View source for Architecture of Argentina

{{Short description|South American history of the built environment}} <!-- "none" is preferred when the title is sufficiently descriptive; see [[WP:SDNONE]] -->
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{{Expand Spanish|date=June 2025}}
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{{Original research|date=August 2007}}
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{{Argentine culture}}

The '''architecture of [[Argentina]]''' can be said to start at the beginning of the [[Spanish colonization of the Americas|Spanish colonisation]], though it was in the 18th century that the cities of the country reached their splendour. Cities like [[Córdoba, Argentina|Córdoba]], [[Salta]], [[Mendoza, Argentina|Mendoza]], and also [[Buenos Aires]] conserved most their historical [[Spanish colonial architecture]] in spite of their urban growth.

==History==
[[File:Congreso-sol_cupula-TM.jpg|thumb|250px|left|National Congress of Argentina designed by Victor Meano.]]
The simplicity of the ''[[Río de la Plata|Rioplatense]]'' [[Baroque style]] can be clearly appreciated in Buenos Aires, in the works of Italian architects such as André Blanqui and Antonio Masella, in the churches of [[San Ignacio Miní|San Ignacio]], [[Nuestra Señora del Pilar]], the [[Buenos Aires Cathedral|Cathedral]] and the [[Buenos Aires Cabildo|Cabildo]].

Italian and French influences increased after the [[Argentine War of Independence|wars for independence]] at the beginning of the 19th century, though the academic style persisted until the first decades of the 20th century. Attempts at renovation took place during the second half of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th, when the European tendencies penetrated into the country, reflected in numerous important buildings of Buenos Aires, such as the Santa Felicitas Church by Ernesto Bunge; the [[Buenos Aires Central Post Office|Central Post Office]] the [[Supreme Court of Argentina|Palace of Justice]], by [[Norbert Maillart]]; the [[Argentine Congress|National Congress]] by [[Vittorio Meano]] and the [[Teatro Colón|Colón Opera House]], by [[Francesco Tamburini]].

A number of young Italian architects, including [[Virginio Colombo]],<ref name=clarin>[https://www.clarin.com/ediciones-anteriores/unico-pabellon-quedo-festejo-centenario-olvidado-mal_0_HksxJOvATte.html El único pabellón que quedó del festejo del Centenario, olvidado y en mal estado], ''Clarín'',
 28 Jan 2010</ref> [[Francisco Gianotti]] and [[Mario Palanti]] who designed the Italian pavilion for the [[Exposición Internacional del Centenario (1910)]], went on to establish successful careers in Buenos Aires working in a number of styles, including [[Art Nouveau]]. Their buildings were some of the most important of the 20th century in Buenos Aires and those that remain continue to play a significant role in defining the city's architectural landscape.

The architecture of the second half of the 20th century continued adapting French [[neoclassical architecture]], such as the headquarters of the [[Banco de la Nación Argentina|National Bank of Argentina]] and the [[NH Gran Hotel Provincial]], built by [[Alejandro Bustillo]], and the [[Museo de Arte Hispano Fernández Blanco]], by Martín Noel. 

However, after the early 1930s, the influence of [[Rationalist architecture]] and of [[Le Corbusier]] became dominant among local architects, among whom [[Alberto Prebisch]] and [[Amancio Williams]] stand out in this new vein. The construction of [[skyscraper]]s proliferated in Buenos Aires after 1950, though a new generation started rejecting their "brutality," and tried to find an architectonic identity.

This search for identity is reflected in the [[Banco de Londres y América del Sur (Headquarters)|Banco de Londres building]] finished in 1967 by [[Clorindo Testa]] with Diego Peralta Ramos, Alfredo Agostini, and Santiago Sánchez Elía. In the following decades, the new generations of architects incorporate, as always, European vanguardist styles, and new techniques.
[[File:Casa Curutchet 6.JPG|thumb|[[Curutchet House]], [[List_of_World_Heritage_Sites_in_Argentina|World Heritage Site]] in La Plata]]
Since the latter part of the 20th century, Argentine architects have become more prominent in the design of prime real estate projects in the country, such as the [[Le Parc tower]] and [[Torre Aqualina]], by [[Mario Roberto Álvarez]], and the Torre Fortabat by Sánchez Elía, as well as around the world, most notably the [[Norwest Center]] and the [[Petronas Towers]], both by [[César Pelli]].

Argentine neighborhoods are characterized by highly independent designs for each building. Most houses have individual designs.
[[Tract housing]] is near to non-existent, generally reserved for subsidized houses made by the state for the poorest.

==See also==
{{portal|Architecture}}
* [[List of tallest buildings in Argentina]]
* [[Kavanagh Building]]
* [[Mar del Plata style]]
* [[Casa Argentina del Arte Correo]]

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:Jujuy-Tilcara-Pucara-P3130012.JPG|The pre-[[Inca]] fortification [[Pucará de Tilcara]], [[Jujuy Province]]
File:Catedral_de_Córdoba_a_la_tarde.JPG|[[Spanish Colonial architecture]] in the [[Cathedral of Córdoba (Argentina)|Cathedral of Córdoba]]
File:San_Ignacio_Miní.jpg|[[Baroque style]] church of [[San Ignacio Miní]], [[Misiones Province]]
File:Fachada_del_Teatro_Colón_en_Buenos_Aires,_Argentina.jpg|[[Neo-Renaissance]] in the [[Teatro Colón|Colón Theatre]], Buenos Aires
File:Teatro_Municipal_de_Bahia_Blanca_(095).jpg|[[Neoclassical architecture|Neoclassical]] in the Municipal Theatre, [[Bahía Blanca]]
File:Buenos_Aires_Centrum_Kirchner.jpg|[[Beaux-Arts architecture|Beaux-Arts]] in the [[Libertad Palace]], [[Buenos Aires]]
File:Salta-Square5.jpg|[[Spanish Colonial architecture]] in [[Salta]]
File:Aguas_Corrientes-2011-TM.jpg|[[Eclecticism|Eclectic style]] [[Palacio de Aguas Corrientes]], Buenos Aires
File:Palacio_Barolo_10.jpg|[[Art Nouveau]] [[Palacio Barolo|Barolo Palace]], Buenos Aires
File:Edificio_Kavanagh_Buenos_Aires.JPG|[[Art Deco]] in the [[Kavanagh Building]], Buenos Aires
File:The Alas Building panorama.jpg|[[Rationalist architecture|Rationalist]] in the [[Alas Building]], Buenos Aires
File:Chalets en La Perla-3.jpg|[[Mar del Plata style|Chalet marplatense]], [[Mar del Plata]]
File:Biblioteca Nacional BA.jpg|[[Brutalist architecture|Brutalist]] in the [[Argentine National Library]], Buenos Aires
File:Casa chorizo2.jpg|[[Casa Chorizo]], Buenos Aires
</gallery>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons-inline}}

{{South America in topic|Architecture of}}

[[Category:Architecture in Argentina| ]]
[[Category:South American architecture]]