I’m starting an irregular series of posts, The City that Fades Away, about the old, abandoned, crumbling buildings around Buenos Aires. I find these buildings oddly fascinating. It’s likely that most of these buildings will not exist in another decade or two, either collapsing from neglect or demolished for new development. Many are already too far gone to be saved without significant financial investment, which isn’t likely or even feasible. So, as with an interest in documenting the past, here begins an occasional series on the city that fades away.
Chronicles of the City
Imagine the families that once lived in these places that now appear as nothing, apparently meaningless structures, waiting either for an end or a new beginning: the father loosening his tie after a day’s work, the pony-tailed daughter, eleven, brushing the dog’s yellow coat, the pet who shared her secrets with no one, not even her rambunctious little brother who at that moment is launching toy boats down the staircase rapids, while upstairs, in the dim bedroom, the mother stands before the window, staring down the cobblestoned lane, wondering if she had made the right choice years before.
Lives once filled these buildings, like our own homes today, with the same mixture of happiness and sadness that comprises everyone’s journey through this world. Ultimately, it’s not just the architecture but the lives that once flowed among those walls, the lives that have faded away, that we should consider, celebrate, and honor.
The Series
I guess this series really started with last week’s posting of the Middle Eastern style building in La Boca. Then today, in this posting, is a photo of an abandoned building on Bolivar street in Barracas, just a block behind where I live. I took that photo about two years ago but the building is still there, abandoned, looking not that much different.
As I add other items and photos to this series, I’ll update this post with links. An invitation to bloggers (since everyone likes some link love): publish a post with a photo of an abandoned or deteriorating building in Buenos Aires (or wherever you like) and I’ll add a link to your post from this page.
- Sad in Havana, Cuba (via tangocherie)
- 400 block of Alsina (via Alan Patrick)
- El Salvador and Armenia (via Sugar & Spice)
- El Salvador (4600 block) (another one via Sugar & Spice)
- Casa Desiderio on 15 de Noviembre de 1889
- Soon to be gone on Piedras
- Para agentes policiales (via line of sight)
- Shuttered on Cabello
- Abandoned at Chacabuco & Brasil
- Topless in La Boca
- fiat tenebras (via Robert)
- Reader contributed photos
- Another demolition on Piedras
- Virrey Cevallos y Chile
May 21st, 2007 at 1:10 pm
Hi Jeff,
Love your series idea!
So here’s some LinkLove.
I posted some pics of derelict buildings in Havana on my blog.
Sad isn’t it?
Saludos!
May 21st, 2007 at 1:56 pm
Hi Cherie, Thanks for the photos!
I remember when I was a librarian at the U of Miami that an older Cuban woman working in the library once showed me a book from 1950s Cuba that had her photo when she was a debutante in Havana. There was a sadness in her eyes when she thought back to those days. Of course, she was lucky that she could move to Miami and live a good life.
This is a good time to link to the Cuban Heritage Collection at the U of Miami, the project that really got me started thinking seriously about cultural heritage. Obviously, I’m not Cuban or Argentine but the heritage of all cultures fascinate me. The Cuban Heritage Collection provides access to some incredible materials, including old photos and postcards.
May 22nd, 2007 at 12:12 am
[…] On the blog Buenos Aires: City of Faded Elegance, you can see many lovely shots of the once-glorious architecture of an city that has seen better days, in an aptly named series: The City That Fades Away. […]
May 27th, 2007 at 3:46 pm
But please! The City of Faded Elegance? You are wrong! Buenos Aire is and always has been an elegant city. And yes, some buildings may not be in the best of shapes, but in what city are the buildings of yesteryear perfect? In fact in Buenos Aires, many more such buildings have been re-furbished to their former glory. Let’s be fair, Buenos Aires’ boom is back and it is ONCE AGAIN, one of the grandest cities in the world. Its architecture is definitely beautiful and the buildings you find there cannot be found elsewhere. The thing is, Buenos Aires’ architecture is inlike any other place because it is a mixture of styles and eras, living side by side. That is the magic of it. So, put a more positive spin on your quest, because this wonderfully warm and elegant city deserves it. Regards!
May 27th, 2007 at 6:16 pm
Hey Marci, it seems that you believe I am a negative critic of Buenos Aires. Obviously, you have misread this post and the rest of my blog.
Anyway, thanks for your comment.
June 7th, 2007 at 3:58 pm
Hi Jeff,
Thanks for starting this interesting series, and of course for the link love too 🙂
Cheers,
Alan
June 12th, 2007 at 10:19 am
Hi Jeff,
Here is my entry on the series. Sorry I took so long. Lots of people buying cookies is my excuse.
The City that Fades Away
Saludos,
Frank
June 12th, 2007 at 12:48 pm
[…] started the series with a post about an abandoned building on calle Bolivar in the barrio of Barracas, and tells an interesting story about the lives that would have once been led in crumbling […]
June 13th, 2007 at 1:54 pm
Hi Jeff,
I couldn´t help myself. I have another entry for your series.
The City that Fades Away II
June 13th, 2007 at 4:12 pm
Hey Frank, I’ll add it to the list. Thanks!
August 21st, 2007 at 11:02 pm
Jaff, what a pleasant surprise to find your blog. I started reading it last January and have been a fan ever since.
I’m a porteña who loves to walk the city as some kind of tourist. Whenever I come upon one of these beautiful abandoned buildings, I daydream about what happened inside those walls many years ago.
I live in San Cristobal and have seen many houses like that. How can I post you some photographs? I don’t have a blog of my own.
September 29th, 2007 at 1:03 am
This is such a great idea for a series. My mother is from Buenos Aires and whenever we go there she remembers her former favorite places, blocks lined with old houses now replaced by glass skyscrapers…
October 1st, 2007 at 8:46 pm
[…] of Buenos Aires. This is a great way to see how the city has changed over the decades. (See my city that fades away series for more on that […]
December 3rd, 2007 at 4:27 pm
Hi Jeff,
I recently changed the URL of my blog and I am contacting everyone who has a link to my blog and letting them know the new URL. Sorry for any hassle (lost links) this has caused.
http://www.azucar-y-especias.blogspot.com/
December 6th, 2007 at 3:15 pm
http://www.basta-de-demoler.blogspot.com/
organizacion para proteger el patrimonio!!
el viernes 7 19.00 hay una manifestacion para salvar el teatro el picadero en corrientes y santos discepolo!
February 11th, 2008 at 11:05 am
Sad but true, Buenos Aires is losing most of his beatiful and unlikely architecture due to the lack of government protecting policies that allows constructors to destroy almost everything to build awful buildings.
Nevertheless, there are lots of historical buildings in risk that can still be saved! Let’s move, people!
http://www.progeterbarracas.blogspot.com
February 11th, 2008 at 1:24 pm
Hi Igancio,
Thanks for your comment and your call to action.
Any reader interested in this topic should really take a look at Ignacio’s blog.
March 11th, 2008 at 3:26 pm
-TRAGO AMARGO EN BARRACAS DULCE-
http://www.protegerbarracas.blogspot.com
April 22nd, 2008 at 11:51 am
[…] for the City that Fades Away […]
May 18th, 2008 at 3:23 pm
[…] time for blogging lately, but this can’t go unmentioned….another sad episode for the City that Fades Away […]
July 2nd, 2008 at 9:01 pm
[…] last month while walking down Azcuenaga street next to Recoleta Cemetery I saw another building demolition almost […]
November 1st, 2008 at 9:11 pm
[…] around a bookstore in San Telmo today I found a volume of photographs that fits perfectly with my City that Fades Away series: Arquitecturas ausentes: obras notables demolidas en la ciudad de buenos aires/Absent […]
September 10th, 2009 at 10:11 am
Hi! I was surfing and found your blog post… nice! I love your blog. 🙂 Cheers! Sandra. R.