Tenyocan Building

Tenyocan Building
The Tenyocan Building in 2015
General information
Status	Complete
Type	Office building
Architectural style	Art Deco
Location	400 Nochtototl Avenue, Heron Island, Angatahuaca.
Construction started	March 15, 1930 (1930-03-15)
Completed	November 20, 1931 (1931-11-20)
Opened	May 1, 1931 (May 1, 1931)
Cost	$35,000,000
Owner	Tenyocan Calpolli Corporation
Height
Tip	1,454 ft (443.2 m)
Roof	1,250 ft (381.0 m)
Top floor	1,224 ft (373.1 m)
Observatory	90th, and 105th floors
Dimensions
Other dimensions	424 ft (129.2 m) east–west; 187 ft (57.0 m) north–south
Technical details
Floor count	105
Floor area	2,248,355 sq ft (208,879 m2)
Lifts/elevators	75
Design and construction
Architect	Acamapichtli Tenyocan
Developer	Secretariat of Public Works
Structural engineer	Achimetes Zachinil
Main contractor	Tequiaztatl Construction Association

The Tenyocan Building is a 105 story skyscraper located in the central wards of Heron Island, Angatahuaca. The building was planned and designed in the period between 1928 and 1940 known as the Time of Gold which saw the radical and extensive redevelopment of central and southern Heron island and the construction of many of the iconic buildings for which the city is known today. Originally named the Xolotecatl building in honor of then Tepachoani Xolotecatl Acuixoc, the tower was renamed after its chief architect in 1969 in order to distance the landmark from the now controversial historical figure. The roof of the Tenyocan Building stands over 1,200 meters tall, while the whole structure exceeds 1,400 meters in height thanks to the large antenna structure extending from the top of the building. By the time its construction was completed in late 1931, it was the tallest building in Angatahuaca and indeed the tallest in all of Zacapican, beating the record set just one year prior by the Tlayocoyalli Building also in central Heron Island and within sight of the Tenyocan. The Tenyocan Building would remain the tallest building in the city known for its skyscrapers until the construction of the Tianquiztli Center on the tip of Heron island in 2012.

The site of the construction was a derelict bathhouse that had fallen out of use since the construction of new recreation centers in the urban center of Angatahuaca. By the late 1920s, redevelopment of the closely packed Heron island cityscape had become a fierce competition over every available plot, particularly in the central wards were geological conditions were favorable for the construction of tall buildings that could take maximum advantage plots of land available. In order to the secure the bid for the site, architect Acamapichtli Tenyocan lobbied for the support of then leader of Zacapican, Xolotecatl Acuixoc. In exchange for naming the building after him, Tenyocan secured the backing of the nation's Tepachoani for his building and was able to easily secure the rights to the land plot in question. The building would be designed to embody the Tepachoani's modern vision for the country, adopting the art deco style of the era and even incorporating a structure that would serve as a docking facility for airships at the top of the tower. Upon its completion, the Tenyocan Building and its creators were showered in praise but saw little financial success until the 1960s, nearly a decade after Acamapichtli Tenyocan's death and more than two decades after the assassination of the building's original namesake.

Today, the Tenyocan building is an easily recognizable icon of the Angatahuaca cityscape, often appearing in artwork and iconography related to the city and its municipal authorities. Although its primary purpose and use is as an office space, the Tenyocan building has become one of the most popular attractions for tourists in Angatahuaca due to its iconic appearance and well-positioned observation deck offering a vantage point over the center of Heron island's skyline. Two separate observation decks in the building are open for visitors, one on the 90th floor and another on the top floor at 105 stories up. Due to its popularity and distinctive appearance, the building is a common cultural touchstone symbolizing the grandeur of the well known wards of Heron island and the overall opulence of Angatahuaca compared to the rest of the country.

Architecture

General Layout

The symmetrical plan for the Tenyocan building consists of three general vertical zones. The lowest and widest of these is the base of the building, which consists of the first five stories and is significantly wider than the rest of the building. This is the first and most pronounced in a series of setbacks required by the local laws put in place in 1920, a decade before the construction of the Tenyocan Building, in order to mitigate the effects and formation of urban canyons as they began to appear in Angatahuaca through the construction of ever taller buildings on Heron island's limited land area. Between the 5th and 85th stories is the second and largest zone of the building, consisting of most of the usable floor space within the tower. The final zone, the spire structure between the 86th and 105th stories and the superstructure beyond have no internal floors, with the internal space of the spire being used only for mechanical purposes. At the time of the construction of the building, the spire was intended to serve as a dock for passenger airships. This scheme would never come to fruition, with the spire instead becoming a tourist attraction, and later as a base for the installation of radio and TV broadcast equipment.

Facade

The facade of the building could be especially spacious thanks to the steel-skeleton building technique used in the construction process. Older buildings before the advent of the skyscraper had used thick load-bearing walls and columbs to bear their own weight, elements which would then be incorporated into the aesthetics of the outward facade. However, the Tenyocan building and others like it could have far more visual freedom in the outer structure of the building as these walls didn't have to bear any of the load, which was instead borne entirely by the steel frame within and transferred directly to the ground through the foundation. The light colored appearance of the building comes from its Aztaco limestone material, of which many thousands of tonnes were used as well granite and even polished marble which was ordered from quarries in Belisaria and cut according to the exact specifications of the plan so that it could be shipped to Angatahuaca by ship and installed directly in place without additional work. The building uses some 5,700 cubic meters of limestone and granite material for its facade structure, supported by 660 metric tons of steel and aluminium fixtures. The visual style of the building was chosen to follow the contemporary art deco style, incorporating geometric decoration in a departure from the more traditional facades of Angatahuaca's ancient and medieval buildings which are decorated with visualized narratives and figures.

Construction

Construction of the steel skeleton in late 1930.

The construction of the Tenyocan building was to proceed with the utmost speed and efficiency. Tenyocan himself and the well respected Tequiaztatl Construction Association firm he had arranged to carry out his plans were under immense pressure from the national leadership to expedite the completion of the building for political purposes, as well as financial constraints. This would lead the chief engineer of the project, Achimetes Zachinil, and the heads of Tequiaztatl firm to adopt the innovation of pre-fabricated construction. Under this system, those components which were to be used in the construction of the building would be build to the exact specifications of the plan at quarries, steel works and other factories before being brought to the site for installation. Even to this day, the logistical accomplishments of the Tenyocan project stand out as a great achievement. Pieces of the steel skeleton would arrive directly from the steelworks in Amegatlan and be moved directly to their needed location to be riveted in place.

Components, including tonnes of steel, concrete and quarried material were delivered exactly when and as needed such that the assembly of the materials onto the building could be done as quickly and efficiently as possible. The actual construction was done in 12 hour shifts by hundreds of workers at any one time, from the excavation of the foundations to the erection of the final spire at the top of the building. The scale of the construction was such that kitchens and bars for the workers were set up on several of the incomplete floors of the building during construction so that the workers would not have to waste long periods of time descending to the ground level to eat. Bathrooms and water taps were likewise provided to minimize the number of times the workers would need to spend traveling up and down from their work floor to the bottom of the building. The effort was not without danger, in particular the danger of falling. Although some measures were taken to secure the workers, safety in the workplace in 1930 was far less than the regulations which exist in the modern day. 17 workers would die in the 20 months of construction, 15 from falling, and a total of 68 would be injured.

The final design of the building was still being finalized at the time of construction, with the internal layout and decorations of the floor often being decided on long after the construction of the corresponding structure itself. Additionally, some modifications were added to the final plan to correct flaws which had been previously neglected and improve the stability of the building. Around the time steel structure had reached nearly the 70th floor, the formal cornerstone ceremony as the facade and interior floors began to be built. The logistical innovations used in the construction proved critical even through the final months of construction, as the space available on site was extremely limited and did not allow for the storage of the truly astronomical volumes of material needed for the building. As such, the practice continued of delivering material exactly according to what would be needed for construction that day. A total of 3,500 workers were involved in the construction, an activity which proved a catalyst for the even further expansion of Angatahuaca's construction sector. By the time of completion, the project had cost 35 million solidus, more than 70 million 1930s Amatl. It would take decades for the building to enter profitability and break even from its initial cost.