Buenos Aires Central Business District
Encyclopedia
The Buenos Aires central business district
(CBD and also referred to as the City Porteña, Downtown and Microcentro), is the main commercial centre of Buenos Aires
, Argentina
, though not an official city ward.
in what later became Buenos Aires. Its south-north axis runs along Leandro Alem Avenue
, from Belgrano Avenue in the south to Retiro railway station in the north, and its east-west axis runs from the Buenos Aires Ecological Reserve
to Ninth of July Avenue. The district is centered around the San Nicolás
ward, and includes the northern section of Montserrat
, the section of Retiro
south of Santa Fe Avenue
, and the section of Puerto Madero
west of the Buenos Aires Docklands.
The district is the financial, corporate, and cultural hub of Buenos Aires, and of Argentina. The economy of Buenos Aires
was the 13th largest among the world's cities in 2005 at US$245 billion in purchasing power parity
, which, based on the population of that year, translates into US$21,500 per capita. The Buenos Aires Human Development Index
(0.923 in 1998) is likewise high by international standards.
The Port of Buenos Aires
is one of the busiest in South America; navigable rivers by way of the Río de la Plata
connect the port to northeastern Argentina
, Brazil
, Uruguay
and Paraguay
. As a result it serves as the distribution hub for a vast area of the south-eastern region of the South American continent. Tax collection related to the port has caused many political problems in the past.
, except some zones like the Buenos Aires Ecological Reserve
, the Boca Juniors (football) Club "sports city", Jorge Newbery Airport, the Puerto Madero
neighborhood and the main port itself. These latter were all built on reclaimed land along the coast of the Rio de la Plata
(the world's largest estuary
).
The region was formerly crossed by different creeks
and lagoon
s, some of which were refilled and other tubed. Among the most important creeks are: Maldonado, Vega, Medrano, Cildañez and White. In 1908 many creeks were channeled and rectified, as floods were damaging the city's infrastructure. Starting in 1919, most creeks were enclosed. Notably, the Maldonado was tubed in 1954, and currently runs below Juan B. Justo Avenue (north of this district).
Facing the Río de la Plata
estuary, the frontage remained flood-prone, and in 1846, Governor Juan Manuel de Rosas
had a contention wall six blocks long built along the existing promenade. An English Argentine investor, Edward Taylor, opened a pier along the promenade in 1855, and the flood-control walls were extended northwards to Recoleta
, and south to San Telmo
, in subsequent works completed in 1865.
A sudden economic and population boom led the new President of Argentina, Julio Roca, to commission the development in 1881 of an ambitious port to supplement the recently-developed facilities at La Boca
, in Buenos Aires' southside. Approved by the Argentine Congress in 1882 and financed by the prominent London
-based Barings Bank
(the chief underwriter of Argentine bonds and investment, at the time), the project required the reclaiming
of over 200 hectares (500 acres) of underwater land and was accompanied by the widening of the promenade into what became Leandro Alem Avenue.
Italian and French influences increased after the overthrow
of strongman Juan Manuel de Rosas
in 1852, and particularly upon the advent of the modernizing Generation of 1880
. French architecture
insipred the area's redevelopment during the beginning of the 20th century, and eclectic designs that drew from Beaux-Arts, French Academy, and Second Empire architecture were reflected by numerous historic buildings in this districts from the era, notably the headquarters for La Prensa
, City Hall
, the City Legislature
, Buenos Aires Customs
, Palace of Justice, the National Congress, the Teatro Colón, the Buenos Aires Stock Exchange
, the Buenos Aires Central Post Office
, and along most of the Avenida de Mayo
and Diagonal Norte Avenue.
Some of the most prominent conrtibutors to the district's architecture from the era included Francesco Tamburini
, Vittorio Meano
, Julio Dormal
, Virginio Colombo
, Juan Antonio Buschiazzo
, Mario Palanti
, and Francisco Gianotti
. Later significant additions include those by Alejandro Christophersen
, Alejandro Bustillo
(most notably the National Bank
), Andrés Kalnay, Eduardo Le Monnier, and Francisco Salamone
.
The Alas Building
, commissioned by Juan Perón
and built in the early 1950s, was the tallest in Argentina until 1995, and was one of numerous commercial structures built in the Rationalist style in this area during that time. Since the 1960s, newer, high-technology buildings were designed in the district by Argentine architects Clorindo Testa
, Santiago Sánchez Elía, César Pelli
, and Mario Roberto Álvarez
, by firms such as SEPRA Arquitectos and MSGSSS, and by Uruguay
an architect Rafael Viñoly
. Some of the more notable commercial developments completed since then have included the Catalinas Norte
office park, Torre Bouchard
, Bouchard Plaza
, Galicia Tower
, the Repsol-YPF Tower
.
, and is home of the business district's financial center. It's seldom referred to as San Nicolás, but usually as El Centro ("City Centre"), and the part east of the 9 de Julio Avenue
is called Microcentro ("Micro-centre").
The growing importance of the area as a financial center was highlighted by the 1854 establishment of the Buenos Aires Stock Exchange
. San Nicolás remains the financial center of Argentina, something underscored by the presence of the Central Bank and the National Bank
, Argentina's largest. The rapid development of the Argentine economy after 1875 made itself evident in San Nicolás with the reclaiming of riverfront land by businessmen Francisco Seeber
and Eduardo Madero
, and the shore hitherto popular among washerwomen became the Paseo de Julio (today Leandro Alem Avenue
).
The construction of Corrientes
and Nueve de Julio Avenues in the 1930s further modernized San Nicolás, which had hitherto been limited in its development by its colonial grid of narrow streets. Florida Street
, most of which is in San Nicolás, is the city's best-known pedestrianized street. Its most discernible landmark is the Galerías Pacífico
shopping arcade.
The district is home to the Argentine Supreme Court, the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Cathedral
, the Colón Opera House, headquarters of numerous leading Argentine firms, including Aerolíneas Argentinas
, the Bank of the City of Buenos Aires
, La Nación
, Bunge y Born
, Pérez Companc
, the Macri Group
, and most of the Buenos Aires Stock Exchange
leaders, as well as the local offices of a number of international companies, such as BankBoston
, BBVA
, Citibank
, Deutsche Bank
, HSBC
, IBM
, Microsoft
, Santander Bank
, and Techint
.
(Retiro Terminal Station), and Retiro bus station
is the city's main long-distance bus terminal. Subte line C
of the Buenos Aires Metro
system and numerous local public bus services serve Retiro, and this area is always teeming with commuters and traffic on weekdays.
The most important avenue linking Retiro and the CBD to commuters living in residential areas to the north is Avenida del Libertador
, which becomes Leandro Alem Avenue
past the Retiro Station. Other important thoroughfares in the Retiro section of the CBD are Córdoba, Santa Fe
, and 9 de Julio Avenue
s.
The high-rise business district of Catalinas Norte
, as well as the northern end of the Puerto Madero development, is located east of Leandro N. Alem Avenue. Opposite the Retiro train terminal, at the northern end of the CBD, is the leafy Plaza San Martín
, surrounded by great palaces and hotels. The Retiro lowlands were once the training grounds for José de San Martín's
Granaderos corps, and the modern-day Plaza San Martín features an equestrian statue honoring the hero of the Argentine War of Independence
, as well as a memorial for the dead in the 1982 Falklands War
. Facing the station is Argentine Air Force Square, where the Torre Monumental (formerly Torre de los Ingleses), a monument donated by the Anglo-Argentine community for the 1910 centennial celebrations, is located.
Other significant landmarks opposite the Plaza are the Kavanagh Building
, a reinforced concrete
structure that when completed in 1936, was the tallest building in Latin America at 120 metres (394 ft). The nearby Brunetta Building (formerly headquarters for Olivetti
's Latin American operations) was the first in Argentina to be built in the International style
.
, the colonial town hall.
Avenida de Mayo
runs through the Montserrat district, connecting Plaza de Mayo
and Congressional Plaza
. A block or two south of the Plaza de Mayo, the older section of Montserrat begins. This was the location of the Illuminated Block
, a Jesuit center of higher learning during the 18th century, and today home to the Colegio Nacional de Buenos Aires
. This is Buenos Aires' oldest neighborhood and even today, very little of the cityscape there is less than a hundred years old (except along Belgrano Avenue), thereby making a nearly seamless transition to the likewise historic San Telmo
district to the south.
The district's led central location and its presence therein of much of Argentina's governmental structure led to monumental construction over the 1910s, notable among which are the Casa Rosada
, City Hall
, the City Legislature
, the Customs building
, the offices of La Prensa
(today the Buenos Aires House of Culture
), the art-deco NH City Hotel (off the Plaza de Mayo), the Libertador Building
(Ministry of Defense), and South Diagonal Avenue. Montserrat's western half was partitioned from the rest by the southward expansion of the massive Nueve de Julio Avenue around 1950.
The area became a largely bohemian quarter popular with tango
performers and artists, as well as many who preferred the area's close proximity to the growing financial district
to the north and its relatively low rent scale. Its rich architectural history and quiet, narrow streets have, as in neighboring San Telmo
, helped lead to renewed tourist
interest in Montserrat since around 1990.
Originally developed by local businessman Eduardo Madero
and designed by British engineer Sir John Hawkshaw
, Puerto Madero was inaugurated in 1897. Its four docks were relegated to ancillary port functions after the 1926 completion of the New Port to the north, however, and became derelict. Beginning around 1994, however, local and foreign investment led to a massive revitalization effort, recycling and refurbishing the west side warehouses into upscale offices, lofts, restaurants, private universities and luxurious hotels. State-of-the-art multiplex cinemas, theatres, cultural centres, luxurious hotels and office and corporate buildings are located mostly in the eastern side of the district.
Puerto Madero has been redeveloped with international flair, drawing interest from renown architects such as Santiago Calatrava
, Norman Foster
, César Pelli
and Phillippe Starck, among others. Today one of the trendiest boroughs in Buenos Aires, it has become the preferred address for growing numbers of young professionals and retirees, alike. Increasing property prices have also generated interest in the area as a destination for foreign buyers, particularly those in the market for premium investment properties.
The neighborhood's road network has been entirely rebuilt, especially in the east side. The layout of the east side consists currently of three wide boulevards running east-west crossed by the east side's main street, Juana Manso Avenue. The layout is completed with some other avenues and minor streets, running both east-west and north-south, and by several pedestrianised streets. All the streets of Puerto Madero are named after women
. The Puente de la Mujer
(Women's Bridge), designed in 2001 by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava
, is the newest link between the east and west docks of Puerto Madero.
Puerto Madero represents the largest wide-scale urban project in the city of Buenos Aires, currently. Having undergone an impressive revival in merely a decade, it is one of the most successful recent waterfront renewal projects in the world.
Numerous new residential high-rises of up to 50 stories have been built facing on the eastern half of Puerto Madero since 2000. These include El Mirador of Puerto Madero towers, Renoir Towers
, El Faro towers
, Chateau Tower of Puerto Madero
, and the Mulieris towers
, among others. Notable non-residential structures include the Repsol-YPF tower
, the Buenos Aires Hilton
, the Faena Hotel+Universe
(one of a number of refurbished former Molinos Río de la Plata
silos), and the Fortabat Art Collection
museum building.
Additionally a St. Regis Starwood Hotel is being built along Dock 4, where the famous Opera Bay nightclub was formerly located, and is scheduled to open in 2013. An expansive Jumeirah Polo resort will also feature a hotel in Puerto Madero, working jointly with the Campo Argentino de Polo
and other polo fields in and outside Buenos Aires.
Central business district
A central business district is the commercial and often geographic heart of a city. In North America this part of a city is commonly referred to as "downtown" or "city center"...
(CBD and also referred to as the City Porteña, Downtown and Microcentro), is the main commercial centre of Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
, Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
, though not an official city ward.
Overview
The area was the site of the first European settlementPedro de Mendoza
Pedro de Mendoza y Luján was a Spanish conquistador, soldier and explorer, and the first adelantado of the Río de la Plata.- Setting sail :...
in what later became Buenos Aires. Its south-north axis runs along Leandro Alem Avenue
Leandro Alem Avenue
Avenida Leandro N. Alem is one of the principal thoroughfares in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and a commercial nerve center of the city's San Nicolás and Retiro districs.-Overview:...
, from Belgrano Avenue in the south to Retiro railway station in the north, and its east-west axis runs from the Buenos Aires Ecological Reserve
Buenos Aires Ecological Reserve
Buenos Aires Ecological Reserve, Reserva Ecológica de Buenos Aires, also known as Costanera Sur Ecological Reserve, Reserva Ecológica Costenera Sur, is a tract of low land on the Río de la Plata riverbank located on the east side of the district of Puerto Madero in Buenos Aires CBD,...
to Ninth of July Avenue. The district is centered around the San Nicolás
San Nicolás, Buenos Aires
San Nicolás is one of the neighbourhoods of the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina, sharing most of the city and national government structure with neighboring Montserrat and home to much of Buenos Aires' financial sector...
ward, and includes the northern section of Montserrat
Montserrat, Buenos Aires
Monserrat is a neighbourhood located in the east of the Buenos Aires CBD. The district features some of the most important public buildings in Buenos Aires, including city hall, the city legislature, Casa Rosada, the Colegio Nacional de Buenos Aires and the Libertador Building , among...
, the section of Retiro
Retiro, Buenos Aires
Retiro is a barrio in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Located in the northeast end of the city, Retiro is bordered on the south by the Puerto Madero and San Nicolás wards, and on the west by the Recoleta ward.-Urban character:...
south of Santa Fe Avenue
Santa Fe Avenue
Avenida Santa Fe is one of the principal thoroughfares in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The artery is essential to the imaginary axis of Barrio Norte in Buenos Aires, comprising the areas influenced by the route of the avenue through Retiro, Recoleta and Palermo neighborhoods, it is considered one of...
, and the section of Puerto Madero
Puerto Madero
Puerto Madero, also known within the urban planning community as the Puerto Madero Waterfront, is a barrio of the Argentine capital at Buenos Aires CBD, occupying a significant portion of the Río de la Plata riverbank and representing the latest architectural trends in the city of Buenos...
west of the Buenos Aires Docklands.
The district is the financial, corporate, and cultural hub of Buenos Aires, and of Argentina. The economy of Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
was the 13th largest among the world's cities in 2005 at US$245 billion in purchasing power parity
Purchasing power parity
In economics, purchasing power parity is a condition between countries where an amount of money has the same purchasing power in different countries. The prices of the goods between the countries would only reflect the exchange rates...
, which, based on the population of that year, translates into US$21,500 per capita. The Buenos Aires Human Development Index
Human Development Index
The Human Development Index is a composite statistic used to rank countries by level of "human development" and separate "very high human development", "high human development", "medium human development", and "low human development" countries...
(0.923 in 1998) is likewise high by international standards.
The Port of Buenos Aires
Port of Buenos Aires
The Port of Buenos Aires is the principal maritime port in Argentina. Operated by the Administración General de Puertos , a State enterprise, it is the leading transshipment point for the foreign trade of Argentina....
is one of the busiest in South America; navigable rivers by way of the Río de la Plata
Río de la Plata
The Río de la Plata —sometimes rendered River Plate in British English and the Commonwealth, and occasionally rendered [La] Plata River in other English-speaking countries—is the river and estuary formed by the confluence of the Uruguay River and the Paraná River on the border between Argentina and...
connect the port to northeastern Argentina
Mesopotamia, Argentina
La Mesopotamia, Región Mesopotámica is the humid and verdant area of north-east Argentina, comprising the provinces of Misiones, Entre Ríos and Corrientes. The region called Litoral consists of the Mesopotamia and the provinces of Chaco, Formosa and Santa Fe...
, Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, Uruguay
Uruguay
Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...
and Paraguay
Paraguay
Paraguay , officially the Republic of Paraguay , is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to the east and northeast, and Bolivia to the northwest. Paraguay lies on both banks of the Paraguay River, which runs through the center of the...
. As a result it serves as the distribution hub for a vast area of the south-eastern region of the South American continent. Tax collection related to the port has caused many political problems in the past.
Geography
Buenos Aires CBD lies in the Pampa regionPampa
The Pampas are the fertile South American lowlands, covering more than , that include the Argentine provinces of Buenos Aires, La Pampa, Santa Fe, Entre Ríos and Córdoba, most of Uruguay, and the southernmost Brazilian State, Rio Grande do Sul...
, except some zones like the Buenos Aires Ecological Reserve
Buenos Aires Ecological Reserve
Buenos Aires Ecological Reserve, Reserva Ecológica de Buenos Aires, also known as Costanera Sur Ecological Reserve, Reserva Ecológica Costenera Sur, is a tract of low land on the Río de la Plata riverbank located on the east side of the district of Puerto Madero in Buenos Aires CBD,...
, the Boca Juniors (football) Club "sports city", Jorge Newbery Airport, the Puerto Madero
Puerto Madero
Puerto Madero, also known within the urban planning community as the Puerto Madero Waterfront, is a barrio of the Argentine capital at Buenos Aires CBD, occupying a significant portion of the Río de la Plata riverbank and representing the latest architectural trends in the city of Buenos...
neighborhood and the main port itself. These latter were all built on reclaimed land along the coast of the Rio de la Plata
Río de la Plata
The Río de la Plata —sometimes rendered River Plate in British English and the Commonwealth, and occasionally rendered [La] Plata River in other English-speaking countries—is the river and estuary formed by the confluence of the Uruguay River and the Paraná River on the border between Argentina and...
(the world's largest estuary
Estuary
An estuary is a partly enclosed coastal body of water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea....
).
The region was formerly crossed by different creeks
Stream
A stream is a body of water with a current, confined within a bed and stream banks. Depending on its locale or certain characteristics, a stream may be referred to as a branch, brook, beck, burn, creek, "crick", gill , kill, lick, rill, river, syke, bayou, rivulet, streamage, wash, run or...
and lagoon
Lagoon
A lagoon is a body of shallow sea water or brackish water separated from the sea by some form of barrier. The EU's habitat directive defines lagoons as "expanses of shallow coastal salt water, of varying salinity or water volume, wholly or partially separated from the sea by sand banks or shingle,...
s, some of which were refilled and other tubed. Among the most important creeks are: Maldonado, Vega, Medrano, Cildañez and White. In 1908 many creeks were channeled and rectified, as floods were damaging the city's infrastructure. Starting in 1919, most creeks were enclosed. Notably, the Maldonado was tubed in 1954, and currently runs below Juan B. Justo Avenue (north of this district).
Facing the Río de la Plata
Río de la Plata
The Río de la Plata —sometimes rendered River Plate in British English and the Commonwealth, and occasionally rendered [La] Plata River in other English-speaking countries—is the river and estuary formed by the confluence of the Uruguay River and the Paraná River on the border between Argentina and...
estuary, the frontage remained flood-prone, and in 1846, Governor Juan Manuel de Rosas
Juan Manuel de Rosas
Juan Manuel de Rosas , was an argentine militar and politician, who was elected governor of the province of Buenos Aires in 1829 to 1835, and then of the Argentine Confederation from 1835 until 1852...
had a contention wall six blocks long built along the existing promenade. An English Argentine investor, Edward Taylor, opened a pier along the promenade in 1855, and the flood-control walls were extended northwards to Recoleta
Recoleta
Recoleta is a downtown residential neighborhood in the city of Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, Argentina; it is an area of great historical and architectural interest, due, particularly to the Recoleta Cemetery located there...
, and south to San Telmo
San Telmo
San Telmo is the oldest barrio of Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is a well-preserved area of the Argentine metropolis and is characterized by its colonial buildings. Cafes, tango parlors and antique shops line the cobblestone streets, which are often filled with artists and dancers.San Telmo's...
, in subsequent works completed in 1865.
A sudden economic and population boom led the new President of Argentina, Julio Roca, to commission the development in 1881 of an ambitious port to supplement the recently-developed facilities at La Boca
La Boca
La Boca is a neighborhood, or barrio of the Argentine capital, Buenos Aires. It retains a strong European flavour, with many of its early settlers being from the Italian city of Genoa. In fact the name has a strong assonance with the Genoese neighborhood of Boccadasse , and some people believe that...
, in Buenos Aires' southside. Approved by the Argentine Congress in 1882 and financed by the prominent London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
-based Barings Bank
Barings Bank
Barings Bank was the oldest merchant bank in London until its collapse in 1995 after one of the bank's employees, Nick Leeson, lost £827 million due to speculative investing, primarily in futures contracts, at the bank's Singapore office.-History:-1762–1890:Barings Bank was founded in 1762 as the...
(the chief underwriter of Argentine bonds and investment, at the time), the project required the reclaiming
Land reclamation
Land reclamation, usually known as reclamation, is the process to create new land from sea or riverbeds. The land reclaimed is known as reclamation ground or landfill.- Habitation :...
of over 200 hectares (500 acres) of underwater land and was accompanied by the widening of the promenade into what became Leandro Alem Avenue.
Architecture
Battle of Caseros
The Battle of Caseros was fought near the town of Caseros, more precisely between the present-day train stations of Caseros and Palomar in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina, on 3 February 1852, between the Army of Buenos Aires commanded by Juan Manuel de Rosas...
of strongman Juan Manuel de Rosas
Juan Manuel de Rosas
Juan Manuel de Rosas , was an argentine militar and politician, who was elected governor of the province of Buenos Aires in 1829 to 1835, and then of the Argentine Confederation from 1835 until 1852...
in 1852, and particularly upon the advent of the modernizing Generation of 1880
Generation of '80
The Generation of '80 was the governing elite in Argentina from 1880 to 1916. Members of the oligarchy of the provinces and the country's capital, they first joined the League of Governors , and then the National Autonomist Party...
. French architecture
French architecture
The history of French architecture runs in parallel with its neighbouring countries in Europe, with France being home to both some of the earliest pioneers in many architectural styles, and also containing some of the finest architectural creations of the continent.-Roman:The architecture of...
insipred the area's redevelopment during the beginning of the 20th century, and eclectic designs that drew from Beaux-Arts, French Academy, and Second Empire architecture were reflected by numerous historic buildings in this districts from the era, notably the headquarters for La Prensa
Buenos Aires House of Culture
The Buenos Aires House of Culture is an architectural landmark in the Montserrat section of the Argentine capital.-Overview:The outmoded headquarters of what was then Argentina's second-largest newspaper, La Prensa, led its influential proprietor in 1894, José Clemente Paz, to purchase a 1300 m² ...
, City Hall
Buenos Aires City Hall
Buenos Aires City Hall is the executive seat of government of the Argentine capital.-Building:The 1880 Federalization of Buenos Aires was followed by a boom in foreign trade and European immigration, and in 1890, Mayor Francisco P. Bollini commissioned the construction of a new city hall...
, the City Legislature
Buenos Aires City Legislature
The Buenos Aires City Legislature is a central part of the Government of the City of Buenos Aires, as well as an architectural landmark in the city's Montserrat section.-History:...
, Buenos Aires Customs
Buenos Aires Customs
The Buenos Aires Customs House is a government building and architectural landmark in the Montserrat section of Buenos Aires.-Overview:...
, Palace of Justice, the National Congress, the Teatro Colón, the Buenos Aires Stock Exchange
Buenos Aires Stock Exchange
The Buenos Aires Stock Exchange is the organization responsible for the operation of Argentina's primary stock exchange located at Buenos Aires CBD. Founded in 1854, is the successor of the Banco Mercantil, created in 1822 by Bernardino Rivadavia.Citing BCBA's self definition: "It is a...
, the Buenos Aires Central Post Office
Buenos Aires Central Post Office
The Buenos Aires Central Post and Communications Office is a public building and landmark in the San Nicolás district of Buenos Aires.-Overview:...
, and along most of the Avenida de Mayo
Avenida de Mayo
Avenida de Mayo , is an avenue in Buenos Aires, capital of Argentina. It connects the Plaza de Mayo with Congressional Plaza, and extends in a west-east direction before merging into Avenida Rivadavia.-History and overview:...
and Diagonal Norte Avenue.
Some of the most prominent conrtibutors to the district's architecture from the era included Francesco Tamburini
Francesco Tamburini
Francesco Tamburini was an architect born in Italy who died in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He studied architecture in the Royal Academy of Naples and arrived in Argentina in 1881 where he was employed as Inspector General of National Architecture from 1883 until his death in 1891.His works included...
, Vittorio Meano
Vittorio Meano
Vittorio Meano was an Italian architect born in Susa, Italy, near Turin.-Background and early career:He studied architecture in Albertina Academy in Turin....
, Julio Dormal
Julio Dormal
Julio Dormal was a Belgian architect who, after studying in Paris, arrived in Argentina in 1868 where he became one of first exponents of the Beaux-Arts style of architecture....
, Virginio Colombo
Virginio Colombo
Virginio Colombo was a prolific architect who completed close to 50 works in Buenos Aires in just 21 years before his premature death at the age of 42. Born in 1885 in Milan, Italy, he studied architecture in the Brera Academy under Giuseppe Sommaruga, the city's leading exponent of the Art...
, Juan Antonio Buschiazzo
Juan Antonio Buschiazzo
Juan Antonio Buschiazzo was an Italian architect and engineer who contributed to the modernisation of Buenos Aires, Argentina in the 1880s and to the construction of the city of La Plata, the new capital of the Buenos Aires Province.Born in 1845 in Pontinvrea, Province of Savona, Liguria,...
, Mario Palanti
Mario Palanti
Mario Palanti was an Italian architect who designed important buildings in the capital cities of both Argentina and Uruguay. Born in 1885 in Milan, Italy, he studied architecture in the Brera Academy and in the Politecnico di Milano university...
, and Francisco Gianotti
Francisco Gianotti
Francisco Gianotti was an architect who designed many important Art Nouveau buildings in Buenos Aires, Argentina....
. Later significant additions include those by Alejandro Christophersen
Alejandro Christophersen
Alejandro Christophersen was an Argentine architect and artist of Norwegian descent who designed many important buildings in the city of Buenos Aires, including the renowned Anchorena Palace.-Biography:...
, Alejandro Bustillo
Alejandro Bustillo
Alejandro Bustillo was an Argentine painter and architect who left his mark in various tourist destinations in Argentina, especially in the Andean region of the Patagonia....
(most notably the National Bank
Banco de la Nación Argentina
Banco de la Nación Argentina is a state-owned bank in Argentina, and the largest in the country's banking sector.-Overview:The bank was founded on October 18, 1891, by President Carlos Pellegrini by way of stabilizing the nation's finances following the Panic of 1890; its first director was...
), Andrés Kalnay, Eduardo Le Monnier, and Francisco Salamone
Francisco Salamone
Francisco Salamone was an Argentine architect of Italian descent who, between 1936 and 1940, during the Infamous Decade, built more than 60 municipal buildings with elements of Art Deco style in 25 rural communities on the Argentine Pampas within the Buenos Aires Province...
.
The Alas Building
Alas Building
The Alas Building is a residential and office building located in the San Nicolás section of Buenos Aires, Argentina. It stands at a height of 141 metres and houses 41 floors....
, commissioned by Juan Perón
Juan Perón
Juan Domingo Perón was an Argentine military officer, and politician. Perón was three times elected as President of Argentina though he only managed to serve one full term, after serving in several government positions, including the Secretary of Labor and the Vice Presidency...
and built in the early 1950s, was the tallest in Argentina until 1995, and was one of numerous commercial structures built in the Rationalist style in this area during that time. Since the 1960s, newer, high-technology buildings were designed in the district by Argentine architects Clorindo Testa
Clorindo Testa
Clorindo Manuel José Testa is an Italian-Argentine architect and artist. He graduated from the School of Architecture at the Universidad de Buenos Aires in 1948....
, Santiago Sánchez Elía, César Pelli
César Pelli
César Pelli is an Argentine architect known for designing some of the world's tallest buildings and other major urban landmarks. In 1991, the American Institute of Architects listed Pelli among the ten most influential living American architects...
, and Mario Roberto Álvarez
Mario Roberto Álvarez
Mario Roberto Álvarez was a prominent Argentine architect.-Early life:Álvarez was born in Buenos Aires in 1913. He enrolled at the University of Buenos Aires School of Arquitecture in 1932, and graduated with Gold Medal honors in 1936...
, by firms such as SEPRA Arquitectos and MSGSSS, and by Uruguay
Uruguay
Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...
an architect Rafael Viñoly
Rafael Viñoly
Rafael Viñoly is an Uruguayan architect living in the United States.-Biography:He was born in Montevideo, Uruguay to Román Viñoly Barreto, and Maria Beceiro ....
. Some of the more notable commercial developments completed since then have included the Catalinas Norte
Catalinas Norte
Catalinas Norte is an important business complex composed of fifteen commercial office buildings, in two sections, and occupied by numerous leading Argentine companies, foreign subsidiaries, diplomatic offices, and a hotel...
office park, Torre Bouchard
Torre Bouchard
Torre Bouchard is a skyscraper in San Nicolás, Buenos Aires, Argentina. The building houses the headquarters of Aerolíneas Argentinas. The World Bank has its Argentina offices in the tower....
, Bouchard Plaza
Bouchard Plaza
Bouchard Plaza is an architecturally significant office building in the San Nicolás ward of Buenos Aires, Argentina.-Overview:The site of the building, on 557 Bouchard Street, was originally occupied by the printing house of La Nación...
, Galicia Tower
Galicia Financial Group
Galicia Financial Group is a financial services holding company based in Buenos Aires, and its banking operations are the fifth largest in Argentina, as well as the largest among all domestically-owned private banks in the country.-Overview:The bank was founded in 1905 as the Banco de Galicia y...
, the Repsol-YPF Tower
Repsol-YPF tower
The Repsol-YPF tower is a corporate high-rise building designed by internationally recognized architect César Pelli constructed in the Puerto Madero barrio of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Construction began in 2005, and the office building was completed in September 2008. The building is tall and...
.
San Nicolás
San Nicolás is one of the districts that shares most of the city and national government structure with neighboring MontserratMontserrat, Buenos Aires
Monserrat is a neighbourhood located in the east of the Buenos Aires CBD. The district features some of the most important public buildings in Buenos Aires, including city hall, the city legislature, Casa Rosada, the Colegio Nacional de Buenos Aires and the Libertador Building , among...
, and is home of the business district's financial center. It's seldom referred to as San Nicolás, but usually as El Centro ("City Centre"), and the part east of the 9 de Julio Avenue
9 de Julio Avenue
Avenida 9 de Julio is a wide avenue in the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Its name honors Argentina's Independence Day, July 9, 1816.The avenue runs roughly one kilometer to the west of the Río de la Plata waterfront, from the Retiro district in the north to Constitución station in the south...
is called Microcentro ("Micro-centre").
The growing importance of the area as a financial center was highlighted by the 1854 establishment of the Buenos Aires Stock Exchange
Buenos Aires Stock Exchange
The Buenos Aires Stock Exchange is the organization responsible for the operation of Argentina's primary stock exchange located at Buenos Aires CBD. Founded in 1854, is the successor of the Banco Mercantil, created in 1822 by Bernardino Rivadavia.Citing BCBA's self definition: "It is a...
. San Nicolás remains the financial center of Argentina, something underscored by the presence of the Central Bank and the National Bank
Banco de la Nación Argentina
Banco de la Nación Argentina is a state-owned bank in Argentina, and the largest in the country's banking sector.-Overview:The bank was founded on October 18, 1891, by President Carlos Pellegrini by way of stabilizing the nation's finances following the Panic of 1890; its first director was...
, Argentina's largest. The rapid development of the Argentine economy after 1875 made itself evident in San Nicolás with the reclaiming of riverfront land by businessmen Francisco Seeber
Francisco Seeber
Francisco Seeber was an Argentine military officer, businessman and Mayor of Buenos Aires.-Life and times:...
and Eduardo Madero
Eduardo Madero
Eduardo Madero was an Argentine merchant, banker and developer.-Life and times:Eduardo Madero was born in Buenos Aires, in 1823, to a family of farmers. A nephew of publisher Florencio Varela, his uncle's enmity with the Governor of Buenos Aires Province, Juan Manuel de Rosas, led Madero to...
, and the shore hitherto popular among washerwomen became the Paseo de Julio (today Leandro Alem Avenue
Leandro Alem Avenue
Avenida Leandro N. Alem is one of the principal thoroughfares in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and a commercial nerve center of the city's San Nicolás and Retiro districs.-Overview:...
).
The construction of Corrientes
Corrientes Avenue
Avenida Corrientes is one of the principal thoroughfares of the Argentine capital of Buenos Aires. The street is intimately tied to the tango and the porteño sense of identity...
and Nueve de Julio Avenues in the 1930s further modernized San Nicolás, which had hitherto been limited in its development by its colonial grid of narrow streets. Florida Street
Florida Street
Florida Street is an elegant shopping street in Downtown Buenos Aires, Argentina. A pedestrian street since 1971, some stretches have been pedestrianized since 1913....
, most of which is in San Nicolás, is the city's best-known pedestrianized street. Its most discernible landmark is the Galerías Pacífico
Galerías Pacífico
Galerías Pacífico is a shopping centre in Buenos Aires, Argentina, located at the intersection of Florida Street and Córdoba Avenue.-Overview:...
shopping arcade.
The district is home to the Argentine Supreme Court, the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Cathedral
Buenos Aires Metropolitan Cathedral
The Buenos Aires Metropolitan Cathedral is the main Catholic church in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is located in the city center, overlooking Plaza de Mayo, on the corner of San Martín and Rivadavia streets, in the San Nicolás neighbourhood...
, the Colón Opera House, headquarters of numerous leading Argentine firms, including Aerolíneas Argentinas
Aerolíneas Argentinas
Aerolíneas Argentinas , formally Aerolíneas Argentinas S.A., is Argentina's largest airline and serves as the country's flag carrier. Owned in its majority by the Argentine Government, the airline is headquartered in the Torre Bouchard, located in San Nicolás, Buenos Aires...
, the Bank of the City of Buenos Aires
Bank of the City of Buenos Aires
The Bank of the City of Buenos Aires is a publicly-owned, municipal commercial bank in Buenos Aires, Argentina.-Overview:...
, La Nación
La Nación
La Nación is an Argentine daily newspaper. The country's leading conservative paper, the centrist Clarín is its main competitor. It is the only newspaper in Argentina still published in broadsheet format.-Overview:...
, Bunge y Born
Bunge y Born
Bunge y Born was a multinational corporation based in Buenos Aires, Argentina, whose diverse interests included food processing and international trade in grains and oilseeds...
, Pérez Companc
Perez Companc
Perez Companc could refer to* Gregorio Pérez Companc, Argentine businessman* Luís Pérez Companc, Argentine rally driver* Pablo Pérez Companc, Argentine auto racing driver* Jorge Pérez Companc, co-driver to Argentine rally driver, Juan Pablo Raies...
, the Macri Group
Francisco Macri
Francisco Macri is a prominent Argentine businessman and father of Mauricio Macri, current mayor of Buenos Aires.-Childhood in Italy:...
, and most of the Buenos Aires Stock Exchange
Buenos Aires Stock Exchange
The Buenos Aires Stock Exchange is the organization responsible for the operation of Argentina's primary stock exchange located at Buenos Aires CBD. Founded in 1854, is the successor of the Banco Mercantil, created in 1822 by Bernardino Rivadavia.Citing BCBA's self definition: "It is a...
leaders, as well as the local offices of a number of international companies, such as BankBoston
BankBoston
BankBoston was a bank based in Boston, Massachusetts, which was created by the 1996 merger of Bank of Boston and BayBank. Bank of Boston had a venerable history dating back to 1784, but the merged BankBoston was short-lived, being acquired by Fleet Bank in 1999...
, BBVA
BBVA Banco Francés
BBVA Banco Francés is a financial institution in Argentina.-History:Founded on October 14, 1886, in Buenos Aires as Banco Francés del Río de la Plata , it is the oldest private bank in Argentina...
, Citibank
Citibank Argentina
Citibank Argentina is a commercial bank and financial services company operating as a wholly owned subsidiary of New York-based Citigroup. Its banking operations are the tenth largest in Argentina.-Overview:...
, Deutsche Bank
Deutsche Bank
Deutsche Bank AG is a global financial service company with its headquarters in Frankfurt, Germany. It employs more than 100,000 people in over 70 countries, and has a large presence in Europe, the Americas, Asia Pacific and the emerging markets...
, HSBC
HSBC Bank Argentina
HSBC Bank Argentina S.A. is the principal HSBC operating company in Argentina. The seventh-largest bank in the country, it provides a full range of banking and financial products and services, including commercial, consumer and corporate banking, to over 1.2 million customers.-Operations:HSBC...
, IBM
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
, Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
, Santander Bank
Banco Santander Río
Banco Santander Río is a commercial bank and financial services company and affiliate of the Santander, Cantabria based Grupo Santander. Based in Buenos Aires, its banking operations are the third largest in Argentina, as well as the largest among all privately-owned banks in the...
, and Techint
Techint
Techint is a conglomerate multinational company founded in Milan in September 1945 by Italian industrialist Agostino Rocca and headquartered in Milan and Buenos Aires . Techint comprises more than 100 companies operating worldwide in the following areas of business: Engineering & Construction,...
.
Retiro
Retiro is one of the largest hubs of transportation services in Argentina. Local and long distance rail service heading to the north originate from Estación RetiroEstación Retiro
Retiro Station is a large railway terminus in the Buenos Aires central business district in Argentina, located in the district of Retiro, opposite Plaza San Martín, a large public square....
(Retiro Terminal Station), and Retiro bus station
Retiro bus station
Retiro bus station is the main bus terminal in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is situated in the Retiro district, 300 m north of Retiro railway station....
is the city's main long-distance bus terminal. Subte line C
Line C (Buenos Aires)
Line C of the Buenos Aires Metro that runs from Retiro to Constitución terminus, opened on 9 November 1934, and it has a length of 4.3 km.-Stations and connections:-Murals:...
of the Buenos Aires Metro
Buenos Aires Metro
The Buenos Aires Metro , locally known as Subte is a mass-transit system that serves the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina. The first station of this network opened in 1913, the first of its kind in South America, the Southern Hemisphere and the entire Spanish-speaking world...
system and numerous local public bus services serve Retiro, and this area is always teeming with commuters and traffic on weekdays.
The most important avenue linking Retiro and the CBD to commuters living in residential areas to the north is Avenida del Libertador
Avenida del Libertador
Avenida del Libertador is one of the principal thoroughfares in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and in points north, extending 25 km from the Retiro District of Buenos Aires to the northern suburb of San Fernando.-History:...
, which becomes Leandro Alem Avenue
Leandro Alem Avenue
Avenida Leandro N. Alem is one of the principal thoroughfares in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and a commercial nerve center of the city's San Nicolás and Retiro districs.-Overview:...
past the Retiro Station. Other important thoroughfares in the Retiro section of the CBD are Córdoba, Santa Fe
Santa Fe Avenue
Avenida Santa Fe is one of the principal thoroughfares in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The artery is essential to the imaginary axis of Barrio Norte in Buenos Aires, comprising the areas influenced by the route of the avenue through Retiro, Recoleta and Palermo neighborhoods, it is considered one of...
, and 9 de Julio Avenue
9 de Julio Avenue
Avenida 9 de Julio is a wide avenue in the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Its name honors Argentina's Independence Day, July 9, 1816.The avenue runs roughly one kilometer to the west of the Río de la Plata waterfront, from the Retiro district in the north to Constitución station in the south...
s.
The high-rise business district of Catalinas Norte
Catalinas Norte
Catalinas Norte is an important business complex composed of fifteen commercial office buildings, in two sections, and occupied by numerous leading Argentine companies, foreign subsidiaries, diplomatic offices, and a hotel...
, as well as the northern end of the Puerto Madero development, is located east of Leandro N. Alem Avenue. Opposite the Retiro train terminal, at the northern end of the CBD, is the leafy Plaza San Martín
Plaza San Martín (Buenos Aires)
Plaza San Martín is a park located in the Retiro neighbourhood of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Situated at the northern end of pedestrianized Florida Street, the park is bounded by Libertador Ave. , Maipú St. , Santa Fe Avenue , and Leandro Alem Av....
, surrounded by great palaces and hotels. The Retiro lowlands were once the training grounds for José de San Martín's
José de San Martín
José Francisco de San Martín, known simply as Don José de San Martín , was an Argentine general and the prime leader of the southern part of South America's successful struggle for independence from Spain.Born in Yapeyú, Corrientes , he left his mother country at the...
Granaderos corps, and the modern-day Plaza San Martín features an equestrian statue honoring the hero of the Argentine War of Independence
Argentine War of Independence
The Argentine War of Independence was fought from 1810 to 1818 by Argentine patriotic forces under Manuel Belgrano, Juan José Castelli and José de San Martín against royalist forces loyal to the Spanish crown...
, as well as a memorial for the dead in the 1982 Falklands War
Falklands War
The Falklands War , also called the Falklands Conflict or Falklands Crisis, was fought in 1982 between Argentina and the United Kingdom over the disputed Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands...
. Facing the station is Argentine Air Force Square, where the Torre Monumental (formerly Torre de los Ingleses), a monument donated by the Anglo-Argentine community for the 1910 centennial celebrations, is located.
Other significant landmarks opposite the Plaza are the Kavanagh Building
Kavanagh building
The Kavanagh Building is an Art Deco skyscraper in Buenos Aires, located at 1065 Florida St. in the barrio of Retiro, overlooking Plaza San Martín. It was designed in 1934 by local architects Gregorio Sánchez, Ernesto Lagos and Luis María de la Torre, and was inaugurated in 1936...
, a reinforced concrete
Reinforced concrete
Reinforced concrete is concrete in which reinforcement bars , reinforcement grids, plates or fibers have been incorporated to strengthen the concrete in tension. It was invented by French gardener Joseph Monier in 1849 and patented in 1867. The term Ferro Concrete refers only to concrete that is...
structure that when completed in 1936, was the tallest building in Latin America at 120 metres (394 ft). The nearby Brunetta Building (formerly headquarters for Olivetti
Olivetti
Olivetti S.p.A. is an Italian manufacturer of computers, printers and other business machines.- Founding :The company was founded as a typewriter manufacturer in 1908 in Ivrea, near Turin, by Camillo Olivetti. The firm was mainly developed by his son Adriano Olivetti...
's Latin American operations) was the first in Argentina to be built in the International style
International style (architecture)
The International style is a major architectural style that emerged in the 1920s and 1930s, the formative decades of Modern architecture. The term originated from the name of a book by Henry-Russell Hitchcock and Philip Johnson, The International Style...
.
Montserrat
Montserrat is located south of San Nicolás. The section of the Montserrat ward within the business district includes some of the most important buildings in Argentine Government and history, and was the site of the Buenos Aires CabildoBuenos Aires Cabildo
The Buenos Aires Cabildo is the public building in Buenos Aires that was used as seat of the ayuntamiento during the colonial times and the government house of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata...
, the colonial town hall.
Avenida de Mayo
Avenida de Mayo , is an avenue in Buenos Aires, capital of Argentina. It connects the Plaza de Mayo with Congressional Plaza, and extends in a west-east direction before merging into Avenida Rivadavia.-History and overview:...
runs through the Montserrat district, connecting Plaza de Mayo
Plaza de Mayo
The Plaza de Mayo is the main square in downtown Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is flanked by Hipólito Yrigoyen, Balcarce, Rivadavia and Bolívar streets....
and Congressional Plaza
Congressional Plaza
Congressional Plaza is a public park facing the Argentine Congress in Buenos Aires. The plaza is part of a 3 hectare open space comprising three adjoining plazas to the east of the Congress building...
. A block or two south of the Plaza de Mayo, the older section of Montserrat begins. This was the location of the Illuminated Block
Illuminated Block
The Illuminated Block is a historical landmark in the Monserrat neighbourhood of Buenos Aires, Argentina.-History:The Society of Jesus arrived in the newly-founded village of Buenos Ayres in 1608, establishing their first mission on a 2 hectare lot which had earlier been aside by Spanish...
, a Jesuit center of higher learning during the 18th century, and today home to the Colegio Nacional de Buenos Aires
Colegio Nacional de Buenos Aires
Colegio Nacional de Buenos Aires is a public high school in Buenos Aires, Argentina. In the tradition of the European gymnasium it provides a free education that includes classical languages such as Latin and Greek. The school is one of the most prestigious in Argentina...
. This is Buenos Aires' oldest neighborhood and even today, very little of the cityscape there is less than a hundred years old (except along Belgrano Avenue), thereby making a nearly seamless transition to the likewise historic San Telmo
San Telmo
San Telmo is the oldest barrio of Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is a well-preserved area of the Argentine metropolis and is characterized by its colonial buildings. Cafes, tango parlors and antique shops line the cobblestone streets, which are often filled with artists and dancers.San Telmo's...
district to the south.
The district's led central location and its presence therein of much of Argentina's governmental structure led to monumental construction over the 1910s, notable among which are the Casa Rosada
Casa Rosada
La Casa Rosada is the official seat of the executive branch of the government of Argentina, and of the offices of the President. The President normally lives at the Quinta de Olivos, a compound in Olivos, Buenos Aires Province. Its characteristic color is pink, and is considered one of the most...
, City Hall
Buenos Aires City Hall
Buenos Aires City Hall is the executive seat of government of the Argentine capital.-Building:The 1880 Federalization of Buenos Aires was followed by a boom in foreign trade and European immigration, and in 1890, Mayor Francisco P. Bollini commissioned the construction of a new city hall...
, the City Legislature
Buenos Aires City Legislature
The Buenos Aires City Legislature is a central part of the Government of the City of Buenos Aires, as well as an architectural landmark in the city's Montserrat section.-History:...
, the Customs building
Buenos Aires Customs
The Buenos Aires Customs House is a government building and architectural landmark in the Montserrat section of Buenos Aires.-Overview:...
, the offices of La Prensa
La Prensa (Buenos Aires)
La Prensa is an Argentine daily newspaper.Based in Buenos Aires, it was founded on 18 October 1869 by José C. Paz. La Prensa ranked among the most widely circulated dailies in Argentina in subsequent decades, earning a reputation for conservatism and support for British interests in Argentina...
(today the Buenos Aires House of Culture
Buenos Aires House of Culture
The Buenos Aires House of Culture is an architectural landmark in the Montserrat section of the Argentine capital.-Overview:The outmoded headquarters of what was then Argentina's second-largest newspaper, La Prensa, led its influential proprietor in 1894, José Clemente Paz, to purchase a 1300 m² ...
), the art-deco NH City Hotel (off the Plaza de Mayo), the Libertador Building
Libertador Building
The Libertador Building is a government building in Buenos Aires, Argentina, housing the Ministry of Defense.-Overview:...
(Ministry of Defense), and South Diagonal Avenue. Montserrat's western half was partitioned from the rest by the southward expansion of the massive Nueve de Julio Avenue around 1950.
The area became a largely bohemian quarter popular with tango
Argentine tango
Argentine tango is a musical genre of simple quadruple metre and binary musical form, and the social dance that accompanies it. Its lyrics and music are marked by nostalgia, expressed through melodic instruments including the bandoneon. Originated at the ending of the 19th century in the suburbs of...
performers and artists, as well as many who preferred the area's close proximity to the growing financial district
San Nicolás, Buenos Aires
San Nicolás is one of the neighbourhoods of the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina, sharing most of the city and national government structure with neighboring Montserrat and home to much of Buenos Aires' financial sector...
to the north and its relatively low rent scale. Its rich architectural history and quiet, narrow streets have, as in neighboring San Telmo
San Telmo
San Telmo is the oldest barrio of Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is a well-preserved area of the Argentine metropolis and is characterized by its colonial buildings. Cafes, tango parlors and antique shops line the cobblestone streets, which are often filled with artists and dancers.San Telmo's...
, helped lead to renewed tourist
Tourism in Argentina
Tourism in Argentina is favored by its ample and varied natural assets and by its cultural offerings. The country is lucky to have everything a tourist would ask for...
interest in Montserrat since around 1990.
Puerto Madero
Puerto Madero, occupies a significant portion of the docklands and as the newest of Buenos Aires' 48 boroughs, features the latest architectural trends in Argentina.Originally developed by local businessman Eduardo Madero
Eduardo Madero
Eduardo Madero was an Argentine merchant, banker and developer.-Life and times:Eduardo Madero was born in Buenos Aires, in 1823, to a family of farmers. A nephew of publisher Florencio Varela, his uncle's enmity with the Governor of Buenos Aires Province, Juan Manuel de Rosas, led Madero to...
and designed by British engineer Sir John Hawkshaw
John Hawkshaw
Sir John Hawkshaw , was an English civil engineer.-Early life:He was born in Leeds, Yorkshire and was educated at Leeds Grammar School...
, Puerto Madero was inaugurated in 1897. Its four docks were relegated to ancillary port functions after the 1926 completion of the New Port to the north, however, and became derelict. Beginning around 1994, however, local and foreign investment led to a massive revitalization effort, recycling and refurbishing the west side warehouses into upscale offices, lofts, restaurants, private universities and luxurious hotels. State-of-the-art multiplex cinemas, theatres, cultural centres, luxurious hotels and office and corporate buildings are located mostly in the eastern side of the district.
Puerto Madero has been redeveloped with international flair, drawing interest from renown architects such as Santiago Calatrava
Santiago Calatrava
Santiago Calatrava Valls is a Spanish architect, sculptor and structural engineer whose principal office is in Zürich, Switzerland. Classed now among the elite designers of the world, he has offices in Zürich, Paris, Valencia, and New York City....
, Norman Foster
Norman Foster, Baron Foster of Thames Bank
Norman Robert Foster, Baron Foster of Thames Bank, OM is a British architect whose company maintains an international design practice, Foster + Partners....
, César Pelli
César Pelli
César Pelli is an Argentine architect known for designing some of the world's tallest buildings and other major urban landmarks. In 1991, the American Institute of Architects listed Pelli among the ten most influential living American architects...
and Phillippe Starck, among others. Today one of the trendiest boroughs in Buenos Aires, it has become the preferred address for growing numbers of young professionals and retirees, alike. Increasing property prices have also generated interest in the area as a destination for foreign buyers, particularly those in the market for premium investment properties.
The neighborhood's road network has been entirely rebuilt, especially in the east side. The layout of the east side consists currently of three wide boulevards running east-west crossed by the east side's main street, Juana Manso Avenue. The layout is completed with some other avenues and minor streets, running both east-west and north-south, and by several pedestrianised streets. All the streets of Puerto Madero are named after women
Women in Argentina
Women in Argentina have attained a relatively high level of equality by Latin American standards, and in the Global Gender Gap Report prepared by the World Economic Forum in 2009, Argentine women ranked 24th among 134 countries studied in terms of their access to resources and opportunities...
. The Puente de la Mujer
Puente de la Mujer
The Puente de la Mujer is a footbridge in the Puerto Madero district of Buenos Aires, Argentina that spans dock 3 . It is of the Cantilever spar cable-stayed bridge type and is also a swing bridge, but somewhat unique in its asymmetrical arrangement...
(Women's Bridge), designed in 2001 by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava
Santiago Calatrava
Santiago Calatrava Valls is a Spanish architect, sculptor and structural engineer whose principal office is in Zürich, Switzerland. Classed now among the elite designers of the world, he has offices in Zürich, Paris, Valencia, and New York City....
, is the newest link between the east and west docks of Puerto Madero.
Puerto Madero represents the largest wide-scale urban project in the city of Buenos Aires, currently. Having undergone an impressive revival in merely a decade, it is one of the most successful recent waterfront renewal projects in the world.
Numerous new residential high-rises of up to 50 stories have been built facing on the eastern half of Puerto Madero since 2000. These include El Mirador of Puerto Madero towers, Renoir Towers
Renoir Towers
The Renoir Towers are two residential towers currently under development in the Puerto Madero neighborhood of Buenos Aires, Argentina....
, El Faro towers
El Faro towers
The El Faro Towers is a complex of two, twin interconnected towers located in the neighbourhood of Puerto Madero, Buenos Aires, Argentina.- Structure :They have a total height of and an area of...
, Chateau Tower of Puerto Madero
Chateau Tower of Puerto Madero
Château Tower of Puerto Madero is a high-rise residential complex located in the neighborhood of Puerto Madero in Buenos Aires, Argentina.The development began with the 2006 purchase of two, 7,000 m² lots in the Puerto Madero section by the Château Group, and was origially intended to include two,...
, and the Mulieris towers
Mulieris towers
Torres Mulieris are two towers of 44 floors each. They are located in the Puerto Madero neighborhood in Buenos Aires, Argentina.Developed by Creaurban, a unit of the Macri Group, the two residential buildings were completed in 2009, and became the fifth-tallest buildings in Argentina....
, among others. Notable non-residential structures include the Repsol-YPF tower
Repsol-YPF tower
The Repsol-YPF tower is a corporate high-rise building designed by internationally recognized architect César Pelli constructed in the Puerto Madero barrio of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Construction began in 2005, and the office building was completed in September 2008. The building is tall and...
, the Buenos Aires Hilton
Buenos Aires Hilton
The Buenos Aires Hilton is a five star hotel in the Argentine capital.-Overview:The establishment is located in the city's Puerto Madero section....
, the Faena Hotel+Universe
Faena Hotel+Universe
The Faena Hotel+Universe is a five star hotel in the Puerto Madero section of Buenos Aires.-Overview:The lot where the hotel is today situated was originally purchased in 1902 by Bunge y Born, the leading local agribusiness firm...
(one of a number of refurbished former Molinos Río de la Plata
Molinos Río de la Plata
Molinos Río de la Plata is Argentina's largest branded food products company. The company is a large exporter of sunflower processed oil and is one of Argentina's main exporters of bottled oil...
silos), and the Fortabat Art Collection
Fortabat Art Collection
The Amalia Lacroze de Fortabat Art Collection is a museum of fine arts in Buenos Aires, Argentina.-Overview:The museum was initiated by María Amalia Lacroze de Fortabat, the longtime Chairperson and chief stockholder of Loma Negra, the largest cement manufacturer in Argentina...
museum building.
Additionally a St. Regis Starwood Hotel is being built along Dock 4, where the famous Opera Bay nightclub was formerly located, and is scheduled to open in 2013. An expansive Jumeirah Polo resort will also feature a hotel in Puerto Madero, working jointly with the Campo Argentino de Polo
Campo Argentino de Polo
The Campo Argentino del Polo, popularly known as the 'Cathedral of Polo', is a multi-purpose stadium in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is currently used mostly for polo, pato and field hockey matches and hosted matches for the 1978 World Hockey Cup....
and other polo fields in and outside Buenos Aires.