Usina del Arte
Former La Boca power station, now a concert venue with a symphonic auditorium and a chamber hall.
The Usina del Arte occupies the former generating station of the Compañía Italo-Argentina de Electricidad in La Boca. The Italian architect Giovanni Chiogna designed it in a Florentine manner, with brick walls, crenellations and a tall clock tower, and it was built between 1912 and 1916, then extended in the years that followed. The plant supplied the city for some eight decades before being wound down in the 1990s, after which the buildings stood empty.
The city government restored the complex between 2007 and 2012 and opened it as a cultural centre in May 2012. Its symphonic auditorium seats around 1,200 and the Sala de Cámara about 280, with a central hall, the Salón Mayor and exhibition rooms used for workshops, family activities and guided tours. Programming ranges across classical music, jazz, tango, folk and rock, and admission to many concerts is by ticket collected shortly beforehand.
Highlights
- Symphonic auditorium seating about 1,200
- Brick power station in Florentine style with a landmark clock tower
- Sala de Cámara for recitals and chamber music
- Weekend guided tours and family workshops in the central hall
