Telecommunications Tower
Encyclopedia
Torre de las Telecomunicaciones (Telecommunications Tower) or Torre Antel (Antel Tower) is a 158 meter tall building
with 37 floors in Montevideo
, Uruguay
. It is the headquarters
of Uruguay's government-owned telecommunications company, ANTEL
, and is the tallest building in the country. It was designed by architect
Carlos Ott
. It is situated by the side of Montevideo's bay
. The tower was completed by American Bridge and other design/built consortium team members on March 15, 2000.
Problems during its construction turned the original 65 million dollars into 102 million dollars. Today, the tower is seen by many political opponents as a frivolous waste of money and a monument to Julio María Sanguinetti's vanity
.
Building
In architecture, construction, engineering, real estate development and technology the word building may refer to one of the following:...
with 37 floors in Montevideo
Montevideo
Montevideo is the largest city, the capital, and the chief port of Uruguay. The settlement was established in 1726 by Bruno Mauricio de Zabala, as a strategic move amidst a Spanish-Portuguese dispute over the platine region, and as a counter to the Portuguese colony at Colonia del Sacramento...
, Uruguay
Uruguay
Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...
. It is the headquarters
Headquarters
Headquarters denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. In the United States, the corporate headquarters represents the entity at the center or the top of a corporation taking full responsibility managing all business activities...
of Uruguay's government-owned telecommunications company, ANTEL
ANTEL
ANTEL is Uruguay's government-owned telecommunications company, founded in 1974. The company has a monopoly of landline telephony and data services in the country...
, and is the tallest building in the country. It was designed by architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
Carlos Ott
Carlos Ott
Carlos Ott is a Uruguayan architect who resides in Canada. He became famous when he won the first prize in 1983 for the construction of the Opéra de la Bastille in Paris, which was inaugurated on July 14, 1989...
. It is situated by the side of Montevideo's bay
Bay
A bay is an area of water mostly surrounded by land. Bays generally have calmer waters than the surrounding sea, due to the surrounding land blocking some waves and often reducing winds. Bays also exist as an inlet in a lake or pond. A large bay may be called a gulf, a sea, a sound, or a bight...
. The tower was completed by American Bridge and other design/built consortium team members on March 15, 2000.
Controversy
When its construction was announced, many politicians complained about its cost (40 million dollars, plus 25 million dollars for the construction of the other 5 buildings of the Telecommunications Complex).Problems during its construction turned the original 65 million dollars into 102 million dollars. Today, the tower is seen by many political opponents as a frivolous waste of money and a monument to Julio María Sanguinetti's vanity
Vanity
In conventional parlance, vanity is the excessive belief in one's own abilities or attractiveness to others. Prior to the 14th century it did not have such narcissistic undertones, and merely meant futility. The related term vainglory is now often seen as an archaic synonym for vanity, but...
.