Torre Mayor

The Torre Mayor is currently the tallest building in Mexico and the safest in Latin America, surpassing the standards of places like California. It is distinguished by its slender glass profile, which dominates the most traditional business district of Mexico City, making the premises a worldwide business center.

The project was developed by Canadian architect Paul Reichmann and is located within walking distance of the Chapultepec Forest in Cuauhtemoc. The tower has a height of 225 meters, consists of 55 floors and features the best security.

The tower contains 30,000 m² of glass on the south facade with thermal and acoustic insulation in addition to marble finishes inside and granite in public areas. The architecture is contemporary and of international quality standards. It now houses various offices and shops, making it one of the best places to look at Mexico City from its windows.

The engineering that made it famous. What sets the Torre Mayor apart is not its height —225 metres over 55 floors— but how it is put together: 98 seismic dampers in the form of giant diagonal braces, visible from the street, which dissipate the energy of an earthquake before it reaches the structure. It was designed for lake-bed ground that amplifies tremors, to criteria stricter than California's, and opened in 2003, driven by the Canadian businessman Paul Reichmann. It was the tallest building in the country for more than a decade.

How it looks, and from where. The curved glass profile of the south facade —some 30,000 square metres of thermally and acoustically insulated glazing— is the one that appears in every photograph of the Reforma corridor. The floors are offices and there is no public viewing deck, so the tower is enjoyed from outside: the full line-up, with Torre Reforma beside it and Torre BBVA opposite, reads best from the Reforma pavement, from Chapultepec park, or from the Torre Latinoamericana viewpoint.

Getting there. It stands at Reforma 505, steps from the main entrance to Chapultepec park, in the Cuauhtémoc alcaldía. Chapultepec station on metro Line 1 is a few blocks away, and trolleybus and bus routes run along Reforma. On Sundays the avenue closes to cars for the cycling route: the best day to walk this stretch and see the towers without traffic.