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
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 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.
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.
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.
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)
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.
Super-slender residential skyscrapers are taking to the skies south of Central Park. They are an increasingly brazen display of economic inequalities and a seizing of one of the world’s most distinctive skylines by the super-rich.
Midtown zoning plans on display at the Skyscraper Museum, New York
Two Americans with a base in Harlem have made their lasting imprint on modern Japan. Townsend Harris, the US’s first consul to Japan, single-handedly created bilateral relations between both countries after he had founded today’s City College of New York. Alexander Hamilton, long after his untimely death, inspired Meiji-era reformers in how to design economic policy. His house up in Hamilton Heights today serves as a great museum commemorating the man’s myriad achievements.
Commemorative plaque for Townsend Harris at City College of New York
It’s been a while since I last posted anything. There is really no sole reason to blame for this hiatus – just a variety of things coming together. To make use of the diary aspect of blogging and to bridge the time until my focus returns, herewith some personal updates and thoughts just ahead of the holidays.
Zooming along the Den-en-toshi Line
