Statement against the construction of the CAJASOL skyscraper in Seville, Spain

The historic city of Seville and its landscape are universal and cultural heritage and as such cannot be monopolized or devaluated by banks or private corporations.
The local bank Cajasol and the Municipality of Seville are going to start the construction of a 200 m (650 feet) height office skyscraper eminently. The construction will be placed in the West of town, at the gate between the mythical neighborhood of Triana. The skyscraper is placed only 1.6 km away from the buildings and sites which are declared Humanity Heritage in Seville: the Cathedral, the Indies Archive and the neighborhood of Santa Cruz. The skyscraper doubles the height of the Guadalquivir river valley and the Giralda tower, the most emblematic European Hispanic-Muslim monument.

This construction will constitute a visual aggression against the most relevant landscape in town: the Golden Tower, the America’s port and the Triana bridge; it will interfere in the street perspectives of the historic town, destroy the landscape of the Cartuja and compete in symbolic relevance with the Giralda tower.



The construction work is going to begin despite of a hard report written against it by ICOMOS (International Council on Monuments and Sites), counseling member of UNESCO.
Given the facts and being aware of the damage that this construction will cause beyond repair for the landscape and harmony of one of the most mythical cities in Europe, we demand:

• To the Regional Government of Andalucía, we ask for a decision regarding the protection of the city of Seville and its landscape from the impact of the skyscraper.
  
• To the Municipality of Seville, we ask to stop the works immediately until the final report by UNESCO is issued. We also demand that the Municipality follows this report whatever its content is.
  
• To the promoter, the public bank CAJASOL, to change the Project, breaking down the skyscraper in smaller volumes, more adapted to the city of Seville and its landscape.
  


• Seville, March 25th 2009
  
  If you feel committed with this petition and would like to contribute to it, please contact us and we will do our best to defend Seville´s architectural heritage by stopping this construction.