Torres Blancas

Torres Blancas, or “white towers,” is a building like few others. Despite its name, the structure is a single tower and is not white. Spanish architect Francisco Javier Sáenz de Oiza designed the 265-foot-tall building in the 1960s alongside Rafael Moneo and Juan Daniel Fullaondo, and today the brutalist masterpiece is an emblem of the Madrid skyline. 

The 23-story-tall concrete tower has a distinctive cylindrical shape that is reproduced both outside and inside the building. The shape is meant to resemble a massive concrete tree. The building’s 23 floors are divided into apartments and office spaces. The two top floors house a restaurant and pool. There are also two basement floors, an access floor, and a service floor. The numerous apartments and offices feature many curved terraces that are meant to resemble the leaves of a tree. Smaller vertical cylinders house spiral staircases.

The building was constructed between 1964 and 1969 and is widely regarded as the world’s biggest and best example of Spanish organicism architecture. Spanish organicism sought to harmonize nature and the built environment. In 1972, the building won the Official Chamber of Architects of Madrid Award. Then, in 1974, it won the prestigious European Excellence Award.