Campinas

Campinas is a large city just 95km Northwest of the state capital São Paulo. Like every other major city in Brazil there are many high-rises spreading throughout the city center.

Campinas was founded on July 14, 1774, as a small commercial outpost in the way between São Paulo and Goiás.

It's economy was primarily dependent from agriculture; in the 20th Century, it became industry based and in the later decades of the 20th Century it became an important service and technology center.

The history of tall constructions begun with Igreja do Rosário and later with Catedral Metropolitana de Campinas, both in the 19th Century.

Campinas joined the highrise era in 1937 when Hotel Opala Barão was completed. From the end of 1950s to the end of 1970s, city's downtown boomed in density with many highrises crowding the city´s streets. Nowadays, taller buildings are being built in more distant neighborhoods in mostly residential zones.

With strict land occupation laws Campinas's skyscrapers are not too tall as they could be, with the old Mirante topping only 90m and the recently completed Centro Empresarial Conceição wich isn´t much taller than Mirante. Although there isn´t any real skyscraper in the city, the number of highrise buildings is so huge that skyscrapers have become the defining feature of the city skyline, which very impressive for a non-state capital.