El Helicoide, or the Helix, is one of Venezuelas most important relics of the modernist movement.
The building was almost nearing completion when Perez Jimenezs dictatorship collapsed and the architects lost their funding.
The new government showed no interest in completing the project because of its association with the former dictator.
In 1961, one year before the project was due for completion, construction came to a halt.
In 1975, after a lengthy bankruptcy process, the building became government property.
The first squatters began to move in in 1979.
They were mostly victims of a recent landslide.
This, of course, never happened.
Instead, the building was taken over by the Venezuelan intelligence police in 1984 and turned into their headquarters.
Photo credit:Juan Carlos Montes/Panoramio
Sources:CityLab/World Architects/Failed Architecture
