Thirty-five years after its inauguration, the
Brazilian Embassy
continues to cause curiosity, arouse contradictory opinions, and provoke. After all, they are the reactions generated by the Modern Movement and, more specifically,
brutalism
. In fact, a few years ago, a survey revealed that Buenos Aires residents chose the Clorindo Testa National Library as the ugliest building in the City. Is our cultural glyptodont ugly?
On another scale, the Retiro neighborhood has its own brutalist example, a building that shines both on the outside - with its voluptuous balconies full of greenery - and on the inside. Located in Cerrito, between Arroyo and Juncal, it was designed in 1976 by Rio native Olavo Redig do Campos and built by the prestigious Argentine studio SEPRA. The official inauguration was in 1989 and it is the
headquarters of the chancellery of the Brazilian embassy.
In this area of the City,
it breaks the classic style
, dominated by buildings such as the French Embassy, the Brazilian ambassador's own residence - the Pereda Palace, on Arroyo Street -, and all the works that make up the APH 30 Avenida Alvear , Historical Protection Area, between Callao and Libertad. From the Jockey Club headquarters, passing through the Hume and Lloubet residences.
The Brazilian embassy is do Campos' only work in the country; For 30 years he headed the "Heritage Conservation Service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs." For this reason he designed this building, in addition to the one in Washington (United States), and diplomatic residences in Beirut (Lebanon) and Dakar (Senegal).
Without a doubt, one of the main features of the building are the
seven levels of balconies.
They simulate huge pots, like flower beds, from which foliage stands out that changes throughout the year, more or less dense, depending on the season.
The balconies are not passable - only maintenance personnel can access them, with safety harnesses - and, indeed, they have giant flower pots that copy the shape of the balcony. And some of those pots have illustrious tenants:
the birds of prey that prowl the 9th of July settled in them.
As befits any building worth its salt, it has its own myth, fueled by the time in which it was designed: many say that its physiognomy responds to the idea of
turning it into a fortification
. Protect the delegation from any attack, which is why many see it practically as
a refuge, with an impregnable façade.
Yes, everyone at the embassy knows this story, but there is no documentation to support the version; but not to deny it either.
In dialogue with
Clarín
, Raúl Juste Lores - Brazilian journalist, writer and author of the book "Saint Paul in the Heights" - provided information about the author of the building: "Olavo was a very detailed professional, he knew deeply what they wanted and needed. ambassadors and Foreign Ministry workers. He also had a high-ranking position, he was not a bureaucrat. He carried out fundamental tasks in the team that designed the Itamaraty Palace in
Brasilia, together with Oscar Niemeyer and other important architects
.
As a government official, Olave "had an innovative task,
he was a pioneer.
Imagine that César Pelli had been hired by the State to design embassies around the world. And in this way represent the architecture of a country abroad," he compares.
In the case of the embassy,
"he designed a building between party walls,
which adapted to the neighbors and provided a homogeneous image. In some way the building chats with the environment, with the context. However, he did not seek similarity with the noble house , neoclassical, which is the Pereda Palace. Think of a functional building for work, modern and simple, and it captures the language of Brazilian architecture from the 60s and 70s in the embassy. And it adds green, a lot of green to the buildings. planters, a color that represents Brazil," describes Lores.
Like the House on the Stream, the facade of the embassy is made of hammered concrete. Magalí Marazzo, who was in charge of the Mar del Plata house museum during its restoration, explained to
Clarín
what the building's covering is about: "Once the wood that makes up the formwork - the mold where the fresh concrete is poured - is removed, The cement remains smooth. In those years, with a hammer, by hand, the surface of the dry concrete was hit so that the stone that makes it up is exposed. Depending on the stone it has, colors are seen or not. on the Arroyo, Amancio Williams used blue, white, and red stones," he explained.
The
Buenos Aires Planetarium has a similar finish on the façade
, but the stones are white. Now this work is no longer done manually, but mechanically. "I always say that beyond personal tastes, architecture represents an aesthetic period. You may or may not like the Embassy; you may or may not like the House on the Stream. But the value they have is what they represent for the moment in which that were built," Marazzo explained.
Clarín
toured the interior of the building thanks to the efforts of the Public Diplomacy Sector; However, at the moment, guided tours for the general public are not planned.
On the ground floor there is a wall that occupies the entire width of the land, with a work by the plastic artist Athos Bulcão. The Carioca, who died in 2008, is recognized for his work on some of the most important buildings in Brasilia.
He worked contributing his art to many buildings signed by Niemeyer.
In the embassy, the work done with tiles refers to
the colors of the national flag.
The Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has 17 works by this artist, between Brasilia and embassies in other countries.
As is known, in the same block there are
two buildings belonging to the Brazilian state
: the headquarters of the chancellery on Cerrito Street, and the historic building of the embassy, on Arroyo Street. Both buildings are linked through underground ramps that are also the parking ramps that only high-ranking officials access.
On the surface, what links both buildings is a park that was originally the gardens of the Pereda Palace.
At the antipodes of the brutalist building, this
palace
represents the most classic of the dominant architecture between the late 1800s and early 1900s. The owners - Celedonio Pereda and María Justina Girado - commissioned the work to the architect Louis Martin, with a specific request: that be similar to the Parisian Jacquemart-André museum.
Legend has it that Martín would not have been able to satisfy the couple - specifically with the design of some interior stairs - so he was fired and the work was completed by one of the most famous architects of the time,
Jules Dormal; The Belgian was in charge of the final work of the Teatro Colón.
In 1943 it was acquired by the Brazilian government. It is the residence of the ambassador, Julio Glinternick Bitelli, and his family. The Cultural Space also operates, which is accessed through Arroyo 1142. The activities, agenda and visiting hours of this space - it does not imply entering other places in the palace - can be consulted on the official X account: @BrasilBaires
These days there is intense cultural activity, which also includes an important exhibition by the plastic artist Rosana Paulino at Malba. Added to this is Brazil's participation in the next Book Fair and in the BAFICI, with 9 Brazilian films.
S.C.