Coltejer Building

Building history

Colombia began a skyscraper building era in the 1960s in Medellín. The Coltejer Building was designed by architects Raúl Fajardo, Aníbal Saldarriaga, Germán Samper, and Jorge Manjarres. Its construction required the demolition of the art nouveau Edificio Gonzalo Mejía which contained the Junín Theatre and the Hotel Europa.

With a height of 175 m, the Coltejer Building was the fourth-tallest building in Colombia, and was the tallest building in South America at the time of its completion. It is said to resemble a sewing machine needle, representing the textile company after which it is named.

Statistics

• Height: 175 metres
• Area: 42,000 square metres.
• Floors: 36
• Parking spaces: 150
• Elevators: 11

The Coltejer Building can host 40,000 seated people and 168,000 standing people.

Coltejer

History

The Echavarría family were the founders of two textile companies, Coltejer and Fabricato, and were also involved in coffee exportation and importation of other goods. In 1907, Alejandro Echavarría decided to import four power looms, which he put to work along with twelve workers in the patio of his coffee-processing plant. This was the beginning of Coltejer.

During the Depression era, Coltejer bought discarded looms cheaply from the United States that were brought in on muleback. During World War II, Coltejer was operating some 70,000 spindles and 1,900 looms, employing 4,000 workers in its Medellin plant in addition to those at Envigado.

Production

Coltejer's profits increased by a factor of twenty between 1940 and 1949, from 830,000 pesos to 16,520,000.

Coltejer has a total fabric production capacity of about 60 million metres, of which 90% is used to produce clothing and 10% is to make home textiles. It is also one of the leading denim producers in Colombia. Coltejer works with 67 exclusive distributors and 77 wholesalers in Colombia.

References

References

1. (1979). "Latin America Economic Report". Latin American Newsletters Limited.
2. Compañía Colombiana de Tejidos (''Colombian Textile Company'') Coltejer: [http://www.coltejer.com.co/empresa.htm History of the Company] {{webarchive. link. (2007-06-12 , [[Itagüí]], Colombia, Retrieved on May 7, 2008.)
3. (1 March 2001). "Violence in Colombia, 1990-2000: Waging War and Negotiating Peace". Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.
4. Robert Weible. (1 December 1991). "The Continuing Revolution: A History of Lowell, Massachusetts". Lowell Historical Society.
5. (1949). "Ibero-Americana". University of California Press.
6. Mary Roldán. (21 May 2002). "Blood and Fire: La Violencia in Antioquia, Colombia, 1946–1953". Duke University Press.
7. U.S. International Trade Commission. "Andean Trade Preference Act: Impact on U.S. Industries and Consumers and on Drug Crop Eradication and Crop Substitution, 13th Report 2007, Inv. 332-352". DIANE Publishing.
8. (1996). "Textile Outlook International". Economist Publications Limited.