Vasco da Gama Tower
Encyclopedia
Lattice tower
A lattice tower or truss tower is a freestanding framework tower. They can be used as electricity pylons especially for voltages above 100 kilovolts, as a radio tower or as an observation tower....
in Lisbon
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
, Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
, built over the Tagus
Tagus
The Tagus is the longest river on the Iberian Peninsula. It is long, in Spain, along the border between Portugal and Spain and in Portugal, where it empties into the Atlantic Ocean at Lisbon. It drains an area of . The Tagus is highly utilized for most of its course...
river. It is named after Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama
Vasco da Gama
Vasco da Gama, 1st Count of Vidigueira was a Portuguese explorer, one of the most successful in the Age of Discovery and the commander of the first ships to sail directly from Europe to India...
, who was the first European to arrive in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
by sail, in 1498.
The architects of the tower were Leonor Janeiro, Nick Jacobs and SOM (Skidmore, Owings and Merrill). The steel structure, representing the sail of a caravel
Caravel
A caravel is a small, highly maneuverable sailing ship developed in the 15th century by the Portuguese to explore along the West African coast and into the Atlantic Ocean. The lateen sails gave her speed and the capacity for sailing to windward...
, was assembled by engineering company Martifer
Martifer
Martifer is a multinational group based in Oliveira de Frades, Portugal, with over 3,000 employees, focusing its activity on the metal construction and renewable energy areas.The company launched its first operations in 1990 in the metal structure industry...
.
The tower was built in 1998 for the Expo 98 World's Fair. At the 120 m, there was an observation deck and, just below it, a luxury panoramic restaurant. At the base of the tower was a three-story building that served as the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
Pavilion during the expo.
Both the observation deck and the restaurant were closed in October 2004. While they were open, the tower was the tallest structure in Portugal open to the public (excluding bridges).
The base building was to be leased for office space after the closing of the expo, but never found tenants. Instead, it was used for one-off events, like the world premiere of the new MINI
Mini
The Mini is a small car that was made by the British Motor Corporation and its successors from 1959 until 2000. The original is considered a British icon of the 1960s, and its space-saving front-wheel-drive layout influenced a generation of car-makers...
car in 2001. In 2006 the tower was climbed by Alain Robert
Alain Robert
Alain Robert , is a French rock and urban climber, from Digoin, Saône-et-Loire, Bourgogne, France...
, a solo urban climber
Buildering
Buildering is the act of climbing on the outside of buildings and other artificial structures. The word "buildering" is a portmanteau, combining the word "building" with the climbing term "bouldering".If done without ropes or protection far off the ground, buildering may be dangerous...
. He was sponsored by Optimus
Optimus
-Companies and corporations:* Optimus Telecomunicações, S.A., a Portuguese mobile phone company* Optimus S.A., a Polish computer assembler* Optimus Shuttle, a Boston-based livery service-Deities, mythology, and religion:...
, a Portuguese mobile phone company, that used the climb as part of a marketing campaign for a recently released product.