While in Puerto Madero, we visited one of the most traditional and at the same time atypical constructions in the area: former Munich Brewery, which today houses the Buenos Aires Museum Center.
Few buildings in Buenos Aires may turn out to be as attractive and evocative as Munich Brewery once was. In the heart of Costanera Sur, it is a vestige of a splendorous past and the promise of a new future.
A Universe of Detail
Visiting this construction inaugurated in 1927 is almost as if we tasted it. Each step across its gardens or its interior brings the surprise of a new relief, a new drawing, and a figure that escorts us as a friend from a time in which we paid more attention to detail.
A Soft Drink in the Shade
Designed by Andrés Kálnay (Hungarian architect who migrated to Argentina), the Munich Brewery building was raised on one of the most visited spots by the porteños in the early XX century. On very warm days, all of them used to approach the riverside in order to have a dip at the area known today as Costanera.
Visited by the most important celebrities of the time, the refreshing and joyful shade provided by the brewery gradually became more and more desolate until, in the early 1970s and in combination wit the general decline of Costanera Sur, it had to close.
New Life Center
After working as the Telecommunications Museum for a while, the building finally passed onto the hands of the government of the City of Buenos Aires in 2002. Ever since, it has become the Buenos Aires Museum Center.
After a restoration process, the center opened its gates as part of the Ecologic Reserve and Riverside Recovery Program. Today, in addition to housing the Buenos Aires Museum General Department, it also works as an exhibition center, with a conference auditorium, and as a base for a series of cultural development programs that search to give new life to the area.
Quite paradoxically, what used to be an abandoned area in town today has become one of the most booming spots and the one that has experienced the most important growth in the last few years. Featuring modern constructions, Puerto Madero has much to offer to all those who wish to tour around this zone.
But there is one place that was already there. A traditional and amazing place. If a building has ever been worth visiting, that is it.