The architect Alberto Prebisch, born in Argentina to a German father, left an important imprint on the city. In addition to private homes, including the house of his brother Raul Prebisch, and the Ocampo building, located at Calle Chile 1368, he built the Obelisk which is undoubtedly the most well-known emblem of the city. Located at the intersection of Avenida Corrientes, Avenida 9 de Julio and Diagonal Norte, right in the middle of Plaza de la República, this tall four-sided monument is representative of Prebisch’s rational, purist and functional aesthetic.
The commission from the Argentinian government arose in the context of the festivities for the 400th anniversary of the founding of Buenos Aires. The construction of the obelisk was part of a series of refurbishments carried out on Buenos Aires’s public thoroughfares –including the widening of Avenida Corrientes, the opening of Diagonal Norte, the opening of the Avenida Norte-Sud (today 9 de Julio) and the implementation of two new urban metro lines– and is located at their geographic centre.
Avenida Corrientes went from being a regular street to a wide avenue, mainly to accommodate traffic but also so that the city government could restructure the city centre and its surrounding neighbourhoods. Once reconstructed and widened, however, this axis was immediately appropriated by the people who passed through it, turning Corrientes into a unique hub in the city. To this day, it is a place of both passage and destination, at all times of the day and night. In the downtown area, the bookstores and cafés on the avenue remain open all night.