La increíble historia de la Torre Latinoamericana

181.33 metres, 44 floors, finished in 1956. From its completion until 1972 the Torre Latinoamericana was the tallest building in the world outside the United States, and the first and largest anywhere with a glass and aluminium curtain wall.

How it grew. The project began in 1947 as a 27-floor headquarters for the insurance company La Latinoamericana. As the ambition grew it became 40 floors, then three more and a television mast, reaching its final height and making it the tallest tower in Latin America.

The engineering, which is the real story. Mexico City's subsoil is the spongy clay of a drained lake, in an active seismic zone — the worst combination there is. The foundations drove 361 concrete piles 34 metres down to firm ground, under a rigid steel frame carrying 25,000 tonnes and three basement levels. The solution was studied internationally and became a reference for building on bad ground.

The proof. It survived the earthquakes of 1957, 1985 and 2017 without structural damage, while buildings around it did not. It is no longer the tallest tower in the city, but it is still among the safest.

Going up. The viewing deck on the upper floors gives the clearest overview of the historic centre and, on a clear morning, the volcanoes. There is a café and a small museum about the building's construction.

Practical notes. Eje Central Lázaro Cárdenas #2, on the corner of Madero. Metro Bellas Artes, lines 2 and 8, and San Juan de Letrán, line 8. Best an hour before sunset; mornings are clearest in the dry season.