The 86 years of the Obelisk of Buenos Aires

The obelisk is considered an icon of the City of Buenos Aires, in the postcards that travel the world, countries seduce with the images of their most emblematic constructions; Paris with the Eiffel Tower, London with Big Ben or New York with the Statue of Liberty, one of those images of Argentina and unmistakable symbol of the City is the Obelisk. Next May 23, this protagonist of innumerable events, turns 86, it is a good opportunity to learn more about him.

The opening project for Avenida 9 de Julio, as an artery that crossed the city from North to South, dated from the late 19th century and, although it was included in various plans and projects, National Law 8855, which approved the expropriation with public utility purposes of the properties located on the future layout of the Avenue, dates from 1912.

These were times of change and everything was framed in a vast public works plan that implied the restructuring and modernization of the city beyond the axis that until then had been the Plaza and Avenida de Mayo; It was time to solve traffic and vehicle speed problems and for this the opening of Avenida 9 de Julio contemplated a roundabout at the intersection of current Av. Corrientes and Diagonal Norte; the Plaza de la República, as well as the widening of Av. Corrientes.

The exact address of the Obelisk is: Av. Corrientes 1066, City of Buenos Aires, (Source: GCBA) but…in the same place that it was previously located?: the Hipódromo, a circus stage where the famous clown Frank Brown performed, the primitive Luna Park stadium, the Teatro del Pueblo and the church of San Nicolás de Bari, erected during the colony in the so-called Calle del Sol, later San Nicolás and later Corrientes and which also gave its name to the neighborhood in which it was located.

For various reasons, the church of San Nicolás de Bari was a historic temple: Mariano Moreno and Manuel Dorrego were baptized in it, the remains of the presbyter Manuel Alberti rested; member of the First Government Junta of 1810, who died in January 1811 and also in its tower the Argentine Flag was waved for the first time on August 23, 1812. The church was demolished in 1931 and moved to its current location: Avenida Santa Fe 1364. It is the only colonial church that currently does not exist.

With the entire area restructured, Mayor Mariano de Vedia y Miter proposes to the National Government to erect an obelisk in the Plaza de la República as a symbol of the fourth centenary of the founding of the City of Buenos Aires.

A monument that would do justice to the size of the event and in the decree of its creation referred to a work... "That points out to the people of the Republic the true importance of the anniversary..." "...that there is no monument in the City that symbolizes the homage of the Capital of the entire Nation…” The Obelisk was born.

Work began in March 1936, and was completed two months later, quite a challenge for the time.

On May 23, 1936, the great Obelisk was inaugurated, the work of the architect Alberto Prebisch, one of the main references of Argentine modernism.

To optimize times and facilitate the pouring of the concrete, it was built in two-meter sections. Using among its materials 1300 m² of white stone from Olaen, Córdoba.

The resolution of the structure was achieved with the location of two large bases on the sides of the tunnel of subway line D (under construction, and inaugurated in 1937), which also rested on the lower tunnels of Line B (1930), On these two bases, five large beams were placed that served as support for an extensive slab on which the obelisk rests.

Its total height is 67.5 m; at 63.5m the apex begins, which is 3.5m. It has only one entrance door that looks to the west of the city and at the top, four windows that are reached by a 206-step marine staircase, with seven landings at intervals of eight meters, except for one of them at a distance of six meters. Seen from below, the diamond-shaped landings have limited capacity, in some sections the wall is so close that the cement rubs against the back of the person climbing, but not the square landings that allow a complete turn inside the obelisk .

Towards the top, there is a flat with two holes: the "eyes of fire" that allow the passage of sunlight into the interior and welcome the marvelous blunt tip that ends the obelisk.

From the windows located at the blunt point, you can see the four cardinal points of the City; from the west window, Av. Corrientes, in the direction of Av. Callao, in the east, Av. Corrientes can be seen in the opposite direction; towards Av. Leandro N. Alem and Puerto Madero and also Diagonal Norte towards Plaza de Mayo; the south view, is with the building of the Ministry of Social Action of the Nation and the 25 de Mayo Highway and through the north window you can see the Dr. Arturo Umberto Illia Highway (AV1Norte) and the Río de la Plata.

On the internal walls, legends indicating the date, year and participants of the completion of the work, as well as the date of inauguration, were carved. Outside there are cameras, radar and lightning rods.

On the outside of the four faces there are inscriptions that recall different historical events: the North front says: "In this place, in the tower of San Nicolás, the national flag was hoisted for the first time in the city on August XXIII of MDCCCXII" , on the west front it says; "Federal Capital, law issued by the National Congress on September XX of MDCCCLXXX at the initiative of President Nicolás Avellaneda, decree of President Julio A. Roca VI of December of MDCCCLXXX", the inscription on the south front reads: "Second foundation by Juan de Garay XI de Junio de MDLXXX" and also in a small rectangle the poem "El Obelisk" that Baldomero Fernandez Moreno wrote in homage to Alberto Prebisch (according to the anecdote, it was written during a dinner at the Hotel Alvear, on a napkin and delivered to Prebisch's wife), finally on the east front, the inscription reads: "Buenos Aires to the Republic, on the IV centenary of the founding of the city by Don Pedro de Mendoza XI of February MDXXXVI."

In its beginnings, the Obelisk was rejected and was ironically nicknamed "cement paperweight", "punch" or "stake". On June 21, 1938, pieces of masonry detached, for which a year later its demolition was voted in the Deliberative Council of Buenos Aires, arguing for reasons of public safety, economic and aesthetic, the President of the Republic Roberto M. Ortiz who expressed that the monument commemorated an important event such as the first foundation of Buenos Aires, and that the Ministry of Public Works would pay for the repair costs, while the mayor of the city of Buenos Aires, Arturo Goyeneche vetoed the Ordinance that approved demolition. The repair was carried out, but the legend that indicated Prebisch as the architect of the work was lost.

On different occasions, the Obelisk was intervened: in the last days of 1973, it was decorated as a Christmas tree; in 1975 it was used to deliver two messages to the citizen: "Silence is health" and "Keep Buenos Aires clean", in 2005 it was covered with a pink cloth simulating a condom to commemorate the World Day of the fight against AIDS and in 2009 it was decorated with a bracelet with the slogan “Say no More” to announce the return to the stage of the musician Charly Garcia, and on occasions it was illuminated to commemorate significant dates.

Some of these interventions aroused the most heated controversies, and perhaps the one that caused the most surprise due to its originality, was the one carried out in 2015 by the artist Leandro Erlich, who tried to create the illusion that the apex had been removed; To achieve this, the monument was covered with an iron coating that simulated its concrete, while a replica of the top was located in the Museum of Latin American Art in Buenos Aires, (Malba), from its windows the real views of the obelisk simulating the visitor to be at its peak. In the words of the artist, the fantasy of knowing the obelisk from the inside was generated, since it is always seen from the outside and from below.

Regularly, building maintenance tasks are carried out by the Ministry of Public Space and Urban Hygiene of the City Government, who has the "keys to the obelisk" and authorizes any entry, since some security measures are required (climbing harness , safety ropes, gloves, helmets) Thus, only some national and foreign media have visited it to show it inside.

Can the general public visit it inside? Only on exceptional occasions, one of them was when the obelisk turned 75 years old and 75 neighbors of the 15,000 registered were allowed to celebrate it.

Then, on the 80th birthday, they were invited through social networks to participate in the experience, and of the 21,143 registered, eighty entries were raffled.

In the coming days and on the occasion of his 86th birthday, the public was also invited, through the media and social networks, to participate in the selection to make the visit. Said event, as expected, will be reflected by the press.

The Obelisk was more than a postcard of the city, present in the happiest moments and in the most distressing claims, at times it was from River and at others from Boca, but always from the National Team, it celebrated Democracy and the Bicentennial as already Throughout its history, it has been the undisputed center of popular expression.