Current Watch Site
Founded in 1882, incorporating a pre-existing urban layout, La Plata is the administrative, political, and judiciary center of the province of Buenos Aires. It is the seat of the Supreme Court and the provincial legislature, as well as home to the Universidad Nacional de La Plata and the Museo de Ciencias Naturales, two leading education and research centers in the Americas. Designed according to City Beautiful and rationalist precepts, the urban grid is intersected by two main diagonal avenues that merge at the town square where the Municipal Building and Cathedral are located. The abundance of open space is evident on the wide tree-lined sidewalks, compact blocks with green cores, and the smaller plazas located every six blocks. La Plata’s architecture is representative of the city’s immigrant history and diversity, with styles mingling German baroque, French Art Nouveau, Italian Renaissance, and Spanish colonial.
Changes to local urban policy, insufficient preservation ordinances, and development pressures endanger not only important buildings, but also the historic scale and layout of the urban landscape. Inclusion on the 2012 Watch will help raise awareness of the threat to La Plata’s built heritage and city plan, and give voice to community concerns.
Download a 2012 Watch poster of this site (see download instructions).
IN THE MEDIA
- Compromiso patrimonial
Página/12, October 15, 2011 - Pancartas y proyecciones por el patrimonio histórico
El Argentino, October 21, 2011 - Advierten que La Plata pierde su esencia
La Nación, November 21, 2011 - Preocupa el avance de obras en el Bosque
InfoPlatense, August 11, 2012 - Los negociados están arruinado la ciudad
InfoPlatense, August 13, 2012 - La Asamblea Defendamos La Plata se reunió con el Rector de la Universidad Nacional de La Plata
La Plata Ya, August 13, 2012
SPOTLIGHT
WORLD MONUMENTS WATCH DAY
The group S.O.S. La Plata celebrated Watch Day by hosting lectures for high school students and participating in a workshop about the environment at the National University. The events concluded with the screening of short films about the development of the historic city and the loss of heritage.
On Facebook: Become a fan
In the Blogosphere: Día del Patrimonio en Riesgo
