Buenos Aires House of Culture Facts for Kids

The Buenos Aires House of Culture is a famous and beautiful building in the Montserrat area of Buenos Aires, the capital city of Argentina. It's a very important landmark!

History of the House of Culture
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History of the House of Culture

Building a Masterpiece

The building was originally the main office for La Prensa, which was one of Argentina's biggest newspapers. In 1894, the owner, José Clemente Paz, decided they needed a new, bigger office. He bought a large piece of land on the new Avenida de Mayo street.

Mr. Paz hired two local architects, Carlos Agote and Alberto Gainza, to design the new building. They had studied in Paris, France, and used a fancy style called Beaux-Arts. The front of the building was even inspired by a famous French architect named Charles Garnier.

A Special Spire and Statue

The new La Prensa building was finished in 1898. About 20,000 people came to the opening ceremony! The outside of the building, in the Beaux-Arts style, has a tall spire. On top of the spire is a shiny bronze statue of Pallas Athena. This statue, made by French artist Maurice Bouval, represents the freedom of the press. It stands 50 meters (164 feet) high and holds an electric lamp, like a symbol of light and knowledge.

The spire also has a special siren, added in 1900. This siren was used to announce very important news that La Prensa thought was a huge moment in history. It has only been rung five times:

In 1900, for the news of the King of Italy, Umberto I, passing away.
When the Apollo 11 spacecraft landed on the moon.
When the Argentine National Football Team won their first FIFA World Cup in 1978.
In 1982, when the Falkland Islands were invaded.
In 1983, when democracy returned to Argentina with President Raúl Alfonsín.

View of the House of Culture and City Hall from the Avenida de Mayo

Inside the Beautiful Building

The inside of the building was made with many materials brought from other countries. For example, the elevators came from the United States, and the beautiful mosaic tiles and clocks came from France.

On the first floor, there's a special room called the Golden Salon. Here, Mr. Paz started the Popular Conference Institute. For many years, famous writers like Jorge Luis Borges gave talks and readings in this salon. The room was decorated with amazing paintings by Italian artists Reinaldo Giudici and Nazareno Orlandi. Mr. Paz also created a huge library in the building, which grew to have over 80,000 books!

Becoming the House of Culture

In 1951, the government at the time took over La Prensa newspaper, and the building became owned by the CGT labor union. The bronze Athena statue was even removed for a few years, but it was put back in 1956.

Later, in 1988, La Prensa sold the building. It then became the Ministry of Culture of Buenos Aires. Since then, it has been known as the Casa de la Cultura, which means House of Culture. In 1995, it was declared a National Historic Monument, meaning it's a very important historical place.

A special hallway that connects the House of Culture to the nearby Buenos Aires City Hall was turned into the Ana Díaz Salon. This is now a place where cool art exhibits are shown.