a translated copy, and 3 faces joining corresponding sides....
  
  . The building has become an icon of Mexico City and especially the Avenida Insurgentes Norte. The logo of the station of Metro Tlatelolco
  Metro Tlatelolco
  Metro Tlatelolco is a metro station along Line 3 of the Mexico City Metro. It is located in the Tlatelolco neighbourhood of the Cuauhtémoc borough of Mexico City, to the north of the downtown area...
  
   carries the silhouette of the building. The station is located very close to the building on the Avenida Manuel González.
• The skyscraper's total floor area is 22,033 square metres (236,806 square feet)
• 7,716 square metre (83,056 square foot) surface

History

After the excessive growth of Mexico City and especially the central Tlatelolco area, there was the need to start building vertically, which meant constructing housing office and apartment buildings with a height of over 20 floors, the space requirement and by rising incomes of the city, these were the reasons for the buildings are thought in a strategic area, with this in 1959 began to build the project and was until 1960 when construction began on the building and in 1962 the building had finished its construction, remains a challenge for this area is in a seismic zone, which was the fourth building in Mexico City and in the world with Torre Anahuac, Edificio El Moro, and Torre Latinoamericana in counting the latest technology in terms of earthquake shocks, thereby starting four of the great buildings of Mexico City.

Important Details

• The building's construction began in 1959 and was completed in 1962, six years after the completion of the Latin American Tower.
• A carillon is installed in the building's highest point, which was a gift from the Belgian government to Mexico City.
• It has survived five earthquakes: the 1985 Mexico City Earthquake
  1985 Mexico City earthquake
  The 1985 Mexico City earthquake, a magnitude 8.0 earthquake that struck Mexico City on the early morning of 19 September 1985 at around 7:19 AM , caused the deaths of at least 10,000 people and serious damage to the greater Mexico City Area. The complete seismic event...
  
   that measured 8.5 on the Richter Scale, the 1995 7.7, the 1999 7.4, in 2003 7.6, and on April 13, 2007 a 6.3, without suffering any damage to its structure.
• It is considered one of the safest buildings in Mexico City and the world.
• In theory, the building can withstand an earthquake of 8.5 on the Richter Scale.
• The construction materials used were reinforced concrete, glass, and aluminum.
• On one side of the tower is the station of Metrobús
  Mexico City Metrobús
  Metrobús is a bus rapid transit system in Mexico City, Mexico. It comprises 3 lines that traverse the city and connect with other forms of transit. It was officially opened to the public with service along Line 1 on 19 June 2005...
  
  Manuel Gonzalez.
• The pyramid shape of the tower was reinforced with concrete in its entirety and has been remodelled twice, is also one of the most significant and emblematic of the Federal District.