Albergue Warnes, Abandoned building structure in La Paternal, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Warnes was a building complex in La Paternal consisting of four nine-story structures that stretched along Warnes Avenue between Constituyentes and Chorroarin Streets. The buildings covered approximately 94,000 square meters and were originally designed as a hospital facility.
Construction started in 1951 under President Peron as a planned children's hospital, but halted after a military coup in 1955, leaving the structure incomplete. For more than three decades, the complex remained frozen in this unfinished state.
The site became a refuge for displaced families who transformed empty hospital spaces into homes and small businesses starting in 1958. Over decades, these self-organized communities demonstrated how people adapted to lack of official services.
The complex remained partially inhabited until authorities relocated all residents in December 1990, after which demolition was prepared. It was never an open structure accessible to the general public.
The structure was demolished on March 16, 1991, through a controlled implosion witnessed by approximately 30,000 spectators. This spectacular demolition marked the end of more than four decades of urban history at this location.
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