Puerto Madero

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Location of Puerto Madero in Buenos Aires

Puerto Madero is a district of the Argentine capital Buenos Aires on the banks of the Río de la Plata . Puerto Madero is 2.1 km² and has a population of around 8,000.

Until the 1990s, the district was under the central government and was controlled by the Prefectura, today it is one of the youngest districts of the autonomous federal capital Buenos Aires.

Shipwrecks in the south dock in 1999
Derelict warehouse with silos in 1999, now the Faena Hotel designed by Phillippe Starck
Skyscrapers in Puerto Madero at night
Women's bridge
Discotheque at the marina

history

Since its foundation, Buenos Aires has had the problem that large ships could not anchor in the port due to the shallow water depth of the river, but had to anchor further out in the roadstead . Loads and passengers had to be reloaded or transferred to flat barges and ferries .

In 1882 the government signed Eduardo Madero to build a new port . Madero's design was chosen from among many others. Construction began in 1887, and the neighborhood was completed ten years later; However, parts were used a few years earlier. In its time, the facilities were an engineering masterpiece. Ten years later, however, the port was already out of date, as larger ships were now being built.

This time, the government commissioned civil engineer Luis Huergo to build a new port , the so-called Puerto Nuevo . He had already submitted his design to the tender in the early 1880s, but it was rejected in favor of Madero. The first segment went into operation in 1911 but was not completed until 1926. The port is still in use today.

With the opening of the Puerto Nuevo, the Puerto Madero became obsolete and the area gradually fell into disrepair. Promises were made in 1925, 1940, 1960, 1969, 1971, 1981 and 1985 to revitalize or demolish the area without a plan being realized.

development

On November 15, 1989 the Ministerio de Obras y Servicios Públicos (Ministry of Labor and Public Services), the Ministerio del Interior (Ministry of the Interior) and the City of Buenos Aires signed a cooperation agreement for the establishment of a company "Corporación Antiguo Puerto Madero" (cooperation old port Madero). The goal was the urbanization of Puerto Madero.

The responsibility for the 170 hectares of the port area, which was previously divided between the port administration, the Argentine railway company and the Junta Nacional de Granos (National Grain Round), now lay with the new company. However, the city of Buenos Aires was solely responsible for the development plans.

In the 1990s, with the help of domestic and foreign investors, the old department stores were converted into lofts, offices, private universities, hotels and restaurants. In 2008 the Fortabat Museum was opened in a new building on the northern harbor basin . Internationally renowned architects were involved in the redesign, including Santiago Calatrava , Norman Foster , César Pelli and Phillippe Starck . Puerto Madero has since grown into one of the trendiest neighborhoods in Buenos Aires, attracting young and old alike. The rise in property prices also attracted foreign buyers, particularly in the premium market.

A number of museums have been established in the revitalized area. This includes the Faena Arts Center in the machine house of one of the largest former flour mills in Argentina, which opened in 2011.

In the course of the redesign, the streets were also redesigned. The eastern part of the district now consists of three wide boulevards in an east-west orientation, which are crossed by the main street, Avenida Juana Manso. Various pedestrian zones were also created.

All streets in Puerto Madero are named after women. The newest link between Puerto Madero and the city center is the Puente de la Mujer (Women's Bridge), designed by Santiago Calatrava .

Since 2000, a number of residential skyscrapers have been built up to 50 stories high, including the El Faro building , which at the time of its completion was the tallest building in Buenos Aires. The Alvear Tower is now the tallest building in the city at 235 meters and is also located in Puerto Madero. Other high-rises have been built for offices and hotels or are in the planning stage.

and display information about the image
Panorama of the old port area of ​​Puerto Madero. Here the Dique 4 harbor basin with the cranes and converted warehouses (right) and the newly built residential area (left).

traffic

Paseo del Bajo under construction, February 2019

In July 2007, the Tranvía del Este (tram) was inaugurated, which ran for two kilometers next to Avenida Alicia Moreau de Justo until it was closed in 2012. There were plans to continue the route to the Retiro and Constitución stations. There are also a few bus connections, but no subway connection yet.

For some time there have been considerations to connect the north and south of Buenos Aires by an expressway that would lead through Puerto Madero. Numerous designs have already been discussed, including ground-level, underground routes and elevated roads. However, all drafts were discarded for urban or financial reasons. A route between Puerto Madero and the Reserva Ecológica de Buenos Aires nature reserve is rejected by environmentalists. For all drafts it is also feared that this would lead to an even higher volume of traffic than the city has to cope with anyway. The street called “Paseo del Bajo” has been built as a trough structure next to Avenida Alicia Moreau de Justo since 2017, and the track area of ​​Tranvía del Este was also used. It has been in operation since the end of May 2019.

Parallel to this street, there has been a rail link for decades, Ramal ferroviario Retiro – Empalme Norte – Kilometro 5 between the Retiro stations in the north and the Ferrocarril General Belgrano subnetwork in the south with a branching tunnel under Avenida de Mayo to Once de Septiembre station . It is only used for freight traffic; passenger trains have not run for years. The Puerto Madero stop was canceled in 2016.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Estimate for the year 2008, current exact figures are missing - see e.g. B.
  2. ^ Alvear Tower Puerto Madero, Buenos Aires | 1229050 | EMPORIS. Retrieved April 26, 2019 .

Web links

Commons : Puerto Madero, Buenos Aires  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 34 ° 37 ′  S , 58 ° 22 ′  W