The building was commissioned in 1950 by President Juan Perón for the Association of Unionized Latin American Workers ("ATLAS, S.A."); he ordered that plans include an underground bunker for use in case of war or a coup d'état. Perón, however, did not seek refuge there during the June 16, 1955, bombing of Plaza de Mayo by the Argentine Navy in an attempted coup, nor was he able to do so during his eventual overthrow, three months later.