Buenos Aires City Legislature
Encyclopedia
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
, as well as an architectural landmark in the city's Montserrat
Montserrat, Buenos Aires
Monserrat is a neighbourhood located in the east of the Buenos Aires CBD. The district features some of the most important public buildings in Buenos Aires, including city hall, the city legislature, Casa Rosada, the Colegio Nacional de Buenos Aires and the Libertador Building , among...
section.
History
The internecine warfare between those who favored a united ArgentinaArgentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
with a strong central government (Unitarios
Unitarian Party
Unitarianists or Unitarians were the proponents of the concept of a Unitary state in Buenos Aires during the civil wars which shortly followed the Declaration of Independence of Argentina in 1816. They were opposed to the Argentine Federalists, who wanted a federation of independent provinces...
) and Buenos Aires Province
Buenos Aires Province
The Province of Buenos Aires is the largest and most populous province of Argentina. It takes the name from the city of Buenos Aires, which used to be the provincial capital until it was federalized in 1880...
leaders who favored an independent nation of their own (Federales
Federales (Argentina)
Federales was the name under which the supporters of federalism in Argentina were known, opposing the Unitarios that claimed a centralised government of Buenos Aires Province, with no participation of the other provinces of the custom taxes benefits of the Buenos Aires port...
) dominated local political life in the decades following the Wars of Independence
Argentine War of Independence
The Argentine War of Independence was fought from 1810 to 1818 by Argentine patriotic forces under Manuel Belgrano, Juan José Castelli and José de San Martín against royalist forces loyal to the Spanish crown...
and led to the 1880 Federalization of Buenos Aires. Pursuant to this new policy, in 1882 President Julio Roca signed National Law 1260, which created the presidential prerogative of the appointment of the Mayor of Buenos Aires, as well as a city council
City council
A city council or town council is the legislative body that governs a city, town, municipality or local government area.-Australia & NZ:Because of the differences in legislation between the States, the exact definition of a City Council varies...
by way of compromise towards the put-upon local gentry.
The newly formed city council (Consejo Deliberante) originally included 30 Concejales elected via male suffrage (though this excluded the city's immigrants, which made up a majority of voting-age males at least as late as 1914). The body first met during the tenure of Mayor Torcuato de Alvear
Torcuato de Alvear
Torcuato de Alvear y Saenz de la Quintanilla was a 19th century Argentine conservative politician. He was the son of soldier and statesman Carlos María de Alvear and father of Marcelo Torcuato de Alvear, president of Argentina from 1922 to 1928.In 1880 Buenos Aires was declared the capital city...
, with whom a precedent for a productive relationship was established by cooperating on an unprecedented urban planning a renewal agenda. The council's resolution in 1921 for new grounds befitting a governing body of what had become one of the world's most prosperous cities was likewise approved by the Mayor at the time, José Luis Cantilo.
A lot to the southwest of the Plaza de Mayo
Plaza de Mayo
The Plaza de Mayo is the main square in downtown Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is flanked by Hipólito Yrigoyen, Balcarce, Rivadavia and Bolívar streets....
was set aside for the new building's construction, whose design was awarded through a competition to local architect Héctor Ayerza. Approved and budgeted by the council in 1926, Ayerza's eclectic design drew heavily from French Neoclassical architecture
Neoclassical architecture
Neoclassical architecture was an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century, manifested both in its details as a reaction against the Rococo style of naturalistic ornament, and in its architectural formulas as an outgrowth of some classicizing...
, and construction on the proyect began in August 1927. Built without cost overruns, the new Buenos Aires City Council building was inaugurated on October 3, 1931.
The building has, in the ensuing decades, been home to other noteworthy government agencies, as well. A 1943 coup d'état marked the advent of leader Juan Perón
Juan Perón
Juan Domingo Perón was an Argentine military officer, and politician. Perón was three times elected as President of Argentina though he only managed to serve one full term, after serving in several government positions, including the Secretary of Labor and the Vice Presidency...
, who established the Secretariat of Labor and Social Insurance, and set aside a wing in the building for the purpose. Elected in 1946, Perón had the building declared a National Historic Monument, and allowed the First Lady, Evita
Eva Perón
María Eva Duarte de Perón was the second wife of President Juan Perón and served as the First Lady of Argentina from 1946 until her death in 1952. She is often referred to as simply Eva Perón, or by the affectionate Spanish language diminutive Evita.She was born in the village of Los Toldos in...
, to use the Labor Bureau wing for the Eva Perón Foundation
Eva Perón Foundation
The Eva Perón Foundation was a charitable foundation begun by Eva Perón, a prominent Argentine political leader, when she was the First Lady and Spiritual Leader of the Nation of Argentina. It operated from 1948 to 1955...
(which had previously been headquartered in another landmark from the 1920s, the Buenos Aires Central Post Office
Buenos Aires Central Post Office
The Buenos Aires Central Post and Communications Office is a public building and landmark in the San Nicolás district of Buenos Aires.-Overview:...
). The charitable foundation remained based in the city council building until Perón's overthrow in 1955.
The 1994 reform of the Argentine Constitution
1994 reform of the Argentine Constitution
The 1994 amendment to the Constitution of Argentina was approved on 22 August by a Constitutional Assembly that met in the twin cities of Santa Fe and Paraná...
led to the rescission of the President's right to appoint the Mayor of Buenos Aires, and with the election of Fernando de la Rúa
Fernando de la Rúa
Fernando de la Rúa is an Argentine politician. He was president of the country from December 10, 1999 to December 21, 2001 for the Alliance for Work, Justice and Education ....
as the city's first directly elected Mayor on June 30, 1996, an assembly was chosen for the purpose of drafting a new municipal constitution. Approved on October 1, the document created a city legislature in lieu of the city council, and increased its membership to 60 (elected for four year terms via party-list voting, as outlined in the D'Hondt method
D'Hondt method
The d'Hondt method is a highest averages method for allocating seats in party-list proportional representation. The method described is named after Belgian mathematician Victor D'Hondt who described it in 1878...
, with half the seats at stake every two years).
Overview
Aside from the legislative chambers themselves, the building's interior features a number of architecturally noteworthy salons and halls, as well as two libraries. The Golden Salon, reserved for ceremonies and other formal events, was inspired in the Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of VersaillesPalace of Versailles
The Palace of Versailles , or simply Versailles, is a royal château in Versailles in the Île-de-France region of France. In French it is the Château de Versailles....
, and Evita's dispatch in her days as head of her foundation is on diplay as the Eva Perón Salon (a number of scenes for Alan Parker
Alan Parker
Sir Alan William Parker, CBE is an English film director, producer, writer and actor. He has been active in both the British cinema and American cinema and was a founding member of the Directors Guild of Great Britain.-Life and career:...
's 1996 film, Evita
Evita (film)
Evita is the 1996 film adaptation of Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical of the same name based on the life of Eva Perón. It was directed by Alan Parker and written by Parker and Oliver Stone. It starred Madonna, Antonio Banderas, and Jonathan Pryce...
, were filmed here and in the legislative chambers).
The building houses the Esteban Echeverría
Esteban Echeverría
José Esteban Antonio Echeverría was an Argentine poet, fiction writer, cultural promoter, and political activist who played a significant role in the development of Argentine literature, not only through his own writings but also through his organizational efforts...
Library (which houses a collection of 30,000 texts on law and legislation), the Treasure Library (2,000 volumes, including texts from Visigothic Spain, from the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata
Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata
The Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, , was the last and most short-lived Viceroyalty of the Spanish Empire in America.The Viceroyalty was established in 1776 out of several former Viceroyalty of Perú dependencies that mainly extended over the Río de la Plata basin, roughly the present day...
, the colonial Buenos Aires Cabildo
Buenos Aires Cabildo
The Buenos Aires Cabildo is the public building in Buenos Aires that was used as seat of the ayuntamiento during the colonial times and the government house of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata...
, and others), and the José Hernández Periodicals Library; the most complete of its kind in South America, its volumes have recently been microfilmed.
Architecturally, the building is perhaps best-known for its 26 cornice caryatids (allegories representing urban life, mostly created by sculptor Troiano Troiani), and for its bell tower
Bell tower
A bell tower is a tower which contains one or more bells, or which is designed to hold bells, even if it has none. In the European tradition, such a tower most commonly serves as part of a church and contains church bells. When attached to a city hall or other civic building, especially in...
. The 97-meter (320-foot) tower houses a clock whose system controls 80 others throughout the building, and a carillon
Carillon
A carillon is a musical instrument that is typically housed in a free-standing bell tower, or the belfry of a church or other municipal building. The instrument consists of at least 23 cast bronze, cup-shaped bells, which are played serially to play a melody, or sounded together to play a chord...
made up of 30 bells (totaling over 27 tons).
The body is led by the Mayor's lieutenant, the Vice-Chief of Government (Vicejefe de Gobierno), who acts as President of the Legislature. He (or she) is assisted by three Vice-Presidents and Parliamentary, Administrative and Coordinating Secretaries. The President of the Legislature was, until recently, Gabriela Michetti
Gabriela Michetti
Marta Gabriela Michetti is an Argentine politician. She is a member of the Commitment to Change party, part of the Republican Proposal coalition. Michetti was Deputy Head of Government in Buenos Aires during the tenure of Mayor Mauricio Macri.-Biography:Marta Michetti was born in 1965 in the...
of the center-right Republican Proposal
Republican Proposal
Republican Proposal is a right-wing political party in Argentina. It is usually referred to as PRO. PRO was formed as an electoral alliance in 2005, but was transformed into a unitary party on 3 June 2010....
party. The first disabled individual to occupy the post, Ms. Michetti left this post in April 2009, ahead of the legislative elections
Argentine legislative election, 2009
Legislative elections were held in Argentina for half the seats in the Chamber of Deputies and a third of the seats in the Senate on 28 June 2009, as well as for the legislature of the City of Buenos Aires and other municipalities.-Background:...
that June (where she won a seat in the Argentine Chamber of Deputies
Argentine Chamber of Deputies
The Chamber of Deputies is the lower house of the Argentine National Congress. This Chamber holds exclusive rights to create taxes, to draft troops, and to accuse the President, the ministers and the members of the Supreme Court before the Senate....
); the 1st Vice-President of the City Legislature, Diego Santilli
Diego Santilli
Diego César Santilli is an Argentine politician with a justicialist background today member of the Republican Proposal...
, is slated to replace her.
The body is composed of 23 committees, and the 60 legislators belong to 16 parties (a number of which form part of coalitions). No one party currently holds an absolute majority, though Mayor Mauricio Macri
Mauricio Macri
Mauricio Macri is an Argentine businessman turned politician, and Head of Government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires. Son of Francisco Macri, a businessman of Italian origin prominent in the industrial and construction sectors, he represented the City of Buenos Aires in the Lower House of...
's Republican Proposal
Republican Proposal
Republican Proposal is a right-wing political party in Argentina. It is usually referred to as PRO. PRO was formed as an electoral alliance in 2005, but was transformed into a unitary party on 3 June 2010....
(PRO) is currently the largest, with 26 seats. The center-left party led by the President of Argentina
President of Argentina
The President of the Argentine Nation , usually known as the President of Argentina, is the head of state of Argentina. Under the national Constitution, the President is also the chief executive of the federal government and Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces.Through Argentine history, the...
, Cristina Fernández de Kirchner
Cristina Fernández de Kirchner
Cristina Elisabet Fernández de Kirchner , commonly known as Cristina Fernández or Cristina Kirchner is the 55th and current President of Argentina and the widow of former President Néstor Kirchner. She is Argentina's first elected female president, and the second female president ever to serve...
and her husband and predecessor, Néstor Kirchner
Néstor Kirchner
Néstor Carlos Kirchner was an Argentine politician who served as the 54th President of Argentina from 25 May 2003 until 10 December 2007. Previously, he was Governor of Santa Cruz Province since 10 December 1991. He briefly served as Secretary General of the Union of South American Nations ...
, has struggled in Buenos Aires and holds 7 seats in the city legislature. A center-left coalition opposed to them, the Civic Coalition
Civic Coalition
The Civic Coalition is a political coalition in Argentina. It was founded by Elisa Carrió, as an association supported by the ARI party , as well as a number of other political groups and individual political leaders, notably Union for All of Patricia Bullrich and GEN - Generation for a National...
, holds 6, the Dialogue for Buenos Aires party (led by impeached former Mayor Aníbal Ibarra
Aníbal Ibarra
Aníbal Ibarra is an Argentine lawyer and politician who served as mayor of Buenos Aires from 2000 to 2006.-Biography:Ibarra was born in Lomas de Zamora, a district located in the southern region of Greater Buenos Aires. His father was a Paraguayan member of the PLRA who left his country during the...
) holds 4, and 12 other parties (mostly on the left) share the remaining 17 seats.