History. – After recovering from the crisis of the early 21st century. and having experienced a phase of internal stability and economic growth, the Argentina he found himself again facing a very serious financial crisis that put a strain on the government’s stability, an expression of the Peronist Partido justicialista. Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, elected in 2007 and reconfirmed in 2011 (wife of outgoing president Néstor Kirchner), was unable to implement structural reforms capable of transforming the economic boom, largely linked to the increase in the prices of exported raw materials, in long-term growth. The opposition with international financial organizations, first of all the International Monetary Fund, also had a negative impact. generated by the government’s refusal to take debt containment measures through public spending cuts and privatizations. In the wake of her predecessor, Kirchner continued to promote decisive intervention by the state in the economy. During 2008, the executive launched a package of reforms aimed at tackling the international financial crisis which included, among other things, a plan for the repayment of foreign capital, tax advantages for small and medium-sized enterprises, investments in public works and creation of a Ministry of Production. In the same year, the nationalization of pension funds was approved and an increase in taxes on agricultural exports was decreed with the aim of reducing domestic prices. In 2009, new legislation was also passed to eliminate monopolies in the media. Hailed with enthusiasm by the younger and more radical wing of the party, these measures (to which the legalization of gay marriage was added in 2010) generated strong internal resistance, not only regarding the contents of the decisions taken, but also regarding the method it proposed again. some typical traits of the Peronist political culture, intolerant of the limits imposed by institutional procedures. In fact, the popularity of the president declined and this resulted, in the 2009 mid-term elections, in the loss of an absolute majority in both chambers. In October 2010, Néstor Kirchner died. The event generated a strong commotion across the country and, according to many analysts, contributed significantly to Kirchner’s undisputed success in the 2011 presidential elections, won with a percentage of votes (54%) among the highest in Argentine electoral history. On the strength of this result, the president continued on the path taken. In 2012, amidst the harsh criticism of the opposition, the Spanish oil company Repsol YPF was nationalized, and import restrictions were imposed to protect the domestic market. In addition, in early November 2012, a law was passed that lowered the voting age from 18 to 16. The mid-term legislative elections (Oct. 2013) confirmed the difficulties of the ruling party which, while maintaining control of both chambers, suffered a heavy downsizing in the face of the affirmation of the Frente renovador and the Propuesta republicana. The worsening of the domestic economic situation, marked by a slowdown in GDP growth and an uncontrolled increase in inflation, weighed on the result. Again in open conflict with the IMF and besieged by international creditors, particularly from the United States, the Argentina underwent a new one in the summer of 2014 default that constituted a heavy legacy for the new administration that would have been elected in 2015. On the international level, the Argentina in recent years it strengthened relations with other Latin American countries and with the EU, while relations with Great Britain remained conflicting due to the controversial issue of the Falkland Islands. For Argentina history, please check ehistorylib.com.
Architecture. – The Argentine urban scenario following the 2001 crisis has significantly changed. In fragmented, privatized and insecure cities, between concentration, exclusion and suburban exile, widespread changes (construction of towers and closed neighborhoods, transformation or typological replacement in low-density districts, reconversion of disused structures) have been accompanied by the progressive reintroduction of the client public. The interventions promoted by the administrations, often entrusted to emerging professionals, were an opportunity to innovate design strategies, as in Córdoba in the Emilio Caraffa Museum (2008) and in the Civic Center of the bicentenary (2012) of Lucio Morini (together with the GGMPU studio), in Buenos Aires in the Museum of the former Aduana de Taylor (2009) of the B4FS studio or in Mar del Plata in the Museo de arte contemporáneo (2013) of the Monoblock studio. In the medium and small-scale interventions in the residential sector, in Buenos Aires we highlight the work of Tristán Dieguez and Axel Fridman (Edificio Clay Ayres, 2007; Casa en esquina, 2012), by Julián Berdichevsky (Le Bretón I and II buildings, 2010 and 2014) and the calibrated series of interventions on buildings – Arribeños (2007), Conesa (2008), 11 de Septiembre (2011), 33 Orientales (2012) – and houses – Chalú (2007), Nuñez (2009), Venturini and Martos (both from 2012) – by Sebastián Adamo and Marcelo Faiden. Moreover, the scarcity of materials and tools in which the capital found itself after the crisis, recorded through organized reconnaissance (research groups Rally conurbano and Vacíos urbanos), networks of professionals (Supersudaka), discussion forums (Charlas de gasolinería) and publications («UR-Arquitectura» magazine), has led to the construction of small-sized artifacts. This particular situation was also an opportunity to outline specific methods of intervention and urban regeneration as in the projects of the a77 studio by Gustavo Diéguez and Lucas Gilardi (Cabina para niños, 2006, and Atelier Quiero, 2012, respectively in Boulogne sur Mer and Olivos, Buenos Aires), by Ariel Jacubovich (Ciudad Roca negra, 2009-12, in Monte Chingolo, Buenos Aires), by Max Zowlker (Edificio Iberá, 2007; Min House, 2008, in Buenos Aires), by Irene Joselevich and Ana Rascovsky (Vilela building, 2007-08, in Buenos Aires), by Javier Esteban, Ligia Gaffuri and Martín Torrado together with the Tannenbaum studio (Instituto Modelo del Sur,
A more mediated response to the crisis, based on the search for continuity with the roots of a modernity with a specific identity (which includes the work of Amancio Williams, Eduardo Sacriste, Vicente Krause and Jorge Scrimaglio), has been enriched by the growing exchange of experiences inside the sub-continental cultural circuits; in this context, the professional activity of Rafael Iglesia, limited but influential, and the work of Gerardo Caballero and Maite Fernández (Showroom di bicicletas Rodas, 2009; Escuela de ingeniería civil, 2013, both in Rosario), by Ricardo Sargiotti (house in black sheet metal, 2010, in Carlos Paz, Córdoba), by Mariano Clusellas and Cristián O’Connor (house PL, 2012, in Olivos, Buenos Aires), by the AFRa studio of Pablo Ferreiro, Saturnino Armendares and Claudio Rey (house H, 2009, in Martínez, Buenos Aires; Panamericana Offices 50, 2010, in Pilar, Buenos Aires), of the BAK studio of María Victoria Besonías, Guillermo de Almeida, Luciano Kruk with the series of seasonal houses of Mar Azul. On the other hand, in these years some key figures of the architectural panorama have disappeared such as José Ignacio Díaz (1927-2009), Claudio Caveri (1928-2011), Mario RobertoÁlvarez (1913-2011) and Clorindo Testa (1923-2013).
Bibliography: «Block», 2006, 7, nr. monograph: Argentina01 +; hEX. Contemporary Argentine architecture, a cura di F. Rodríguez, Buenos Aires 2007; F. Ten, Crisis of authenticity. Changes in the modes of production of Argentine architecture, Buenos Aires 2008; «A + u», 2009, 464, nr. monograph : Architecture in Argentina ; «AAA. Archives of Antillean Architecture », 2010, 36, nr. monograph: Argentine contemporary architecture ; “Architecture Magazine”, 2010, 239, nr. monograph: recent Argentine work ; B. González Montaner, New Argentine architecture, Buenos Aires 2011; «Project area», 2012, 20, monographic number: Architecture without borders. The River Plate root. 20 architecture studios, Buenos Aires 2014.
