The tallest building in Latin America, the Torre Mayor designed by Zeidler Partnership of Toronto with Mississauga architects Adamson Associates, opened in June in Mexico City. Developed by Toronto’s Reichman International, it sits at the end of the pre-eminent avenue in the city, the Paseo de la Reforma. The 55-storey tower addresses seismic forces that may affect a structure’s design in Mexico City, and has received the CERF Charles J. Pankow Award for Innovation, presented to Cantor Seinuk Group and Enrique Martinez Romero in collaboration with Zeidler and Adamson, and Taylor Devices Inc. A total of ninety-eight seismic shock absorbers, unique in Mexico, guarantee total protection against earthquakes (even stronger than those that struck the city in 1985) and are activated automatically as soon as the building detects early vibrations. Reichman International will also develop the immediate vicinity of the Torre Mayor to improve Paseo de la Reforma. Projects include a restoration of the pedestrian tunnels connecting the avenue with the Chapultepec subway station, improving its integral surveillance and security system, enlarging sidewalks, repaving damaged areas and eliminating all the parking meters on the thoroughfare. The city’s first skyscraper, the Seguros La Nacional Building located across from the Fine Arts Palace, was built in 1940. It was followed by the Latin American Tower (1956) and the PEMEX Tower built in 1984–the tallest tower for two decades.
