1913-2011

Faithful representative of the principles of the Modern Movement and admirer of Mies van der Rohe, the Argentinian Mario Roberto Álvarez became acquainted with the architecture of the avant-gardes in 1938 when, after graduating with Gold Medal honors from the University of Buenos Aires School of Architecture in 1936, he was granted the Ader scholarship, which allowed him to travel through Europe for a year and thus come into contact with the work of the modern masters. Upon returning to Buenos Aires his career took off shyly with the design of small medical centers, but would soon change in scale with the construction of a few hospitals and his first relevant works: the apartment building on Posadas street (1957) and the San Martín Theater on Corrientes avenue (1960), designed with Macedonio Óscar Ruiz. Álvarez completed numerous of apartment towers and offices, mostly for American multinationals, commissions which turned his studio into one of the most successful in Buenos Aires; the most noteworthy ones are those of Bank of America (1965), that of IBM Argentina (1983), and those of the Galería Jardín on Florida street (1984).