Edificio CASFPI, Government office building in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
The Edificio CASFPI is an administrative building with 17 floors and 3 basement levels located on Leandro N. Alem Avenue. Its facade combines aluminum paneling and glass windows, creating a clean modernist appearance along this important Buenos Aires thoroughfare.
The CASFPI, a welfare fund for industrial workers' families, launched a design competition in 1974 for a headquarters on Avenida Alem. The winning team was Manteola, Sánchez Gómez, Santos, Solsona and Viñoly with Carlos Sallaberry, Felipe Tarsitano and the Gerardo Sabatiello–Carlos Terzoni studio. Petersen, Thiele y Cruz S.A. and SITRA S.A. built it under the architects' direction, and it opened in 1981. In 1991 the newly created ANSES absorbed the CASFPI, and the Ministry of Labor, on which it depends, moved into the building.
The building is named for the Caja de Ayuda y Subsidio para Familiares del personal de la Industria, the industry workers' aid and subsidy fund that commissioned it. Since 1991 it has housed the Secretaría de Trabajo de la Nación, under the Ministry of Labor, after ANSES absorbed the fund. The ground-floor hall walls are clad in aluminum, matching the exterior.
The main entrance features light gray granite floors and aluminum-clad walls with elevators and staircases providing access to office areas. The building operates as a working government facility during business hours, so visits should be planned accordingly.
The building features exposed exterior support columns visible through the facade between the fourth and seventh floors, an unusual architectural detail. This design choice allows natural light to penetrate these interior levels while revealing the structural system to anyone viewing the building from outside.
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