Sri Narendra Modi at Madison Square ~ Edificio Intempo Benidorm (not) without lift...

Dressed in a spotless white kurta and churidars and a grey shawl thrown on his left shoulder, a sombre looking Modi gently placed rose buds one by one--five in all--on the grey granite memorial slabs where names of the victims were etched, stood for a while and folded his hands.  It was Sri Narendra Modiji at 9/11 and the visit to the memorial of the terror attack is seen as a significant gesture of support by India to the war on terror.

Modiji at Madison Square

The  World Trade Center  famously known as twin towers, openedin 1973 and stood till that terror attacks in Sept. 11, 2001.   At the time of their completion, the "Twin Towers" — the North Tower  at 1,368 feet (417 m); and the South tower — were the tallest buildings in the world.  There are many other twin towers at other countries and many other skyscrapers too, just as this one at Benidorm, which shot in to news for wrong reasons.

Benidorm is a coastal town in the province of Alicante, Valencia, Spain. Prior to the 1960s, Benidorm was a small village. Today it stands out for its hotel industry, beaches and skyscrapers, built as a result of its tourist-oriented economy. The unique skyline formed by its numerous tall hotels and apartment buildings, which is unlike any other on the Costa Blanca (White Coast) Urban Age project, bears witness to the fact that Benidorm has the most high-rise buildings per capita in the world.

Edificio Intempo Benidorm is a 47 floor, 200 metre high skyscraper building in Benidorm, Spain. The design of the building was officially presented in Jan 2006 and work began a year later. Originally scheduled for completion in 2009, work was significantly hampered by the economic crisis of 2008 which seriously affected the real estate sector in Spain.  Construction finally completed in March 2014. It is reported to be the tallest building in the city of Benidorm (surpassing the Gran Hotel Bali).  The building consists of two parallel towers separated by a gap of 20 metres and connected by a cone-shaped structure between floors 38 and 44.

It is not about its height nor about its design – the building was in news as during Aug 2013 many newspapers carried out a report that its architects missed out to have the elevator in its plans !.  An article in Daily mail titled ‘Uno problemo’ stated that the architects behind Benidorm's InTempo towers had resigned after a series of embarrassing setbacks.  It stated that a lift exists for the first 20 floors, but beyond that there is only the stairs.  The report quoting Spain's El Pais newspaper suggested that  there is no more space for another lift or motor equipment. The newspaper reports that not only did construction workers go for four months without pay in 2010, but they were also forced to walk up and down the half-constructed towers for months as a service lift was not built until the first 23 storeys had been completed.  It was stated that the lift that was eventually installed collapsed in July 2011, injuring 13 workers. Ambulances reportedly struggled to reach them, because the area surrounding the construction site had not been cleared for vehicle access in an alleged bid to save money. The news on the skyscraper  reported to have been built without elevators went viral.

Subsequently, another report in www.dezeen.com quoted an official of Edificio Intempo residential towers, describing the media storm as "ridiculous"  questing how is it possible to conbstruct such high residential skyscraper without elevator.  Incidentally, Dezeen was one of several publications to feature the story, which was originally reported by Spanish newspaper El Pais. It was stated a journalist from El Pais issued some fake news and everyone else just copy-and-pasted it. A Twitter account dedicated to the Edificio Intempo building responded to some of the publications who reported the news by tweeting that it is false and its elevators are working. Another tweet linked to a document published by its engineers  showing section views of the building, including elevator shafts. A Spanish journalist who visited the building posted on her website that she had ascended as far as the building's 45th floor using its elevators and included a photo that claims to show the elevator's unfinished operating panel. The project's website also featured photos of lift doors within the building.

All that made an interesting read !!

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

29^th  Sept.2014