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Coltejer Building

building in Medellin, Colombia

Architectural plans, a scale model, maps and brass measuring instruments
Places and architectureInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionMar 21, 2026
Entity authorityQ3057904
Source-derived summary

The Coltejer Building is the tallest building in Medellín, Colombia and the tenth-tallest in Colombia as of 2016. It was completed in 1972. Coltejer is one of the most important textile companies in Colombia, and the largest textile complex in Latin America. It was founded in Medellín by Alejandro Echavarría on October 22, 1907.

Building history

Colombia began a skyscraper building era in the 1960s in Medellín. The Coltejer Building was designed by architects Raúl Fajardo, Aníbal Saldarriaga, Germán Samper, and Jorge Manjarres. Its construction required the demolition of the art nouveau Edificio Gonzalo Mejía which contained the Junín Theatre and the Hotel Europa.

With a height of 175 metres (574 ft), the Coltejer Building was the fourth-tallest building in Colombia, and was the tallest building in South America at the time of its completion. It is said to resemble a sewing machine needle, representing the textile company after which it is named.

Statistics

Height: 175 metres

Area: 42,000 square metres.

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Coltejer Building” is building in Medellin, Colombia. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Coltejer, Building and building, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewA valuable geographic starting point for tracing changing names, boundaries, uses and administrative responsibility. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—2016, 1972, 1907—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1972. For this dossier, Coltejer, Building and building is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “building in Medellin, Colombia” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Mar 21, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q3057904. Authority coordinates are 6.250, -75.566. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2016, 1972 and 1907.

Critical limits

A single description cannot reconcile every naming convention, rebuilding phase or administrative transfer associated with a place. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.

Best used for
  • Historic place names
  • Jurisdictional context
  • Routes into maps and plans
Verify next

Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Coltejer Building”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Coltejer Building primary sources, Coltejer Building archive and Coltejer research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Coltejer Building”?
  2. What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
  3. Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
Subject index

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Coltejer Building” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.