In the middle of downtown Caracas in Venezuela is an abandoned 45 story tower that has been reclaimed by squatters who have turned it into a thriving vertical shanty town. Built during the booming nineties when the real estate market was putting up ever larger edifices to the banking industry, the project, which is one of the tallest in Latin America, became a financial white elephant. Named after developer David Brillembourg, an estimated 2500 people now call the Tower of David home. After his death the government took possession, but seems to not have the stomach to change the status quo. Two decades later, the tower has become a symbol of the decline of Venezuela for some, but can also be viewed as a triumph of the spirit its occupants.
“Infested?” They’re people, not cockroaches. How about “occupied.”
That´s not the “David´s Tower”, it´s the Confinanzas Building; the David´s Tower is fully funtional and operative, you can see up in your photograph, at left, the black tower, officialy “Mercantil” now
The ultimate Second R (Re-Use).
“The decline of Venezuela”? Go check the trend of our Human Development Index (UNs web page) and then reword your “article”. Inhabitat, you just lost a daily reader.
I’d like to know specifics of issues like electricity production and use, sewage disposal, security and child care structures, etc. This is a fascinating event, both architecturally and sociologically. As one of the most potent symbols of 20th century civilization, the skyscraper’s role continues to evolve organically and charismatically.
@aprileileen I apologize and am in concurrence with your opinion that the word “infested” is inappropriate and changed it upon publication.
@darioalvarez Thank you for the correction, the nickname is “Torre de David” but you are correct about the official designation Confinanzas Building. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centro_Financiero_Confinanzas
@angel.Ramires.isea: Where do you live??? because i think those human developement indexes are not a reflection of our reality, it’s just an indication of how we progress and it’s ased on numbers provided by teh government that migth not be as accurate as you think…
@angel.ramirez.isea
yes decline! are you kidding me?? re-read this article and look at the pictures. developed countries don’t look like this. is this what your eternal power mad president calls help from the government? wake up!
@electrobank: I live in Venezuela. Maracaibo, now. Caracas 2009 and 2010. Traveling all over since the 1980s. Thanks for asking.
You don’t trust the UN? Check CEPAL’s numbers, then. Oh, wait! They show the same trends.
@areyoukiddingme: I never said we are a developed country. I’m rebbutting the use of the term “decline”. We are far from our goals, and we could even be going back on some indexes, but in general the term “decline” is not appropriate.
A little research would have made for a very good article. That was all my point.
Great article, indeed! …but too much in love with itself. What you picture as a “Thriving Vertical Shanty Town” is not an experiment, is not a probe: is a monumental failure, the proclamation of anarchy in a city that has to be recovered one day. But, Mr. Michler: the least thing the people from Caracas want is to read in this great site is our tragedy being sold as a chic example to the world.
sorry but it is a chic example to the world of how to reclaim housing for the poor that has been wasted on the rich.
Dear Katescot:
In which city do you live? Maybe we can send the Torre de David over there so it can beautify your view!
God bless these people to have the courage to live in an open tower without the basic necessities like water, toilets etc. The Government should complete the building and let the people live there legally.
Smity, If it has been abandoned for that long and open to the environment, it might not be structurally sound enough now to complete. At least, by new construction standards.
It is very important to study the environment of a case before issuing an opinion. That building was not rejected by the rich, and less a chic example. The current owner is the government of Venezuela, who expropriated it to a private company and then abandoned. We are far away from a social struggle. That building is the best example of anarchy in a city that has suffered the neglect of the government. There are more buildings in the same state that have been expropriated by the government and then abandoned. By the way, in Caracas there are excellent examples of modern architecture