The colors of Argentina

One of my favorite characteristics or Argentina so far is their appreciation of color. Whether its street art, painted houses, or beautiful handmade Italian tiling, Argentinians try to cover up the ugliness of brick and concrete with vibrant colors and vegetation. 

I’ll start with the tiling. Due to the heavy Italian influences in Argentina, a huge sector of the local population has made a living by studying the dying art of hand-painted and hand-cut ceramic tiles. You can see these beautiful works of art on sidewalks, in houses and churches, benches in the parks, and also walls and ceilings of homes and restaurants. The intricate detail of the tiles is absolutely mind boggling when you consider the years it would take to accomplish such a task. The first picture below is a small square (6in. x 6in.) of the floor in one of the oldest churches in Buenos Aires. Keep in mind, this is only a 6x6in square and the ENTIRE church floor was made of this ornate tiling. If that’s not impressive enough, this church was built was before the invention of modern pigments and paint so each tile was made by mixing  natural pigments (such as blood, powdered flowers, and traded pigments like indigo) into the ceramic while mixing. Then, each tile had to be dried in the sun for many days until it was ready to use. 

6x6in square of tiling in one of the oldest churches in  Buenos Aires

Tiled fountain in one of the plazas

Tiled base of church pillars 

Tiled mural outside of a random house

Street art is also very popular here, but it’s nothing like in the states.  Here, street art is a legitimate form of expression instead of the vandalism we see in the US. Street art in Argentina is not illegal, is not used to claim territories by gangs, and is actually appreciated by the general public.  Examples are below. 

Commemoration of Steve Jobs

Portraits of Kennedy & Guevara

                                          

 

As if the tiling and street art weren’t enough, the Argentinians also made it a tradition to paint their houses in attempt to make them match the vibrancy and vitality of their culture.  Today, unfortunately, the modern sections of the city look very similar to urban areas of the US but the old city still retains this beautiful tradition.  I will say however, that even though the modern sections have lost the beautiful colors of the old traditions, they still have plenty of green space. There are dozens of plazas, trees lining every street and avenue, parks in the middle of the city, etc. New York could learn a lot from Buenos Aires about aesthetics and the importance of greenery.