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 around the world, countries seduce with the images of their most emblematic constructions; Paris with the Eiffel Tower, London with the 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. On May 23rd this protagonist of countless events will be 86 years old, a good opportunity to learn more about it.

The project of opening the Avenida 9 de Julio, as an artery crossing the city from north to south, dates back to the end of the 19th century and although it was included in several plans and projects, the National Law 8855, which approved the expropriation for public utility purposes of the properties located on the future route of the Avenue, dates back to 1912.

These were times of change and everything was part of a vast public works plan that implied the restructuring and modernisation 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 purpose the opening of Avenida 9 de Julio contemplated a roundabout at the intersection of the current Avenida Corrientes and Diagonal Norte; the Plaza de la República, as well as the widening of Avenida Corrientes.

The exact address of the Obelisk is: Av. Corrientes 1066, City of Buenos Aires, (Source: GCBA) but...in the same place it was located before: the Hippodrome, 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, then San Nicolás and later Corrientes, which also gave its name to the neighbourhood in which it was located.

For several reasons, the church of San Nicolás de Bari was a historical temple: Mariano Moreno and Manuel Dorrego were baptised there, the remains of the presbyter Manuel Alberti, a member of the First Government Junta of 1810, who died in January 1811, rested there, and also the Argentinean flag flew for the first time in its tower on August 23rd, 1812. The church was demolished in 1931 and moved to its current location: 1364 Santa Fe Avenue. It is the only colonial church that does not exist today.

With the whole area restructured, the Mayor Mariano de Vedia y Mitre proposed to the National Government to erect an obelisk in the Plaza de la República as a symbol of the fourth centenary of the foundation of the City of Buenos Aires.

A monument that would do justice to such an event and the decree of its creation referred to a work ... "that would show the people of the Republic the true importance of the event ...". "...that there is no monument in the City that symbolises the homage of the Capital of the entire Nation...". The Obelisk was born.

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

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

In order to optimise time and facilitate the pouring of the concrete, it was built in two-metre sections. The materials used included 1300 m² of white stone from Olaen, Córdoba.

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

Its total height is 67.5 m; at 63.5 m begins the apex, which is 3.5 m high. It has only one entrance door facing west towards the city and, at the top, four windows, reached by a 206-step staircase with seven landings at eight-metre intervals, except for one at a distance of six metres. Seen from below, the diamond-shaped landings are of limited capacity; in some sections the wall is so close that the cement rubs against the climber's back, but not the square landings that allow a complete tour of the interior of the obelisk.

At the top of the obelisk, there is a plate with two holes: the "eyes of fire" that allow the sunlight to pass through and welcome the wonderful blunt point that ends the obelisk.

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

The internal walls are carved with legends indicating the date, year and participants of the completion of the work, as well as the inauguration date. Cameras, radar and lightning rods are located on the outside.

On the outside of the four faces there are inscriptions recalling different historical events: the north front reads: "On this site, 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 reads: "Federal Capital, law dictated 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 MDCCCLXXX", the inscription on the south front reads: "Second foundation by Juan de Garay XI of June MDCCCLXXX". Roca VI de Diciembre de MDCCCLXXX", the inscription on the south front reads: "Segunda fundación por Juan de Garay XI de Junio de MDLXXX" and also in a small rectangle the poem "El Obelisco" that Baldomero Fernandez Moreno wrote in a tribute to Alberto Prebisch (according to the anecdote, it was written during a dinner at the Hotel Alvear, on a napkin and given to Prebisch's wife), finally on the east front, the inscription reads: "Buenos Aires to the Republic, on the IV centenary of the foundation of the city by Don Pedro de Mendoza XI of February MDXXXVI."

In its beginnings the Obelisk was rejected and ironically nicknamed "cement paperweight", "punch" or "stake". On 21 June 1938, pieces of masonry came loose, so that a year later the City Council voted to demolish it, arguing reasons of public safety, economy and aesthetics, and the President of the Republic Roberto M. Ortiz had to intervene. Ortiz, who stated that the monument recalled 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 Buenos Aires, Arturo Goyeneche, vetoed the Ordinance approving the demolition. The repairs were carried out, but the legend indicating 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 give 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 World AIDS Day 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 controversy, 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 cladding that simulated its concrete, while a replica of the tip was placed in the Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires (Malba), from its windows visitors could see the real views of the obelisk, simulating being at its peak. In the artist's words, the fantasy of seeing the obelisk from the inside was generated, since it is always seen from the outside and from below.

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

The general public can visit the inside; only on exceptional occasions, one of which was when the obelisk turned 75 years old and 75 of the 15,000 registered residents were allowed to go up to celebrate.

Then, on the 80th birthday, an invitation was sent through social networks to participate in the experience, and of the 21,143 people who registered, eighty tickets were drawn.

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, which, as expected, will be reflected in the press.

The Obelisk was more than a postcard of the city, present in the happiest moments and in the most anguishing claims, at times it was for River and at others for Boca, but always for the National Team, it celebrated Democracy and the Bicentenary and throughout its history it has been the undisputed centre of popular expression.