Gate of Europe

Puerta de Europa ( dt gate in Europe) is the name of two successive oblique tapering skyscrapers in the Plaza de Castilla, one of the most important places in the Spanish capital Madrid, which the northern main train station ( Chamartin Station ), is nearby. The designed by Philip Johnson and John Burge Twin Towers were until 1996, shortly KIO built by the Kuwait Investment Office. As a result of this developer's both buildings are also known under the name Torres KIO (German Kio Towers ).

The left tower looking north is called the Puerta de Europa I; he bears the logo of the savings bank Caja Madrid and the Bankia group. In contrast, the right, south-facing high-rise with Puerta de Europa is titled II; it is provided with the logo of the real estate company Realia. Each of the two buildings is 114 feet high, has 26 floors and is inclined at 15 degrees to the vertical. On every roof of the skyscraper there is a helipad. To avoid confusion during landing of helicopters, one of the two heliports was blue, the other red.

This attraction, which redefined the skyline of Madrid, the public is not accessible. Built during the unabated construction boom of the 1990s, the Puerta de Europa has been obtained with the bursting of the housing bubble in 2008 by the economic reality. Seen are the two inclined skyscrapers in the Plaza de Castilla, which should be a symbol of the dawn of the modern once, became in the 2010s the iconographic synonym for the current difficulties of the Spanish economy.