Ponte tower is Africa’s tallest and most notorious residential building
The Ponte saga is a classic South African story. Once a Jacuzzi-filled playground for the segregated white elite in the apartheid era, then falling into chaos in the 1990s as the wealthy fled to the suburbs, then the object of failed luxury-condo schemes, the tower is now undergoing a renaissance as an icon of Johannesburg’s urban revitalization. Most of its tenants today are immigrant workers and university students – Congolese, Zimbabwean, Nigerian – and a smattering of black and white South Africans. For most, it is just a cheap and clean place to live – with some of the most stunning views in Africa. You can read more about it by copying and pasting this link into your browser: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/south-africas-notorious-ponte-tower-becomes-symbol-of-urban-revitalization/article24992755/
The Ponte Tower, a residential skyscraper, displays a Vodacom Group Ltd. advertisement as it stands beyond the Hillbrow Telkom tower, right, on the city skyline in this aerial view of Johannesburg, South Africa.Dean Hutton/Bloomberg
The 54-story Ponte Tower building in Johannesburg from the core looking upwards.The Associated Press
A group of tourists visits the 54-story Ponte Tower building in Johannesburg.The Associated Press
Construction workers pave the main entrance of the 173 meter tall Ponte building in downtown Johannesburg in October 2007.Gianlougi Guercia/AFP / Getty Images
The Ponte Tower, a residential skyscraper, center, displays a Vodacom Group Ltd. advertisement as it stands on the city skyline in this aerial view of Johannesburg, South Africa.Dean Hutton/Bloomberg
The 54-story Ponte Tower building in Johannesburg from the core looking upwards.The Associated Press
An illuminated advertisement for Vodacom Group Ltd., Vodafone's biggest African business, is seen at night on the Ponte tower, right, in Johannesburg, South Africa.Nadine Hutton/Bloomberg
The inside of the tower of the 173 meter high Ponte building in downtown Johannesburg.GIANLUIGI GUERCIA/AFP / Getty Images
The inside of the tower of the 173 meter high Ponte building in downtown Johannesburg.GIANLUIGI GUERCIA/AFP / Getty Images