Homeland: inside the real Tower of David in Venezuela

The TV series Homeland sees Sergeant Nicholas Brody detained within an unfinished tower block in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas. Alasdair Baverstock takes a look inside the real building, the Tower of David.

Shaven-headed and punctured by gunshots, episode three of Homeland saw Sergeant Nicholas Brody detained within an unfinished tower block in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas.

While it may have looked as if the concrete, prison-like monstrosity was all CGI graphics and complicated sets, in fact the scenes were shot inside the Tower of David, home to thousands of squatters.

Looking up at the building that rises from the heart of the violent city, you can see the missing walls where Homeland's Brody peered out of during the episode.

When construction began on The Tower in 1990, it was originally supposed to be a show-piece to the world.

But after the main investor died, and the economy was hit by a financial crisis, the building was never finished.

Gangs and civilian squatters soon moved in and claimed the building as their own.

The Tower of David is far from complete, it's only stairs, no lifts. It's 45 storeys high and there are people on 28 of those floors.

For the people high up, the stairs are the only way home at night.

Along the dimly lit corridors, the concrete bricks and unpainted walls, the Tower of David now houses families, schoolrooms and shops.

Children can be seen running about and playing football on the grey, hard floor of the abandoned building site.

Although it came off as extremely dangerous in this week's episode of Homeland, violence here in the real Tower of David is pretty rare.

This tower is home to 3,000 residents and each is expected to do his or her part for the community.

Despite being poor squatters, up on the roof of the building where we saw Brody being taunted by his holders, the residents have access to a view that people would pay millions for.

Today, life in what is now known as the world's tallest slum, is a far cry from the brutality Brody witnesses in Homeland, although the fetted stairwells and shattered windows tell of the skyscraper's darker past.


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