Calle Lanín, a Very Peculiar Little Street

Calle Lanín is very peculiar little street in the barrio de Barracas, south of downtown Buenos Aires. What is so peculiar about it? The beautiful murals and works of art found at each house facade on this short street (only three block long) which are the creation of painter Marino Santa María, born in 1949 in Barracas (his father, Marino Pérsico, was a well known painter and ceramist in the middle of the 20th Century).

Back in 1998, Santa María covered the front of his workshop at calle Lanín  (map)with one of his works. The neighbours liked this idea so much that they asked him to paint the facades of their houses as well. By initiative of the artist, an agreement in where companies and institutions such as the Government of the city of Buenos Aires, the UNESCO, and the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, participated to finance the project of painting 35 houses along the three blocks of calle Lanín. The work was finished two years later, and about 20 people (builders and painters) worked there. The 35 facadeswere washed, sealed, rendered, and finally painted with synthetic enamel.

So, if you are planning on going to the barrio de La Boca to see the colourful and historical calle Caminito (map), then you might also consider taking the time to explore the barrio de Barracas, where you will find this quieter, shady, yet extremely colourful calle Lanín. I definitely think it is well worth the trip to take a look. Don’t try this at night, it is not really a safe place for tourists to be after dark.

Photo credit: Barcex on wikimedia commons