Torres del Silencio (Centro Simón Bolívar)

The Simón Bolívar Centre, often called the El Silencio towers, is a pair of tall modernist buildings that mark the western edge of the historic centre of Caracas. Completed in the 1950s as part of a large urban renewal project, they house government offices above pedestrian arcades and shops. The twin towers were among the tallest structures in Venezuela at the time and symbolised the country's mid-century ambitions. Their scale and position beside older colonial streets illustrate the rapid modernisation of the capital.