Francisco Salamone
Encyclopedia
Francisco Salamone was an Argentine
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...

 architect of Italian descent who, between 1936 and 1940, during the Infamous Decade
Infamous Decade
The Infamous Decade in Argentina is the name given to the period of time that started in 1930 with the coup d'état against President Hipólito Yrigoyen by José Félix Uriburu...

, built more than 60 municipal buildings with elements of Art Deco
Art Deco
Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...

 style in 25 rural communities on the Argentine Pampas within the Buenos Aires Province
Buenos Aires Province
The Province of Buenos Aires is the largest and most populous province of Argentina. It takes the name from the city of Buenos Aires, which used to be the provincial capital until it was federalized in 1880...

. These buildings were some of the first examples of modern architecture in rural Argentine.

Life

According to Alberto Belucci, Salamone was born in 1897 in 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...

, one of four sons of an architect from Catania
Catania
Catania is an Italian city on the east coast of Sicily facing the Ionian Sea, between Messina and Syracuse. It is the capital of the homonymous province, and with 298,957 inhabitants it is the second-largest city in Sicily and the tenth in Italy.Catania is known to have a seismic history and...

, Sicily
Sicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...

 (another historian, Ed Shaw, placed his birth in the town of Leonforte, Catania, Sicily, one year earlier, however). After leaving the Otto Krause Technical School
Otto Krause Technical School
The Escuela Técnica Otto Krause is an educational institution located at the intersection of Paseo Colón Avenue and Chile Street, in the San Telmo section of Buenos Aires, Argentina...

 in 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...

 he continued his studies in the National University of Córdoba
National University of Córdoba
The National University of Córdoba, , is the oldest university in Argentina, and one of the oldest in the Americas. It is located in Córdoba, the capital of Córdoba Province. Since the early 20th century it has been the second largest university in the country in terms of the number of students,...

 where he graduated in 1917 with a degree in architecture and civil engineering.

Salamone married the daughter of the British Consul in Bahía Blanca Adolfina Croft with whom he had four children, Ricardo, Roberto, Annie and Stella Maris. He became a good friend of Dr. Manuel A. Fresco, a conservative politician who was governor of the Province of Buenos Aires during the period 1936-1940. During Fresco's term of office a large number of new municipal buildings were built and the roads, irrigation and communications networks in the province were largely improved. Although many of the new buildings were of little aesthetic value, those that Fresco commissioned Salamone were a notable and very personal combination of Art Deco
Art Deco
Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...

, authoritarianism, functionalism, Italian Futorismo and propaganda on a vast scale. The use of reinforced concrete made it possible to construct buildings to a height that at that time made them symbols of municipal power and authority.
The rural towns in which Salamone's buildings appeared were 500 km or more from 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...

 city, and were either frontier towns, built at the end of the nineteenth century on the edge of Indian territory, or were situated at regular intervals along newly-built rail links. These towns were named after the colonels and generals who led the Conquest of the Desert
Conquest of the Desert
The Conquest of the Desert was a military campaign directed mainly by General Julio Argentino Roca in the 1870s, which established Argentine dominance over Patagonia, which was inhabited by indigenous peoples...

 and engineers who pioneered the building of the railways in this part of the Province.

When Fresco's term as Provincial governor came to an end in 1940, Salamone and his family moved back to 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...

, where he designed just two more buildings in Rationist style. He died on 8 August 1959, relatively forgotten, but leaving behind him a monumental architectural inheritance on the Argentine pampas. He was buried in Recoleta Cemetery
La Recoleta Cemetery
La Recoleta Cemetery is a famous cemetery located in the exclusive Recoleta neighbourhood of Buenos Aires, Argentina. It contains the graves of notable people, including Eva Perón, Raúl Alfonsín, and several presidents of Argentina.- History :...

.

Buildings

Salamone's work comprised three types of municipal buildings:
  • Town Halls: these are characterised by their massive proportions and high tower, taller than the local church tower, to symbolise the advance of civilisation over the Pampas and recalled both the medieval palazzi comunali and the designs of Benito Mussolini
    Benito Mussolini
    Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was an Italian politician who led the National Fascist Party and is credited with being one of the key figures in the creation of Fascism....

    's Italy. These buildings were clearly intended to be the centre of urban life. Examples are to be found in Carlos Pellegrini, Alberti, Carhué
    Carhué
    Carhué is an Argentine town in the Province of Buenos Aires, head of the Municipality of Adolfo Alsina. Carhué is about 561 km to the west of the city of La Plata and about 520 km from Buenos Aires...

    , Guamini, Adolfo Alsina, Laprida
    Laprida, Buenos Aires
    Laprida is a town in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It is the head town of the Laprida Partido.-Attractions:*Museo Archivo Histórico Hugo H. Diez...

    , Rauch, Balcarce
    Balcarce, Buenos Aires
    -External links:...

    , Tornquist
    Tornquist, Buenos Aires
    Tornquist is a town in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It is the head town of the Tornquist Partido.-History:The settlement was founded in 1883 by Ernesto Tornquist, and was settled by Germans and Volga Germans. Historically agricultural, its economic base was later supplemented by a growing...

    , Puán, Chillar, Saldungaray, Gonzales Chaves
    Adolfo Gonzales Chaves, Buenos Aires
    Adolfo Gonzales Chaves is a town in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It is the head town of the Adolfo Gonzales Chaves Partido.-History:* 1886 The opening of the Buenos Aires Great Southern Railway line between Tandil and Tres Arroyos saw the construction of a railway station named "Estación...

     and Coronel Pringles
    Coronel Pringles
    Coronel Pringles is a town in the south of the Buenos Aires Province in Argentina. It is the head town of the Coronel Pringles Partido.The partido of Coronel Pringles was created in 1882 by the government of the Province of Buenos Aires who divided the territory of Tres Arroyos into the partidos of...

    .

  • Cemetery Portals: these were also characterised by their massive proportions. Examples can be found in Saldungaray, Laprida, Azul
    Azul, Buenos Aires
    Azul is the head city of the Azul Partido, located at the center of the Buenos Aires Province in Argentina, 300 km south of Buenos Aires. It has 63,000 inhabitants as per the ....

    , Salliqueló
    Salliqueló
    Salliqueló is a town in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It is the head town of the Salliqueló Partido.-External links:...

     and Balcarce.

  • Slaughterhouses: these are functional in design, on the outskirts of towns, and have become obsolete with the introduction of modern butchery techniques and the advent of cold-storage plants. Examples can be found in Tres Lomas
    Tres Lomas
    Tres Lomas is a town in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It is the head town of the Tres Lomas Partido....

    , Balcarce, Carhué, Guaminí
    Guaminí
    -History:The area was first occupied by Europeans during the Conquest of the Desert. The first settlement in the location was founded on March 30, 1876 and called Santa María de Guaminí. On March 28, 1883 the settlement was officially founded with the name Guaminí....

    , Coronel Pringles (whose tower is in the form of the blade of a knife), Azul
    Azul, Buenos Aires
    Azul is the head city of the Azul Partido, located at the center of the Buenos Aires Province in Argentina, 300 km south of Buenos Aires. It has 63,000 inhabitants as per the ....

    , Laprida, Vedia, Salliqueló, Chillar and Carlos Pelegrini.

External links

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