BUENOS AIRES AREA BY AREA - Argentina - page 89

The interior of Galerías Pacífico topped by beautiful frescoes on its dome

6 Edificio
Kavanagh
Calle Florida 1065. City Map 3 E3.

4 Palacio Haedo
Ave Santa Fe 690. City Map 3 E4.
Te l [phone]. Retiro, San
Martín. @ 61, 93, 99, 130, 152.
Open 9:30am-5:30pm Mon-Fri.

1889 by architects Francisco
Seeber and Emilio Bunge as a
one-stop emporium for the
city's elite, it was reputedly
inspired by the famous Paris
department store Le Bon
Marché. The building was later
taken over by state railroad
offices and became known as
Edificio Pacífico, after the
railroad line that ran through
Argentina to Chile and the
Pacific Coast. In 1945, the
structure was substantially
remodeled and a series of
striking frescoes by
Argentinian muralists Berni,
Castagnino, Colmeiro, and
Urruchúa were added to the
central cupola.
It was not until the early
1990s that the structure
was given an elegant
makeover for its current
function as an upmarket
shopping mall and
home of the Centro
Cultural Borges arts
center. Named after
the country's most
famous literary
icon, this active
institute holds
inter national
painting and
photographic
exhibitions,
along with art
auctions and
experimental
dance and
music shows.

San Martín, Retiro. 93 & 152.

This national landmark,
394 ft (120 m) tall, was South
America's tallest building
when it was completed in
1935, as well as the highest
reinforced concrete building
in the world. Edificio Kavanagh
was financed by the Irish
heiress Corina Kavanagh,
who was from a wealthy
ranching family, and who
reputedly used up her entire
inheritance in constructing the
edifice. The imposing tower
features symmetrical setbacks
and gradual surface
reductions, and the
style was hailed as
one of the world's
best examples
of the marriage
between Art Deco,
moder nism, and
rationalism. With
integra ted air
condi tioning
and advanced
plumbing, the
105 apartments
in this tower
repre sented
the height of
technology
and func-
tionality in
their day.

@

Built in 1880, this Neo-Gothic
building was once the grand
residence of the Haedos. They
were one of the handful of
porteño families who amassed
great wealth in the late 19th
century, owing to the boom in
meat exports. The building has
since passed through various
hands, but the current occu-
pant, the Asociación de Parques
Nacionales, has been in
residence since 1942. The
ground floor is open to visitors,
where leaflets on Argentina's
national parks are handed out.
The building also houses the
Biblioteca Francisco P. Moreno.

5 Galerías Pacífico
Calle Florida 753. City Map 3 E4.
Te l [phone]. Florida.

@ 6, 93, 130, 152. Open 10am−

9pm Mon−Sat, noon−9pm Sun.
8 11:30am & 4:30pm Mon−Fri. 7

∑ galeriaspacifico.com.ar

Centro Cultural Borges: Open 10am-
9pm Mon-Sat, noon-9pm Sun. &

7 ∑ ccborges.org.ar

Located on Florida, one of the
city's busiest pedestrianized
shopping streets, Galerías
Pacífico (see p124) is a hand-
some shopping mall. Built in

A view of the monolithic Edificio Kavanagh
from Plaza San Martín