Real Estate and Art in Buenos Aires: The projects of Alan Faena, Eduardo Costantini and Jorge Pérez
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In Buenos Aires, there is a multitude of real estate developments that have used art as a brand identity which adds value and an additional quality of life dimension. This is in a backdrop of a trend that was born in the 90’s
Art is all about emotion, it is all about aesthetics. Art is an expression, a provocation, an inspiration. Art is total subjectivity. Art is Art. But, when it meets architecture, they are both empowered: architecture can become art in itself, transforming itself into a piece of identity, a community; either as a communication strategy or in the marketing of a real estate project.
In Buenos Aires, the real estate initiatives associated with artistic proposals are growing strongly. Eduardo Costantini joins these two passions from the Museum of Latin American Art of Buenos Aires (Malba) and Consultatio Real Estate, the subdivision development, Nordelta; the ports neighborhood in Escobar which includes several office buildings.
He also used that model in Florida, where he developed two residential complexes under the name of Oceana, one in Key Biscayne and another in the exclusive Bal Harbour area. Under this brand, he also launched a project in Puerto Madero , associated with Alan Faena, and he has announced that he will build another in Nordelta. “Before starting a development, one has to bear in mind what is to be offered to families by a way of life that combines design, aesthetics, and works of art,” defines Costantini. The entrepreneur said that each time, along with his team they devote “more time to choose the artists and to see how they could incorporate their works”. Based on the type of building, they then establish “the direct relationship with artists, which are not necessarily always super iconic and or super valued economically, since we are guided by the quality of the work and the budget of each project.”
With an investment of USD 120 million, Oceana Puerto Madero will rise in Dique 2.
Daniel Maman, owner of art galleries in Buenos Aires and Miami, considered that “art brings a lot to the real estate proposal. Having quality art adds value to a building. For artists, it also means enormous visibility, because the works are seen by thousands of people circulating throughout the building, in addition to the people who have the pleasure of living with these pieces. ” He values that “beyond the passion that real estate entrepreneurs can feel for art since most of them are also art collectors, so they see it as a financial asset that makes the units sell at better prices.”
According to Alejandra Covello, owner of the Real Estate company Covello International, with developments in Buenos Aires, Punta del Este, Carmelo and Colonia, “architecture is an art in itself, because there are many projects that have an architectural artistic conception.
It was in the 90’s that he began to work with the concept of real estate art in towers such as Mirabilia, where they tried to pull people in with art exhibitions because the client connects more sensitively with the product.
Today, strategic marketing promotes that large enterprises which are also purchasers of works which then become icons of the projects, which already have the privilege and prestige to contain them. I find it wonderful that the buildings are identified by the works of art they possess.”
Meanwhile, Astrid Perkins, consultant in the communication of luxury brands, says that “art can add an enormous amount of value in real estate development: It nourishes, adds value and beauty, invites reflection and contemplation.
Working with art as a complementary aid can expand the aesthetic and the buildings value, as well as enrich the investment for the investor. I don’t think it’s a trend, but a way to re-understand the value of creating more complete living spaces. On the other hand, real estate developments today focus on creating an identity that attracts people who are related to each other in some way. Art is a tool to reinforce the identity of a development and position it in a certain market segment. ” and complete: “Art establishes a quality parameter in the project, attracts an investor who shares – or seeks – a certain standard of aesthetics and quality of life, and can give a diversity of messages according to the work and the artist: it can be elegant and sophisticated, innovative and disruptive, classic or hyper-modern.
But art is also a way of communicating eternity. In a world where everything seems more and more ephemeral, art invites us to imagine the permanent.
Buenos Aires: Home Sweet Home
SLS Puerto Madero, the first project of the entrepreneur Jorge Pérez in his country of origin
In Puerto Madero real estate developments that have advanced in the area promise to add art also to the public spaces. So it happens with SLS Puerto Madero, the first venture that the billionaire Jorge Pérez , Miami-based Cuban Argentine, founder and president of related Group, brings to his country of origin.
One of the emblems of this company is the art: Perez is the principal benefactor of the Museum of Miami and has donated part of its private collection to that institution – which has been renamed as Perez Art Museum Miami (PAMM).
For its local proposal, besides having the prestige of the architecture of the studio Weddings Miani Anger (BMA), the interior decoration of the Italian Piero Lissoni and the landscaping of Enzo Enea, it will add works of several Argentine and international artists of the first Level, like an installation of Gachi Hasper and another of Graciela Sacco, murals of Fabián Burgos and works of Joaquín Boz.
By the end of April, they also announced the acquisition of Ataraxia, by Eugenio Cuttica, which will be installed in the lobby of the Designer Suites.
On this latest addition, Carlos Rosso, president of the Condominium Division of related Group, details: “This is a monumental work that was exhibited in the Museo de Mar del Plata (Mar). We bought it because it has a lot of a poetry and meaning, it is an enlightened work that will function as the light of the lobby.
“Also for this project they had a contest to choose three sculptures of Argentinian artists to be exhibited in the public park that will be given to the city.
The first piece was obtained by Marie Oresanz with a proposal that will also incorporate drawing and writing and there were two honorable mentions: one for Diana Cabeza, which will combine art with industrial design, and another for Nicola Costantino with her project baptized source of Life, which will be integrated into landscaping.
With the project already well advanced, by September they will begin to build Oceana Puerto Madero in Dike 2, an undertaking of two giants of real estate developers who are joined by their love of art: Eduardo Costantini and Alan Faena.
The teams of both companies will work in the conception of two residential buildings that will be located in front of the Faena Hotel in Buenos Aires.
The undertaking will have a large central public square that promises to have “imposing landscaping” and an art program for which they are already beginning to choose the Argentinian artists.
According to their plans, they will be working on creating “a new Architectural icon”, which will be the last piece of the Faena district: approximately 26,000 square meters, with more than 40,000 m2 of total area, respecting the urban environment And the identity of the area (current selling price averages USD 8,500 per m2).
Also in the second half of this year, they will officially launch Oceana Nordelta, where the sales prices of the units are “a little smaller” than those of their sister of Puerto Madero.
During the interview, the founder of Malba confirms that the Argentinean artist Pablo Reinoso was pre-selected to perform the first work of art that will have this venture.
“The project is practically finished in its conception. What we did is to form an island of little more than two hectares on the central lake where again the art will be protagonist when selecting a work to install on the edge of the terrain and the mirror of the lake, that will be very beautiful. We will work with the artist and our team in the selection of a piece or to think of a work for the place.”
According to the gallery owner Daniel Maman, “in Buenos Aires are generating several projects that will have works of art. I believe that this will be much more incentive when the national law of patronage-which will be approved this year in Congress-is achieved and that the decree of free movement of works of art expands and becomes law so that there is really free entry and exit of the country “.
The Winwood, Buenos Aires
Habitar, one of the developments in the Distrito Tigre Sur
The Tigre Sur District is the first special management in the province of Buenos Aires that aims to promote urban regeneration with axis in art, innovation and science.
It is located in the area of the historic quarter, including the Almirante Brown Streets, the Mitre tracks, the Marabotto Street, the Italia Avenue, the Brandsen Street and the coast train tracks to Almirante Brown Street.
There are 44 blocks that currently include the Tigre University campus, neighborhood clubs, and the popular library. Its borders present great real estate developments, such as Venice, Albardon, and the San Fernando shopping center. “The area is prepared with all the necessary services to consolidate itself as a new urban centrality, combining a multimodal transport system with cultural and leisure offerings,” said it’s promoters.
From this was born New Urbanism, company that its founders define as place maker, since it was conceived to initiate a process of urban recovery by recycling old houses to install projects linked to art. “The idea is to unite art with urban development so that the community is part of the cocreation. Hence, the first projects that were installed in our developments had strong capillarity with the neighborhood. We do not understand art as something static but as a dynamic process that manifests itself in different ways, but where the recipient is the community as part of the experience, “notes Tino Lutteral, director of the company.
In this way, in private areas but open to the public works Urra, residence of national and international artists who live for periods of two to six months in the neighborhood, co-creating together with other artists in a space open to the community. Also from a recycled space, they house the Inspire Foundation, which offers workshops of artistic crafts to young people. Plus they support Daravi, a triple-impact factory that seeks to put in value Descartes textiles with artistic and design imprint training women to have a dignified workout.
“Art is one of the tools that seeks to win the street to include without dividing, and an example of this occurred in January, when in the public space was made the first participatory mural in which-under the curation of Patricio Forrester, an artist based in London-the neighbors imagined a work of art according to the past of the place, drew it and painted it together. She has baptized the Pioneer, “celebrates Lutteral.
But, beyond these community initiatives, they also develop real estate proposals for commercial purposes. According to this executive, this year it is expected that in the district they will begin to build several multi-family buildings “where the premise is that its ground floor is active, with spaces for artists and a respect the identity and character of the neighborhood.” The foundations of these real estate projects will have semi-public cultural passageways.
One of the ongoing endeavors is to inhabit, the first multi-family building in this district. It will have 48 units, among them professional studios, lofts, two-room apartments, and duplexes. The sale price of the launch will be around USD 2,000 per m2.
The facade will have an intervention to define it and a semi-public cultural passage will have a sculpture of a local artist and preferably be enhanced with materials from the area. The construction of the building would begin in November and would be inaugurated in two years. Lutteral cites, as a reference, to Wynwood, a neighborhood of Miami where the public space intervened with murals that invite one to live it in a truly collective way”.
Source: La Cronista Translation
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