It was designed in 1934, by local architects Gregorio Sánchez, Ernesto Lagos and Luis María de la Torre, built by the constructor and engineer Rodolfo Cervini, and inaugurated in 1936. Standing at a height of 120 meters, the building is characterised by the austerity of its lines, the lack of external ornamentation, and its large prismatic volumes. It was declared a
Historic Civil Engineering Landmark by the
American Society of Civil Engineers in 1994 and a
National Historic Monument by the Argentine government in 1999. In the year of its completion the building obtained the Municipal Award for Collective Houses and Facades (''''), and three years later its façade received a similar award from the
American Institute of Architects. It was commissioned in 1934 by Corina Kavanagh, a millionaire of Irish descent who sold two ranches at the age of 39 to erect her own skyscraper. Construction took 14 months. The building has a towering form, with symmetrical setbacks and gradual surface reductions. It was created from the outside in. The structure was designed to be as slender as possible, in order to avoid unnecessary weight, and influenced by city planning regulations. The design combines
Modernism and
Art Deco with a
Rationalist approach, and is considered the apex of early Modernism in Argentina. The building of the concrete structure was awarded to the Empresa Argentina de Cemento Armado, E.A.C.A. of engineers Garbarini, Meuer and Gorostiaga. The tender was made based on a preliminary project prepared by structural engineer Carlos Laucher. The final design of the structure was executed by the Technical Office of E.A.C.A., led by Eng. Fernando Schwarz, responsible for the design and calculations of the highest concrete skeleton in the world. At the time
soil mechanics—used to calculate the
bearing capacity of the ground—was in its infancy, and there were limited tools to calculate
wind resistance. It was at the time the highest skyscraper in
Latin America. As the apartments in the new building were aimed at the affluent upper middle classes, no expense was spared in its construction. All 105 apartments contained the latest in technological advances, including central
air conditioning, twelve
Otis elevators, and state-of-the-art plumbing. Upper-floor apartments have terrace gardens with views of the river, parks and the city. Corina Kavanagh lived there for many years in an apartment occupying the entire 14th floor. There is a legend that says that the shape of the building was designed as
revenge: Kavanagh's daughter fell in love with a son of the wealthy and aristocratic Anchorena family. The Anchorenas, who lived in a palace on the other side of
Plaza San Martín today known as the
San Martín Palace and had built that they could see from their palace, disapproved of the engagement. In revenge, Kavanagh required that her building block the Anchorena family's view of their church. ==Architecture==