Few views are as spectacular as those at the top of a mountain. The landscape’s majesty and immensity leave you breathless. Observing a city from the top of a skyscraper is a similar experience. You stand in awe at the urban landscape and think about the greatness of people who were able to build all you see under your feet.
One way to know a city is precisely from a lookout point. On my most recent visit to Mexico City, I climbed to the top of the Torre Latinoamericana, one of Mexico’s best lookouts. It wasn’t the first time I admired my hometown from the top of this tower, the tallest skyscraper in Mexico between 1956-1984. But it was the first time I thought that man, just a tiny dot in the vast universe, is a colossal architect.
Enjoy five of my favorite lookouts in Mexico City.
1. TORRE LATINOAMERICANA
Location: Downtown
Opening April 30, 1956
Built by Mexican architect Augusto H. Álvarez
Height 597 ft (tower: 453 ft and antenna: 144 ft)
Stories 44
Interesting data: The Torre Latinoamericana (Latin-American Tower) is one of the city’s most important landmarks. It’s also recognized internationally as an engineering and architectural landmark since it was the first world’s major skyscraper built on land prone to earthquakes. It was Mexico City’s tallest building until the completion in 1984 of the Torre Ejecutiva Pemex, which is 72 ft higher. Torre Latino (as it is called for short) has been featured in movies such as Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet de Baz Luhrmann, Solo con tu pareja Alfonso Cuarón y Amores Perros de Alejando González Iñárritu.
2. WORLD TRADE CENTER
(También conocido por su nombre anterior: Hotel de México)
Location: Avenida de los Insurgentes
Opening 1972 (como Hotel de México); 1995 (como WTC México)
Built by el mexicano Guillermo Rossell de la Lama y el español Ramón Miquelajauregui
Height 207 m (techo: 191 m y antena: 16 m)
Stories 50
Interesting data: Tiene un restaurante giratorio en el piso 45. Cada minuto el restaurante gira un metro. Después de 105 minutos habrás visto toda la ciudad!
3. TORRE MAYOR
Location: Paseo de la Reforma
Opening June 25, 2003
Built by Adamson Associates Architects (Canada), Zeidler Partnership Architects (Canada) and IDEA Asociados (Mexico)
Height 225 m
Stories 55 (and 4 basement parking floors)
Interesting data: The Torre Mayorr es (Major Tower) is a green and intelligent building.It received the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification developed by the U.S. Green Building Council.
It features the highest heliport in the continent and its steel and concrete structure hosts 98 huge seismic dampers. It is believed that no worker died during its construction.
4. Monumento a la Revolución
Location: Plaza de la República, near downtown
Opening 1938.
Reinauguración: 1938. Reopening: Noviembre 20, 2010
Built by French architect Émelie Bérnard, Mexican architect Carlos Obregón Santacilia, 1910-1938
Height 67 m
Interesting data: The Monumento a la Revolución (Monument to the Revolution) is memorial and mausoleumdedicated to the Mexican Revolution of 1910. Leading figures of the revolution lie in crypts placed at the base of its four pillars.
Originally, it was to be the seat of the federal legislative palace, a luxurious neoclassical building that would have been larger than the Capitol in Washington, D.C. However, construction was suspended for two decades due to the uprising of the revolutionary movement and the diversion of funds to fight the revolution. Bérnard wanted to rescue his project at the end of the revolution, but died without being able to complete it. Architect Obregón Santacilia,
one of the pioneers of modern Mexican architecture, rescued the unfinished work and gave the landmark an eclectic style of Art Deco and Mexican socialism realism. Mexican sculptor Oliverio Martínez also collaborated in the project. The sculptures that crown the monument’s four pillars are a mixture of pre-Hispanic art and cubism. play with these water sprouts especially on hot days.
5. ÁNGEL DE LA INDEPENDENCIA
Location: Paseo de la Reforma Ángel de la Independencia)
Opening September 16, 1910
Built by Mexican architects Antonio Rivas Mercado, Gonzalo Garita, Manuel Gorozpe and Enrique Alciati (the latter, a sculptor)
Height 45 m
Interesting data: El Ángel or Ángel de la Independencia (as this victory column is known; although its official name in English is Monument to Independence), was built in 1910 to commemorate the centennial of Mexico’s independence. One of the most recognizable landmarks in the city, it has become a focal point for both celebrations and protests. It resembles the July Column in Paris and the Berlin Column Victory in Berlin. It’s often chosen as “a Kodak moment” kind of place for celebration photos such as Quinceañeras, weddings, graduations and soccer game victories. It’s also used as a meeting point or background curtain for cultural, artistic and car shows, as well as for civil and military events.
Now back to you. What is your favorite lookout in Mexico or around the world?
