I was lucky enough to visit Notre Dame, many years ago, and was struck by its magnificent beauty. When I saw it engulfed in flames, I suddenly remembered another tragic loss. On October 18th, 1977, I was one of the many witnesses of the “Teatro Argentino de La Plata” on fire. It was a weekday, during rehearsals. Ballet dancers and musicians were all crying their hearts out on the sidewalk, in disbelief. It took several decades to rebuild it, but the new theatre is awful by comparison. The original one, designed by Leopoldo Rocchi in 1887, was an exquisite example of Renaissance architecture, while the present one is a solid block of concrete which has nothing to do with the Palaces on 51st Avenue (The Government House, the Parliament, the Town Hall, among others). Besides, it was absolutely unnecessary to pull it down. Corruption and bad taste: lethal cocktail.
Published on Buenos Aires Times