Floralis Genérica is one of the best known and most impressive monuments in Buenos Aires. It’s a sculpture of a massive flower (18 tons, 23 meters high) made of stainless steel, aluminum and concrete. Floralis Genérica is located in a beautiful 4 acre park at the Plaza of the United Nations in Recoleta. The park has walking paths that allow you to view the sculpture from different angles.
This impressive artwork was donated to the city in 2002 by architect Eduardo Catalano. It has a mechanism (which may or may not be working) that opens and closes the flower’s six gigantic petals, depending on the time of day. When all is in working order the flower closes at dusk (and during windstorms) and reopens at dawn. Catalano said that the flower “is a synthesis of all the flowers (hence the name, Floralis Genérica) and, at the same time, a hope reborn every day at opening.”
( Plaza de las Naciones Unidas)
