Puerto Madero
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Puerto Madero is a district of the Argentine capital, Buenos Aires, which occupies a significant portion of the Río de la Plata riverbank and it represents the latest architectural trend in Buenos Aires City.
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[edit] History
In the 1930s, port facilities were relocated to Puerto Nuevo, the ("new port"), 1 km to the north, and most of the older red brick warehouses were all but abandoned. In the 1990s, local and foreign investment lead in a massive regeneration effort, recycling and refurbishing the west side warehouses into elegant houses, offices, lofts, private universities, luxurious hotels and restaurants that conform to a gallery of options for this new district in a city that grew up turning its back to the river. State-of-the-art multiplex cinemas, theatres, cultural centres, luxurious hotels and office and corporate buildings are located mostly in the east side. Puerto Madero breathes international flair, one of the new trendy barrios of Buenos Aires, it has become habitat of young professionals and there is an increasing interest as a destination for foreign buyers, particularly those with high income who are looking for premium properties
The neighborhood's road network has been entirely rebuilt, especially in the east side. The layout of the east side consists currently of three wide boulevards running east-west crossed by the east side's main street, Juana Manso Avenue. The layout is completed with some other avenues and minor streets, running both east-west and north-south, and by several pedestrianised streets.
All the streets of Puerto Madero are named after women. The Puente de la Mujer (Women's Bridge), by the Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, is the newest link between the east and west docks of Puerto Madero.
Puerto Madero represents the largest wide-scale urban project for the city of Buenos Aires that has undergone an impressive revival in a few short years, and is one of the most successful waterfront renewal projects around the world.[1]
[edit] New high-rise towers
New residential high-rise buildings of up to 50 storeys are being build facing the Rio de la Plata, these include El Mirador of Puerto Madero Towers, Renoir Towers, El Faro Towers, Chateau Tower of Puerto Madero and Mulieris Towers amongst others. Many other high-rises that have recently been inaugurated include the Le Parc Tower and Hilton and River View Towers. Office and hotel high-rises are also being built such as the Repsol YPF Headquarters and the Conrad Buenos Aires Hotel & Resort with construction slated to begin at the end of 2008 and completion scheduled for late 2010.[2]
[edit] Transportation
The recently inaugurated 2 kilometre modern Puerto Madero Tramway (Tranvía del Este) line serves the area, it runs alongside the west side's of Alicia Moreau de Justo Avenue. However, the neighborhood is still not well-connected to the city's transit network. Few bus routes run through Puerto Madero, no subway line reaches it and currently there are no official plans to extend the subway network to the neighborhood in spite the fact that further extensions of the tramway are planned that will link the Retiro and Constitución terminal train stations.[3]
[edit] Expressway controversy
An expressway connecting the north and the south of the city through Puerto Madero has long been in the planning stage. Several alternatives have been considered, including elevated, groundlevel, underground, and even an underwater proposal by private developer Julio Torcello, which would have run under the four docks this last proposal was dismissed as impossible to build.[4][5] All proposals have been criticised: the elevated and ground level options because they would constitute a barrier between Puerto Madero and the rest of the city, and the underground scheme because of the cost and the negative impact during construction. Placing the expressway between Puerto Madero and the Buenos Aires Ecological Reserve has also been considered, but has been strongly opposed by environmentalists, furthermore, any proposal would ruin the city's character by adding even more traffic than it already has and put it in real jeopardy.
[edit] References
- ^ Ann Breen and Dick Rigby, The New Waterfront: A Worldwide Urban Success Story – McGraw-Hill Professional
- ^ Conrad Buenos Aires to debut in popular Puerto Madero area Retrieved on 2008-01-08
- ^ Rossi, Antonio (2007). Proyectan Tranvía de Retiro a Constitución. La Nación. Retrieved on 2007-07-13. (Spanish)
- ^ Baccaro, Diana / Brunstein, Carolina (1999). Polémica por la futura autopista ribereña. Clarín. Retrieved on 2008-01-08. (Spanish)
- ^ Estudian hacer una autopista subterránea en Puerto Madero. Clarín (1997). Retrieved on 2008-01-08. (Spanish)
[edit] Bibliography
- Ann Breen and Dick Rigby, The New Waterfront: A Worldwide Urban Success Story – Text: English, McGraw-Hill Professional; 1 edition (1996) - ISBN-10: 0070074542 ISBN-13: 978-0070074545
[edit] External links
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