A Means of Change
A contemplative look on her face, Odilia Edith Suárez is thinking of the living conditions of the citizens of Buenos Aires. Behind her, on her worktable, lie her plans for the city. Trying to improve people’s living conditions, Suarez was determined to defend the rights of a community in a political context which was limiting them.
Odilia Edith Suárez in Buenos Aires, circa 1940. Credits: Unknown.
Suarez started forming her understanding of urban design in the 1940s, during her studies at the College of architecture and city planning in Buenos Aires. During the last two years of her studies, she had started working under Antonio Bonet Castellana and Jorge Ferrari Hardoy, as part of the team studying the city plan of Buenos Aires. [1] Bonet Castellana and Ferrari Hardoy were among the founders of the collective of architects known as ‘Grupo Astral,’ a group active at the end of the 1930s which made a fundamental contribution to the debate on the renewal of Argentine architecture. Influenced by Le Corbusier, Grupo Austral promoted an idea of architecture as the ‘seed of the modern city,’ in which each building was seen as a form of individual expression and, at the same time, as part of a potential broader urban development that would contribute to improving people’s living conditions. [2] Being in contact with these ideas influenced Suarez, who would later publish her book, The Autonomy of the City of Buenos Aires: Reflections from a territorial point of view, in 1995.
Suarez, who in 1958 joined the board of directors of the Organisation of the Regulatory Plan of the City of Buenos Aires (OPRBA), believed that ‘urban planning must not only be strategic to satisfy the needs of its citizens, but must be dynamic to recognise that changes are, and have been, constant in an urban area.’ [3] She urged the expansion of the development of the southern neighbourhoods in order to relieve pressure on the more developed parts of the city. [4] She also recognised the importance of balancing the need to expand services in the central city with the demand for high-density housing. [5]
Furthermore, Suárez saw great significance in integrating the concerns of citizens into the planning process with the help of better communication. [6]
The twentieth century was a tumultuous period for Argentina, due to the changing leadership as a result of multiple coups. Beginning in the 1930s, the economy collapsed, resulting in a declining standard of living. [7] Juan Perón won the presidential election on a promise of higher wages and social security, but restricted political expression if it was not in his favour. [8] Perón initiated a project to provide housing for 50,000 people in the Bajo Belgrano neighbourhood, a poorly developed area of Buenos Aires, but the project was later abandoned. [9] Suarez, together with her husband, Eduardo Sarrailh, took the initiative to work on a proposal plan for the neighbourhood, trying to improve living conditions. In their joint practice, they also planned multiple civic centres, for which they received prizes on multiple occasions.
Suarez truly believed in defending the rights of the people in a political context which limited them.
Utilising the tools of urban planning and architecture, she aimed to bring direct changes to the life of ordinary people. Indeed, for Suarez, each building had the potential for broader urban development that would contribute to improving people’s living conditions.