Rioplatense: Archives, Surveys and the Imaginability of the Buenos Aires Shoreline

Through a visual exploration of the Rio de la Plata’s littoral zone in Buenos Aires, the project seeks to reframe the ecological and aesthetic significance of the post-natural shoreline. The aim is to bring into focus the small-scale ecosystems at stake in the large-scale destruction of River Basin ecologies, exploring the liminal littoral where hybrid ecosystems flourish. The method consists of the study of visual documents from the shoreline that enable new ways of seeing the amphibious territories we live in. The muddy, shallow shore in Buenos Aires has always presented a problem for urban planning. Deemed unattractive and featureless in conventional terms, it has been severely undervalued as both a fragile ecosystem and waterfront. The built environment has been superimposed on top of an artificial sealed surface, and the native flora and fauna has been suppressed and controlled. The identity of the autochthonous landscape has largely been lost and the city’s inhabitants never really come into contact with the wetlands. The shoreline is a valuable urban commons that supports an ever-shifting, intricate system that thrives as a forgotten margin of the city. This research focuses on the urban shoreline, understanding it as a political subject and space in conflict, and in need of new approaches to urban practices.