What is Mansard

It is not news that the material life of buildings transcends the function that gave rise to them. This circumstance is the leitmotiv of the rehabilitation and recycling works as part of architectural design practice. In the case of the former headquarters of the Buenos Aires Main Post Office, the development of new means of communication made the traditional postal traffic volume decrease, resulting in an oversized building according to present circumstances. In this context, the need was inevitable – and cultural and technical possibility – to give another meaning to the building, starting a new cycle of social use from a program compatible with its urban and architectural features. The present work refers to the graphic documents of the old substance of the building, focusing on the existing element on which the intervention was planned, with the objective of studying the components on which the conservation, restoration and intervention would develop.