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The Crystal Tower or (Torre de Cristal), Spanish for Tower of Glass, is one of the finest skyscrapers in Madrid, situated in the Cuatro Torres Business (CTBA) Area of Madrid, the tower was designed by Argentine architect Cesar Pelli, head of the international office Pelli Clarke Pelli and ranks as the second tallest building in Madrid and in Spain, the tower measuring 249.5 meters was completed in 2008 and was considered the tallest building until it was just beaten by the Caja Madrid Tower, which took up the mantel on its completion in 2009 with a height of 250 meters. Cesar Pelli is also responsible for the Petronas Towers in Malaysia, built in 1997. 

  Designed and sculptured as a crystalite in a beautifully smooth and contoured form, it is a pleasure to stand at the bottom of the tower looking up along the structure to the sky, The contours of the structure capture and reflect light with great dynamism. At the very top of the building there is a large crystal dome, which houses the highest vertical garden of Europe, at 30 m that reveals a variety of trees such as oak trees and is covered with plants, giving a natural and green setting.

The Crystal Tower is today is considered to be one of the most prominent and noble buildings of Madrid. The gardens themselves cannot be seen so well from above as the crystal glass is in turn covered with solar panels. The skyscraper transforms the space used into 52 floors, 1,206 parking spaces and over 57,000 square feet of leasable area with a large entrance hall with a height of 12 meters, enclosed by a floor to ceiling glazing, makes it comfortable, impressive and elegant, with the high standard in offices designed to meet the needs of most demanding companies, Containing 27 elevators, in different groups, dividing the height of the building into four separate areas, these elevators are the fastest in Spain and carry passengers non-stop over a distance of 150 m at a speed of 8 meters per second. In addition to speed, other factors in the design have been the comfort and safety of the user, combining all this with respect to the environment through the use of elevators that are considered to be greener.

The Crystal Tower has implemented various systems that optimize energy consumption through an efficient climate control system with active front and advanced electrical installation. This building has been certified energy class "A", in terms of highest efficiency, which means that the final energy consumption in the Tower is one third lower than an office area expectancy of similar size.

Base Jumping

With a height of 249.5 Meters, I, most definitely would not and hopefully you neither, would ever consider even contemplating going up to the very peak of the Crystal Tower dressed as a construction worker, climbing to the very highest point and jumping off the building.... Well, here are two people who did just that, they had parachutes, but still, what a dangerous and also incredible thing to do.

One of the two people in this video, Manuel Chana, later jumped for the last time on the 14th of March 2010 in Madrid, he was a member of the base jump group, Flypa. On Sunday 14 of March 2010, he jumped along with his daughter, Saray. "Manolo" as he was known, went at a top speed of 100 km per hour, when opening the main parachute there was a strong line twist and for some reason, he could not release it, he died instantly in Madrid at parachuting club Lillo, where he practiced his passion every weekend, he was 45 years old, a terrible end to an amazing person. Base jumping and parachuting was his passion till the end. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and his friends.