El Pionero |  Mayo de 2018 |

After holding positions in the administration of Martin Yeza, Alicia Alvarez Iturregui continues to project interventions in her beloved Pinamar. Although she has not found a way to channel her ideas, she still dreams of improving the city.

When the architect Alicia Álvarez Iturregui was appointed as head of the Directorate of Public Spaces, many thought that the unique vision of the renowned professional would bring about a substantial change in our environment. However, this was not the case: neither from her position as director nor from her position as advisor did she have the space to express herself.

With more than 40 years of experience as an architect, she says that this was her first job in a dependent relationship. A very strong experience, as defined by her time in public service as part of Martin Yeza's team.

"What does it leave me? That it is not easy to have bosses and know how to bend over at this age. I could learn it and the truth is that it helped me to look at the world from another place much more humble. It served me well. On the other hand, I learned how difficult the civil service is. Sometimes one as a citizen demands and sometimes underestimates the different scales of public servants. At this level, what touched me, that I was a director for a while and then an advisor, I realized that it was very difficult. What else did it leave me? It left me with projects, to have time to look at the city as I like it. In fact, you know that I did many projects, some of them declared of municipal interest by the Deliberative Council, very well received by the community, but that were never put into practice. They never materialized. And at this stage the same thing happened to me: I was not able to carry out projects. But I did many. Among those I brought under my arm, plus those I developed in the public service, there are more than fifteen", he reflects.

One of those projects has to do with urban space. It is advanced and it is complemented by the recent changes in Bunge Avenue. It is about the scenographic lighting of this main artery. It was put out to tender, back in October 2017, he recalls.

"It's a simple project but quite handmade, as I like them. It consists of placing on the existing columns some barrels and LED devices to illuminate the trees. Pinamar has a privilege that is not given in many places, I think I've never seen, is that it has an avenue with a fairly spontaneous forestation, we could say as disorderly, exemplary trees, very important size and great presence. There are eucalyptus, pines and some other ornamental trees but we never look at them because we are always looking ahead and at night they are in shadow. When we walk from Shaw and towards Marco Polo, if we look up we will see real cathedrals of eucalyptus. They are wonderful high ceilings that deserve to be valued because they are ours and part of our identity. This project is for that, to put in value, to show, to highlight that detail that is so ours, that it is there. Because nobody imagined it to last more than 70 years, to reach its fullness and be valued", he projects.

For the architect, it is almost a duty to take into account and highlight this heritage value of the city of Pinamar and make people enjoy it. It is also an enormous satisfaction to be able to make the project concrete as a way of contributing to the city. This attitude has to do with her love for the city and her thinking: "Pinamar has places that can be transformed with very little and can become cultural, social and also tourist events".

Álvarez Iturregui understands that the place can be transformed from sand and its versatility, because of the relief and because one can plant a structure, a deck, permanently or temporarily, in a very easy way.

"It seems to me that Pinamar is no longer something that we should continue to delegate, no longer in a way that is too responsible to the rulers, that it is up to us citizens to take care of it more. Especially those of us who owe a lot to Pinamar. This means working in a network with the institutions, the associations, interrelating, accompanying projects or defending the city from projects that we think are not good. I believe that a community is good when it is standing up, and it seems to me that a community that prides itself on being so has to stand up and hold hands," he concludes.

Source: Pionero Newspaper, Pinamar
http://www.elpionero.com.ar/Sobrevivir-a-la-funcion-publica