The Spanish word medianera carries a meaning that is often translated as "party wall" or "blind wall," yet its significance in Spanish-speaking contexts takes on a deeper cultural and urban resonance when considered in local terms. This architectural element, which simultaneously separates and connects adjacent lots in such a striking manner, is a recurring feature in Spanish-colonized cities across the Americas. In the case of Argentina, Buenos Aires took shape under the principles of those who arrived with gridiron plans and the rigor of orthogonal organization. The city developed within this logic, resulting today in an urban landscape persistently marked by the presence of these rigid, seemingly unavoidable elements known as medianeras.
As a ubiquitous pre-existing condition in the city and an essential element woven into local daily life and culture, they elicit a logic of their own when confronted by contemporary architectural projects. The very conditions that define them as boundaries, limits, or walls within the urban grid guide architectural design toward parallelism, enclosure, a pronounced depth, a lack of openings, and often a rigidity demanded by their structural role in buildings. Nevertheless, certain design practices challenge or exploit these "natural" directives suggested by this pre-existing condition, tensioning the symbolic, visual, and material dimensions of the element.
This is evident in a series of residential projects designed by the firm Monoblock, based in Buenos Aires and active since 2006. Founded by architects Marcos Amadeo, Fernando Cynowiec, Juan Granara, Adrián Russo, and Alexis Schächter, the practice works across various scales, moving through different fields within the architectural spectrum—from the city to the building, including landscape design and urban planning. Perhaps the first thing that stands out when browsing the group's portfolio is the striking expressiveness and tectonics of their work, which always seems to result from rigorous research and a keen interest in technique, the construction site, and the material possibilities of building. Upon closer inspection, this apparent austerity dissolves into the nuances of each proposal, the specificity of their design approaches, and the richness of spaces, lighting conditions, and surprising details typical of great architecture.
