The iconic Teatro San Martín, located on Corrientes street, in the theatre district of Argentina’s federal capital. It was decided to build it on the same plot between party walls where the old theater it replaces, the Teatro Argentino, was located.

The scheme is organised with building blocks corresponding to 3 major programmatic groups. The services are located along the party walls and at the back, leaving the center free to place the auditorium with the stage and behind it the support areas. To restore the façade on Avenida Corrientes, it was decided to place the offices in a ten-story volume, the service entrance to the offices, and the general public entrance. The auditoriums are located at the heart of the composition for two fundamental reasons: for the logic of the performance and for acoustic isolation. On Sarmiento street is the School of Dramatic Art, an autonomous building for the teaching of stage theatre, choreography, and cinematic arts. There is also the entrance to the parking lots, service staff, and artists.

The main hall contains a Comedy Theatre for conventional theatrical performances, with a capacity for 1,130 spectators on two levels, morphologically composed of the combination of two curvilinear trapezoids. The stage is one of the most complete of its kind and offers countless possibilities for adaptation and performance. In addition, a Chamber Theatre was established, which conceptually refers to the Elizabethan type and, in terms of seating arrangement and layout, to a Greek amphitheater. The purpose of this room is to host more intimate and experimental shows.

Among other spaces in the complex, the following stand out. At the end of the office block is the microcinema, an exhibition hall of 260m2 located between the two halls. This space, whose main premise is flexibility, can be used as subsidiary or independent from either of the two halls, or both simultaneously. It can also operate with an external schedule. It also has a bar, a modern art museum, and parking.

In summary, the main design premise was to achieve a functional and rational solution to a heterogeneous program, where the set of parts must configure a homogeneous and articulated whole, but at the same time highlight and value each of its individual pieces.

Associate architect: Macedonio Oscar Ruiz