Waldengallery
In 1969 Jorge Glusberg founded the CAyC (Center for Art and Communication) with the aim of developing experimentation and research in the areas of art and communication, under the conceptual axis of "systems art".
The CAyC gave Argentine artists an international projection, calling and crossing different disciplines related to the arts and science (architects, designers, musicians, mathematicians, semiologists, etc.)
In October 1970, the CAyC inaugurates its own headquarters on 452 Viamonte Street, very close to the University of Buenos Aires (UBA) rector’s office, the university’s publishing house - Eudeba – of the landmark Florida Street and the headquarters of Di Tella. The three-storey premises were remodeled by the architects Manteola, Sánchez Gómez, Santos, Solsona and Viñoly.
In October 2018, the space is acquired by Walden Gallery, with the intention of recovering it again as an exhibition venue and research space. After the closure of the CAyC, its headquarters underwent modifications, program changes and finally a high level of abandonment. The metal ribs that accompanied the route of the central space had been dismantled.
The project rectifies the irregularities of the interiors by means of an internal envelope of plaster rock plates, enhancing spatiality and connection between the three levels. The vacuum was extended on the ground floor with the aim of emphasizing the longitudinality of the access walkway and providing indirect light to the first subfloor of exposures.
The pieces of the floor of the bridge, originally of precast concrete, were partially disassembled and in very poor condition, the decision was made to replace them with metal trays treated with high traffic baked paint. For the rest of the floors, the color black was chosen, in clear contrast with the interior envelope, the walkway and the metal pieces, which are all white, giving the space a feeling of depth and weightlessness.
The original stairs were restored and complemented with the incorporation of new railings that accompany the different routes.
On the ground floor walkway a suspended luminaire system generates diffused light on the exhibition surfaces integrating the linear path.
In the second basement, where the research area operates, the equipment and storage systems of works of art were designed.
In 2019, 50 years after its foundation, the three levels of the former CAyC are once again inhabited by art and avant-garde.
