It looks like a spaceship that just landed; that is how it looks like from at least two or three miles away, but when the person approaches, he continues to experience the same feeling. It is as if from the new headquarters of the Union of South American Nations (Unasur) Martians were to descend from their ladders, who not a few augur to see in the not near future on Earth.
Imagination is low when it is sighted in the city Mitad del Mundo, Ecuador, the new building, but its architect bet the fantasy of humanity in this part of the globe. Diego Guayasamín, the nephew of the "Painter of Ibero-America" says that this construction is designed like a metaphor that emerges to project to the future.
In December 5, what the young Guayasamin drew on paper became real. He himself admitted to this reporter the day the doors opened to the press to tour the construction work, shortly before the official opening. He said the design remained almost intact, probably equal to the Patria Grande dreamed by Latin American leaders of Latin American independence as Simon Bolivar, a name that was heard on more than one occasion.
A few days earlier, an earthquake of 5.1 magnitude and dozens of aftershocks tested the flown structures of the headquarters in a country where earthquakes are common because it is located on the Pacific Ring of Fire.
The parallel zero
Next to the monument to the Equator, where zero latitude is located, this venue was lifted, which for the president of Ecuador, Rafael Correa, "is a very powerful message." He himself checked several times the progress of the construction work, which cost around $ 43 million to the host country. Now it is the regional body that takes over the costs of maintenance and repair of the property.
Because of the appearance and complexity in engineering, the headquarters of Unasur will give tourism value added to the Equator, a place so much visited by locals and foreign, and will become an emblem for Ecuador and South America.
"It's going to be another pole of development for Quito. It's getting a whole urban regeneration, paths, green spaces, parks, and hotel. We have been looking for a place to a five star hotel to provide service to Unasur », Correa said.
In this place of attraction the life has begun to change slowly. Formerly this site called the attention of tourists from all corners, which were attracted by what has been the most colorful site of the World Center. This construction increases the interest of visitors. In fact, part of their areas is intended for the movement of people, with lakes and gardens that allow admiring its work.
A monument to the founder owner of UNASUR, Nestor Kirchner, who died in 2010, welcomes the outsiders. His widow, President of Argentina Cristina Fernandez, was at the opening of this sculptural piece donated by her government and whose location meets the seat was named in honor of the Argentine president.
But visitors can also have access to a library of UNASUR named Gabriel García Márquez, named after the Colombian writer who also sought regional integration and died in April 2014.
Unique ruffles
The building exhibits a striking structure of ruffles. They are pieces that stand without a support base, which accounted the most complex work.
José Maquiavelo, president of Etinar, the construction company in charge said that this is done for the first time in the history of the country, and it means a record in Latin America by the dimension of 52 meters from one of the ruffles. As he described, it was necessary to make a clothed welding system to avoid large temperature changes on this site in the morning and at night. Changes may be from four to twenty-six degrees.
Guayasamín, the architect, explained that the work is based in an area of 20,000 square meters and the building has 1500 square meters, with four floors underground.
"The idea was to provide a massive piece, which is presented in different ways, no matter from where you look, that is why it has not a facade" he said, after saying that a main hall of presidents, several auditoriums, a living dissemination of South American culture, and complementary spaces like offices and agencies were designed.
The facility will also feature high-tech lighting, fire and access systems, CCTV, high resolution cameras for security and quality sound for audiences.
The opening of the Patria Grande
December 5 is already history for Latin America and the twelve member countries of UNASUR, because it marked a before and after for this regional organization, founded in Brasilia in 2008 and that now will have a seat on this site. Here the heads of state and foreign ministers or ministers will meet to address the main concerns of their people.
Cristina Fernández and Correa unveiled the sculpture to Kirchner. Then all participants’ presidents were photographed at the ceremony, which also launched giant balloons to heaven. The one that got higher was precisely the one from Bolivia, as reporters noted from the tent intended for the media.
But a few minutes before, assurance managers had to run down to one of the basements to find another balloon because one had "exploited" before it was delivered to its owner, in this case the president of Argentina. "It exploded the one of Argentina, it exploded the one of Argentina!", said a man who ran at high speed with the substitute balloon, a sign that some interpreted as the "spirit of Kirchner".
President Rafael Correa, Argentina's President Cristina Fernandez, Foreign Minister of Ecuador, Ricardo Patiño, and the secretary general of the block, Ernesto Samper, delivered the main speech of the opening. In their speeches words like solidarity, peace, integration, unity, development, a sign that the path is marked, despite the obstacles that stand were repeated.
