Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) has designed what will be the tallest tower in Latin America, to be built in the centre of Mexico City. The 300m tall Torre Bicentenario (Bicentenary Tower) will be completed in time for the 200th anniversary of Mexico’s independence in 2010. The building is to accommodate 160,000 m2 of office space, a convention centre, site museum and gym as well as retail and restaurants. In addition a 170,000 m2 public parking garage is part of the project. The high-rise is conceived by the stacking of two pyramidal forms. This produces a form that is at once familiar yet unique. At the junction of the two pyramids, a sky lobby acts as the transfer point between shuttles and local elevators. This space will offer extensive views over the park and the city beyond.
Two voids penetrate the building at its widest point providing ventilation and natural light. Whilst traditional high-rises tend to internalize this feature with an atrium, the Torre Bicentenario, projects it onto the facade cutting into the building. A pattern of reflective glass panels covering 50% of the interior surface maximizes light penetration. The void twists at its midpoint, opening at the bottom toward the park and at the top toward the city, connecting the building to its surroundings. The two districts adjacent to the Torre Bicentenario, Las Lomas and Polanco, are separated by a major highway. To provide a link between them, a new pedestrian bridge is proposed establishing a shortcut reconnecting formerly disengaged sections of the park and the city.
