User:KaitlinWhite/Montjuïc Communications Tower

The Montjuïc Communications Tower (Torre Telefónica), popularly known as Torre Calatrava, is a telecommunication tower in the Montjuïc neighborhood of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Construction on the tower began in 1989 and was completed in 1992. Designed by Spanish architect and structural engineer, Santiago Calatrava, the white tower was built for Telefónica to transmit television coverage of the 1992 Summer Olympics Games in Barcelona. The 136 m (446 ft) tower is located in the Olympic park, and represents an athlete holding the Olympic Flame.

Location
The Montjuïc Communications Tower is located in the Montjuïc neighborhood of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. More specifically, it can be found in the Parc de Montjuïc, near the Palau Sant Jordi and Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys, along with the other structures erected to serve the Olympic Games.

Design
The tower is symbolic of the Olympic ring. Calatrava also designed the tower to represent an Olympic athlete leaning forward to receive a medal, in a less apparent form of symbolism. Like many of Calatrava's works, the whole tower is sparkling white. The base of the tower is covered in broken glazed tiles. This was done to recognize fellow Spanish architect, Antoni Gaudi and his famous 'trencadís' technique of using broken tile shards to create a mosaic. Aside from its distinctive structural form, the tower is innovative in enclosing the circular platform of microwave dishes, replacing the normal clutter with a serene white arc. The pylon, set at an angle of 17 degrees, is connected to the ring-shaped element which holds the transmitting dishes. The tower is very innovative owing to the fact that the transmitting facilities on the platform are covered by a white arch made up of Glass-reinforced plastic sandwich elements. Hahlbrock manufactured this heavy-duty circular claddings as well as the antenna top. The tower is 136 meters (446 ft) of high-tech created as an Olympic Ground’s landmark. The antenna measures 68 meters (223 ft) with a torus ø of 40 m (130 ft.) The tower is set on a round brick platform which holds the telecommunications equipment. The pylon, set at an angle of 17 degrees, is connected to the ring-shaped element which holds the transmitting dishes.

Purpose
Telefónica built the tower so that coverage of the 1992 Summer Olympics Games in Barcelona could be broadcast all over the entire world. The company invested 92,200 million Spanish peseta in four years, which was only to meet the needs of the Games. During the Games, about two million phone calls originated in Barcelona. By the end of the competition, Barcelona had built a telecommunications infrastructure to match the most advanced in Europe. Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) was the basic telecommunications infrastructure used in 1992, and was implemented in the tower.

Other Interesting Aspects
The tower is oriented in such a way that the tall slender structure creates a large sundial, with the hours marked on the Plaza de Europa.

People have compared the structure to an athlete holding the olympic torch, a javelin thrower and a kneeling figure - a testimony to the dynamic nature of Santiago's architecture. The design of the arched entrance to the platform is based on the shape of a human eye.