This giant building in Venezuela’s capital, Caracas, is called El Helicoide de la Roca Tarpeya. Here is the interesting story of the world’s first shopping center.
The building of El Helicoide de la Roca Tarpeya in Caracas is one of the world’s first shopping center designs, but now it is a prison. It also hosted some well-known political prisoners. In fact, some prisoners say it is now a torture center for political prisoners. So why did such a huge shopping center become a prison?
Meet Helicoide, now transformed into a gigantic prison and formerly the world’s first car service shopping center! Wouldn’t you like to shop in a very large and impressive shopping center without getting out of your car? This facility, which has now been transformed into an imposing prison, was designed as the world’s first car service shopping center.
Rising in the squatter neighborhood of Caracas, Venezuela, this gigantic structure was an impressive shopping center with spaceship shape. The construction of this facility, where you can visit the shops with your vehicle instead of walking, began in 1956.
However, due to financial problems, the project was incomplete. The facility, which later turned into a giant prison, hosted some well-known political prisoners. Built on a 25-acre land in Venezuela’s capital, Caracas, Helicoide was named after the word helezon, which means‘ helix in Spanish language.
Inspired by the Gordon Strong Automobile Objective, which came to life in the hands of the Tower of Babel and Frank Lloyd Wright, Helicoide was built in the early 1950s by architect ‘Jorge Romero Gutierez’. At that time, Venezuela’s state-owned oil company, II. As an oil supplier to World War II allies, he was making huge gains, and the government decided to build Helicoide with the money that came from it.
Helicoide’s other architect, Dirk Bornhorst, described this structure as alışveriş a shopping mountain full of shops placed on ramps”. People from all over the world wanted to witness the impressive design of this super project. Even the famous poet Pablo Neruda is at this resort; “The most beautiful design an architect can create,” he said, emphasizing the fascination of Helicoide’s architecture.
Built on a double-lane road with 320 stores and two elevators, the building also became the world’s first car-serving shopping center. It was also home to automobile fairs, fuel stations, repair shops and car wash. Of course, there were many other activity centers, including exhibition halls, sports centers, infirmary, pool, seven-screen cinema and bowling alley.
However, this project was canceled in 1958 with the collapse of the Perez Jimenez dictatorship. The decision to cancel the spiral structure just one year before its completion resulted in a long bankruptcy process.
The building passed to the state in 1975 and it was suggested that it be an environmental center or museum. From 1979 to 1982, 500 slums were victims of floods and served as refugees. In 1984, the Venezuelan police, also known as the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service (SEBIN), settled in the building and turned it into a huge prison for political prisoners.
In line with the reports prepared by a local NGO; Within the helicoide, SEBIN and Bolivian National Guard agents reported that 145 cases of torture and inhuman treatment took place from January 2014 to June 2016. Today, there are at least 340 prisoners in Helicoide with students protesting the government. Designed to make Venezuela a leading Latin American country in the 1960s, Helicoide has now been transformed into a symbol of torture.
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