MundoAndino Home : Argentina Guide at MundoAndino
Bernasconi Institute
The Bernasconi Institute is an architecturally-significant primary school in the Parque Patricios section of Buenos Aires.
Overview
An estate on an eight-hectare (20 acre) property in Buenos Aires' southside became the site of a homemade museum in 1866, when 14-year-old Francisco Moreno and his father classified and mounted their extensive collection of fossils and artifacts, gathered in excursions along the vast lot. Following his landmark exploration of Patagonia during the 1870s and '80s, Moreno established a charitable school at the estate, soon becoming a megnet for the largely underprivileged children of the Nueva Pompeya area. Selling the property to Swiss Argentine shoe manufacturer Felix Bernasconi, Moreno's dream for a landmark school at the site was included by the Swiss industrialist in his will. Bernasconi's death in 1914 was followed by lobbying for federal contributions to the project on the part of Moreno, who leveraged the prestige he earned in his role in the Boundary treaty of 1881 between Chile and Argentina and as Assistant Director of the National Education Council to secure funding for the new school.Historical Dictionary of Argentina. London: Scarecrow Press, 1978.
Passed the the Argentine Congress in 1918, Law 1420 provided the needed appropriations, and on September 26, 1921, the cornerstone was laid in a ceremony led by President Hipolito Yrigoyen. Designed by local architect Juan Waldrorp, the eclectic, Italianate-influenced building would be the largest school built in Buenos Aires to that point, and measured 140 m (460 ft) in length.
Inaugurated in April 1929, the Bernasconi Institute featured a carillon tower, two, 1200 m patios, two heated indoor pools, an auditorium seating 370. It would also include archaeological and natural science museumsthe Museo Geografico Dr. Juan B. Teran and the Museo de Ciencias Naturales Dr. Angel Gallardocreated largely with exhibits drawn from Moreno's vast collections .
Heading an establishment which initially included separate boys' and girls' schools, its first director, Rosario Vera Penaloza (18731950), created the Argentine Primary School Museum, which includes an antiquarian library, landscape art exhibits and botanical gardens; she and one of her successors in the post, Martha Salotti (18991980) were acknowledged during the late 1990s with the naming of two streets in the new, Puerto Madero district in their honor.
Remaining among the largest in Buenos Aires, the institute's four primary schools enroll around 3,600 students yearly, and its kindergarten, around 580, as well as an adult education facility.
References and external links
Buenos Aires.gov: Instituto Bernasconi
Need more information for your travel research or homework?
Ask your questions at the forum about Schools in Argentina or help others to find answers.
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Bernasconi Institute
