School of Engineering

This impressive neo-Gothic building is neither a church nor a cathedral. In fact, it's the only non-religious Gothic building in Buenos Aires. It was constructed in the early 20th century to house the Faculty of Law and Social Sciences. Uruguayan engineer Arturo Prins, who had studied architecture in France and Italy, won a competition held by the city with his design of a Louis XIV-style building. But the city changed its mind and opted for Gothic style instead. Prins remained in charge of the project, however. The plan called for a soaring, light-filled structure with slender lines that would take up the entire block, crowned by a gigantic central tower. However, the many changes to the designs along the way made the project increasingly complex and costly. As you can see, there is no central tower. And to top it all off, World War I drove up the cost of materials, bringing construction to several halts. By 1939, a new building was finally constructed to house the Law School, and rumors were swirling about serious calculation errors in the original design that could eventually prove fatal. To make matters worse, engineer Prins took his own life, thus perpetuating the stories about the miscalculations. In 1948, the Buenos Aires Faculty of Engineering finally moved in, along with the Museum of Science and Technology. In 2016, a major restoration project was launched, in keeping with the engineer's final design.