Santiago Skyscraper Provides Clue to Chile’s Economy

Costanera Center sits half-finished at the heart of Santiago’s financial district, its exposed concrete and reinforcement bars contrasting with the glass-faced skyscrapers surrounding it. A banner at the silent, empty building site says “Icon of Latin American development.”

Once a symbol of Chile’s soaring copper-driven economy, the stalled project became an emblem of its decline after work ground to a halt in January on what would be South America’s tallest building.