Most of Mexico’s iconic buildings and structures are not skyscrapers: the Palace of Fine Arts and the National Palace in Mexico City; the Hospicio Cabañas, a former orphanage and hospital complex in Guadalajara; and myriad pre-Hispanic structures such as the Temple of Kukulcán at Chichén Itzá and the Pyramid of the Sun at Teotihuacán.
One exception is the capital’s Torre Latinoamericana (Latin American Tower), which was Mexico’s tallest building from 1956 to 1982.
While other Mexican skyscrapers — called rascacielos in Spanish — are not as well-known as the Torre Latinoamericana, there are now close to 30 that are taller than the emblematic tower in the historic center of Mexico City.
In this edition of Mexico in Numbers, read about Mexico’s five tallest skyscrapers, located in two cities: Monterrey, capital of the economic powerhouse state of Nuevo León, and Mexico City, the nation’s capital and most populous city.
No. 1: Torres Obispado
The Torres Obispado (Bishopric Towers) are two side-by-side skyscrapers in Monterrey.
Soaring 305 meters into the air, the loftier of the two — Torre 1 — is Mexico’s tallest rascacielos.
Built by the developers Ancore and Nest, the towers were completed in 2020 at a cost of 2 billion pesos (about US $111.3 million at the current exchange rate).
Torre 1 has 64 floors, eight of which are occupied by the Hilton Garden Inn Monterrey Obispado. The skyscraper is not only the tallest in Mexico but also the tallest in Latin America.
Torre 1 is the 27th tallest skyscraper in North America and the 173rd tallest in the world, according to the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH).
No. 2: Torre Koi
Located next to Monterrey in the affluent municipality of San Pedro Garza García, Torre Koi is the runner-up in the national tallest building stakes. The mixed-use skyscraper is 279.5 meters high and has 64 floors.
According to Luis Fernández Ortega, a partner and design director with VFO – the firm that designed the building – Torre Koi is an architectural symbol of the economic progress of Monterrey.
The skyscraper is the 46th tallest in North America and the 303rd tallest in the world, according to CTBUH.
No. 3: Torre Mítikah
Mexico’s third highest skyscraper is one of its newest: Torre Mítikah, located in the Benito Juárez borough of Mexico City, was only completed last year.
The 267-meter-high rascacielos houses retail and office space as well as some 600 apartments and amenities for residents.
Designed by César Pelli — a deceased architect who designed notable buildings such as the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur and the World Financial Center in New York — Torre Mítikah is the 57th tallest skyscraper in North America and the 385th tallest in the world, according to CTBUH.
The development was — and is — opposed by many local residents, especially because of the amount of water it requires.
No. 4: Torre Reforma
The second tallest skyscraper in Mexico City and the fourth tallest in the country is the Torre Reforma, located on Paseo de la Reforma — the capital’s most emblematic boulevard.
This rascacielos is 246 meters high, making it the 92nd tallest in North America and the 641st tallest in the world, according to CTBUH.
Designed by Mexican architect Benjamín Romano, it won the International High-Rise Award — a prestigious prize awarded in the city of Frankfurt, Germany, every two years — in 2018.
“The prevailing problem of earthquakes in Mexico City calls for an intelligent support structure concept, which lends the 246-meter-high office tower its striking appearance,” said the German Architecture Museum, which jointly awards the prize.
It also said that Romano had placed Mexico City “on the world map of groundbreaking high-rise architecture.”
No. 5 Chapultepec Uno
Rounding out the top five tallest skyscrapers in Mexico is Chapultepec Uno, also located on Paseo de la Reforma.
The high-rise soars 241 meters into the Mexico City sky, making it 101st tallest skyscraper in North America and the 723rd tallest in the world, according to CTBUH.
Built by the real estate development company T69, the mixed-use tower is partially occupied by the Ritz-Carlton Hotel.
As its name suggests, the skyscraper overlooks Bosque de Chapultepec, a huge park that is home to a castle, zoo, museums and other attractions.
With reports from Infobae
