Torre Picasso
Information
Location	Pablo Picasso Square, Paseo de la Castellana, Madrid, Spain
Coordinates	40°27′01″N 3°41′33″W / 40.45028, -3.6925
Status	Complete
Constructed	1982-19881
Height
Roof	157 m (515 ft)2
Technical details
Floor count	46 above, 5 below2
Floor area	121,000 m2 (1,302,000 sq ft)2
Elevator count	262
Companies
Architect	Minoru Yamasaki; in collaboration with Jorge Mir Valls and Rafael Coll Pujol1
Contractor	Construcciones y Contratas
Owner	FCC1
Management	PER Gestora Inmobiliaria1

Torre Picasso (Picasso Tower) is a skyscraper in Madrid, Spain. From 1988 till 2007 it was the highest building in Madrid with its 157 m (515 ft) and 43 floors². Torre Picasso is located next to the Pablo Picasso Square, within the commercial complex AZCA along the Paseo de la Castellana. It was designed by Minoru Yamasaki.

History

Planning & Construction

The Torre Picasso was part of a plan to build a huge block of modern buildings in the expansion area of northern Madrid. This commercial area is better known as A.Z.C.A., for which constructions started in 1970. Five years later in 1975 planning of the tower was agreed. Unión de Explosivos Río Tinto, S.A., owner of the site, awarded the construction of the tower to American architect Minoru Yamakasi, in collaboration with architects Jorge Mir Valls and Rafael Coll Pujol. In 1980 Minoru Yamakasi received the license for building the highest office complex of Madrid.¹

Construction began late 1982, and the building was inaugurated in December 1988. During this period some unfortunate events happened and work was relaunched in 1985 by the new owners Portland Valderrivas S.A. and Inmobiliaria Asón S.A., under the direction of Architect Fernando Alas.¹

Torre Picasso was constructed by and is currently the property of Fomento de Construcciones y Contratas³. It is currently managed by PER Gestora Inmobiliaria, S.L.¹

Skyline position

Since its inauguration, Torre Picasso has been Madrid's tallest office building, surpassing Torre de Madrid. However, the Torrespaña, a television tower, reaches higher with its 231 m (757.87 ft). Notable surrounding skyscrapers are Torre Europa, Torre del Banco de Bilbao and Windsor Tower, now demolished after a fire.

Since 2007, the Torre Espacio surpassed the Picasso Tower⁴. Three other buildings are on their way to even go higher in 2008: Torre Caja Madrid, Torre de Cristal and Torre Sacyr Vallehermoso.

The Torre Picasso was also Spain's tallest building until in 2001 it was overtaken by the Gran Hotel Bali in Benidorm, Alicante, Spain.³

Events

• Shortly after 9/11, ETA confirmed that in 1999 they had planned to demolish this skyscraper using the 1,700 kg of explosives loaded into two Madrid-bound vans intercepted that year near Calatayud (Zaragoza) by the Spanish Civil Guard (the first stopped en route on December 21 and the second found not far from there the next day; an incident known as "la caravana de la muerte", the caravan of death).⁵

Figures and statistics

Following information can be found on the official website of Torre Picasso:

• Height: 157 m (515.09 ft) above ground (171 m (561.02 ft) including basement)
• 51 floors, breakup (missing one, fix please):
  • 5 basement floors (1st is commercial area, others are parking lots)
  • down floor is used as main entry
  • 42 floors for offices
  • 44th floor used for machinery, e.g. the air conditioning distribution system
  • 45th floor used for the heliport
• Area: 71,700 m² (771,772 sq ft) office space, 121,000 m² (1,302,433 sq ft) in total
• Size per floor: 38 m × 50 m (124.67 ft × 164.04 ft)
• 26 elevators, of which 18 to office floors in 3 groups of 6:
  • 1st-18th floors at 2.5 m/s (8.20 ft/s)
  • 18th-32nd floors at 4 m/s (13.12 ft/s)
  • 32nd-43rd floors at 6 m/s (19.69 ft/s) (apparently fastest in Spain)
• Glass façade surface: 9,000 m² (96,875 sq ft)
• Parking space: 837
• Foreseen population: 6,000 persons
• Daily visitors: 1,500 persons

Architecture

A notable feature of Torre Picasso is the wide entrance arch, supporting the whole façade over it, with an underground steel structure serving to reinforce it. The gap under this arch is covered by a special security glass named STADIP (the one used in Torre Agbar in Barcelona).

In August 2004, the Otis Elevator Company was awarded a contract to modernise the elevators in the building, to incorporate some of the most advanced elevator technology available.⁶

Cultural depictions

• It has studios for the Spanish TV channel Canal +.
• It was featured in the last scenes of Alejandro Amenábar's 1997 movie Open Your Eyes (film). Leading character Alejandro Amenabar (portrayed by Eduardo Noriega) commits suicide by jumping of Torre Picasso.³

Gallery

The entrance arch

References

External links

• Official website of Torre Picasso
• Torre Picasso at Google Maps
• Torre Picasso, description and pictures (Spanish)

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Torre Picasso

Coordinates: 40°27′01″N 3°41′33″W / 40.45028, -3.6925