Ornate Corner Newsstand Kiosk Beneath a Rising Tower, 1960s

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Ornate Corner Newsstand Kiosk Beneath a Rising Tower, 1960s — Archive & Atlas

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Buenos Aires, Argentina

Ornate Corner Newsstand Kiosk Beneath a Rising Tower, 1960s — Archive & Atlas

Unattributed 1960–1969

AA-2026-28FEF0

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The kiosk owner has papered every inch of his little onion-domed booth with magazine covers, on the sound theory that a wall of headlines sells better than a sign. Behind him a brand-new apartment tower stacks identical balconies twelve storeys into the dark, the kind of concrete optimism that cities were pouring everywhere in the 1960s as proof they had arrived in the modern age.

Nobody in this picture seems to notice the contrast. The kiosk, with its cast-iron scrollwork and copper dome, belongs to a nineteenth-century idea of a city street; the tower behind it belongs to an entirely different one, and the two are simply coexisting on the same pavement because nobody has gotten round to deciding which era wins.

A partial sign for what looks like a cinema or café glows dimly in the distance, doing the same job the kiosk does: pulling foot traffic after dark with light instead of argument. The kiosk owner is betting his business on people still wanting something to read on paper. History will eventually take the other side.

The historian's note

Street kiosks of this ornate cast-iron style, often topped with a small dome and covered in advertising, were a fixture of major South American and European city centres by the mid-twentieth century, typically selling newspapers, magazines, cigarettes, and lottery tickets. Many such kiosks dated from earlier decades of civic beautification and survived, often little altered, into the 1960s even as their surroundings were rebuilt.

The high-rise apartment block behind the kiosk reflects the wave of mid-century urban redevelopment common to Latin American and European capitals during the 1960s, when older low-rise streetscapes were rapidly replaced by concrete residential towers with balconied façades. This juxtaposition of an older streetside commerce structure against new high-density housing was a common feature of city centres undergoing that transition.

The partial illuminated signage in the background is consistent with a commercial or entertainment venue typical of a downtown thoroughfare of the period, though its specific identity cannot be determined from the available evidence.

Subjects & keywords — each links to a search

newsstand kiosk·high-rise apartment building·night streetscape·1960s urban redevelopment·cast-iron architecture·historical streetscape research·magazine advertising·urban modernization·vintage street commerce·editorial city history·nostalgic mood·overexposed highlights·downtown nightlife·Buenos Aires

Ornate newsstand kioskobject · subject High-rise apartment buildingstructure · depicts

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Particulars

Creator: Unattributed
Date: 1960–1969
Place: Buenos Aires, Argentina — a downtown street corner with an ornate cast-iron newsstand kiosk facing a new high-rise apartment building
Subject: Ornate newsstand kiosk against a modern apartment tower
Original format: jpg
Original held: Yes, by the archive
Rights: Open