Review
I liked the book a lot. It captures many intimate aspects of the city, just as I recall them. --
Cesar Pelli, New HavenIs the book that best explains the grand urban stage of Buenos Aires. The photos and texts are extraordinarily effective. --
Oriol Bohigas, BarcelonaThe idea that the city consists of flows and containers is difficult to express, yet Sebastian's images achieve so. --
Alberto Varas, Museum of Fine Arts, November 2002The well-travelled, young author shows the real city, not necessarily the picturesque. --
Micaela Meyer, Buenos Aires Herald, February 16, 2003This lovely book travelled from desk to desk and we were all very impressed with the images and the city. --
OMA / Rem Koolhaas, RotterdamThis notable photography book is proof of the author's exceptional urban sensibility. --
Graciela Melgarejo, La Nacion, January 15, 2003
From the Author
This book was born in 1999. That year I was fortunate to travel on many occasions to Asia, where I got to know cities as varied as Hong Kong, Singapore and Manila. Overwhelmed, surprised and filled with admiration by what I discovered, I became interested in seeing Buenos Aires with new eyes. I wanted to describe my Buenos Aires, from the perspective of a city-dweller that uses the sidewalks, commutes by train every morning, goes to the park with the kids on weekends.
The book was born with a premise: that the city is beautiful and interesting. I confirmed both impressions and believe Buenos Aires is a great place to live in. It is much more than an European city on Río de la Plata, the classic description. In addition to its development during the "belle époque", that period between 1880 and 1930, Buenos Aires participated actively in the most significant urban processes of the XXth century: the "ville radieuse", American-style suburbanization, the recycling of harbors.
Traveling is a matter of attitude; of looking and perceiving as a traveler, of having a curious mind. I like a quote from René Magritte, the surrealist painter, who said, "There is a sensibility I refer to as the tourists' sensibility. They travel far looking for poetry, and the poetry they find is the familiar one. However, in the familiar one can discover the unknown poetry." This book tries to do the latter.
I enjoyed tremendously preparing this book. For two years I worked on it every single day--with no exception. Some days I just thought, others I read, wrote or took photos. I traveled a lot--on short trips, but trips nonetheless--and was immensely rewarded for all these efforts.
