The influence of European immigration was very valuable for the industrial and working-class suburb of Barracas al Sud, today Avellaneda, settling in the area of Riachuelo, La Boca and Dock Sud; The arrival of French, Spanish, English and Germans, and especially Italians, was of special relevance. This is how in the surroundings of Plaza Alsina, buildings such as the Teatro Roma, the Centro Gallego and the monument to President Nicolás Avellaneda (1913) – a great promoter of immigration – are erected towards the Centennial, the work of Lola Mora.
The Italian Society of Mutual Help and Providence “Barracas al Sud” (1888) began work on the Teatro del Sur in 1903 – as Roma was known in its beginnings –, designed by Primitivo Gamba and built by Berrutti and Pigni. It was inaugurated on October 1, 1904 with a work performed by the Italian tenor Ermete Novelli, its artistic activity being very prolific throughout decades, presenting opera, theater and even boxing and skating shows, with performances by tango celebrities such as Carlos Gardel.
Initially, only the body of the hall – famous for its excellent acoustics – was built, resolved as a simple Italianate building preceded by a garden, to which in 1925 the foyer, the Golden Hall and a new Neo-Renaissance façade were added, integrating the complex. land of the neighboring mutual building. This new project presented by the Italian engineer Gustavo Coccerini also incorporated the mechanical moving floor stalls, the orchestra pit, the high boxes and the White Room.
An Ionic porch with the mythological Capitoline Wolf supports a terrace-balcony as an urban expansion of social spaces; On the other hand, the sides and the receding front are of the Corinthian order, highlighting the decoration of garlands and aedicula in the windows. The “Italian-style” horseshoe hall for 400 spectators is crowned by a frescoed dome by Antonio Epifani (1913), supported on a drum with allegorical portraits.
Texts: Sergio López Martínez.
Photos: Luis Picarelli.
Location
Province: Buenos Aires.
Ciudad: Avellaneda.
Address: Sarmiento 109.
Declaration: Law No. 24,875
2024-01-23 05:31:57
#Rome #Theater
