Caleido, Vertical campus building in Cuatro Torres Business Area, Madrid, Spain
Caleido is a 36-storey skyscraper on Paseo de la Castellana, beside the Cuatro Torres Business Area. Its dark glass facade is divided into a recessed panel of reflective panes and a section clad in closely spaced vertical fins. The flat-roofed base building carries the white letters "ie" above a short horizontal line.
Caleido occupies the plot where the Madrid International Convention Centre was begun in 2008; work stopped in 2010 after 110 million euros had been spent without anything rising above ground. Villar Mir Group won the 75-year concession in 2015, and construction of the tower started in April 2017. Completion was planned for September 2020 but the COVID-19 pandemic pushed the inauguration to 19 October 2021.
The building functions as a meeting place where students and visitors experience learning, sports, and dining all in one location. The arrangement of spaces encourages daily interactions and makes it easy for people to move between different activities.
Caleido is a private campus for IE University, so general visitors cannot enter the building. The tower stands next to the Cuatro Torres Business Area along the Paseo de la Castellana, near Avenida de Monforte de Lemos. The site includes a shopping centre, gardens and parking for 2,000 vehicles.
The tower's name comes from the Greek words kalós (beautiful) and eídos (image). Its dark glass curtain wall is actually two panes set 25 cm apart, forming an air chamber that improves climate control. Architect Mark Fenwick cited the black monolith of Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey as an inspiration.
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