Torres de Satélite

Historic site in State of Mexico, Mexico

19°29′57.30″N 99°14′12.70″W / 19.4992500°N 99.2368611°W / 19.4992500; -99.2368611Elevation30 to 52 m.BuiltMarch 1958Restored2008ArchitectLuis BarragánArchitectural style(s)Mathias Goeritz

The Torres de Satélite ("Satellite Towers") are a group of sculptures located in the Ciudad Satélite district of Naucalpan, State of Mexico.^[1] One of the country's first urban sculptures of great dimensions, had its planning started in 1957 with the ideas of renowned Mexican architect Luis Barragán, painter Jesús Reyes Ferreira and sculptor Mathias Goeritz. The project was originally planned to be composed of seven towers, with the tallest one reaching a height of 200 meters (about 650 feet),^{[citation needed]} but a budget reduction forced the design to be composed of only five towers, with the tallest measuring 52 meters (170 feet) and the shortest 30 meters (98 feet).

Goeritz originally wanted the towers to be painted in different shades of orange, but changed his mind later due to some pressure from constructors and investors. It was finally decided that there would be one tower each in red, blue and yellow, the primary subtractive colors, and two in white.

Thus, in the first days of March 1958, the Satélite Towers were inaugurated as the symbol of the newborn and modern Ciudad Satélite.

In popular culture

The towers appear prominently in the surrealist film The Holy Mountain by Alejandro Jodorowsky. The unnamed protagonist is hoisted up the red tower, which he then enters via a circular hole in its side (painted on for the purposes of the film). Within he encounters an Alchemist, and begins a metaphysical transformation.

References

^ Endicott, Katherine (October 14, 2006). "The Mexican garden revisited". San Francisco Chronicle. Archived from the original on September 19, 2011. Retrieved June 26, 2009.