SUMMARY

Hernán’s experience illustrates how architectural ideas could circulate globally even before the internet. Growing up in Rosario, Argentina, he attended architecture school between 1987 and 1993. At the time, the curriculum was not focused on the latest developments in the field students were taught to design within fixed typologies in a modernist style, referencing figures like Mies van der Rohe and Le Corbusier.

However, Argentina’s cultural and academic ties to Spain created opportunities for other influences to filter in. Architects such as Bohigas and Miralles came to lecture in Buenos Aires, and Hernan made the trip to hear them. Through these connections, the Spanish journal El Croquis also reached Argentina. While costly, copies were bought collectively among friends, each purchasing different issues to share. Inspired by what they found in its pages, they began designing projects based on the innovative work they saw, which were often at odds with what their professors were still teaching. El Croquis opened the door to architects like Libeskind, Eisenman, Morphosis, Zaha Hadid, and the American discourse that local institutions largely ignored.

A pivotal moment came when Alejandro Zaera-Polo visited Buenos Aires to give a lecture. Hernan managed to attend the post-lecture dinner, spending the entire evening discussing where he should continue his studies. Zaera-Polo pointed him toward Columbia University, where Bernard Tschumi was experimenting with digital tools. Hernan also had other points of reference: a professor who had completed an M.Arch in the U.S and a classmate, Marcelo Spina, who was already studying there.

This was all happening in a pre-internet world, highlighting that formal education does not fully determine what students can learn or pursue. Even when schools only present a narrow or outdated set of ideas, motivated students can still find ways to connect with a much broader architectural conversation.