Financing the Modern Research University: The Ciudad Universitaria de Buenos Aires by Caminos and Catalano (1959–66)

Abstract

Abstract The new campus of the Universidad de Buenos Aires entered architectural discourse in 1967 with a publication on the design of its typical block. While the university was considered the epicentre of urban and architectural development in Latin America, contemporary descriptions of the new Ciudad Universitaria assumed a technical tone and focused on structural diagrams and managerial tools. This article examines the spatial implications of this episode, which are inextricably connected with a sophisticated financial process within the bureaucratic apparatus of the university. It reveals the extraordinary managerial skills and mediation practices of university authorities—attempting to liberate capital flows in their favour—in ensuring a fruitful dialogue with executives and intermediaries of foreign private entities. An analysis of the hollowed-out typical block building designed by Argentine architects and educators Horacio Caminos and Eduardo Catalano traces the uneven delimitation of the urban interior as the new contested territory where knowledge production is controversially cultivated.