Foto of the Week: Leo Messi Statue in Costanera Sur

The new statue of Lionel Messi, along the Paseo de la gloria (Glory Promenade) in the Costanera Sur. The larger-than-life bronze statue of the five time player of the year is by sculptor, Carlos Benavides.

The erection of the statue came at a timely moment to demonstrate some Argentine affection for the star, who is sometimes derided in his home country. After missing a penalty in a shootout at the 2016 Centennial Cup America causing a loss to arch rival Chile, Messi announced he would retire from the Argentine team. The move caused fans to panic and a Twitter storm with the #notevayasleo (Don’t go Messi) hashtag going viral. The city of Buenos Aires also made the same request on electronic message boards in transport hubs throughout the city. Even President Macri called Messi to urge him not to quit the team. He is also considering not renewing his contract with FC Barcelona in 2018. Additionally, Messi was also found guilty of tax fraud in a Spanish court this month and received a 21 month suspended sentence and fines.

The statue adds to the Costanera Sur’s collection of Argentine sport greats along the promenade, including Guillermo Vilas, Emanuel Ginóbili, Gabriela Sabatini, Luciana Aymar, Roberto de Vicenzo, Hugo Porta, José Meolan, Pascual Pérez and Juan Manuel Fangio.

Foto of the Week: Afternoon at the Ecological Reserve

The far end of Buenos Aires’ Ecological Reserve in Puerto Madero is a popular lounging spot on warm days in the city.

On clear days, the landing on the far side of the reserve, alongside the Rio de la Plata, or River Plate, offers views of Uruguay.

Attractions in Puerto Madero

Puerto Madero is a nice neighborhood to lounge in one of many parks, ride a bike and perhaps dine on the waterfront, but it’s not distinguished for its abundance of touristic sights. There are a handful of attractions for sightseers, history buffs and art lovers in Puerto Madero though.

On the east side of dock four, by crane eight, you can stroll by the tourist information office of Puerto Madero to pick up some maps and tourist info in a variety of languages.

Along the southern side of Puerto Madero is Buenos Aires only floating casino, the ‘Star of Fortune,’ a replica of a Mississippi riverboat. Casino Puerto Madero has 700 slot machines and 150 tables of the standard casino games and is open 24 hours a day. If you lose money here we would like to say you could take comfort knowing that the income earned is invested back into the country– profits go to the Argentine National Lottery, but they are currently facing legal action for a lack of transparency.

On dock two you can step into the Catholic University of Argentina’s Art Pavilion and check out some interesting exhibitions for free.

On dock four, near the tourist information center, is the Corbeta Uruguay Museum, a gunner boat that pioneered Arctic exploration. This 1874 boat is the oldest of Argentina’s navy’s fleet.

If one boat isn’t sufficient on dock three you can visit the Fragata Presidente Sarmiento, a 1897 Argentine Navy training boat converted into a museum that will delight kids. This ship, now declared a national monument, sailed around the world over 40 times and hosted notable guests such as Theodore Roosevelt.

Crossing over to the eastern side of the water, you’ll pass the Buenos Aires Yatch Club and the 200 sailboats docked there. There is a nautical school here that gives classes in sailing, rowing and kayaking.

On the same side of the dock is the public art collection of Amalia Lacroze de Fortabat, one of Argentina’s wealthiest women. Over 200 works on display in a modern building of glass and steel. It has electronically controlled moving panels that allow for maximum control of the natural light. Among the artists whose works on display are Joseph Mallord, William Turner, Andy Warhol and Pieter Brueghel II and Argentine artists such as Xul Solar and Antonio Berni.

East of all the action in central Puerto Madero you can also take a ramble around the sprawling Costanera Sur, where you can visit the Humor Museum in the old Munich Brewery and enter the peaceful confines of the Costanera Sur Ecological Reserve, a national park running along the eastern side of Puerto Madero.

Tourist information Center, Puerto Madero
Av. Alicia Moreau de Justo 200
Dock 4, Crane 8
Tel: 4313-0187

• Hours: Mon-Sat, 10 am—6 pm

Casino Puerto Madero
Elvira Rawson de Dellepiane (no number)
Dock 1
Tel:  4363-3100

Catholic University of Argentina Art’s Pavilion
Paseo Joan M. Gorriti 1300
Dock 2
Tel: 4349-0200

• Hours:Tues—Sun: 11a.m.—7p.m
• Cost: free

Frigate President Sarmiento Museum
Dock 3 (Juana M. Gorriti)
Tel (for guided tours): 4334-9389
• Hours: Sun—Fri 9 am-10 pm, Sat: 9am—11pm
• Cost: AR-$/children under five free

Corbeta Uruguay Museum
600 Juana M. Gorriti
Dock 4
Tel: 4314-1090 (to arrange guided tours)

• Hours: Everyday, 10am-9pm
•Cost: AR-$/children under five free

Yacht Club Puerto Madero
Dock four
Tel: 4313-8008

Art Collection of Amalia Lacroze de Fortabat
Olga Cossettini 141
Dock 4
Tel: 4310-6600

• Entrance: AR-$$
• Hours: Tue- Sun; 12—9 pm
• Closed Mondays
• Guided tours in Spanish everyday at 5 pm

Costanera Sur Ecological Reserve
Av. Costanera Tristan Achaval Rodríguez 1550
Tel. 4315-4129/4893-1853
• Cost: free

Museum Center of Buenos Aires/Munich Brewery
Av. de los Italianos 851
Tel: 4516-0943/ 4/9
• Hours: Mon-Fri; 10am–6pm
Sat &Sun: 10am-7pm
• Residents: AR$-/Non-residents: AR-$

The Resurrection and Boom of Puerto Madero

Spanning the limit from La Boca on its south side to Retiro on the north, Puerto Madero is one of the few neighborhoods in Buenos Aires in which to enjoy a glistening waterfront, even if — truth be told — it’s really just a causeway filled with brackish water from the River Plate.

The neighborhood owes its name to Eduardo Madero, a businessman who was contracted in 1882 by the government to construct the levees that would allow large boats to come into Buenos Aires. The city was experiencing a lot of growth at the time but exports were impeded because boats had to anchor far off land due to shallow waters.

Madero’s port solved this problem and was considered an engineering feat that projected an image of Buenos Aires’ modernity. The project lacked foresight though and within ten years of Puerto Madero’s completion in 1898, the size of the boats coming to port increased beyond its capacity, making it obsolete. Puerto Nuevo, a mile north then became the city’s main port and for most the remainder of the 20th century Puerto Madero steadily deteriorated into a wasteland and dumping ground.

Urban Development in Puerto Madero

puertomaderob4redevelopment — Puerto Madero before its resurrection

After various proposals to resurrect the area throughout the 20th century, it wasn’t until 1989 under President Carlos Menem that an urbanization plan came into place. In a scheme typical of the now unpopular president he created a private corporation — split equally between the federal government and the city of Buenos Aires — to fund the project.

Once incorporated, the land of Puerto Madero was parceled out to private entities. In 1996 it was officially designated as Buenos Aires neighborhood 47 and within the last ten years it has boomed. Today Puerto Madero is Buenos Aires’ wealthiest and fastest growing neighborhood with skyscrapers overtaking the landscape. By 2013 it will have South America’s tallest building, Puerto Madero Towers, a residential project being developed by the same people who own Buenos Aires’ exclusive hotel, the Alvear Palace.

Puerto Madero Transportation

While Puerto Madero residents benefit from the greenery of the Ecological Reserve and the open parks of Costanera Sur, a slight drawback for those living or staying here is it is somewhat disconnected from the rest of the city, lacking in subway service and away from the city’s major arteries. Most denizens here own cars, but other transportation options are making it more accessible.

One of the newest transport alternatives is the Puerto Madero Tramway, hastily inaugurated in 2007, just before the elections. The AR$ 1 train ride won’t get you far yet –- the current two kilometer service runs from the intersection of Independencia to Cordoba Street. Plans are in place to extend the line two kilometers north to Retiro train station, to Caminto in La Boca to the south and — if city officials can come to an agreement — Constitución train station.

A company called Sturla Viajes is now offering a ferry service to get to Puerto Madero from Tigre, at a cost of only AR$ 15 per trip.

A new bicycle path connecting, Palermo, Retiro and La Boca also passes through Puerto Madero. The neighborhood is accessible by foot from downtown or by bus.

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 beats out the more aristocratic Recoleta as the most exclusive among Buenos Aires’ 48 neighborhoods.

Walking around Puerto Madero it’s hard to believe that twenty-five years ago this area was nothing but an urban wasteland occupied only by empty warehouses, zombies and rats.

The neighborhood contains 12,500 residents, and due to what seems like a new apartment tower every month, that number is growing rapidly. The latest Buenos Aires’ census indicates that it remains the city’s fastest growing neighborhood. Among tourists, the area is favored by business travelers – some of Buenos Aires’ most exclusive hotels are located here including Hilton Puerto Madero and the Faena Hotel+Universe, voted by Travel And Leisure magazine as one of the top 500 hotels in the world.

While the apartment towers in the neighborhood are new, on the west docks are Puerto Madero’s original four-story red brick warehouses dating to 1900. More than a century ago these buildings served as offices and grain storage for shipping companies. The English-style warehouses now contain luxury offices, restaurants, a movie theater and a private Catholic university.

In keeping with its innovative reputation, in 2008 Google jump-started the Buenos Aires tech scene and opened their national headquarters here in an event that was attended by then-President Cristina Kirchner.

A Neighborhood Honoring Argentina’s Women

If Puerto Madero’s shininess doesn’t win over visitors who have more classical tastes, its conceptualization as an homage to women might.

The street names here all identify famous Argentine women such as Aimé Painé, a Mapuche princess and singer who fought for indigenous rights; ‘disappeared’ Argentine activist Azucena Villaflor and feminist and politician, Alicia Moreau de Justo. The neighborhood’s newly-coined street, Niní Marshall was chosen by citizens in an online poll in honor of Argentina’s answer to Lucile Ball.

Most notable among the area’s landmarks is the beautiful Puente de la Mujer (Woman’s Bridge) inaugurated in 1991. Designed by Spanish architect, Santiago Calatrava, the pedestrian bridge connects the east and west sides of the docks and rotates 90 degrees to allow boats to pass. Calatrava says the bridge represents a couple dancing tango but the symbolism is so abstract that you can only conclude that ‘a couple dancing tango’ is an euphemism. It is one of the visual highlights in the neighborhood when illuminated at night.

Puerto Madero’s privileged backyard playgrounds are the ecological reserve, a 360-hectacre national park and the rambling coastal esplanade, the Costanera Sur.

→ Check out the affordable Buenos Aires City & Boat Tour to get great panoramic views of Buenos Aires and Puerto Madero’s green spaces.