YALE SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE DEAN’S COUNCIL Buenos Aires, Argentina March 9–14, 2014 INTRODUCTION

Buenos Aires, the heritage of a universal periphery

“I suspect that the birth of Buenos Aires is just a story; I deem her to be as eternal as water and air”. Jorge Luis Borges The Mythical Foundation of Buenos Aires, 1929

Borges’s allusion to the eternal nature of Buenos Aires and his doubts about the origin of the city, are a fne refection of its timeless identity. Buenos Aires is surrounded by a minimalist geography of water and land which strengthens the role of architecture as the only multi-form and exuberant physical variable, thus transforming it into a natural rather than cultural heritage. The world of Buenos Aires’ buildings is made up of leftovers of historical layers, either juxtaposed or superimposed. The concentrated, four hundred-year-old physical universe of Buenos Aires is like an architectural library of Babel or a labyrinth of styles representative of the Western World. It is forever a collage of historical and geographic variables, decanted from various cultural world centers and innumerable peripheries.

2 What remains today of the original “Big Village” are parts of the strict foundational grid and the noblest Andalusian-infuenced pieces that chronologically followed a mud and straw town. The last corner of the Spanish Empire—an impossible port called Trinidad and a wayward city called Buenos Aires—arose from an ambiguous tradition that received the contribution of diverse civilian and religious communities. When the baroque movement took over the continent and fourished into a Hispanic-indigenous fusion of cultures, the city was able to abstain from excesses. Drenched in whitewash, it remained loyal to its European rep- ertoire which, by this time, it was capable of summarizing and transform- ing into a language of its own. In addition, she took full advantage of the surrounding neutral geography to make sure she stood out. The city’s modest physiognomy rose up imposingly on the banks of the river, which she still respected as her one and only privileged partner. When the city became the capital of the Vice Royalty, she found her simplicity enhanced by classicism which would rule over her physiognomy for a number of decades. The urban image required by the Independence era was a geo- metric austerity that reafrmed the city’s neoclassical character. Whether royal or popular, construction vibrated within the rational rythm of the original checkerboard grid. In time, the city acquired a new autochtho- nous and monochromatic harmony, a certain calm, detached from the upheavals and turbulent disputes between Unitarios and Federales, two political parties of the time. The new strains of European architectural blood, be they French, Italian or German, all mixed and merged in the omnipresent classicism. Towards the middle of the 19th century—as would happen again one century later—the nobility and greatness that had been achieved thanks to a sublime monotony would soon succumb under a hail of heterogeneous styles. That frst short-lived splendor was captured by foreigners like William Mac Cann who said in his 1853 book “Travels on Horseback Throughout the Argentine Provinces”, “…Many signs of deca- dence can already be seen, but a foreigner can still get a very good idea of this South American capital’s past greatness which, as Lord Byron of Venice was fond of saying ‘dies daily’…” 3 The brief, mid-19th century hiatus of neoclassical pomp was a ftting, coherent and harmonious end to two centuries of architectural Latin. Once this period was over, the second stage of the city’s shaping began and so did the road to its transformation into the “Capital of an Imaginary Empire”. It started with a stylistic alliance of German and Italian origin which echoed the unifying movements taking place in those two coun- tries and whose presence dominated the scene during the third quarter of the 19th century. When the Buenos Aires’ conficts with the rest of the country had been overcome and the golden Pampas hinterland had been conquered, the city crowned itself with the unabashed ambition of pos- sessing the Continental scepter. To do so, the local passion for the archi- tectural culture of France allied itself with the Italian art of building and consolidated the city’s image as the head of “The Granary of the World”. To strengthen this preeminence the British know-how was skillfully han- dled and permitted to attach the capital to the continent and to connect it with the rest of the world. Buenos Aires soon became a privileged stage for the architectural experiments that well represent a period of in the history of the Western World that seemed to be an intricate net- work of overlapping endings and beginnings, a time in which there arose mechanisms, procedures and problems that anticipated future situations. Within a context where increasing globalization, transferences, mobility and exchanges of people, products and services reach unparalleled levels there are situations and phenomena that are still not understood in their true dimensions. The architectural culture of Buenos Aires refects all these processes as no other city, but it’s defnition is difcult. In a context of multifaceted eclecticism this culture lacks of ideological, stylistic and technological homogeneity. Besides, its esthetic values are underesti- mated for not complying with vanguardist standards. Its historical values are also dismissed for not showing, at least in appearance, the identity 4 of the place or of the period. Despite of these handicaps, this architec- tural culture was one of the most remarkable refections of Argentina’s formidable growth process at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries. It was also a period that saw Buenos Aires undergo the transformation from a “Big Village” into a “Great European City” due mainly to the unusual growth and development of its construction and urbanization. This phenomenon of becoming a newborn metropolis was almost unique for the times and was nourished by the variety of diferent architectures being designed and constructed, constituting a truly inter- national showcase of building styles and types. The complexity of the prevailing eclecticism at that moment was intensifed on this side of the Atlantic, not only by the use of countless historic variables, even those of the contemporary European repertoire, but also by the multiple geographical origins of the alternatives. This vari- ety of styles was once again increased by adaptations, reinterpretations and combinations, all of which resulted in an invigorated eclecticism. Within this context, it becomes extremely difcult to identify or pinpoint the sources of inspiration of each work. The monuments and sites of this period oblige historians to turn into entomologists or philologists. To iden- tify each architectural specimen, it is fundamental to analyze its lineage and unveil its genre or species. And so, the appearance of “architectural oddities” is not strange and their historic or esthetic appreciation must be compounded by their worth as cultural curiosities. In some excep- tional cases monuments turn out to be “missing links” in the universal chain of typologies, as was the case of the no longer existent Bunge and Born silo in the Puerto Madero area, probably the world’s most valuable

5 grain elevator. In other cases, the last and sophisticated specimens of an extinguished evolution appear. This is the case of the Colon Theatre, the grand fnale of a dynasty, which was inaugurated shortly before the First World War. Just as Borges said about his own “Universal History of Infamy”, the belle époque monuments of Buenos Aires are also “…the irresponsible entertainment of a timid individual that did not dare to write stories and, without any esthetic justifcation, amused himself by adulterating and dis- torting the stories of others…” Besides, this recreational architecture was able to come up with its own language, written in a constructively hybrid but scintillating tongue, a kind of slang derived from an Italian-French fusion: the imitation Parisian Stone stucco. This was an additional element that helped to materialize a fctitious architectural culture, ahead of its time in its “virtualness”. This architectural culture was also made up of amoral esthetics and historical anarchy in which freedom of choice reached its high point and heterodoxy was the by-word. Behind an apparent and irra- tional iconography, a rational semiology appears and forms part of the city’s deeper identity and of its intrinsic diferentiation from others. All this architectural heritage highlights yet another special signifcance: it was absolutely demonstrative of a postmodernist and globalized attitude that was ahead of its time. In his 1910 work, “South American Travel Notes”, an observant Georges Clemenceau pointed out the paradox: “…I think the true Argentine is convinced that a magical virtue of Juvencio, rising from the deepest recesses of its soil, has completely rejuvenated and rebuilt him into a new man, a man that is no one’s descendent but the innate forefather of the formidable generations to come..”. He also warns of the

6 dangers of the contradiction, “…the impertinence of Buenos Aires is to introduce us, under the guise of being European, to a reckless Argentine character… Not content with being Argentines from head to toe, if these wicked people were left to their own, they would make us Argentines in the blinking of an eye…” As the frst post war period began, Buenos Aires had already conquered its new tradition. As happened in the feld of music where she was unfail- ingly identifed with tango, fusion ruled over the identity of her building culture and would continue to recreate it for several decades to come. Within the context of a short 20th century, its pluralist architectural moder- nity appeared as four architectural movements: blue, white, red and gray. The “blue modernity” represented the dissolving of the order of historical eclecticism. At its peak, the country allowed Buenos Aires the luxury of simultaneously being grandiose and decadent, brilliant and dull. Her insa- tiable pretensions tried to roll into one Paris’ feast, Berlin’s vaudeville and the whirlwind of New York. The First World War resounded like lightning and fashed like a frework. The European capital of the Americas did not receive the full impact of that trauma as did her ancestral peers and this permitted her to continue practicing an unrestricted, multi-formed and defnitively institutionalized eclecticism. Diferent historical, modernist and vanguard tendencies mixed without any qualms. A much-liberalized academicism integrated innovative European experiences: a late night art nouveau, an emerging art déco, expressionisms of multiple origins and candid proto-rationalisms. This architectural limbo continued to produce transgenic works from various European architectural cultures. The 1929 crash opened the way for a “white modernity” and the reafrmation of a multicultural identity within a mystifying purism. The synthesis that tried to emerge, to crystallize in other disciplines or social and cultural man- ifestations, was also transmitted to the feld of architecture during the 30s. “White” was the monochrome palette that characterized the peri- od’s production but also represented the sum of European colors that dyed Buenos Aires innovation. The elegant French esthetic mold, the robust German construction fabric and the refned Italian arts and crafts quality converged in an attempt to recreate the noble spirit of the age of innocence that the city had enjoyed a century before. In this endeavor, modernity many times turned “Red”, especially when it embraced local or regional idiosyncrasies, in an attempt to resist the international renovation turmoil. Ahead of its time in its “Third World “ sentiment, “red modernity” was formally and culturally nourished by neocolonialism and populism and so recuperated a certain organic nature and expressionism favored by public sensitivity. Massifcation took command in the feld of architecture and this movement was escorted by the sound of grand tango orchestras and the rhythm cinematographic illusions provided. The Second Postwar period cleared the way for a “gray modernity” and for the fnal stretch on the road to globalizing the urban universe. The country’s feeting 7 intoxication during the 40s and the privileged magnifcence that Buenos Aires had attained, once again placed her on the threshold of a new refor- mulation of her physical fabric. And ever faithful to her traditional voracity of knowing practically all the comings and goings of the main centers of Western architecture, she recreated her great voyeuristic tradition while consuming the latest trends at breathtaking speed: International Style, functionalism, brutalism, metabolism… However, they were assimilated intelligently and in some cases majestically re-elaborated. The resulting systematic chaos formed a patchwork of formal, spatial and volumetric fragments that characterizes most of the city’s neighborhoods. In the end, it was as if the urban morphology of the city, which during the frst half of the century had taken after its Central European or Western Mediterranean counterparts, either Barcelona or Budapest, had now migrated towards the tendencies of Extreme Mediterranean or Middle Eastern cities, either Beirut or Baghdad. The 80s witnessed the fnal ripping up of the urban fabric and the well- known practice of recycling became abusive, all within the framework of a superfcial and de-nationalized post modernism and as a conditioned refex of the think tanks of Western architecture. The city’s architecture culture of creative translation had defnitively been left behind. In addi- tion, the leftovers of a cosmopolitan spirit turned into empty globaliza- tion. Revitalized by this context, the architectural heritage of Buenos Aires still appears as a hidden bonanza of universal architecture, like a hitherto undiscovered collage that features incredible combinations, like a practi- cally unexplored forest of buildings, exasperating and ungraspable, that still maintains its mystery, charm and seduction.

Fabio Grementieri

8 PROGRAM OVERVIEW

Sunday 9th, 7 pm Welcome reception.

Monday 10th, 8.30 am - 8 pm Walking tour through El Centro district. Bus tour to La Boca and San Telmo districts.

Tuesday 11th, 8.30 am - 8 pm Bus tour to Puerto Madero and Palermo districts. Walking tour through Parrio Parque district.

Wednesday 12th, 8.30 am - 8 pm Bus tour to Recoleta, Retiro and Theater districts. Walking tour through Plaza San Martin area and Avenida Corrientes.

Thursday 13th, 8.30 am - 8 pm Bus tour to the city of La Plata. Walking tour through the Eje Monumental. Reception at Teresa Anchorena’s home in Buenos Aires.

Friday 14th, 8.30 am - 8 pm Boat tour to the town of Tigre through the delta of Paraná River. Bus tour through the towns of Tigre, San Fernando and San Isidro. Walking tour through San Isidro Historical District.

9 SUNDAY 9

7:00 pm Welcome reception and overview of Buenos Aires history and architec- ture presented by Dr. Claudia Shmidt, co-author with Fabio Grementieri of Germany and Argentina: The Modern Building Culture (2011). A Alvear Palace Hotel, Avenida Alvear 1891, Buenos Aires

10 MONDAY 10

8:30 am Gather in the lobby of the Alvear Palace Hotel.

8:45 am Depart Alvear Palace Hotel by bus for El Centro district.

9:00 am Walking tour of El Centro district begins at the Jesuit’s block with exterior view of Colegio Nacional, designed by Norbert Maillart (1908) A Bolívar 263, Buenos Aires

9.15 am Walking tour continues in front of Church of San Ignacio, designed by Johann Kraus and Johan Wolf (mid 18th century) A Bolívar 225, Buenos Aires

9.30 am Walk through Plaza de Mayo, view of Casa Rosada and visit to Catedral Metropolitana, designed by Antonio Masella, Prosper Catelin, and Pierre Benoit (mid 18th century and early 19th century) A San Martín 27, Buenos Aires

9:45 am Depart Catedral Metropolitana on foot and walk through Bank District to Banco de Londres. Exterior view and quick interior view of Banco Provincia designed by Sánchez, Lagos & de la Torre (1940) A San Martín 137, Buenos Aires

10.00 am Visit to Banco de Londres y América del Sur, designed by Clorindo Testa and SEPRA (1960) A Reconquista y Bartolomé Mitre, Buenos Aires

10.30 am Visit to Banco de la Nación, designed by Alejandro Bustillo (1944) A Bartolomé Mitre 326, Buenos Aires

11.00 am Depart Banco de la Nación on foot for Galería Güemes

11.10 am Visit and Cofee break at Boston City, Galería Güemes, designed by Boston City Cofehouse Francesco Gianotti (1913) A Florida 165, Buenos Aires

11 MONDAY 10

11:40 am Depart Galería Güemes on foot for Casa de la Cultura

11:50 am Visit to Casa de la Cultura (former Palacio La Prensa), designed by Gainza & Agote (1895) A Avenida de Mayo 575, Buenos Aires

12:10 pm Depart Casa de la Cultura on foot for Palacio de la Legislatura

12:15 pm Visit to Palacio de la Legislatura, designed by Héctor Ayerza & Édouard Le Monnier (1929) A Perú 130, Buenos Aires

12:40 pm Depart Palacio de la Legislatura on foot for Chacabuco 78 Ofce Building

12.45 pm Visit Chacabuco 78 Ofce Building, designed by Julián García Núñez (1910) A Chacabuco 78, Buenos Aires

1:00 pm Depart Chacabuco 78 Ofce Building on foot along avenida de Mayo for Club Español

1.15 pm Lunch at Club Español, designed by Enrique Folkers (1909) A Bernardo de Irigoyen 172, Buenos Aires Club Español Restaurant

2:30 pm Depart Club Español on foot along Avenida de Mayo for Pasaje Barolo

2:45 pm Visit to Pasaje Barolo, designed by Mario Palanti (1919) A Avenida de Mayo 1370, Buenos Aires

3:00 pm Depart Pasaje Barolo on foot for Palacio del Congreso Nacional. On the way visit to Plaza del Congreso, including Monumento a los Dos Congresos, designed by Jules Lagae & Étienne Dhuicque (1910)

12 MONDAY 10

3:30 pm Visit to Palacio del Congreso Nacional, designed by Vittorio Meano (1895) A Entre Ríos y Rivadavia, Buenos Aires

4:00 pm Depart Palacio del Congreso Nacional by bus for La Boca district, driving through Art Nouveau district on the way

4:15 pm Visit to La Boca district, including a stop to view exterior of La Bombonera (Boca Juniors soccer stadium), designed by Delpini- Sulcic-Bes (1939) A Brandsen 805, Buenos Aires

4.45 pm Cofee break at Fundación Proa, designed by Caruso-Torricella (2006) A Av. Pedro de Mendoza 1929, Buenos Aires Proa Café 5:15 pm Depart by bus for San Telmo district, driving through Riachuelo and Barracas districts en route

5:30 pm Visit to San Telmo district, including stop at Plaza Dorrego A Defensa y Humberto Primo, Buenos Aires

6:00 pm Depart San Telmo District by bus to return to Alvear Palace Hotel

6:15 pm Arrive at Alvear Palace Hotel

7:30 pm Gather in the lobby of the Alvear Palace Hotel

7:45 pm Depart Alvear Palace hotel by bus for dinner

8:00 pm Dinner at Patagonia Sur Restaurant A Rocha 801, Buenos Aires (La Boca district)

Patagonia Sur Restaurant

13 MONDAY 10 - BUILDING OVERVIEW

COLEGIO NACIONAL BUENOS AIRES Norbert Maillart (1908-1938)

Paradigm of Argentine educational architecture by 1900, the building brings together the optimization of physical resources according to technical progress of the period, the desire to provide an environment of aesthetic quality and the interest to give a monumental image to public education. Good example of Beaux Arts architecture where diferent spaces are organized according to their hierarchy but also to compose a spatial crescendo. The composition is enhanced by sophisticated games of symmetry and geometry while the architec- tural language is a Louis XVI revival recreated in Néo-Grec, Roman, Baroque or Neoclassical nueances according to representational or functional needs.

IGLESIA DE SAN IGNACIO DE LOYOLA Johann Kraus and Johann Wolf (mid 18th century)

The church is part of the Jesuit convent and orchards that occupied the whole block next to Plaza de Mayo. This complex included a large school and the Order’s ofces for the administration of the Jesuit Missions of Guayrá and Córdoba in the north. As most Spanish colonial churches the baroque design follows that of El Gesù in Rome, this is a main nave with a short transept, no aísles but large side chapels to accomodate ornamented, polychrome and gilded altarpieces and imagery. In this case the architects were German priests and gave the building a distinctive style by means of decorative patterns inspired by Bavarian baroque: large brackets, multicurved arches, rococo windows and tall pinacles.

CASA ROSADA Karl Kihlberg, Henrik Aberg, Francesco Tamburini and Norbert Maillart (1868-1910)

The building appears as the physical representation of one of the three branches of the Republican Government—the Executive Power. It’s in fact the President’s Ofce. It was erected in the late 19th century on the historic site of settlement of the political power of the city, where the Spanish Colonial Fort was located. The building is good testimony to the evolution of architectural taste, particularly of the ofcial building in the Argentina from the 1880 to the 1910s The building is in fact a juxtaposition of pavilions inspired by integrates diferent architec- tural cultures. The facade on Plaza de Mayo is a sort of Renaissance revival of German favor, with rusticated walls, loggias and mansard roof. The rest of the building from masses to spaces and decoration is overall Italian Eclecticism that combines Renaissance and Baroque motifs. Part of the interiors were renovated around 1910 in 18th century French Classicism revival.

14 MONDAY 10 - BUILDING OVERVIEW

CATEDRAL METROPOLITANA Antonio Masella, Prosper Catelin, and Pierre Benoit (mid 18th century and early 19th century)

Seat of the Archbishop of Buenos Aires, the building was erected in the middle 18th century. Shaped after the Baroque model of the Counter-Reformation Latin cross churches, it has a central nave and two side aísles and a dome. The facade, inspired in that of the Palais Bourbon of Paris, was completed in the 1820’s and refects the new trend of Neoclassicism. This style was then associated with Republican Government and inspired the public architecture of Argentina after Independence. The inside was completed redecorated around 1900 by Italian architects and painters who combined Renaissance and Baroque revival motifs.

BANCO PROVINCIA Sánchez, Lagos y De la Torre (1938-1941)

Designed at the edge of World War II, this building takes a look both to France and to the United States. There are echoes of monumental Deco exhibited at the Exposition Universelle of 1937 in Paris as well as the stripped classicism of Federal Buildings of the U.S. The facades combine warm and light stone cladding with cold and dark metalwork decorated with allegorical friezes and reliefs. The lobby and large hall inside repeat the outer decorative scheme and is enhanced by impeccable polished stone foors inlaid with color marble motifs. The major efect is achieved by the ceiling pattern, which is not a large skylight nor a dome, but a horizontal wall cladded with stone. Natural light is manipulated so as to achieve the desirable neutral lighting, allowing no shades. The space appears so treated that it could seem an acquarium with furnishings as fora and humans as fauna. No chance of escape. It is a luxury confnement. It is a metaphor of Argentina during World War II.

BANCO DE LONDRES Clorindo Testa and SEPRA (1960)

The initial concept design was a fuent large box for the bank headquarters with the neighbouring old Banks facades as spatial limits. In turn, the exterior of the structure would emulate scale and proportions of the other buildings of the area by means of the use of pillar-screens to compose the facade. A sort of synthesis of Brutalism, Organicism and Metabolism of the period and a prece- dent for High-tech expressionism of later years. The experimental spatial quality is brillantly handled through impeccable and innovative construction techniques that served as a test lab for procedures and solutions in other buildings around the world. From the very frst moment of its conception, this masterpiece was acclaimed internationally and considered as a fantastic and imaginative refection of 1960s culture.

15 MONDAY 10 - BUILDING OVERVIEW

BANCO NACIÓN Alejandro Bustillo (1939-1955)

A synthesis of diferent sources and infuences, this building is a powerful cul- mination of the long tradition of classicism at a time when Modernism was not able to ofer more than a functional response. It shows the ultimate resources of everlasting aesthetic principles to perform an approach to “sublime” and the aim to represent the essence of Argentine architecture, powerful as the Pampas or the Andes. This ecumenical nationalism did not prevent the architect to use Roman or French Enlightenment references and combine them with allusions to German or Italian architecture of the period. The architectural orders trans- formed into “less is more” combined with noble materials and colossal concrete structures result into a visionary architecture that enhances the image of the country and its ephemeral power at the time.

GALERÍA GÜEMES Francesco Gianotti (1913-1917)

This complex building is an unprecedent formal, functional and structural experiment that reveals the fertility of Buenos Aires architecture culture at the edge of World War I. Conceived as a urban microcosm, a sort of self-sufcient ship, it’s the result of the collaboration between Italian designers and German engineers. This building, the frst skyscraper in Buenos Aires, was the tallest reinforced concrete structure of the world at the time, an “urbancraft” pierced by electricity, heating and cooling devices and elevators. It appeared as a new building type that combines the 19th-century arcade—a lit cavern—with the 20th-century skycraper—a vertical palace. As any other great building of the city, the combination here presents a mix of Liberty and Futurism.

LA PRENSA - HOUSE OF CULTURE OF THE CITY OF BUENOS AIRES Alberto de Gainza y Carlos Agote (1894-1898)

This building was the result of a complex and original program anticipating modern cultural centers. For many years it was the most important newspaper headquarters in the world for its size, complexity and technical and artistic features. The complex design process involved professionals, technicians, artists and local and foreign frms. The construction required structural pieces, building and decorative components and diferent fttings from diferent suppliers from Europe and the U.S. The palace assumes the architectural image of the press, the “Fourth Branch” of a Republican Government. Inside, most spaces show the excellence and opulence of the decoration of the period, all enhanced by decorative painting on walls, ceilings and staircases.

16 MONDAY 10 - BUILDING OVERVIEW

PALACIO DE LA LEGISLATURA Hector Ayerza and Edouard Le Monnier (1925-1931)

Culminating example of the French classicist revival that imbued Buenos Aires architecture for three decades, the building was erected on Diagonal Sur Avenue, the urban axe that was designed to house Municipal Government Buildings. It is considered the pinnacle of academicism in public works and the result of an unusual architectural transposition. The essential forms and axial compositional systems of the 18th-century French grand hôtel particulier were transposed here to a government building. The Legislatura was built as a paradigm of “City Beautiful” urban criteria of the period and shows the aesthetic ideals of the country’s leadership in the mid twenties.

CHACABUCO 78 OFFICE BUILDING Julián Jaime García Núñez (1910)

Inspired by Central European trends, the interior of this building points the way to new architecture. While the facade is a refned game of bars and lines made of stuccowork and metalwork, the inside houses the most innovative space of Buenos Aires of the period. A contrasting vestibule leads from the long, shady porch to a bright and impressive and translucent space on the frst foor The upper courtyard is shaped by means of light paths and balconies built of metal beams and glassbricks. All the space is topped by a large skylight and crossed by the cage elevator. The simplifed forms are enhanced by ornamentation, actually three-dimensional graphics provided by the mosaic foors, the railings and the ironwork balconies and the subtle reliefs of woodworking. The spirit and the design ideology of modernity are much present here.

PASAJE BAROLO Mario Palanti (1919-1923)

This is the apotheosis of Italian architectural culture overseas and was consid- ered as the frst “Latin skyscraper” of the world. The tallest reinforced concrete structure of the period, it includes areas for diferent uses: ofces, shops and homes. The architectural language is difcult to precise. Within an expressionist approach, the building’s style represents an important attempt to combine Gothic and Romanesque revivals with vertigo and vibration. It is inspired both by Piranesi and Sant’Elia. This mix results into unique gestures and heroic ideals inspired by the spirit of the Italian “Risorgimento” on the road to fascism. It is said that the Barolo was designed in accordance with the cosmology of “The Divine Comedy”. Thus, the number of divisions or building elements would be related to partitions or numerical allusions to the poem, as well as certain sym- bols and paths would refer to descriptions of Dante. The Barolo should be seen as a search for a new architecture that will overcome the tensions reached by the historical eclecticism and also as an exercise in the combination of creativity and respect for preexisting urbanscape.

17 MONDAY 10 - BUILDING OVERVIEW

AVENIDA DE MAYO AND PLAZA DEL CONGRESO Juan Buschiazzo y Charles Thays (1880-1910)

The frst important boulevard of Buenos Aires was conceived as a civic axis— linking the Government Palace and the Congress Palace—but also as an urban rendez vous full of cafés, hotels, clubs and newspaper headquarteres alltogether with apartments and ofce buildings. Beyond the French inspiration of the trace the fnal aspect of the avenue is closer to Central European avenues as the Andrassy in Budapest. This is due to the diferent styles used by architects from diferent origins to construct the buildings along the avenue. On both ends, there are squares surrounded by public and private buildings. For the Plaza del Congreso [Congress Square] there were many diferent urban projects but none of them was completely achieved. The fnal aspect of the place is defned by the imposing Congress Palace, the Monument to the two Congresses—a baroque composition with sculptures, terraces, fountains and balustrades—and other monumental private buildings as the El Molino cofeehouse or the Biol Palace.

CONGRESO NACIONAL Vittorio Meano (1895-1916)

The building is the result of an international competition to design the National Congress Palace and provide an image to the Legislative Branch of the Republic. It was supposed to refect the country’s political unity, patriotic exaltation and civic participation as well as renovate the architectural culture of the country and become the emblem of the city. The exteriors, designed as a frame for the square and as a focal point in Avenida de Mayo, were inspired by the facades of the Reichstag in Berlin and the dome of the Mole Antonelliana in Torino. The Greek-Roman triumphal language is masterly used to provide pomp and ostentation following the aesthetics of the Italian Risorgimento. The interiors show sequences of ceremonial and functional spaces around the precincts of the Senate and Representatives Chambers. The architectural climax is reached at the Blue Room located just under the dome.

ART NOUVEAU DISTRICT (c. 1910)

Art Nouveau in Buenos Aires was intimately related with the social and cultural aspirations of inmigrants. As the French architect Viollet Le Duc said: “The house should not only refect the life of the occupant but must be his portrait”. Therefore, many apartment houses and private architecture were built on dif- ferent versions of this style. The west of the city center was the area were most of this type of buildings were erected in the early 20th century. Eclectic facades were the showcase for the most intense decorative compositions of the city but Art Nouveau fronts displayed the greatest fantasy and opulence. They were recreations of forms and fgures from diferent sources made of false materials: precious stuccowork, detailed cast stone, sophisticated metalwork, glazed terra- cotta and delicate woodwork. Buenos Aires Art Nouveau became something of an urban folk art, a sort of “pop art” of that time, that burst into the urbanscape dominated by historical styles.

18 MONDAY 10 - BUILDING OVERVIEW

LA BOCA DISTRICT (Early 20th century)

The townscape of the area was defned in the early 20th century by Italian immigrants. It is made of prefabricated houses that result into a collage of forms and materials. Design patterns combine juxtaposition, intrusion and embeddings of diferent construction elements. The typical building system consists of wood structural frames, corrugated tin and hardboard walls, an array of diferent openings and applied ornaments. The colors of the facades are not an aesthetic choice but the result of protective coatings of the fragile structures and the use of recycled materials like paint leftovers from shipyards of the area.

LA BOMBONERA - BOCA JUNIORS STADIUM Delpini-Sulčič-Bes (1929-1934)

The Argentine passion for soccer boomed in the 1940s and several clubs built their stadiums in that decade. Here the magical resource of reinforced concrete handled by talented engineers modelled multi-storey modern coliseums. These structures were impressive not only for their size but also for their trembling quality when half the crowd celebrates a goal. Boca stadium is quite unique for it’s location in the heart of the quarter, made primarily of wood and corru- gated tin houses. The designers solved an almost impossible equation: how to accommodate tens of thousands of soccer fans on the surface of a small plot besieged by the neighborhood? The response was to build a stepped structure with several levels of stalls so the fnal shape recalls that of a chocolate box or “bombonera”. The piece is not only a mythical place of South American soccer but also a notable plastic structural design and a strong but harmonious counter- part of the “fragile” urban fabric of the quarter.

SAN TELMO DISTRICT (17th to 20th centuries)

The area was the most important quarter of the city from colonial times up to the middle 19th century when a yellow fever epidemy moved the population northbounds. Here are located the most important churches, convents and some houses from the times of the foundation of the city. The urban fabric is com- posed of several layers of buildings: old patio houses, workshops, warehouses, apartment buildings form diferent periods and public buildings. Since the 1980s, there are several regulations to preserve the architecture, the urbanscape and atmosphere of the district. Since then, lots of buildings have been restored, ren- ovated and adapted for housing, ofces and new uses such as artists workshops, antique shops, trendy bars and gourmet restaurants.

19 MONDAY 10 - TOUR MAP

20 TUESDAY 11

8:45 am Gather in the lobby of the Alvear Palace Hotel

9:00 am Depart Alvear Palace Hotel by bus for the Puerto Madero

9:15 am Visit to Palacio de Correos, designed by Norbert Maillart /renovation project designed by Bares y Asociados (1889 / 2006) A Avenida L.N. Alem y Sarmiento, Buenos Aires

9:45 am Depart Palacio de Correos by bus for for Museo Fortabat

10:00 am View exterior of Museo Fortabat, designed by Rafael Viñoly (1997) A Olga Cossettini 141, Buenos Aires

10:15 am Visit to Torre YPF, designed by César Pelli (2005) A Macacha Guemes 515, Buenos Aires

10.45 am Depart Torre YPF by bus for Faena Hotel

10.55 am Visit and cofee break at Faena Hotel, designed by Philippe Starck (1996) A Martha Salotti 445, Buenos Aires

11.20 am Depart Faena Hotel by bus for Costanera Sur

11:25 am Faena Hotel Restaurant Drive through Costanera Sur (mid 1920’s) and view of Reserva ecológica (early 1980’s)

11:35 am Quick stop to view exterior and interior of Estación Retiro, designed by Conder-Farmer-Follett (1910) A Avenida del Libertador y Maipu, Buenos Aires

21 TUESDAY 11

11:45 am Depart Estación Retiro by bus for Palacio Bosch driving through Puerto Nuevo (mid 1920’s) and Parque de Palermo (early 20th century)

12:00 pm Visit to Palacio Bosch (US Ambassador’s residence), designed by René Sergent (1912) A Avenida del Libertador 3502, Buenos Aires

12:45 pm Depart Palacio Bosch by bus for Palermo SOHO district

1:00 pm Arrival at Palermo SOHO district / Council members can explore on their own before lunch

1:30 pm Lunch at Mott Cocina de Mercado A El Salvador 4685, Buenos Aires

2:30 pm Depart Mott Cocina de Mercado by bus for Museo Xul Solar

2:45 pm Visit to Museo Xul Solar, designed by Pablo Beitía (1987) A Laprida 1214, Buenos Aires Mott Restaurant 3:15 pm Depart Museo Xul Solar by bus for Museo de Arte Latinoamericano

3:30 pm Visit to Museo de Arte Latinoamericano (MALBA), designed by ATF (1997) A Avenida Figueroa Alcorta 3415, Buenos Aires

4:30 pm Depart Museo de Arte Latinoamericano on foot for walk through Palermo Chico district (designed 1910’s) en route to Casa de Victoria Ocampo

4:45 pm View exterior of Casa de Victoria Ocampo, designed by Alejandro Bustillo (1929) A Rufno de Elizalde 2831, Buenos Aires

22 TUESDAY 11

5:00 pm Depart Casa de Victoria Ocampo on foot for Palacio Errázuriz

5:10 pm Brief tour of interior architectural spaces at Palacio Errázuriz (Museo Nacional de Arte Decorativo), designed by René Sergent (1911) A Avenida del Libertador 1902, Buenos Aires Note: we will go inside for a brief visit but will not tour gallery exhibits

5:40 pm Depart Palacio Errázuriz by bus for Biblioteca Nacional. View of Automóvil Club Argentino Headquarters (1940)

5:45 pm Visit to Biblioteca Nacional, designed by Clorindo Testa & Francisco Bullrich (1961) A Agüero 2502, Buenos Aires

6:15 pm Depart Biblioteca Nacional by bus for Alvear Palace Hotel

6:30 pm Arrive at Alvear Palace Hotel

7:30 pm Gather in the lobby of the Alvear Palace Hotel

7:45 pm Depart Alvear Palace Hotel by bus for dinner

8:00 pm Dinner at Oviedo A Beruti 2602, Buenos Aires (Recoleta district) Oviedo Restaurant

23 TUESDAY 11 - BUILDING OVERVIEW

PALACIO DE CORREOS Norbert Maillart (1888-1928)

First major public building in the city designed in the Beaux Arts tradition and one of the most important structures of its kind in the world at that period. It was conceived as the main architectural image of the country’s mail and telegraph services. Inspired by French classicism adapted to an unusual scale, the architectural language combines antique motifs and art deco and was inspiration for many other Argentine public buildings of the period. The palace is a culminating piece of academic architecture culture where the attempt to maximize the covered surface within a single big volumen reaches the limits, just before sacrifcing the unity of the composition or breaking the proportions of classical orders. The building is undergoing a renovation work to transform it into a cultural center with exhibition halls and a large auditorium. The project destroyed the “industrial” área on the back of the building—typical complemet of the “eclectic” area on the front—to make place for the big concert hall.

PUERTO MADERO Hawkshaw, Son & Hayter- Thomas Walker & Co. (1885-1897)

The old harbour of Buenos Aires was built in the late 19th century by British frms to provide adequate facilities to manage the increasing trade between Argentina and Europe. The building techniques were mostly brickmasonry and metal structures. Around 1910 German frms built new structures in reinforced concrete to expand the capacity, but shortly after the port turn insufcient and obsolete. It was then used mostly for storage and in the 1980s was abandoned. Finally in the early 1990s a renovation and reuse project was launched to create a new neighbourhood with all sort of functions: ofces, condominiums, hotels, shops, museums, parks and a recreational marina. Despite the renovation of the few surviving original structures and some few buildings, most architecture only complies with functional requirements and the urban code for the area. Some works by international prestigeous architects such as Norman Foster, Philippe Starck, Santiago Calatrava and Rafael Viñoly enhanced the district during the last decade.

TORRE YPF César Pelli (2005-2008)

This third building, designed by Cesar Pelli in Buenos Aires, is 37 foors and serves as the national oil company headquarters (YPF). As in other Pelli’s designs there is a careful study of the building volume and skin, in this case a sort of tall “prow” covered by a “tartan” curtain wall. The curious feature of the tower is a “winter garden” planted with Jacaranda trees on the upper part of the structure, a symbol of the company’s concern with environment and ecology. The enclo- sure of the rooftop was constructed with beams and tubes made of plastic reinforced with fberglass. This material was used because it is permeable to electromagnetic waves of communication systems installed in the tower.

24 FAENA HOTEL Philippe Starck (1999-2004)

This building is the milestone of what is called the Faena District in Puerto Madero. The original brick and metal structure—a grain mill and silo—was transformed into a luxurious and fanciful hotel isolated like a sophisticated fortress. The exterior was almost unchanged keeping the patina of time and use. The interior was gorgeously refurbished within the most liberal eclecticism whith baroque and surrealism as predominant design attitudes. The decoration claims inspiration in Buenos Aires Belle Époque, that gilded age around 1900 that saw the arrival of people, arts and architecture form diferent countries to build a Babelic city. The audacious mix aims at fnding the ultimate blend of the sensous heritage of all eclecticisms to sublime the art of hosting, entertaining and celebrating.

COSTANERA SUR AND RESERVA ECOLÓGICA (1920s and 1980s)

This promenade was designed in the late 1910s in order to have access to the river beyond the limits of Puerto Madero. The landscaping of this landfll on the Rio de la Plata was primarily made of autoctonous trees such as the Tipa, a specimen that reaches it’s great unfolding of dark trunks and massive canopies of little leaves. The site was enhanced with sculpture, ornamental lamposts and several buildings for restaurants and cofe shops in classical or Art Deco style. It has been always a great venue during the weekends where people come to relax and picnic. It was also originally used as a swimming area when the river was not contaminated. In the late 1970s a large new landfll dramatically modifed the environment and the ecological reserve emerged thanks to periodical foodings creating ponds and swamps where diferent plants and trees grew and the place become an habitat for a diverse fauna.

ESTACIÓN RETIRO Eustace Lauriston Conder, Sydney Follett and Francis Farmer (1910-1915)

This railroad terminal represents the end of an English saga of design of large stations. It’s a landmark for its size, aesthetic qualities and spatial variety. The sophisticate design combines references to prestigious British classical architecture built shortly before. The original project included the construction of three metal vaults and a large facade on Avenida del Libertador. The interior ofers a spatial sequence linked skillfully where the access hall is inspired by English baroque religious architecture, the concourse has the aspect of a mod- ern basilica and the train platforms are covered with large metal naves. With the Monumental Clock Tower in the front square, the station is to be considered one of the fnest ensembles of Edwardian architecture outside the UK.

25 PALACIO BOSCH - RESIDENCE OF THE US AMBASSADOR René Sergent (1912-1918)

This exquisite recreation of a French grand hôtel particulier of the mid 18th cen- tury is an outstanding example of the “grand game of classicism” retrieved by 1900. It’s a piece of great distinction and stylistic unity based on the control of geometry and light. The key behind the harmony of the building is within an array of interconected compositional axes. The simple and powerful external volume shows the refnement of a design where the facades shape both the building and the surrounding gardens. The monochromatic interior spaces are arranged around a great atrium illuminated by a large skylight. The elegant decoration is arranged according the subtles games of symmetry, refection and continuity, making this building a piece of great hierarchy.

PALERMO SOHO DISTRICT (19th and 20th centuries)

The name evokes the legendary SoHo area in New York City. The area was revitalized following a real estate boom in the 1990s when fashion designers, artists, galleries and restaurants settled there renovating old houses and turning the area into a circuit of fashion, art and good food. There is an exciting mix of activities with lot of street life with cofee terraces, promenades alligned with large trees, locals and foreigners. The center of the district is Plaza Serrano that houses a crafts market during the weekends. The eclectic life of the district is enhanced by its heterogeneous architecture where buildings of diferent styles and scales result in a powerful mix of contrasting masses, colors and textures.

MUSEO XUL SOLAR Pablo Beitía (1987-1993)

The museum was built in what was the home of artist Xul Solar. The original structure included four houses in two levels. The renovation project was con- ceived by interpreting the particular view of the artist. The facade was preserved with no changes. Inside, only the area that was the home of the painter remains intact. For the rest, the architect designed a space for multiple cultural activities that can be divided by means of mobile screens and provide room for theater, cinema or other representations. This main hall is surrounded by other rooms that also serve as lookouts. The new architecture was specially conceived to be part of the art scene and it takes advantage of aged components while incorpo- rating textured elements made of concrete, gypsum, stone, wood and bronze.

26 MALBA Atelman-Fourcade-Tapia (1997-2001)

The building was built especially for Eduardo F. Costantini Foundation, from an international competition launched during the VII Biennial of Architecture in Buenos Aires BA/97. The winning architectural project was designed by AFT Arquitectos (Atelman Gaston, Martin Fourcade and Alfredo Tapia) from Cordoba, Argentina. The project was developed in order to integrate the building to the city and create an environment conducive to enjoy the works of art. The main rooms are conceived as architecture without visual distractions, “white boxes” strategically perforated to allow the entry of natural light. The large prisms clad- ded whith limestone, glass panes and the confguration of the diferent rooms and living spaces of the museum conform to efcient architecture neutrality and make the museum a reference to the culture of the city of Buenos Aires.

CASA DE VICTORIA OCAMPO Alejandro Bustillo (1928)

Considered the frst modern house in Buenos Aires it was praised by Le Corbusier who wrote short after his visit to Buenos Aires in 1929: “ ... Until now, only Mrs. Ocampo has made the decisive architectural gesture building a house that makes scandal. Inside I’ve found Picassos and Légers in a frame of such a purity that is rarely found”. This avant garde structure provoked scandal in the neigh- bourhood full of classicist mansions with fake stone facades and mansard attics. A sort of rationalist “villa”, the building was surrounded by a “cubist” garden with lawn patches, fowerbeds and expressionists cactuses. The exterior volume is an ambiguous combination of classicism and romanticism written with the noble simplicity of the houses of the pampas, full of terraces and native balconies. The elegant interiors are those of a French hôtel particulier where composition is based on sophisticated games of symmetry and proportions and no conces- sion to ornament which is considered a true crime.

PALACIO ERRAZURIZ - MUSEO NACIONAL DE ARTE DECORATIVO René Sergent (1911-1917)

This house-museum is a unique monument of the Belle Epoque, a valuable testimony of the irradiation of French culture in the Americas in the early 20th century. The whole architecture, gardens, decor and collections is a good exam- ple of the 18th-century architecture just before the First World War. The exterior and interior of the building architecture departs from the academic orthodoxy of the time. Facades are designed independently of each other, and closely related to the adjacent exterior spaces that are treated as “outdoor rooms”. Inside, the rooms are disposed in free sequences with no spatial hierarchies and appear as autonomous sets. This results into a general composition closer to romanticism and picturesque than to classicism and academicism. The chosen styles go from Middle Ages and Renaissance to Baroque and Neoclassicism but also includes a smoking room designed by José María Sert in pioneer art deco style.

27 ACA - AUTOMÓVIL CLUB ARGENTINO Antonio Vilar, Jorge Bunge, Calvo-Jacobs-Giménez, Sánchez-Lagos & De la Torre, Héctor Morixe (1941-1942)

In the early 1940s, the club decided to develop a large network of service stations and facilities all along the country. This initiative was in accordance with the national public policy about the construction of routes for the increasing cars and trucks trafc in Argentina. The ACA headquarters was designed by a team of architects that mixed the two main trends of contemporary German architecture in the same building: monumental classicism on the front pavilion of ofces and Bauhaus functionalism in the back structure for garage and service station. Monumental image, integration of architecture and engineering, high quality con- struction and public acclaim mixed up in a successful piece, a goal rarely achieved by modern architecture in that decade.

BIBLIOTECA NACIONAL Clorindo Testa, Francisco Bullrich, Alicia Cazzaniga (1962-1992)

The building is the result of a national public competition to reuse the large plot and park that was the site of the former President’s house, razed in 1955 when Juan Perón was overthrown. The design was based on very few but powerful concepts and gestures: keep as much part of the park as posible, bury the book deposits and place reading rooms up where the river coast could be seen. Once built, it appeared as a gigantic sculpture based on four huge pillars, liberating space for a plaza below and allowing fuidity towards surrounding parks and buildings. Despite the long construction period, the building became a landmark and a sort of a testament of a short and rennaissance moment of Argentine culture. It can be considered one of the best pieces of Brutalism built for a public institution worldwide.

28 TUESDAY 11 - TOUR MAP

29 WEDNESDAY 12

8:30 am Gather in the lobby of the Alvear Palace Hotel

8:45 am Depart Alvear Palace Hotel on foot for walking tour of Recoleta district

9:00 am Visit to Cementerio de la Recoleta, designed by Giovanni Buschiazzo (1881) A Vicente López y Junín, Buenos Aires

9:30 am Depart Cementerio de la Recoleta on foot for a quick visit to Iglesia del Pilar, designed by Andres Bianchi y Juan Prímoli (early 18th century) A Junín 1910, Buenos Aires

9:45 am Depart Iglesia del Pilar and view exterior of adjacent Centro Cultural Recoleta, designed by Juan Antonio Buschiazzo and renovated by Clorindo Testa, Jacques Bedel, Luis Benedit (1885 / 1978) A Junín 1930, Buenos Aires

10:00 am Depart Centro Cultural Recoleta by bus for Palacio Pereda

10:15 am Visit to Palacio Pereda (Brazilian Embassy), designed by Louis Martin and Jules Dormal (1917) A Arroyo 1130, Buenos Aires

10:45 am Depart Pereda Palace by bus for Plaza San Martín

10.55 am Cofee break at Torcuato & Regina adjacent to Palacio Paz A Avenida Santa Fe 772, Buenos Aires

11:15 am Visit to Palacio Paz (Army Club), designed by Louis Sortais (1902) A Avenida Santa Fe 750, Buenos Aires

11:45 am Torcuato & Regina Café Depart Palacio Paz on foot for Palacio Anchorena

30 WEDNESDAY 12

11:50 am Visit to Palacio Anchorena (Ministry of Foreign Afairs), designed by Alejandro Chrisophersen (1905), Buenos Aires A Arenales 761

12:15 pm Depart Palacio Anchorena on foot for Kavannagh building across Plaza San Martín

12:30 pm Visit to Kavanagh building, designed by Sánchez, Lagos, de la Torre (1934) A Florida 1065, Buenos Aires

12:45 pm Depart Kavanagh building on foot along Florida Street

12:50 pm View exterior of Harrods designed by Paul Bell Chambers, Louis Newbery Thomas & Sidney Follett (1910); Centro Naval, designed by Henru Dunant & Gaston Mallet (1911) and Galerías Pacifíco, designed by Emilio Agrelo & Roland Levacher (1888) A Calle Florida, Buenos Aires

1.00 pm Depart Galerías Pacífco by bus for lunch at Café Tortoni

1.15 pm Lunch at Café Tortoni, designed by Alejandro Christophersen (1895) A Avenida de Mayo 825, Buenos Aires

2:30 pm Café Tortoni Depart Café Tortoni by bus for Plaza Lavalle and Theater district

2:45 pm Visit to Palacio de Justicia, designed by Norbert Maillart (1903) A Talcahuano 550, Buenos Aires

3.15 pm Depart Palacio de Justicia on foot to Teatro Colón across Plaza Lavalle

3:30 pm Visit to Teatro Colón, designed by Francesco Tamburini, Vittorio Meano, Jules Dormal A Cerrito 628, Buenos Aires 31 WEDNESDAY 12

4:00 pm Depart Teatro Colón by bus for Palacio de las Aguas Corrientes

4:10 pm Visit to Palacio de las Aguas Corrientes, designed by Karl Nyströmer, Olaf Boye, and Bateman & Parsons (1887) A Avenida Córdoba 1950, Buenos Aires

4:30 pm Depart Palacio de las Aguas Corrientes by bus for Teatro San Martín

4:45 pm Visit to Teatro San Martín, designed by Mario Roberto Álvarez and Macedonio Ruiz (1953) A Avenida Corrientes 1530, Buenos Aires

5:00 pm Depart Teatro San Martín by bus along Avenida Corrientes for Teatro Gran Rex

5:10 pm Visit and cofee break at Teatro Gran Rex, designed by Alberto Prebisch (1937) A Avenida Corrientes 857, Buenos Aires

5:50 pm Depart Teatro Gran Rex on foot for Teatro Opera across Avenida Corrientes

5:55 pm Visit to Teatro Opera, designed by Albert Bourdon (1936) A Avenida Corrientes 860, Buenos Aires

6:15 pm Depart Teatro Opera by bus for Alvear Palace Hotel

6:30 pm Arrive at Alvear Palace Hotel

7:30 pm Gather in the lobby of the Alvear Palace Hotel

7:40 pm Depart Alvear Palace Hotel by bus for dinner

32 WEDNESDAY 12

8:00 pm Dinner at La Brigada A Estados Unidos 465, Buenos Aires (San Telmo district)

10:00 pm Optional outing to local Tango club

La Brigada Steakhouse

33 WEDNESDAY 12 - BUILDING OVERVIEW

CEMENTERIO DE LA RECOLETA Prospero Catelin (1822), Juan A. Buschiazzo (1881)

The frst layout occupied the site of the Recoletos priests and was taken as the frst Catholic public cemetery of the city. The redesign of the late 19th century, provided its external image through the perimeter massive brickwalls and acess portico but also urban and construction regulation that transformed the place into a monumental necropolis. The site is an amazing showcase of the diferent styles, construction techniques and materials as well as sculpture, decoration and ornamentation that refects more than a hundred years of the architecture culture of Buenos Aires. Many tombs and graves were designed by leading archi- tects and sculptors who were active in the city during the period. The ensemble is an exceptional museum of art and architecture of the 19th and 20th centuries where diverse contributions of the artistic culture of diferent European coun- tries gathered to defne one of the most eclectic urbanscapes of the world.

IGLESIA NUESTRA SEÑORA DEL PILAR Andrés Blanqui and Juan Bautista Prímoli (1716-1732)

It’s part of a compound built in the early 18th century that included two clois- ters and orchards. The church’s design follows the models of the Counter- Reformation: long nave, dome on the short transept, and side chapels. The simple construction and fnishings constrast with the ornamented altars and images made of painted and gilded wood by artisans from the Jesuit Missions and Brazil. Diferent infuences can be recognized in the architecture of the best preserved colonial church: a baroque spatial quality of German spirit, a manner- istic Italian design in the facade and a Hispanic contrast between architectural austerity and excessive religious furniture and fttings. This is an early example of hybridazation that shaped most of the city’s architecture for three centuries.

CENTRO CULTURAL RECOLETA Clorindo Testa, Jacques Bedel, Luis Benedit (1979-1993)

Considered one of the frst and largest postmodernist projects of Argentina, the compound is the result of the renovation of an old asylum and the adjacent clois- ters of the Recoleta Covent. The new architecture tried to unify the diferent volumes and spaces—from colonial religious courts to late 19th-century hospital pavilions—to achieve a multifunctional building. Although much of the orginal masonry, roofs and foors were preserved most of the joinery was removed or replaced. Cloisters and pavilions were transformed into exhibition galleries and the chapel into an auditorium. The new structures were incorporated in the form of simple volumes or screens made of reinforced concrete and painted with pastel colors. The complex was extended in the 1990s with the construction of the Design Center, in the same style, below the terraces and the slope of the adjacent park.

34 PALACIO PEREDA - EMBASSY OF BRAZIL Louis Martin and Jules Dormal (1917-1923)

Successful transposition of the exterior and interior of the building that houses the Jacquemart André Museum in Paris that in turn refers back to models of the second half of the 18th century. This operation called pastiche consists of the recreation of prestigeous icons of architecture from any time. The main rooms on the frst foor are among the best interiors of the period. They are enhanced by impressive paintings on the ceilings made by the the Catalan artist Jose Maria Sert. These compositions create unusual efects based on perspective, illusion- ism and metallic backgrounds. They recreate themes and motifs of Venetian, Mediterranean, Oriental and depict mythological, popular and occultist scenes. These paintings, valuable works in themselves, are the inseparable complement of the interiors and probably one of the best and most harmonious sets of paintings ever made by Sert.

PALACIO PAZ - ARMY CLUB Louis-Marie Henri Sortais (1900-1912)

A remarkable example of a residence designed and built following the aesthetic and compositional principles of the École des Beaux Arts. The overall composi- tion of the building consists of three large wings, a garden and garage pavilion, all inspired by the Château de Chantilly. The main facade on Plaza San Martin emulates the front of the Palais du Louvre overlooking the Seine. The palace’s magnifcence is confrmed by the interiors arranged along imposing sequences and rendered with exhuberant decoration in diferent styles. This eclectic show- case of French historic styles was conceived as a “stage design” for the presi- dential ambitions of the owner and director of La Prensa, the most important newspaper of Latin America. This legend, of a “Buenos Aires Palais de l’Elysée” is confrmed by the procesional spaces that culminate in the Great Hall of Honor, the place where foreign Ambassadors would be supposed to present credentials to the Argentine Head of State.

PALACIO ANCHORENA Alejandro Christophersen (1905-1909)

Great piece of “1900 International Classicism” and one of the best and most original residences of the Belle Époque. The composition of this building is inspired by the winning project of the Grand Prix de Rome of 1866: Hotel à Paris pour un riche banquier, three residences around a courtyard. Here, the composi- tion is completed with two side and rear gardens resulting in a work of unusual volumetric and spatial richness enhanced by the sculptural treatment of the facades. The spirit of Art Nouveau is present in the fuidity of spaces and masses, the transparencies and continuities between rooms and courts, the skillful use of convex and concave forms and the expressive and elegant use of iron structures and components. The interiors of each residence revolves around a main hall and a staircase of great spatial and decorative display.

35 KAVANAGH BUILDING Sánchez, Lagos y De la Torre (1933-1935)

Masterly synthesis of “rationalism” and Art Deco, renewal and tradition, Paris and New York, this building was the masterpiece of a female “developer” Corina Kavanagh, an eccentric millionaire that commanded what would become the modern icon of Buenos Aires. The design process required several studies on the building volume, layout and infll. Urban regulations helped to shape the fnal profle adapted to the triangular plot. The result is a 33-story structure of 120 meters high and 23,570 square meters of covered area. The appealing Kavanagh silhouette recalls both a castle and a rocket. The building also conquered some technical records worldwide: it was the tallest reinforced concrete structure of the time and the frst apartment building to have central air conditioning for all residences. From the aesthetical point of view the carved exterior mass and the elegant interiors are also the result of using compositional principles derived from French 18th century classicism. The sober decoration of all apartments and entrance halls lies on the impeccable construction details and noble materials.

HARRODS Paul Bell Chambers and Louis Newbery Thomas (1910-1913)

The only branch of the famous English store overseas was an icon of Florida street for many decades. It was built to rival other department stores installed on the area by the time shopping started to become both a need and an enter- tainment. The structure covers most part of the block and it’s a good example of Edwardian architecture in a version of stylish baroque revival. The facades covered with stuccowork have large iron and bronze windows to strengthen the contrast between opaque and refecting surfaces. The inside has several levels of large and elegant lofts decorated with ornamental plaster, oak parquets and iron and bronze railings and grilles. The elegant blend of tradition and modernity emanates from this building as in other monumental machines of the period such as the Rolls Royce or the Titanic.

CENTRO NAVAL Jacques Dunant and Gaston Mallet (1911-1914)

The building, fne example of Beaux Arts architecture, is the result of a competi- tion for a club in a narrow plot. The early use of reinforced concrete allowed to build many foors to place diferent uses in rooms of diverse shapes and sizes. The strong urban presence is the result of the sharp modeling of volumes and opulent decoration of the facades with motifs inspired in French, German and naval tradition as well as art nouveau. The interior design follows similar patterns and reaches a climax in two main areas: the staircase linking all foors and the ballroom inspired by the German rococo architecture.

36 GALERÍAS PACÍFICO Agrelo & Levacher (1889-1891), Aslan & Ezcurra (1943), Juan C. López (1990)

Originally designed as a local branch of the French department stores Le Bon Marché, the building covers the whole block and is divided in four sections by two large naves with a dome in the middle. Inspired by the saga of famous European Arcades like the Galleria Vittorio Emmanuelle in Milano, it follows both the spatial type and Renaissance revival style. A major renovation took place in the early 1940s with the demolition of the glass and iron vaults and dome and the construction of new low reinforced concrete naves. The new central dome was painted by four Argentine artists infuenced by the stay of David Siqueiros in Buenos Aires. In the early 1990s, the concrete vaults were demolished and the upper nave remade to install a shopping mall, plenty of balconies, escalators and shop’s signs.

PALACIO DE JUSTICIA Norbert Maillart (1902-1942)

Inspired by the Palace of Justice in Paris, this is a unique example of “Beaux Arts” architecture. Here, forms and spaces are organized according to typical plastic and aesthetic academic criteria but also in relation to the hierarchy and use of the main areas. The overall composition clearly refects the two parts of the building: one corresponding to the spaces of the Supreme Court housed in the imposing central volume and the other represented by a maze of ofces and corridors arranged around several open and covered courtyards. Large architec- tural elements such as porticoes, halls, courtyards and staircases are shaped like buidings in themselves and assembled so as to create an inner city rather than a palace. The style is a unique combination of Greek and Roman motifs within a Louis XVI classical revival. The Palace of Justice can be seen as the late attempt of the Beaux Arts system to house a large and complex functional program within the limits of the palace or temple types.

TEATRO COLÓN Francesco Tamburini, Victor Meano, Jules Dormal (1885-1908)

This theater is an extraordinary piece of eclectic historicism and great example combination of architectural styles. The building is the culmination of an evolu- tion in the art of designing opera houses, a long tradition fnished just before the First World War. Its design process included the work of three architects from diferent milieus and the fnal result is a sophisticated combination of diferent architectural cultures. The building composition is a mix of types and styles that put together German inspired exteriors, a horseshoe shaped hall derived from Italian schemes and elegant vestibules of French origin. All fnishings witness to the extraordinary abilities of artisans and artists of the period in Buenos Aires. The decorative and illusionist devices unfold in indoor sequences where the spatial and ornamental hierarchies occur in a processional crescendo culminating in the great hall, the largest of its kind, with the best acoustics in the world.

37 PALACIO DE LAS AGUAS CORRIENTES Bateman & Bateman Parsons, Carlos Nyströmer, Olaf Boye (1887-1894)

The building is both the famboyant representation of the city’s progress in higiene and sanitation and a huge metropolitan water tank. The reservoir was designed to hold a grand total of 73 million liters stored in three levels of metal tanks supported on cast iron columns. The structure is the result of a large proj- ect and many years of work on the sewage and running water supply systems on the central part of the city. The institutional and tangible image of this enterprise appears as a imposing palace with all four facades covered with polychrome terracotta provided by the English Royal Doulton & Co. The eclectic style is a mix of diferent infuences, a revival of the Renaissance and baroque civil architecture and represents a good example of late Victorian architectural taste.

TEATRO SAN MARTÍN Mario Roberto Alvarez and Macedonio Oscar Ruiz (1953-1960)

The extensive and complex functional program inluded two theaters, one cin- ema, exhibition areas, ofces and diverse services, all arranged in a large plot in the middle of a block. The building appears as an exceptional plastic, spatial and structural exercise impeccably inserted in the urban and cultural landscape of Corrientes Avenue. The rectilinear frontal block hides the more organic shapes of the halls while the interstices serve as stairs, bridges and vestibules. The archi- tectural language belongs to the second wave of modern architecture and here combines International Style and brutalism. Considered one of the best works of immediate post War architecture, the complex was enlarged with new aisles for a Cultural Center becoming a city landmark praised by critics and public.

CINE-TEATRO GRAN REX Alberto Prebisch and Adolfo Moret (1937)

As one of the two cathedrals of entertainement of Buenos Aires, the Gran Rex construction was also a big show. It was built in record time, amazing the city that the previous year had attended the grand opening of the Opera Theatre just across the street. The design was solved with economy of resources and monumental simplicity. The whole structure, but the hall roof, is reinforced con- crete and boast upper galleries supported by beams 37 meters long and a 350 sq. meters window hanging from a huge beam atop the facade. The arched hall was shaped after the Radio City Music Hall of New York and can seat up to 3600 people. The minimalistic entrance vestibule follows the lessons of the Bauhaus and melts the avenue’s city life with the interior space of the public concourse. This work refects the architect’s defnition of modern design: “The beauty of things that are what they seem to be” but also refers to the city’s tradition of eclectic melting games.

38 TEATRO ÓPERA Albert Bourdon (1936)

Art Deco rises to the height of a star in this movie theater. The building occupies the site of two previous theaters built in the second half of the 19th century. The new structure was designed as a true “dream palace” taking direct inspiration of the facades and the hall or the Rex Cinema in Paris completed only shortly before. The hall can seat up to 2500 people and the facade emulates a stage design both in form and strutucture. Construction took just 8 months working all week long and 24 hours per day using steel structure and prefabicated compo- nents. This unusual performance was followed with curiosity and surprise in the middle of the demolitions and works to enlarge Corrientes Avenue. The facade evokes a deco-castle crowned by a tiara and adorned with sparkling mirror friezes. The vestibule twinkles with polished color marbles, plated metalwork and illumination friezes. The hall appears as an urbanscape with cardboard buildings on the walls and a dark blue sky with scintillating stars. Great example of late Art Deco architecture, the inspiration was the axis that linked Paris, New York and Hollywood to voracious Buenos Aires.

39 WEDNESDAY 12 - TOUR MAP

40 THURSDAY 13

8:15 am Gather in the lobby of the Alvear Palace Hotel

8:30 am Depart Alvear Palace Hotel by bus for La Plata (50 km)

9: 20 Arrival in La Plata at Plaza Moreno. Joined by Fernando Aliata, Professor of Architecture, University of La Plata

9:30 am Visit to Catedral de La Plata, designed by Ernesto Meyer and Pedro Benoit (1885) A Calle 14, 1900, La Plata

10:00 am Depart Catedral de La Plata on foot for Municipalidad de La Plata across Plaza Moreno

10:15 am Visit to Municipalidad, designed by Hubert Stier (1882) A Calle 12 entre 51 y 53, La Plata

10:45 am Depart Municipalidad on foot for Legislatura Provincial along Eje Monumental

11:00 View exterior of Legislatura Provincial, designed by Gustav Heine and George Hegemann (1882) and Casa de Gobierno, designed by Jules Dormal (1885) A Avenida 7 entre 51 y 53, La Plata

11:15 am Cofe break at Conftería Gran París A Avenida 7 N° 849, La Plata

11:30 am Depart Conftería Gran París by bus for Museo de Ciencias Naturales

11:45 am Visit to Museo de Ciencias Naturales, designed by Karl Heynemann and Henrik Aberg (1884) A Paseo del Bosque S/N, La Plata Los Fuegos Restaurant 41 THURSDAY 13

12:10 pm Depart Museo de Ciencias Naturales by bus for Casa Curutchet

12:15 pm Visit to Casa Curutchet, designed by Le Corbusier (1948) A Avenida 53 entre 1 y 2, La Plata

1:00 pm Depart Casa Curutchet by bus for lunch

1:30 pm Lunch at Los Fuegos A Calle 12 (471), City Bell

2:45 pm Teresa Anchorena’s house Depart La Plata by bus for Buenos Aires

3:30 pm Arrive at Alvear Palace Hotel

6:15 pm Depart Alvear Palace Hotel by bus for reception

6:30 pm Reception at Teresa de Anchorena’s home (former Secretary of Culture of the City of Buenos Aires) in Palermo District A Acevedo 850, Buenos Aires

8:15 pm Depart the home of Teresa de Anchorena by bus for dinner

8:30 pm Dinner and Tango show at Chanta Cuatro (Abasto district) A Carlos Gardel 3200, Buenos Aires Chanta Cuatro restaurant at Esquina Carlos Gardel tango venue

42 THURSDAY 13 - BUILDING OVERVIEW

LA PLATA (Late 19th century)

La Plata was founded on November 19th, 1882 as the capital city of the Province of Buenos Aires. It’s layout was defned by a team of architects and enginneers that took diferent references from historic and contemporary cases. Despite all these inspirations, La Plata has a German pedigree that stems not only from several buildings designed by German architects but also from its urban design, especially the so-called “monumental axis.” Thus, the main public buildings are all in a row of blocks without contiguity, separated by blocks of heterogeneous urban fabric. It is not a civic center but rather an institutional “Acropolis”. Those buildings were the result of an international competition and the Town Hall, the Legislature Palace, the Law Courts and the Cathedral, were designed by German architects. The urban fabric was mostly made of low rise buildings in contrast with the monumental public structures. There was a careful landscaping design of squares, streets and avenues that gave the city a distinctive character. The city’s main features were preserved until the mid 20th century when urban codes were reformed and highrise buildings emerged anywhere.

CATEDRAL DE LA PLATA Pedro Benoit and Ernest Meyer (1885)

After the failed competition design, the fnal project for the Catholic Cathedral was prepared within the Department of Engineers of the Province. The building inspiration came from German gothic churches. In fact, the plan is a combination of both Gothic and Romanesque patterns. The exterior shows all the repertoire of the style built in brick and cast stone: two tall towers, dome and spire, apse, pillars and buttresses. Inside, the tall central nave is enhanced by two aisles on each side and the octogonal dome on transept. Unlike most gothic churches the interior space is light and clear due to restrained ornamentation and illu- mination coming from large windows part covered with stained glass and part with frosted glass. The inauguration took place in 1932 but the exterior was still unfnished and was only completed by 1999.

MUNICIPALIDAD DE LA PLATA Hubert Stier (1882-1890)

This is one of the best designs of the city public buildings and houses both the Municipal Government ofces and the City Council. Its formal, functional and spatial qualities were early praised by the competition jury. It’s a massive counterbalance to the Cathedral on the other side of the large Moreno Square. The building style is undoubtedly German Renaissance Revival, the so called Rundbogenstil and has a sculptural quality enhanced by the surrounding gardens. That strong character is strenghtened by rusticated walls, several articulated pavilions and a central clock tower. Inside the sequence of spaces starts at the portico under the front tower, continues in the entrance lobby and gallery and reaches a climax in the main staircase covered with vaults and decorative paintings. The procession ends at the Great Hall placed in the middle of the city “Eje Monumental” [Monumental Axis] and illuminated by several large windows overlooking the opposite square and Cathedral that looks over the front square.

43 PALACIO DE LA LEGISLATURA PROVINCIAL Georg Hägemann and Gustav Heine (1882-1885)

The fnal location of this building is on the city Monumental Axis in front of San Martín Square and serves as a counterpoint to Government Palace. The general composition integrates two enclosures for senators and representatives with ofce areas for each chamber organized around a courtyard and served by two monumental porticoes on both sides. The whole composition is refected in the main facade overlooking the square whith the center enhanced by a big portico and the top crowned by a mansard dome. The architecture is clearly a particular interpretation of Neoclassicism, far from Schinkel and closer to Theophil von Hansen and his Parliament in Vienna.

CASA DE GOBIERNO Jules Dormal (1882-1892)

Built in Renaissance Revival style, the Flemish favor emanates from the brick facades combined with plaster and cast stone decoration. The massive and ornamented pavillions together with the central portico-loggia and the curved mansard roofs gives baroque accents to the overall composition. The inside layout consists of diferent rooms and ofces arranged around two courtyards but the highlight is the “Gilded Hall”, a large room in the center of the building, overlooking the square. Decorated in baroque style, it’s a commemorative place of the foundation of the city with allegoric sculpture and reliefs on the Republic, the Province and the main sources of progress together with portarits of the Founding Fathers of the country. The Governor’s House itself is placed on the back part of the plot and was rebuilt in the 1930s in a French 18th Revival style.

MUSEO DE CIENCIAS NATURALES Karl Heynemann and Henrik Aberg (1882-1889)

La Plata got the chance to have the most important natural sciences museum of the country when many institutions moved from Buenos Aires to the new capital city of the Province. The Governor priorized the project and allowed the team headed by Francisco Moreno to move fast. The Museum, next to the Astronomical Observatory and the Zoological and Botanical Gardens, was con- ceived as part of a “comprehensive” exhibit where the visitor may frst observe the outer space in the observatory, then see the evolution of specimens at the museum and fnally recognise alive animals at the Zoo and trees in the Botanical Garden. The complex should have been completed with a School of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine and the School of Arts and Crafts, the whole resulting into a kind of scientifc and cultural theme park. The building, romantically placed as a temple in a large park, follows the Greek Revival style but is strictly functional inside. All collections are shown within a “biological ring of evolution” and the decoration is almost exclusively expressed by structural and construction details.

44 CASA CURUTCHET Le Corbusier (1948-1953)

One of the two only projects of Le Corbusier in the Americas, this house was commissioned by Pedro Curutchet, a surgeon, and included a small medical ofce on the frst foor. The house is organized on four levels and incorporates the famous fve points of new architecture: free plan, pilotis, roof garden, free facade and horizontal windows. All these resources were masterfully adapted to the restricted plot and applied to achieve a work of masterly urban infll. Living the house awakens unique feelings that surge from experiencing the cinetic promenade along the ramp or the “fsh bowl” bathrooms. From space to detail, the house is much more than a living machine or an avant-garde exercise. This building is considered a turning point in Le Corbusier’s career as a melting pot of all the experiments of the 1920s villas and the essays of new developments to be shortly achieved in India.

45 THURSDAY 13 - TOUR MAP

46 THURSDAY 13 - TOUR MAP (ZOOM)

47 FRIDAY 14

8:00 am Gather in the lobby of the Alvear Palace Hotel

8:15 am Depart Alvear Palace Hotel by bus for Puerto Madero

9:00 am Depart on boat for tour of Río de La Plata and Paraná Delta

11:00 am Arrive at Puerto de Tigre Bus tour of Tigre Garden District. Exterior view of Museo de Arte de Tigre (former Tigre Club), designed by Pablo Pater, Luis Dubois and Emilio Mitre (1912)

11:45 am Visit to Palacio Sans Souci, designed by René Sergent (1913) A Paz 705, San Fernando

12:15 pm Depart Palacio Sans Souci by bus for Villa Ocampo

12:30 pm Lunch and Visit at Villa Ocampo (UNESCO Cultural Center), designed by Manuel Ocampo (1891) A Elortondo 1837, Beccar, San Isidro

2:00 Depart Villa Ocampo by bus to San Isidro Historic District

2:15 pm to 2.45 pm Walking tour of San Isidro Historic District seeing the Cathedral, Villa Ocampo square and old houses

3.00 pm Visit to Museo Pueyrredón, designed by Prilidiano Pueyrredón (late 18th century / mid 19th century) A Rivera Indarte 48, San Isidro

3:30 pm Return by bus to Alvear Palace Hotel

4:00 pm Arrive at Alvear Palace Hotel

48 FRIDAY 14

7:30 pm Gather in the lobby of the Alvear Palace Hotel

7:45 pm Depart Alvear Palace Hotel by bus for dinner

8:00 pm Dinner at Plaza Grill A Florida 1005, Buenos Aires (Retiro district)

END OF TOUR

Plaza Grill

49 FRIDAY 14 - BUILDING OVERVIEW

TIGRE CENTRAL DISTRICT (19th and 20th centuries)

The town is located on an island created by several small streams and rivers, part of the Paraná Delta. Its name derives from the “tigers” or jaguars that were hunted there in its early years. The area was frst settled by Europeans who came to colonize the site and built a port to bring fruit and wood from neighbouring areas. By 1900, Tigre was a fashionable resort for nautic sports, weekend leisure and wild promenades along the Delta. There are many buildings—houses, cot- tages and mansions—of that period in diferent European regional styles. Rowing clubs and marinas are to be found on the shores of the main rivers. Inside the Delta, the usual type is the stilt house, a raised structure to face frequent food- ings. Tigre booms in the weekends with rivers full of boats, picnics on the shores and overbooked lodgings.

TIGRE CLUB Paul Pater and Louis Dubois (1911-1913)

As in several Argentine Beaux Arts buildings the model for this club was an awarded project of the Paris Ecole des Beaux Arts: a Casino at the seaside, a Grand Prix de Rome of 1900. In this case, the French architects play with two main architectural pieces: a large pitched roof pavilion and a monumental bridged platform. The fnal result is a peculiar building that happily mixes regionalism and classicism. The style combines that of a romantic castle and a baroque palace made of iron structure, masonry, stuccowork and cast stone, a monumental folly in the middle of the Delta jungle. The interiors recall those of a luxury hotel of the Belle Époque, with spaces decorated with mirrors, gilded mouldings, decorative paintings and large marble and parquet foors.

PALACIO SANS SOUCI René Sergent (1913-1917)

This monumental villa is one of the best pieces of the International Classicist revival of 1900. Conceived as a weekend resort for the Alvear family, the original property covered 25 hectares. The building style is a masterful and original recreation of late 18th-century French architecture. All four facades have a distinctive grand feature such as an entrance canopy, a large winter garden and a big “terrace-portico”. They are diferent from each other although composed with the same decoration elements. Inside, the grandeur reaches a climax in the main hall of British inspiration. This magnifcent space that fows into the winter garden is surrounded by large balconies, contains the baroque staircase and is crowned with a domed skylight. The entertainement spaces fow around the hall, as a sumptous ring of elegant salons. Innovation is hidden behind historicist language and can be discovered in the cinetic promenade that crosses the whole building from the entrance portico to the apse behind the main staircase. The villa is more a cinema set than a theater.

50 VILLA OCAMPO Manuel Ocampo (1891)

This estate was originally conceived as a summer retirement from the city for the Ocampo family. The park and building were designed by the owner, an engineer trained in France who created a Victorian environment for his family. The property was inherited by his elder daughter, Victoria Ocampo. This woman a socialite, writer and patron of culture, transformed the place in the early 1940s. In doing so, she blended tradition and modernity. The facades remained untouched but the interior was radically transformed by means of whitewashed walls and ceilings, removing Victorian furniture and fttings and redecorating the spaces in minimalistic style with tradition embodied in valuable antiques con- strasting with common functional furniture. Romanticism and afection were left to light, air and noises. The resulting atmosphere is postmodern, a trend that will dominate the design scene in the near future.

SAN ISIDRO HISTORIC DISTRICT (18th to 20th centuries)

The district is the foundational area of this town established in 1706 on the high slopes of the coast of the Rio de la Plata. Unlike other Spanish colonial settle- ments the urban trace is not a regular pattern but a sort of organic layout. The core of the district is Mitre Square with views towards the river and the Gothic Cathedral on one side. The urban fabric of the area has several layers of colonial houses, 19th-century villas and 20th-century cottages. The narrow sidewalks are occupied by large tree trunks and the streets are covered with their foliage. The landscape gardens, belvederes and promenades along the slopes enhance the environment of the district.

QUINTA PUEYRREDÓN (late 18th century and mid 19th century)

This estate was part of a large estancia belonging to the original Spanish settlers of the 16th century. Lately, in the early 19th century it was the residence of the Director Supremo of the Provincias Unidas del Río de la Plata—the country’s frst name—and a historic place where campaigns for South America’s independence were planned by José de San Martín. The building is a typical country house built in the late 18th century. Simplicity and austerity are the result of brick walls painted with limewash, rustic woodwork and red tile foors. The late owner, Pridiliano Pueyrredon—an engineer and painter— renovated the house adding a portico and a belvedere overlooking the river. The museum dates from the middle 20th century and collects documents and pieces of the history of the family, the site and San Isidro district.

51 FRIDAY 14 - TOUR MAP

52 FABIO GREMENTIERI

Fabio Grementieri studied architecture and historic preservation at the University of Buenos Aires. He is a partner at the architectural practice Baez-Carena-Grementieri and Director of the Preservation Program at Universidad Torcuato Di Tella. In addition to the preservation eforts noted above, Grementieri has done restoration and renovation works at La Prensa Palace, Bosch Palace (Residence of the Ambassador of the United States to Argentina), Pereda Palace (Residence of the Ambassador of Brazil to Argentina), Alvear Palace Hotel; Villa Ocampo (property of UNESCO) and other private and public Argentine landmarks. He also organized the International Conference “Architectural Culture around 1900 – critical reappraisal and heritage preservation” held in Buenos Aires in 1999 that inspired the creation of the World Heritage Center Program on Modern Heritage (2001-2005). Grementieri has held several prominent advisory roles to difer- ent public and private ofces and institutions such as: the Secretary of Culture of the City of Buenos Aires, the Commission of Architectural Heritage of Buenos Aires City Council; the National Secretary of Culture of Argentina, “Fundación Ciudad” and the “Direction of Cultural Afairs” Ministry of Foreign Afairs of Argentina. He has participated in numerous academic conferences and has been a guest lecturer at a variety of uni- versities speaking on historic preservation and heritage. Among other titles, Grementieri has authored: Buenos Aires. Architectural Heritage (2002); Architecture Culture around 1900. Critical reappraisal and her- itage preservation (co-editor 2004); Buenos Aires Art Nouveau, (2005); Residences of Buenos Aires. The French infuence (2006); Buenos Aires Art Deco and Modernism (2008); Argentina, Cultural and Natural Heritage. The Bicentennial Album (with Pablo Zunino, 2009); Alemania- Argentina, the Modern Built Culture (with Claudia Shnmidt, 2010); and Arquitectura, Educación y Patrimonio. Argentina 1600-1975 (with Claudia Shmidt, 2010). Grementieri got several awards, among them: the Assistant Secretary Award for Excellence in 2001 for the Restoration of the Bosch Palace, Residence of the Ambassador of the United States to Argentina and the Henry Hope Reed Award of the University of Notre Dame in 2009.

Graphic design: mariusestudio.com.ar 53