AZCA
History
It is located between the streets Raimundo Fernández Villaverde, Orense, General Perón and Paseo de la Castellana. Its original conception (and its name) dates back to the Plan General de Ordenación Urbana de Madrid (PGOU), approved in 1964. The purpose of this plan was to create a huge block of modern office buildings with metro and railway connections in the expansion area of northern Madrid, just in front of Real Madrid stadium (currently named the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium) and beside the new government complex of Nuevos Ministerios. A botanical garden, a library and an opera house were also included in the plans, but these were never built.
The construction began in the 1970s after many delays. Nowadays some of the tallest and most beautiful modern Madrid skyscrapers are placed here. The most important are:
- Torre Picasso (157 m)
- Torre Europa (121 m)
- Banco de Bilbao Tower (107 m)
- Torre Titania (104 m)
- Torre Mahou (100 m)
In February 2005, Windsor Tower (106 m) was destroyed by a fire, and it was later replaced by Torre Titania.
During the weekend nights, the underground levels attract a Latino audience to the discos but they also have a reputation for gang violence.
In 2007, a new skyscraper area was built farther north along Paseo de la Castellana.
The carless surfaces inside the block have attracted young supporters of urban culture. Since the 1980s, break dancers, rappers, skateboarders, graffiti writers and parkour traceurs from other Madrid neighborhoods have been gathering there.
See also
References
- ^ Que la violencia no vuelva a Azca, El Mundo, 7 February 2006.
- ^ de la Cruz, Luis (6 December 2020). "Los chavales de AZCA: cómo el distrito financiero de Madrid fue colonizado por la cultura urbana". El Diario - Somos Tetuán (in Spanish). Retrieved 7 December 2020.
External links
- Photos of AZCA
- Satellite AZCA view from Google Earth
- (in Spanish) Complejo AZCA. A description.