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Architecture and Urbanism
Munich Brewery, Puerto Madero, City of Buenos Aires
Architect Andres Kalnay and Catalan businessman, Ricardo Banus, created the old Munich Brewery on Costanera Avenue.
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View of the inside of Munich Brewery-restaurant. 1930.
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Kalnay and Banus decided to work on a project of building, in the vicinity of the Municipal Bathing Resort, a brewery that evoked the Beer Halls of the city of Munich.
It was inaugurated in 1927, being constructed in 4 months and 8 days. It rapidly became one of the reference places for the distinguished porteño society.
The design of the building relates to a European picturesque style. While some academics consider it to be of an eclectic style, others see it as of a very special Art Deco, being its ornamental motif that of the beer world.
The terraces recreated the atmosphere of the traditional garden-breweries of the city of Munich. At night, an attractive sight could be seen from Costanera Avenue, with the building completely illuminated by its lampposts and lamps, and the colour from its vitreaux shining brightly thanks to the inside light, looking then like a fantastic fairy tale castle.
During dinner, the clients could enjoy the cadence of a waltz or the fashionable melodies performed by a ladies orchestra from the balcony.
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Terraces of the Munich Brewery
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The brewery had an extraordinary capacity for storage, refrigeration and beer distribution. The refrigeration chambers where the biggest in the country (1927), except for those of the big cold-storage plants used by meat exportation companies.
Kalnay himself created the ornamental design of the vitreaux, railing, lamps, furniture and sets of dishes.
The vitreaux seen today were reproduced on the basis of some of the original drawings. The ones on the ground floor reproduce characters and scenes related to Munich’ environment.
The sculptural elements were manufactured at the construction site. Among these, the following can be observed: the German waitresses with their trays full of beer glasses or with a pig’s head; the caprines holding coats of arms with the name of the brewery, or the small animal heads that finish off the crossbars of the superior arbor.
Kalnay employed a repertory of allegories and symbols that permanently refer to the beer’s festive world and also to the culture and folklore of the city of Munich. Among these, it is worth mentioning the repetitive use of the caprine symbol, as well as the monk and the goat, which take us back to the origins of the beer known as Bock.
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Andres Kalnay in fron tof one of the terraces of the Munich Brewery
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The external walls were destined to the representation of characters belonging to Munich’ folklore and the traditional Oktoberfest, performed with the stencil technique, very vogue at the time.
The German sculptor Enrique Swindsackl created the sculptures in the South and North facades. They are 6 figures, each of them holding one of the letters composing the name Munich.
Neptune and Naiads’ fountains were originally requested by ex-president Bartolome Mitre to the French foundry Du Val D'Osne, and after moving around various parks in the City of Buenos Aires, they finished in Munich Brewery.
Towards the end of the 1970’s, the former Brewery Munich was left completely abandoned.
In 1979, the government of the City of Buenos Aires handed over the building for 20 years, along with 5,000 m2 surrounding park, to the state-owned telecommunications company "ENTEL", with the purpose of turning it into a museum, forcing the company to maintain it and pay all restoration and recycling costs. The architect Rodolfo de Liechtenstein was chosen for this restoration and recycling task by Mrs. Kalnay herself.
According to the project, the restoration and recycling consisted of turning the premises originally projected by Andres Kalnay, into independent and juxtaposed spatial blocks, in a unique spatial context.
The vitreaux of the private room at the mezzanine were performed around this time and relate to different monuments placed alongside the bathing resort: the Plus Ultra, the Nereids Fountain, the Spanish monument and the Monumental Antenna.
When ENTEL was privatised, in the 1990’s, TELECOM was in charge of the museum. The building was finally returned to the government of the City in February 2002, and it was then appointed as the Museums Centre of the City of Buenos Aires.
See programme of "El País que no Miramos" ("The Country we have not Seen") on Munich Brewery
About this article...
Author of the article: Grondona Olmi, Verónica
Sources employed:
- "El País que no Miramos" ("The Country we have not Seen"), a series of documentaries for television produced by Ivan Grondona. Archivo General de la Nación ("Argentina's National Archive"), Video 34, Programme 1, and Video 36, Programme 1.
- www.museos.buenosaires.gov.ar/dgm_centrodemuseos_h.htm in December 2009
- Leaflet of Munich Brewery produced by the Ministry of Culture of the City of Buenos Aires, 2009
- www.oni.escuelas.edu.ar/olimpi99/interolimpicos/metamorfosis-ba/museotel.htm on December 2009
Translated by: Veronica Grondona
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