Centro San Ignacio is a Venezuelan shopping mall and office complex which opened in September 1998.[13] It won recognition for Latin American contemporary architecture with the Mies van der Rohe Award that year.[14][15] The mall is in La Castellana in the Chacao area of Caracas.[16] It was built on athletic fields next to San Ignacio Jesuit College[17][18] from early 1993 to late 1998,[19] and is managed by the Fondo de Valores Inmobiliarios.[20][21]
The Centro San Ignacio complex was designed by Carlos Gomez De Llarena[22] and Moisés Benacerraf.[23] It was recognized with a Mies van der Rohe Award for contemporary Latin American architecture[24][25][26] because of its influence on the city skyline,[27][28] and is among the most valuable real estate in Caracas and Venezuela.[29][30][31] Its exterior has an open design[32][33] to integrate it with its residential surroundings.[34] The interior has a central open square known as Avila, overlooking the Ávila national park,[35] which hosts a variety of events.[36][37] Surrounding Avila's kiosks are corridors, terraces and areas for exhibitions and activities. At either end of the center are office towers; between the towers are five commercial levels and four underground parking levels.[38]
Centro San Ignacio opens to the south for the road from the village of Chacao, allowing entry to the building from that area.[39] This entrance is flanked by the two office towers: Copernicus on the west and Kepler on the east.[40] A new road was necessary around the north side of the complex.[41] The interior includes pergolas,[42] bridges, terraces and vegetation—5,000 square metres (1.2 acres) of green space. Its exterior is red brick, with metal and granite.[43] Tinted glass dominates the structure, especially in the office towers.
Commercial and office areas
Centro San Ignacio consists of five commercial levels: Blandín, Chaguaramos, Jardín, Terraza and Vivero.[44]Chaguaramos and Blandín have sporting-goods, music and recreational stores;[45][46][47]Jardín and Terraza feature clothing, electronics and general-consumer stores. Vivero has a variety of restaurants,[48][49] a cinema multiplex[50] with two 3D theatres, a VIP room and four meeting rooms.[51]
The Las Vegas, Hollywood and Broadway sections of the Jardín level combine commercial and local craft vendors. The commercial levels total about 24,800 square metres (267,000sqft), with over 300 stores.[52] The complex has a number of restaurants,[53] which may also be accessed from the outside.[54] It was designed with a green-energy infrastructure; thanks to its open design,[55] it requires no air conditioning system[56] normally necessary in a closed complex.[57] The business area has 23,596 square feet (2,192.1m2) of offices[58] in the Copernicus and Kepler towers, occupied primarily by corporations with a staff of approximately 3,000 (including technicians and executives). The office towers and parking levels accommodate people with disabilities[59] with ramps, escalators and authorized support staff.
Visitors, services and security
In 2010 an average of 10million visits per year were reported.[60] It is one of the most-visited areas of Caracas.[61] Since its 1998 opening, the mall has focused more on entertainment.[62][63][64]
Information about the mall (upcoming events and a store directory) is provided by its media office. Centro San Ignacio has four parking levels[65] with over 1800 spaces,[66] including 28 handicapped spaces. The mall has a shuttle service, which stops[67] at the entrance to the center; its vehicles are identifiable by the mall's logo on top.
The complex is earthquake- and fire-resistant.[68][69] Security is based on the concept of risk mitigation.[70] Safety is managed by a monitoring and control center, Cecom, which maintains communications with the staff.[71] The complex has a closed-circuit television (CCTV) system,[72] a staff of 74 officers for the shopping area,[73] and parking,[74] panic buttons and metal detectors[75] and motions detectors[76] in the office towers and some shopping areas. The security staff works with national and municipal authorities.[77][78]
Gallery
Morning view
Centro San Ignacio, across from the Colegio San Ignacio
↑ Lucca, Rafael Arráiz; Grases, Pedro (2004). Fundación para la Cultura Urbana (ed.). España y Venezuela: 20 testimonios. p.125. ISBN978-980-655-310-1.
↑ Box, Ben (1 August 2001). Footprint Handbooks (ed.). South American handbook. p.1479. ISBN978-190-094-999-6.
↑ Rodríguez Gallad, Irene (2008). Rayuela Taller de Ediciones (ed.). Bajo el Signo Del Petróleo: Vertientes Históricas de la Actividad Petrolera en Venezuela. ISBN978-980-640-673-5.
↑ Sambrano, Joanna (18 September 2012). "Un ícono de la ciudad" (in Spanish). Uniradio.net. Archived from the original on 12 January 2013. Retrieved 1 October 2012.
↑ Vidal, Mitchele (19 August 2009). "Arquitour Chacao, crónica" (in Spanish). Colegio de Arquitectos de Venezuela. Archived from the original on 2 February 2014. Retrieved 3 October 2012.
↑ Rodríguez, María. "Edificaciones que resisten sismos" (in Spanish). viviendaenred.com. Archived from the original on 20 November 2014. Retrieved 4 October 2012.
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