The 93-meter-high structure was named "Obelisk", although in fact it is not an obelisk: it is not four-sided, but rounded. The idea of erecting a jubilee monument on the Plaza de Castilla, next to the inclined twin towers Puerta de Europa Philip Johnson (one of which is the headquarters of Caja Madrid), appeared around 2002, when the 300th anniversary of the "Madrid Savings Bank" was celebrated (1702-2002). The Calatrava project was presented in 2004, and construction began only towards the end of the 2000s. December 23, 2009 "Obelisk" was opened by King Juan Carlos I of Spain.
The architect was inspired by the design of the "Endless Column" by Constantin Brancusi, a gilded metal "pillar" about 30 m high in the Romanian city of Targu Jiu. For the sculptural works of Calatrava, in general, an orientation towards the work of Brancusi is characteristic; in this case, the material (gilded metal) and the "wavy" development of the volume were borrowed. But if in the "Endless Column" this movement is recorded, then in the work of Calatrava it is expressed as the oscillation of the cladding of 493 narrow bronze panels, which creates the impression of soft waves endlessly rising from the foot to the top. This is done with 126 motors.
The Obelisk structure consists of concrete, steel and stone; it weighs 572 tonnes and rests on a giant "tripod", each of its ribs more than 30 meters long. This structure is hidden under the cone-shaped cladding. The new monument should withstand possible natural disasters - up to a hurricane with a force of 44 m / s (the mechanism should continue to function with a wind of 12.5 m / s, but no more).
According to Santiago Calatrava, his first building in Madrid is a mix of sculpture, engineering and architecture.
