Casa de los Lirios, Art Nouveau residential building in Balvanera, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Casa de los Lirios is a four-story Art Nouveau residential building on Avenida Rivadavia 2027, in the Balvanera neighborhood of Buenos Aires. The facade is covered with lily motifs and flowing floral reliefs, set alongside wrought iron balconies and detailed stone decoration.
Engineer Eduardo Rodriguez Ortega designed and built the residence between 1903 and 1905. It was among the first buildings in Buenos Aires to use reinforced concrete, which was a new construction method for the city at that time.
A bearded face carved into the cornice draws the eye of anyone walking past, with some seeing Poseidon and others Aeolus in the stone features. This kind of mythological reference was a common way for architects of that period to give a building a narrative quality.
The building is in Balvanera, a neighborhood well served by public transit and within walking distance of several other historic buildings in the city. The ground floor is open to the public since it houses commercial spaces, while the upper floors are used as residences or offices.
The Panaderia Montseny bakery on the ground floor has been running since 1905 and takes its name from a mountain range in Catalonia, reflecting the Catalan roots of its founders. It is one of the few original businesses that has stayed in the building without interruption from the very beginning.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 60,000 contributors worldwide.
