History of La Casa Rosada

                La Casa Rosada [“The Pink House”], located in front of the historic Plaza de Mayo, is the seat of the executive branch of the government of Argentina and one of the most emblematic buildings of Buenos Aires. It underwent many changes before assuming its present form. In fact, three architects took part in the construction during the 19^th century: the Swedish Carl Kihlberg built the Central Post Office, Henrik Åberg (Swedish as well) refurbished the old State House, and the Italian Francesco Tamburini (also the author of the first project for the Colón Theater) in 1884 joined the two neighboring buildings and designed the great central archway on Balcarce Street.  

            The pink colour of the walls has it origin in the 19^th century custom of mixing the whitewash paint with hog’s or bull’s blood because their fixative properties. 

THE OLD STATE HOUSE AND THE CENTRAL POST OFFICE BUILDING 

(TAKEN FROM THE PRESENT CORNER OF RIVADAVIA AND 25 DE MAYO. CIRCA 1880)

THE NEW STATE HOUSE (WITH THE REFURBISHMENT OF HENRIK ÅBERG) 

AND THE CENTRAL POST OFFICE BUILDING BEFORE TAMBURINI’S WORK

TAMBURINI’S ARCHWAY (DETAIL) 

THE PRESENT CASA ROSADA

The origin of USTED

The personal pronoun we have for formal treatment comes from the polite expression VUESTRA MERCED (“Your Worship”) which changed through the centuries until became USTED.

This phonetic evolution was: 
 

VUESTRA MERCED > VUESA MERCED > VUESARCED > VUESANCED > VOACÉ, VUCÉ, VUSTED > USTED

Quinquela Martín Biography

Benito Chinchella [hispanized Quinquela by himself] Martín (1890 - 1977) is known as el pintor de La Boca, because that neighborhood, its port and its people are the main themes of his work.

            Abandoned as a baby child by his biological family, at the age of seven he was adopted by Justina Molina and Manuel Chinchella, a Genovese immigrant from whom Benito took his last name and his first occupation: loading and unloading coal from the tied up ships in Vuelta de Rocha.       

            He started to paint intuitively in his childhood. Except for some lessons in a cultural institution, Benito hadn’t any formal education; his training was self-taught, and his lifetime inspiration, the port’s life. His technique demonstrates both the heterodoxy of his painting and his art conception: since 1918, almost his entire work was painted with a palette knife.     

            Despite the early success he achieved, Quinquela never left La Boca and made many donations to the neighborhood, among others, the current school-museum “Pedro de Mendoza” next to Caminito.

            Many years before his death, he prepared his own coffin, “because a man who has lived surrounded by colors can’t be buried in a plain box”. He lies in that water-coloured coffin in which top Quinquela had painted a sailing ship. 

 QUINQUELA'S HANDS

 "ACCIDENTE EN EL PUERTO" ("ACCIDENT IN THE PORT"). ETCHING

 "CREPÚSCULO" ("TWILIGHT"). OIL PAINTING

The verbal form HAY

The verbal form HAY is the result of the contraction of the verb HABER in third person + the adverb AHÍ.

"RECORDAR" Etymology

           COR, CORDIS means “heart” in Latin. From there comes the Spanish noun CORAZÓN, of course, but also the verb RECORDAR (“to remember”).

           So, if you remember something in Spanish, you are basically doing it with your heart.

El Obelisco

           One of the greatest icons of the city, El Obelisco was designed by the architect Alberto Prebisch and it was built (in only 31 days!) to commemorate the fourth centenary of the first foundation of Buenos Aires (1536). It is located where the Argentinian flag was raised for the first time in the city. 

Here four photos of its construction and opening in 1936.