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Architects: Zooco Estudio
- Area: 620 m²
- Year: 2023


On Avenida Corrientes, the Teatro Municipal General San Martín (TGSM) rises between party walls in the heart of downtown Buenos Aires. Designed by Mario Roberto Álvarez and Macedonio Oscar Ruiz in 1954, this building comes to address an artistic and cultural issue common to the large cities of America. It stands as one of Argentina's most important theaters, providing spaces for theatrical and cinematic performances as well as art exhibitions. Spanning 30,000 square meters, it constitutes a theater complex alongside the General San Martín Cultural Center, operating independently.









Discontent among employees in architecture firms is at an all-time high, demonstrated in the push for architectural unionization in the US in response to the lack of overall well-being in the profession. This discontent can be largely attributed to the inherently exploitative nature of the regular top-down architectural firm structures, fostering a disconnect between the direction firms take and the people working to make it possible. In these, leadership often takes on projects beyond the firm's financial capacity, with the expectation of underpaid staff taking on the brunt of the work through unpaid overtime. In these structures, employees are not to be a voice guiding the firm but to be profited off of. So, what are ways to address this disconnect? Is it time to restructure firms to give architects more agency? What are ways to create non-hierarchical firm structures?



