Floralis Genérica

A 23-metre steel flower sculpture in the Plaza de las Naciones Unidas in Recoleta, donated to the city by architect Eduardo Catalano. The six stainless steel petals are programmed to close at night and open at dawn — a daily performance that has made it one of the city's most recognisable landmarks.

In daylight, the polished steel reflects the sky in ways that shift through the day. The scale is larger than photographs suggest: each petal is about 20 metres tall when open. The plaza around the sculpture is a good resting point when walking between the Recoleta Cemetery and the parks of Palermo.

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A story
The sculpture was designed by Eduardo Catalano, an Argentine architect who spent most of his career in the United States, and donated to the city in 2002 — the year of Argentina's worst economic crisis. The donation attracted some controversy: the steel required rare alloys and the hydraulic mechanism needed regular expensive maintenance, costs that the city had to absorb. In 2012 the hydraulic system failed; it was repaired and now the petals open and close reliably.