Two+ Weeks into the Trip
After leaving our lovely hosts in Chacabuco, we set off on the three hour ride back to our next stop in the Buenos Aires suburb of Jose C. Paz (named after the first newspaper publisher in Argentina). We settled in with our new host families and then set off for our weekend retreat (sans Rotary hosts) in Buenos Aires. In the capital we enjoyed a stay in the Retiro neighborhood and marveled at the Paris-like feel of the big city.
Sara and I took a day trip on Saturday to the town of Colonia in Uruguay, a one hour ride by ferry accross the Rio Plata from Buenos Aires. There we strolled around the 18th century historic buildings and cobbled streets, observed many people drinking mate (Uruguayans are famous for loving their mate), and enjoyed a nice relaxing afternoon. Richard, Chris, and Sarah got to know several neighborhoods of Buenos Aires, including the newly rehabilitated neighborhood of Puerto Madero (great adaptive re-use of old dock buildings) and the Soho-like Palermo. We all saw the stylish ¨Puerto de la Mujer¨, (see photo) a pedestrian bridge designed by a Spanish architect that rises up across the river in an arching simplicity that contrasts nicely with the 19th century dock buildings of Puerto Madero. Other city highlights include two excellent meals in the Palermo district, plenty of shopping, and a visit to the MALBA art museum (see photo).
We took the commuter-rail back to Jose C. Paz on Sunday night and were treated to an excellent home-made asado and empanadas. On Monday we were up bright an early to make the trip to La Plata, the capital city of the
Province of Buenos Aires. In La Plata, we met with Freddie Garay, a nationally known planner and architect who, while working for the City of Buenos Aires, helped bring the adaptive re-use of Puerto Madero to fruition. Mr. Garay has also spent much of his career working to provide housing for the lowest-income Argentines, and he shared with us a national perspective on housing issues. (Photo at left - Translation is "Federal Housing Program"). We also discussed growth patterns of the Buenos Aires suburbs, where 50% of the population is poor, compared to 10% in the capital city. In La Plata we also visited a large affordable housing development that is currently under construction and that is meant to replace a neighboring ¨villa de miseria¨ (shantytown).
On Tuesday we were treated to a visit to Tigre in the
delta region north of Buenos Aires. And yesterday we were back on the housing trail, visiting an enormous construction site in Jose C. Paz. (See Photo at Left) Jose C. Paz currently has plans to build more than 1,500 new affordable houses. We visited one site, which will include 1,000 new units as well as infrastructure (water, sewer, electricity) and community-use buildings such as schools. The homes are modestly-sized (approx. 450 square feet for a 2BR) but a significant improvement over the villa homes where the future residents currently live. This particular site is being built by labor cooperatives of 16 people per 8 houses. Workers have no previous experience building houses and are supervised by an architect (1 per 3 coops) and an engineer-consultant to provide technical support. All of the construction workers will receive a house of their own at the end of the project. There are approximately 2,000 workers (!) on the site, and currently they are building 250 homes. Once these are completed, they´ll start on another 250, until all 1,000 are completed. Construction is traditional, (thin) slab on grade, and all of the work is essentially done by hand.
(with our Jose C. Paz Hosts)
In the evening we attended the Rotary Club meeting of the club of San Miguel, which invited as well our hosts from Jose C. Paz. The meeting was the biggest we´ve attended yet - more than 40 people - and as a surprise we were serenaded with traditional Argentine songs by a very talented local singer. We finally got our Powerpoint presentation up and running with not even one glitch.
Today we are transfering to Moreno, a suburb of Buenos Aires about 30-40 minutes from Jose C. Paz.
Sara and I took a day trip on Saturday to the town of Colonia in Uruguay, a one hour ride by ferry accross the Rio Plata from Buenos Aires. There we strolled around the 18th century historic buildings and cobbled streets, observed many people drinking mate (Uruguayans are famous for loving their mate), and enjoyed a nice relaxing afternoon. Richard, Chris, and Sarah got to know several neighborhoods of Buenos Aires, including the newly rehabilitated neighborhood of Puerto Madero (great adaptive re-use of old dock buildings) and the Soho-like Palermo. We all saw the stylish ¨Puerto de la Mujer¨, (see photo) a pedestrian bridge designed by a Spanish architect that rises up across the river in an arching simplicity that contrasts nicely with the 19th century dock buildings of Puerto Madero. Other city highlights include two excellent meals in the Palermo district, plenty of shopping, and a visit to the MALBA art museum (see photo).
We took the commuter-rail back to Jose C. Paz on Sunday night and were treated to an excellent home-made asado and empanadas. On Monday we were up bright an early to make the trip to La Plata, the capital city of the
Province of Buenos Aires. In La Plata, we met with Freddie Garay, a nationally known planner and architect who, while working for the City of Buenos Aires, helped bring the adaptive re-use of Puerto Madero to fruition. Mr. Garay has also spent much of his career working to provide housing for the lowest-income Argentines, and he shared with us a national perspective on housing issues. (Photo at left - Translation is "Federal Housing Program"). We also discussed growth patterns of the Buenos Aires suburbs, where 50% of the population is poor, compared to 10% in the capital city. In La Plata we also visited a large affordable housing development that is currently under construction and that is meant to replace a neighboring ¨villa de miseria¨ (shantytown).On Tuesday we were treated to a visit to Tigre in the
delta region north of Buenos Aires. And yesterday we were back on the housing trail, visiting an enormous construction site in Jose C. Paz. (See Photo at Left) Jose C. Paz currently has plans to build more than 1,500 new affordable houses. We visited one site, which will include 1,000 new units as well as infrastructure (water, sewer, electricity) and community-use buildings such as schools. The homes are modestly-sized (approx. 450 square feet for a 2BR) but a significant improvement over the villa homes where the future residents currently live. This particular site is being built by labor cooperatives of 16 people per 8 houses. Workers have no previous experience building houses and are supervised by an architect (1 per 3 coops) and an engineer-consultant to provide technical support. All of the construction workers will receive a house of their own at the end of the project. There are approximately 2,000 workers (!) on the site, and currently they are building 250 homes. Once these are completed, they´ll start on another 250, until all 1,000 are completed. Construction is traditional, (thin) slab on grade, and all of the work is essentially done by hand.
(with our Jose C. Paz Hosts)
In the evening we attended the Rotary Club meeting of the club of San Miguel, which invited as well our hosts from Jose C. Paz. The meeting was the biggest we´ve attended yet - more than 40 people - and as a surprise we were serenaded with traditional Argentine songs by a very talented local singer. We finally got our Powerpoint presentation up and running with not even one glitch.
Today we are transfering to Moreno, a suburb of Buenos Aires about 30-40 minutes from Jose C. Paz.
posted by Mara B at 7:11 AM
2 Comments:
Hey team, sounds like an activity and travel filled couple weeks. Looking forward to your report back and details on housing and community development related matters. What a massive coop-based self-help housing project you visited -- how long from start to finish on the 1,000 homes + infrastructure?
I love Argentina, its buildings, culture,food..everything!! Im going there, and still have to plan the trip and look for an apartment for rent in Buenos Aires...So please help me!!..which museum should i visit???
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