DDN
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Built by Técnica Constructora C.A. company, this bank branch was built simultaneously with Teatro del Este and Torre Polar, making use of leftover material from the latter. The almost 2000 m2 building, a six-story office tower, with a top level for housing, exposed brick on the walls (a recurrent texture in Vegas and Galia works), shows a framed structure with exposed slabs. The dual play achieved on the north and west façades creates the illusion of seeing two different buildings. To the north, the bank agency is accentuated with a slanted double-height roof. Below it, another lower roof leads to the access, framed between two tall columns. The program includes three levels: customer service, offices and management. The office entry is on the nearly triple-height glass façade, with a marquee. The north façade has large windows with light sills, and the closed west one has openings to ventilate and light the vertical circulation. It finishes up in perhaps the first penthouse in Caracas, whose typological solution was incorporated into the city ordinances. The object of unfortunate changes (including the occupation of the corner by the subway station), the building, which had notable works of art -a mural (Alejandro Otero), a stained glass window (Manuel Salvatierra) and bronze and iron bas-reliefs (Carlos González Bogen)- has lost its original character and devaluated.
NE-38
FFU