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buenos aires: visiting the casa rosada

Buenos Aires, Casa Rosada

Buenos Aires has its share of iconic buildings & ranking near the top of the list would be the Casa de Gobierno, more popularly known as the Casa Rosada. Let’s just say it: either you like pink or you don’t… not much room for middle ground. In a previous incarnation of this blog, I chronicled the restoration of the building & will have to repost that info later. For now, suffice it to say that the Casa Rosada got a new coat of paint & a lot interior work during Kirchner’s term. For a fascinating & detailed look at the architectural history of the building, Pablo Juan Chiesa has done an amazing amount of research (in Spanish).

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coimbra: portugal dos pequenitos

Portugal, Coimbra, Portugal dos Pequenitos, Cassiano Branco

Behind the recently restored Mosteiro de Santa Clara-a-Velha sits what most people consider to be a kids’ attraction. But this playground of miniature monuments, tiny houses & museum displays from around the world —Portugal dos Pequenitos— was designed to do a lot more than entertain children. Built under the Salazar regime from 1937 to 1961 by architect Cassiano Branco, this compact display of the best of Portugal transmits a message that few people understand today.

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buenos aires: confitería del molino

Buenos Aires, Confitería del Molino, Francisco Gianotti

In the past ten years, Buenos Aires has come a long way in terms of preserving city heritage. New organizations have formed, especially on neighborhood level, keeping watch over the city’s buildings & blowing the whistle when sneaky developers try to destroy what makes BA so unique. That said, one particular building sums up everything wrong about the city’s attitude toward conservation: the Confitería del Molino.

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buenos aires: alejandro christophersen

Alejandro Christophersen, Bolsa, Buenos Aires, staircase, escalera
● Stock market, Buenos Aires – photo courtesy BCBA

Since I’ve become such a fan of Buenos Aires architecture, I’ll begin a series of posts about our best architects in order to highlight who have made BA such a joy to walk around. There’s no better place to start than the grandfather of all BA architects, Alejandro Christophersen.

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