Safico Building
The Safico Building, standing on Avenida Corrientes in downtown Buenos Aires, is a landmark Art Déco skyscraper that fuses rationalist, Bauhaus, and Art Déco impulses into one of the city’s most distinctive interwar towers. Completed in 1933 after just ten months of construction under Swiss engineer Walter Möll, the building rises 90 metres (300 feet) in reinforced concrete. Beyond its architectural significance, the Safico Building earned an enduring place in Latin American literary history: the Chilean poet Pablo Neruda lived here while serving as a diplomat and composed the second part of his celebrated collection Residence on Earth within its walls. His friend and fellow poet Federico García Lorca was a frequent visitor. In 2019 the building hosted the Art-Déco World Congress, confirming its international standing as an outstanding example of the style.
At a glance
- Type
- Skyscraper / Commercial office building
- Period
- 1933
- Style
- Art Déco with rationalist and Bauhaus elements
- Location
- Avenida Corrientes, Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Coordinates
- 34.6034° S, 58.3732° W
- Architect(s)
- Engineer: Walter Möll (Switzerland)
Overview
Reaching 90 metres and completed in a record ten months, the Safico Building was among Buenos Aires’s earliest true skyscrapers when it opened in 1933, surpassed at the time only by the Palacio Barolo. Its reinforced concrete frame and clean geometric massing placed it at the forefront of interwar modernism in South America. Since the 1940s, the building has served as the Buenos Aires home for major international media organisations including The Washington Post, the Financial Times, the BBC, and Reuters, cementing its role as a hub of global information at the heart of the Argentine capital.
History
Constructed in 1933 under the supervision of Swiss engineer Walter Möll, the Safico Building was notable from the outset for the speed of its construction—ten months from groundbreaking to completion. It entered Buenos Aires’s skyline at a moment when the city was aggressively modernising its centre, competing directly with the neighbouring Comega Building for the distinction of the city’s tallest structure. From the 1940s onward the building attracted prestigious international tenants in the media sector. Its most celebrated resident was the Chilean poet Pablo Neruda, who lived here during his diplomatic posting and wrote a significant portion of Residence on Earth within its rooms; Federico García Lorca visited him there. In 2019 the building was chosen as the venue for the international Art-Déco World Congress.
Architecture & Design
The Safico Building occupies an unusual position in Buenos Aires’s architectural taxonomy, blending the decorative vocabulary of Art Déco with the functional discipline of European rationalism and Bauhaus modernism. The result is a tower that avoids pure ornamentalism in favour of a geometric restraint relieved by carefully positioned decorative accents. Engineer Walter Möll worked in reinforced concrete, a material well-suited to the rapid construction schedule and to the expressive possibilities of smooth, continuous surfaces. The building’s silhouette on Avenida Corrientes—with its stepped upper floors and controlled verticality—contributed to the transformation of the street into one of Buenos Aires’s most architecturally coherent interwar corridors.
Cultural significance
Few buildings in Latin America can claim an equal density of cultural associations. Pablo Neruda’s residency alone would be enough to secure the Safico Building a place in the canon of Spanish-language literary history, but the building’s connections extend further: García Lorca’s visits link it to the generation of Spanish modernist poets, while decades of international press bureaux placed it at the centre of global news-gathering about Argentina. The selection of the Safico Building as the venue for the 2019 Art-Déco World Congress recognised its importance not merely as a local landmark but as a globally significant example of the style, drawing architects and heritage professionals from around the world.
Visiting today
The Safico Building is an active commercial property and general public access is limited to the ground-floor lobby and the exterior. Visitors come to appreciate its distinctive silhouette and its place alongside the Comega Building as part of the remarkable cluster of interwar modernist towers on Avenida Corrientes. The street itself is a cultural destination—lined with bookshops, theatres, and cafes—making an architectural visit easily combined with other cultural activities in the Microcentro. No admission fee is charged for exterior viewing.
Getting there
The Safico Building is located on Avenida Corrientes in central Buenos Aires, well served by public transport. The nearest Subte (metro) stations are Leandro N. Alem on Line B and Florida on Line B, both within a few minutes’ walk. Multiple bus lines run along Avenida Corrientes and connecting arteries. The building is easily reached on foot from the Plaza de Mayo, Puerto Madero, and the pedestrianised Florida street shopping area.
Sources & resources
Find it on the map
See this place and what’s around it →📷 Diventa un fotografo di Cultural Heritage Online
Condividi le tue foto dei luoghi: restano pubblicate con la tua firma come autore. Più vengono viste, più ti fai conoscere — e presto un concorso premierà le foto più apprezzate.
Accedi o registrati gratis per aggiungere una fotoDo you manage this place?
This page is read by travellers and heritage enthusiasts who find it on Google. Keep it accurate — and make it work for you. Free for non-profit heritage institutions.