

70% of the city’s population lives in slums.


This is the Torre David, a 45-story unfinished office tower in the middle of the city. During construction, the developer died. Then the economy crashed. It has been unfinished ever since.


It’s considered the world’s largest vertical slum. It is a 45-story walk up, and there are no elevators. Seniors and the disabled live on the lower floors, and the young and healthy near the top.


The air inside the building can become extremely hot and stuffy, so the inhabitants had to find a way to create airflow. They created crude holes in the wall to help circulate air, but they serve a dual purpose as a secondary path through the building.


Families attempt to make their living spaces feel more like an apartment. Some decorate the walls with newspaper, others use paint. It all depends on what cheap materials are available.


The people living in the slums make the best of their situation.


On each floor of Torre David, there are shops, services and micro-economies.


Slum life is an entirely different style of living. The inhabitants here all have functions and symbiotic relationships with other “tenants.”