Usina del Arte

This guide to Usina del Arte in Buenos Aires traces its start in 1914 as a working power plant, where immigrant laborers fed twelve coal boilers day and night, some with nowhere else to live. It follows the seawater pumped up from the Dársena Sur to make steam, the turbines it powered, and architect Giovanni Chiogna's odd choice to model an industrial plant on a Florentine palace. A crane strong enough to lift forty-five tons once hung overhead, built just to hoist and repair the generators when they failed.