In 1936, for the four hundredth anniversary of the first founding of Buenos Aires, the city raised a white needle almost seventy metres tall in a matter of weeks, at the widest crossing downtown. Many people loathed it, and in 1939 the City Council voted to demolish it. Twelve stops between the base of the Obelisco, the plaque of the church where the flag once flew, the city's widest avenue, the widened Corrientes, the theatre with a starry sky, the cinema by the same architect, the corner of a tango, the diagonal of matching cornices, the block of pizzerias, the municipal theatre of 1960, kilometre zero and the palace of Congress. Approximate audio duration: 18 minutes.
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El Obelisco: el monumento hecho a las apuradas que la ciudad votó demoler
En 1936, para los cuatrocientos años de la primera fundación de Buenos Aires, la ciudad levantó en unas pocas semanas una aguja blanca de casi setenta metros en el cruce más ancho del centro. Muchos la detestaron, y en 1939 el Concejo Deliberante votó demolerla. Doce paradas entre la base del Obelisco, la placa de la iglesia donde flameó la bandera, la avenida más ancha de la ciudad, la Corrientes ensanchada, el teatro del cielo estrellado, el cine del mismo arquitecto, la esquina de un tango, la diagonal de cornisas parejas, la cuadra de las pizzerías, el teatro municipal de 1960, el kilómetro cero y el palacio del Congreso. Duración aproximada de audio: 18 minutos.
Tour stops
13 stops · ~18 min of audio · 2.86 km on foot (~45 min walking) · about 1 h 15 min in total
You are standing at the foot of the Obelisco, in Plaza de la República. Look up: almost sixty-eight metres of white concrete ending in a tip with four small windows. From down here it seems taller than it is.
It was built for an anniversary. In 1936 Buenos Aires marked four hundred years since its first founding, by Pedro de Mendoza in 1536. The mayor, Mariano de Vedia y Mitre, wanted a monument for the date, and he wanted it fast.
The commission went to the architect Alberto Prebisch, a champion of modern architecture. He designed a form with no statues and no ornament: a square base almost…
2
The Church That Stood Here
Walk around the base and look at the inscriptions. Each of the four faces recalls a moment in the city's history: Mendoza's founding in 1536, Juan de Garay's second founding in 1580, the flag of 1812 and the federalisation of Buenos Aires in 1880.
The flag inscription explains why the Obelisco stands exactly here. On this ground stood the church of San Nicolás de Bari, a temple of colonial origin at the corner of Corrientes and Carlos Pellegrini.
On 23 August 1812 the sky-blue and white flag was raised on its tower. It was the first time it flew in the city of Buenos Aires, a few months afte…
3
The Vote to Pull It Down
Step back a few paces and take it all in. Today it is hard to picture Buenos Aires without this silhouette. In 1936, though, many people hated it.
The criticism started at once. It was called ugly, meaningless, decided without a competition and in a rush. Newspapers and magazines mocked it with nicknames and cartoons.
Prebisch defended it as a pure form, without decoration, meant to mark the crossing of two great avenues. For his critics, that was exactly what it lacked: a meaning.
On top of that, the cladding failed. The Obelisco was covered in slabs of white stone from Olavarría, and some…
4
The Avenue That Split Downtown
Walk to the edge of the square and look south along Avenida 9 de Julio. Count the lanes if you have the patience: from one pavement to the other it is about a hundred and forty metres.
The idea of a great north-south avenue cutting through the middle of the blocks dated back to the late nineteenth century. For decades it stayed on paper.
It finally happened in the 1930s, in the same burst of public works that brought the Obelisco and the widening of Corrientes. The first section opened on 12 October 1937.
To build it, whole blocks had to be expropriated and demolished, a strip of buildings …
5
The Narrow Street That Became an Avenue
Cross to Avenida Corrientes and walk east along the pavement, with the Obelisco behind you. Look at the signs: theatres, cinemas, bookshops, pizzerias.
Until the early 1930s Corrientes was a narrow street, like almost all those in the colonial centre. Even then it was the street of cafés, tango and nightlife.
Between 1931 and 1936 it was widened. The whole frontage on one side was demolished, and with it went famous cafés and theatres. The church of San Nicolás was one of the casualties of that plan.
The widening and the Obelisco belong to the same moment. Within a few years, the crossing o…
6
The Theatre With Its Own Sky
You are in front of the Teatro Ópera, on the even-numbered side of Corrientes. Look at the façade: straight lines, strong verticals, no columns or statues. It is pure art deco.
The name is far older than the building. A Teatro de la Ópera had stood on this site since 1872 and for years was one of the great opera houses of the city, before today's Colón existed.
In the 1930s the old hall was demolished and this one was built, opening in 1936, the same year as the Obelisco. The change was complete: from opera house to great modern cinema.
The auditorium was conceived as an atmospheric theatre…
7
Prebisch's Other Building
Look at the façade of the Gran Rex, on the other side of Corrientes. A great smooth plane with an enormous window, without a single ornament. If it reminds you of the Obelisco, that is no coincidence.
It was designed by the same Alberto Prebisch. It opened in July 1937, a year after the needle in Plaza de la República.
With more than three thousand seats, it was in its day one of the largest halls in South America. It was built as a cinema, in the golden age of films shown in the great downtown picture palaces.
Compare it with the Ópera opposite. One plays with painted stars and fantasy. Th…
8
The Corner of a Tango
You are at the corner of Corrientes and Esmeralda. It looks like just another downtown crossing, with kiosks, offices and people in a hurry. For tango it is a sacred address.
In 1933 Celedonio Flores wrote the lyrics of a tango with that very name, Corrientes y Esmeralda, to music by Francisco Pracánico. It was a tribute to the corner as a meeting place of Buenos Aires nightlife.
The lyrics describe the street before the widening: the cafés, the swaggering compadritos, the milongas. They were written just as the pickaxes were changing everything around.
That is why the tango has something o…
9
The Diagonal of Matching Cornices
You are at the start of Diagonal Norte, officially Avenida Presidente Roque Sáenz Peña. Look along it: it runs in a straight line to Plaza de Mayo, slicing across the colonial grid at an angle.
It was opened from the 1910s onwards by demolishing blocks on the diagonal. It was part of a plan to give downtown monumental vistas, in the style of the great European capitals.
Look at the buildings. Many have their cornices at the same height, because the rules of the time required it. That gives the avenue its look of an orderly corridor.
The work took decades. By the time the last section was fi…
10
The Block of Buenos Aires Pizza
You are on the 1300 block of Corrientes. Across the street is the Teatro Metropolitan, one of the halls on this avenue of theatres, and on this side, the smell of ovens.
The widened Corrientes is not only about theatre. It is also the avenue of Buenos Aires pizza, invented by Italian immigrants and turned into something quite different from the Neapolitan original.
Here you will find Güerrín, a pizzeria opened in 1932. Look at the counter: thick slices baked in a pan, heavy with cheese, traditionally eaten standing up.
Another classic of this avenue is fainá, a flatbread of chickpea flour o…
11
The City's Own Theatre
You are in front of the Teatro General San Martín, at Corrientes 1530. Look at the façade: a great box of glass and concrete set back from the pavement. This is genuine modern architecture, of the kind Prebisch championed.
It was designed by the architects Mario Roberto Álvarez and Macedonio Oscar Ruiz. It opened on 25 May 1960, the anniversary of the May Revolution.
It is the municipal theatre of Buenos Aires. It has several auditoriums, including a very large one for drama, dance and concerts, and since it opened it has been one of the busiest cultural centres in the city.
Notice the open…
12
Kilometre Zero
You have reached Plaza del Congreso. Look at the great ensemble of bronze and granite in the middle: it is the Monument to the Two Congresses, by the Belgian sculptor Jules Lagae, unveiled in 1914.
It commemorates two founding assemblies: that of 1813, which among other things adopted the national anthem, and the Congress of Tucumán in 1816, which declared independence.
This square also holds the Kilometre Zero marker. From here the distances on Argentina's national highways are measured.
Consider the idea: the Obelisco became the symbolic centre of the city, the place where people gather t…
13
The Palace That Took Forty Years
You are in front of the Palace of the National Congress. Look at the greenish bronze dome: it rises to about eighty metres, taller than the Obelisco you left behind.
The design won an international competition and was signed by the Italian architect Vittorio Meano. He never saw it finished: he was murdered in 1904, in his home in Buenos Aires.
The building was inaugurated in 1906, still incomplete. Work went on for decades, and it was only considered finished in 1946.
Compare it with the Obelisco. Here there are columns, statues, a dome, the whole academic repertoire that Prebisch in 1936 w…
How long does the "The Obelisco: the Rushed Monument the City Voted to Tear Down" audio tour take?
It has about 18 minutes of audio across 13 stops and a 2.86 km walking route (~45 min on foot). Plan roughly 1 h 15 min in total, or split it up: you can pause and resume anytime.
Where does the tour start?
At stop 1, "A Needle Raised Against the Clock" (coordinates -34.60372, -58.38157). The app guides you from stop to stop with a map.
Is it free?
Trevurs is a free app for iOS and Android. There is also an optional Premium version, from USD 1.99, with unlimited offline downloads, access to every tour and no ads. It also helps keep an independent app alive.
Why use an audio tour instead of a guided group tour?
No group to keep up with and no guide to wait for. Start at any time of day, on your own schedule. Go at your own pace: pause, rewind or skip any stop. No need to commit 2 or 3 hours to a single tour: do one stop or the whole route. Works offline once downloaded.
What languages is this audio guide available in?
This tour is available in Spanish, English, Portuguese, French, Italian. Switch languages anytime from inside the app.
Do I need wifi to listen to this tour?
No. Download the tour over wifi before you go, then listen without any data connection.
How do I access this tour?
Download Trevurs on iPhone (App Store) or Android (Google Play), then open Buenos Aires and pick "The Obelisco: the Rushed Monument the City Voted to Tear Down". No account required to start.
