Abasto Shopping Mall

Abasto, the huge art deco style complex in the neighborhood of the same name, is Buenos Aires largest shopping mall. The mall’s baronial façade along Corrientes Avenue features five huge leaded glass archways that are emblematic of the neighborhood, especially when alight in the evening. Inside, a huge atrium floods the building with natural light. [...]

San Telmo — The Barrio that Refuses to Sell Out

  San Telmo vies with nearby La Boca for the title of ‘the barrio that birthed the tango.’ While the birthright of tango may boil down to a technicality, lively San Telmo remains a focal point of the city’s tango and art scenes. Buenos Aires’ most historic neighborhood has narrow cobblestone streets lined with resplendent, [...]

Puerto Madero–Buenos Aires’ Modern Waterfront Neighborhood

Puerto Madero is Buenos Aires’ ritzy prototype of modernity in a city otherwise beloved for its history. The city’s newest district, with its sleek high-rises, perfect sidewalks and well-equipped parks is considered one of the most successful urban waterfront restoration projects in the world. The long, narrow dockside neighborhood adorned by young urban professionals now [...]

Diagonal Norte—La Equitativa del Plata Building

← cont. from: Florida St.—The Bank of Boston Building Across from Diagonal Norte’s Bank of Boston is the Equitativa del Plata building designed by Alejandro Virasoro. Visoro was one of Buenos Aires’ most prolific architects during the 1920’s and had a long career reaching into the early 1960’s. Although somewhat dull compared to surrounding offices, [...]

Florida St.—The Gath and Chavez Building

←cont. from: Galería Mitre—Baroque Architecture on Florida Street The eight floor Gath and Chavez building at Florida 202,  a block away from Galería Mitre is another historic building downtown that today contains a Falabella department store. This building, inaugurated in 1914, was once an elegant shopping destination, comparable to Harrods Buenos Aires. It had a [...]

The World’s Most Elegant Burger King

All along Buenos Aires downtown Florida Street visitors will find beautiful historic buildings occupied by multinational corporate chains—it’s an unfortunate reality for traditionalists but these buildings, unlike the Naval Center and Argentine Rural Society, are some of the most accessible for viewing. The most notable example is found on the corner of Corrientes and Florida [...]

The Naval Center—A Beaux-Arts Gem on Florida St.

←cont. from: Galerías Pacífico—Florida Street’s Shopping Mall At 801 Florida Street, across from Galerías Pacifíco, the huge arched doorway overlooked by an ornate cast iron sea nymph blowing his bugle gives a hint to the magnificence inside. The 1914 Beaux-Arts building, one of Florida Street’s architectural gems, is home to the Argentine Naval Center. The [...]

Florida — Buenos Aires’ Downtown Pedestrian Mall

Buenos Aires’ downtown thoroughfare Florida Street is the city’s most notable pedestrian area and an enduring neutral ground for a diverse cross-section of humanity. While pleasant for a nice stroll away from the rumbling Buenos Aires buses and home to quite a few architectural gems, it’s admittedly not one of the city’s most dazzling destinations. [...]

Porteño of the Week

Eduardo Masollorens University of Buenos Aires Professor/Eternautas Historic Tour Guide Age: 61 Retiro Q: What do you enjoy about being a professor and tour guide? Teaching is part of my soul; it brings me a lot of pleasure. You can see it in me when I talk that I am very passionate about it. • [...]

Café Retiro — Retiro Station’s Old World Café & Restaurant

Café Retiro reveals Buenos Aires’ former glory days like many similar cafes in the Argentine capital, yet here the grand interior contrast sharply with the chaos found outside it’s confines. Whether you’re passing through Retiro, waiting for a train to the suburbs or have come to admire the architecture of Retiro station, it’s worth making [...]