El Helicoide in Caracas, VenezuelaThe 1960s building, with its over 100,000 square meters of space c
El Helicoide in Caracas, VenezuelaThe 1960s building, with its over 100,000 square meters of space carved right into a hill, was designed by architects Peter Neuberger, Dirk Bornhorst, and Jorge Romero Gutierrez. It was going to be a shopping mall and hotel on a scale never seen before, where people could drive right up the sides of the building to their destination, whether it was the swimming pool, the heliport, or even the top dome designed by Buckminster Fuller. The project was exhibited as a triumph of modernist design at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, and even Salvador Dalí offered to decorate the interior.It was abandoned because of political reasons, and left unfinished and vacant for decades. Several proposals were made for its use after completion, including a heliport (late 60s), headquarters for the Ministry of the Environment (early 90s), and a community center (late 90s). Eventually it became the headquarters for the DISIP (internal intelligence agency / political police), which has long had a reputation for abuse and human-rights violations.via, via -- source link
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