Depósito Caballito, Buenos Aires, Renaissance Revival building in Caballito, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Depósito Caballito is a symmetrical, palace-like building in French Neorenaissance style, clad in imitation Paris stone. It has five zinc domes, one at each corner and a larger one centred on the Pedro Goyena Avenue facade, and a mansard roof runs around the whole structure. Inside, an iron frame holds twelve steel tanks, four on each of three floors, with a combined capacity of 72,000 m³.
Built between 1912 and 1915 by Obras Sanitarias de la Nación and inaugurated on 25 October 1915, the reservoir answered a 1908 plan to supply water to up to 6 million people. It was placed in Caballito, one of the city's highest points at 37 metres above sea level. From the second half of the 20th century it lost importance as distribution technology modernised; AySA restored it in 2015 and it was declared a national historic monument on 19 August 2022.
The building is known locally as a palace-like water reservoir, its French neorenaissance style contrasting with its industrial function. Its five domes and zinc mansards, unlike the slate of the Devoto reservoir, are visible from Avenida Pedro Goyena. AySA staff still work inside, and the site was declared a national historic monument in 2022.
Access is available on the street, and visitors can view and study the building from the outside. The site is accessible on most days, though it is wise to check local conditions beforehand.
The building's first floor sits at the same height as the third floor of the older Avenida Córdoba reservoir, a detail that shows how the site's elevation was used to feed the network by gravity. Its twelve steel tanks, four per floor, held 72,000 m³.
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