A major pinnacle of libertarian economic thought concerns the market’s role in providing public goods. Argentina is probably one of the world’s hottest laboratories for putting the theory to the test at the moment. Your favorite road trip across the nation’s highways might have to wait for a few years as a result, though.
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Return to Argentina
Speaking of bookshops further below, this beautiful Libreria Rodriguez caught my eye on a stroll along Av. Cabildo in Belgrano
We moved to Argentina one month ago, and it’s high time to record the moment on this blog. Buenos Aires is our new home, and we’re excited. This city is a beast, beastlier now than I remember it from more than ten years ago when I didn’t have any kids and visited last.
Continue readingRest of world architectural (reading) guide
My architecture writing heyday between 2012-2015 was the pre-kids period when I was traveling a lot more than today. Some of the following posts thus have a little travelogue ring to them. With Tokyo and North America done, let’s take the remaining buildings geographically, and go on a little tour down memory lane to Latin America (mainly Argentina, but also Brazil), Europe (mainly Germany, but also London and some other places), Africa, and Asia. What is missing in all this is a post from my current whereabouts, Australia. In what time I have left here, I shall strive to find that one tell-all building, seeking inspiration in the following pages.
Continue readingArgentina
As evident from the flurry of posts put up here over the last couple of days (buildings, Puerto Madero, Torre Dorego, Museo Xul Solar, Clorindo Testa and MAMBA/MACBA), my wife and I just got back from ten days in Buenos Aires (plus a short stopover in Lima on the way back). This was my second time in this fascinating city and country. Below some personal observations.
Veronica di Toro, Simetrica No. 16, 2009, on display at MACBA
Buenos Aires buildings
Back from Argentina I have quite a few architectural shots I don’t necessarily want to cast a post around. Herewith a few unsorted impressions of some buildings that caught my eye while exploring Buenos Aires.
Puerto Madero
Puerto Madero is Buenos Aires’s ambitious waterfront urban regeneration project in the old port area, along the riverbank of the Rio de la Plata. While construction is ongoing, the area has already become one of the city’s richest. Herewith some photos taken during a recent stroll.
Torre Dorrego
Inaugurated in 1971, Torre Dorrego is a Brutalist residential building. It towers above Buenos Aires’ Palermo neighbourhood. Its unique shape gives it a certain lightness. The many antennas on the roof emphasise its vertical shape.
Museo Xul Solar
The Museo Xul Solar is devoted to the artist’s extensive work spanning several decades and various media. The building is an architectural masterpiece that connects various old structures, including Solar’s flat at the top, with cast concrete staircases, mezzanine floors and open spaces.
Clorindo Testa
With Testa, Argentina lost one of its most famous architects last year. Two of his landmark buildings are among the more successful examples of Brutalism globally. I visited the Banco de Londres and the Biblioteca Nacional while in Buenos Aires last week.
Banco de Londres (1959-1966)
MACBA, MAMBA
We checked out two modern art museums in San Telmo, Buenos Aires the other day. The Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Buenos Aires (MACBA) and the neighbouring Museo de Arte Moderno de Buenos Aires (MAMBA) were, while almost completely empty, really worth the visit.
