Function and Fantasy by Paul Dobraszczyk & Peter Sealy

Author:Paul Dobraszczyk & Peter Sealy
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781317131403
Publisher: Taylor and Francis
Published: 2016-10-19T16:00:00+00:00

6.1 Interior of the Maple Store (1914), Buenos Aires, showing ironwork made by the Carron Company. Photograph by the author.

However, the historical associations of classical ornament did not necessarily sit easily with building types that had no precedent in Argentina. The two cast-iron kiosks placed at either side of the entrance to the passenger pier that was built by the English engineer Edward Taylor between 1855 and 1857 as part of the new Customs House project provide an example of this difficulty (Figure 6.2). The 210-metre-long timber-and-iron pier was built on land in the centre of the city that had been reclaimed from the River Plate – a project that heralded the beginning of the long process of urban modernisation across Argentina during the period of British influence and beyond.55 The pier was widely celebrated as a boon to Argentina’s prospects: according to Sarmiento, it was like “the hand of Buenos Aires moving towards the river to welcome civilisation sent from the world through the ships.” For many, the pier heralded a new era of prosperity, one that would release Argentinians from the “slavery of hard needs” to a new life that would make man “independent of nature” and the “king of creation.”56 Yet, in spite of this praise, there were some who criticised the pier’s appearance, especially its kiosks. Among the first prefabricated cast-iron structures imported to Buenos Aires, these kiosks were covered with corrugated iron and wood cladding and, according to Schávelzon, had “very picturesque” roofs.57 Nevertheless, as one German visitor stated, the cast-iron kiosks were “curios” that were “strangely attached” to the rest of the pier structure. This visitor also remarked that the “obsession for kiosks has migrated from the banks of the Seine to the distant Father Plata [the River Plate].”58

Early iron structures in Argentina – such as kiosks and bandstands – may have initially been regarded as rather incongruous additions to the built environment. However, they soon became fashionable and popular on account of their clear association with modernity. Indeed, structures such as gazebos and bandstands were commonly provided for urban parks and gardens in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries as an important element in the increasing leisure time of the working classes. Beginning in Britain in the 1830s, the rapid industrialisation of urban areas, coupled with a new awareness of and theories of health and hygiene, led to the promotion of urban parks. These were considered to be essential in ensuring not only the physical health of the working classes but also their moral well-being, and urban parks proliferated in the period between 1880 and 1914.59

Cast-iron bandstands were important elements of public parks, along with other cast-iron structures such as gates, railings, fountains, shelters, glasshouses and lamps.60 In Britain, the first cast-iron bandstand was installed in 1861 in the Royal Horticultural Gardens in Kensington, and it and many others like it became popular sites for social gatherings centred on music.61 These developments were mirrored in Argentina, where cast-iron bandstands were also an important part of social events and leisure activities.

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