Entering the Paranal Residencia

View of the unusual entrance of the Paranal Residencia, taken towards the west. This award-winning building, designed by German architects Auer+Weber as a partially subterranean L-shape, remains almost completely hidden and perfectly integrated into the landscape of one of the driest deserts on Earth. Only the west facade, where the windows of the 108 rooms are visible, together with the 35-metre-diameter dome which gives light to the whole central area of the building can be seen. ESO Paranal Observatory is located some 120 km south of Antofagasta, in the northern Chile.