6.00pm | The many faces of Palermo

From Japanese princes to Little Red Riding Hood.

Walking north along Avenida del Libertador, after four blocks, you'll cross Av. Ortiz de Ocampo. Turning right, you'll find the Ocampo residence (Rufino de Elizalde 2831), a house with a curious history. In 1929, Victoria Ocampo, the acclaimed Argentine writer, hired architect Alejandro Bustillo to build her home. At the same time, she consulted Le Corbusier about the possibility of a more modern design, which was later used as a basis for part of the building. Bustillo was so annoyed that he refused to sign the project with his name. Today the building houses the Fondo Nacional de las Artes (National Arts Fund), which promotes and finances Argentine arts.

Continue walking in the same direction, into the Palermo neighbourhood. Our next stop is the Japanese Garden (Av. Figueroa Alcorta and Av. Casares), which was built in 967 to welcome Japonese princes who came to visit the country. This large, relaxing space was built following the Japanese concepts of liberating the mind from worries in order to free the spirit.

At the exit, you'll see a monument whose existence even many locals don't know about: Little Red Riding Hood (Av. del Libertador and Sarmiento), which, true to the story is located in the forest  . . . the forest of Palermo or, Bosques de Palermo, as many people call the Tres de Febrero Park and surrounding area.

Moving on

Go back along Sarmiento to Plaza Italia subte station in Avenida Santa Fe - look out for the mural of a work by Benito Quinquela Martín, “The unloading of the convoys”, created by Constantino Yuste - and take subte line D to Juramento station.

Guided tours

There are guided tours of the Japanese Garden on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays. More info.

 

« Previous | Next »

 

 

DEL LIBERTADOR AV. y ORTIZ DE OCAMPO