Sometimes called a tropical Babel, the one-time symbol of the country’s progress wound up converted into a prison and, according to some of its former inmates, a torture center for political prisoners. — CityLab
The Helicoide's design was initiated in mid-fifties, the times of Venezuela's economic prosperity. Grandiose, ambitious and strange, the project proposed a first drive-through mall with over 300 stores, a car showroom, gas station, car wash and even a repair shop. However, the building's destiny, was much more complex and chaotic than originally planned. Its long transformation from the intended techno-utopia to a functioning prison is regarded by many as a cruel irony symbolic of the country's's dramatically unstable political climate.
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That's a really sad, amazing story. Thanks for the post.
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