Across the street from Parque Patricios, a large urban park in Buenos Aires, the site for the new Banco Ciudad headquarters boasts an iconic location. The design proposal takes advantage of this unique condition, creating an approach sequence that includes an entry plaza, a central patio, and a generous garden that extends the park into the interior of the urban block. Below this outdoor plan, two levels carve into the site’s natural topography as it slopes away from the park toward the south, creating a podium under the building that houses parking, a service area, and VIP entrances to the auditorium at the street level. Above, the primary entrance—as well as more public programs such as an auditorium, a bank branch, a social lounge, and a gym—occupy the ground level.

Inside the building, a mezzanine level contains the IT center, an executive dining room, and office spaces. A gently curved, floating volume that seems to hover above the ground level provides further office space, the central programmatic component of the project, and appears to embrace the adjacent park. This facade, composed of a continuous skin of glass, metal fins, and rolling shades, reinforces the volume’s lithe form. Taken together, the building’s separate components combine into a monumental expression of the bank’s transparent, democratic, and modern identity.