New Western Corridors [Soterramiento Sarmiento]

What is the purpose of tunneling the Sarmiento Train? What is the idea behind this intervention, with far-reaching consequences on our economy and daily way of life? We have a demographically and productively imbalanced country with a “geopolitically mindless" vision. 14 If heterodox economics consists of intervening on undesirable situations into which we would otherwise be swept away, 14 what, then, is its comprehensive development plan?

The current intervention on the Sarmiento line may be conceptualized as an extension of subway line A (with an average speed of 45 km/h, and maximum of 80 km/h), rather than as a high-performance regional train. It reduces the number of existing railways by 50 percent, from 4 to 2, recognizing neither the existence of the Maldonado stream basin nor its respective water cycle. Any public transport network must structure all densification for inclusive, efficient, and sustainable development 03 with budgets in accordance with international standards. Thus, public policy must guide growth on corridors and consolidate a polycentric metropolitan structure 12 for at least 16 million inhabitants. 02

For these purposes, train is the cheapest and least polluting means of transport, with the cost of operation and maintenance comparable to that of 50 trucks and 20 passenger buses. 11 Argentina, the eighth largest country in the world in terms of surface area, cannot depend exclusively on fossil fuels, whose prices are ever-rising. Isolated towns, suppression of interurban services, and migration to the capital city are just some effects of decades of disinvestment and underutilization. 11 Flows of both goods and merchandise must be optimized so that modernization is truly innovative, considered as such, without structures like bridges, elevations, or junctions depreciating the city’s real estate value, as we have already experienced.

Any project should also integrate basic knowledge of local environments, real estate, society, and psyche, and avoid only speed or performance discussions, or mere functional dimensioning 07 which can result in what has been called the no-city, or anti-city: a "fragmentation into small ghettos" without public meeting places. 01 It is imperative that urban spaces be open, fluid, integrated, and democratized, in order to “accompany the social quality developed by productivity and labor hierarchy.” 14 Simply put, designing new infrastructure represents extraordinary opportunities.

Masterplan

1. Filling removals at the former El Palomar Air Base, at the Haedo and Liniers railway workshops and at the Vélez Sarsfield estate. First, original elevations are recovered. Forest groupings normalize the territory absorption and capillarity around its source channels. Eucalyptus, willows, acacias and casuarinas 04 intercept rainfalls and contain overflows along with reservoirs. 12 Water filters into porous and absorbent soils, now allowing recharge and evaporation of groundwater tables. 04

2. Recovery, filtering, and lake maintenance in the Haedo and Liniers estates toward the Ingeniero Roggero dam. Lakes, cisterns, rain reservoirs, and green lungs retain and regulate excess water. 12 This principle of Florentino Ameghino stands in stark contrast to the insufficient-drainage logic 04 and coincides with Council of Environmental Urban Plan when evaluating “spaces of upper and middle basins (...) as certain magnitude plots that absorb (...) rains, and in compensation, pools of temporary retention of water.” 04 These spaces are also assigned the character of absorbent soil for hydraulic dynamics and green and public spaces for recreational uses. 13

3. Expansion and ‘daylighting’ of Morón and Maldonado streams. The reopening and filtering of basins restore the visibility of a natural environment of green margins and flood plains. This un-obstruction of riverbeds flows first into lakes and then into the Morón and Maldonado streams. Runoff from Av. Juan B. Justo should no longer be hampered by bed reductions or by columns, footings, and demolition debris. 04

4. Tunneling Sarmiento train in stages with new infrastructure. Two central high-speed railways run through the region at 320 km/h without any transfer or interference. Four lateral interurban railways at 160 km/h link the city’s short and medium distances. Passengers and cargo goods now share this optimized route, which can transport them all over, decentralizing the city 06 with green landscape treatment.

5. Hydro bypass with lock. Communicating vessels link Liniers and Haedo lakes with a 36 m x 5 m x 7.2 km ditch above the new subway. A lock regulates water level and flows into the Morón stream in case of a southeastern or sudden flood. This decision accompanies natural phenomena and differs from the current criteria for the Lugones and 25 de Mayo highways. 04 In opposition to the experiences of the Sabino Arana viaduct in Bilbao or the Cheonggyecheon basin in Seoul, demolitions are not contemplated in this case but filtered and channeled overflows for landscaping and real estate purposes.

6. Main crossings over Sarmiento train with new exits from Western Access highway. Perpendicular circulations to the east-west corridor prioritize various secondary arteries while complementing the Av. General Paz. The integration of strategic-value polygons allows mobility at lower speeds 12 with cycle lanes and green trails, thereby discouraging vehicular use.

7. Recovery of public linear park. Floodplains are now integrated contiguously into the subway route. Landscape and real estate values are restored as urbs in horto 08 through open and accessible recreation spaces that encourage densification and sociability. This liberated green corridor favors a playful sense 03 in which each person may try to find their expressive authenticity, and where strangers are likely to meet. 10 The recovery of water cycles complementary to the 2.001 project 05 between Once and Liniers, now without roofed-trenches, is also prioritized. Recreation facilities accompany this new framework of socialization and sports, where water, vegetation, and urbanity as a personality trait, 10 mitigate any potential overstimulation.

8. Materialization of new extraordinary milestones. Milestone-buildings modulate the pedestrian perspective in relation to the urban fabric at the intersection of the axis and its crossings toward the West Access Highway. The space is configured with positive references 03 such as the Ciudadela Auditorium, the Colón -50 Building in Ramos Mejía, the Serpentone Complex, and the Nuevo Centro Morón in this sector of the intervention. The new public and mixed uses respond to variable, uncertain, and flexible activities, easing functional and social diversity 12 where old buildings with cultural and emotional contribution 09 (such as old stations and theaters) are also restored. Inhabitants’ sense of belonging in and affection for their environment is based on both this fusion of the cultural importance and utility of the referenced landscape, and on their emotional bond of sensory well-being. 03

9. Environment restoration, new uses and densification. These new corridors with public spaces fluidize, qualify, and densify their metropolitan centers. 12 This proposal integrates sub-centers with their respective infrastructures in a single, fast, and coordinated transport system, thereby circumscribing the need for low-speed and low-capacity transport like buses and taxis. In this way, the existing housing complexes are equipped in their main commercial routes and also in their transitions with their low-density environment. 12

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02 Becerra, Dardo. The Densification Debate. Clarín, August 7, 2.012.
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04 Brailovsky, Antonio Elio. Buenos Aires, flooded city. Buenos Aires: Ediciones Kaicron, Capital Intelectual, 2.011.
05 Grinberg, Jaime. Dwek, Adriana. Iglesias, Julio. West Green Corridor. 2.001 – 2.006.
06 Hall, Peter. The polycentric metropolis. Learning from mega-city regions in Europe. London: Earthscan, 2.006.
07 Herce Vallejo, Manuel; Farrerons, Joan Miró. The infrastructural support of the city. Barcelona: Edicions UPC, 2.002.
08 Llobet I Ribeiro, Xavier. Hilberseimer y Mies. The metropolis as a garden city. Barcelona: Fundación caja de arquitectos, 2.007.
09 Rossi, Aldo. The architecture of the city. 1966. Madrid: Gustavo Gili, 1.992.
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11 Solanas, Pino. The next station. History and railway reconstruction. Buenos Aires: Cinesur S. A., 2.008.
12 Tella, Guillermo. Densify the metropolitan region of Buenos Aires: strategies and actions for a more compact and efficient city. Plataforma Arquitectura, February 28, 2.016.
13 Tella, Guillermo. It will only deepen segregation. Clarín, July 9, 2.013.
14 Leyba, Carlos. Political economy (…). A coffee with Carlos Leyba. Buenos Aires: Revista Espectros, 2017.

Collaborators: Alexis Kurtios, Gustavo Menéndez, Matías Moret.