The National School of Buenos Aires reopened its Aula Magna with an event full of reunions and emotions

The National College of Buenos Aires (CNBA) reopened the doors of his Aula Magna. This Thursday, after nine months of restoration and heritage preservation, the hall regained its original splendor, in an event that brought together authorities, alumni, political, economic and cultural figures, as well as an entire community, who returned with the feeling of returning to a place that never ceases to be theirs to take their places.

The work was made possible thanks to the contribution of the family of businessman Marcelo Mindlin, who graduated from college in 1982. Among the guests were other alumni such as Mariano Recalde and Matías Lammens, as well as special guests who accompanied the reopening.

Among the audience, Abril, a CNBA student, watched the stage with a mix of amazement and appreciation. “It is very nice that this room has been restored. A lot of history has happened here. It is a very important event that we are experiencing,” he said, as if he also spoke for entire generations of students who have passed through the Aula Magna since 1908.

Meanwhile, Rector Valeria Bergman took the floor and welcomed everyone present. His speech emerged from the intimate and developed into the collective. “Today we will give a historic step in college, an ambitious dream that I trusted as soon as Marcelo suggested it to me. “We made it!” he celebrated.

Bergman thanked Mariana and Marcelo Mindlin, who conceived and accompanied the work “down to the last brush stroke,” as well as the team of architects, researchers, restorers and construction managers who worked with the care that a declared building requires. National Historic Monument.

He also highlighted the role of the Amadeo Jaques Collaborative Association, which managed the donation and accompanied each phase, as well as the efforts of teachers, non-teachers, students and authorities who, for nine months, adjusted their routines to continue the life of the school as the work progressed.

There was also special recognition for Eduardo Vilches, a recent graduate who “set out to build a bridge” and found the Mindlin family on the other side, a gesture that Bergman said embodies the intergenerational love for the CNBA.

The rector then remembered why this work was necessary: ​​to restore the Aula Magna to the splendor with which it was conceived 1908 as a “large auditorium”. A room where Albert Einstein was heard talking about the theory of relativity, where Alberto Ginastera and Jorge Luis Borges passed by, and where Raúl Alfonsín led the commemoration of university reform in 1988.

The most important events of the institution are also celebrated there: the reception of the participants, the presentation of diplomas, the patriotic honors, the honors of the flag bearers and the honor of the Olympians.

When the principal finished the speech, the a video about the restoration process: a careful, almost artisanal work, a true “ant’s work” that gave color, volume and life back to every corner. At the end the hall erupted in applause dedicated to those who had made this return to its original glory possible.

On one of the benches, a former student and his family quietly reviewed his admissions and literature courses, as if the Aula Magna itself was activating memories that were there, waiting for the opportunity to resurface.

Finally, Mariana and Marcelo Mindlin took the stage. Marcelo spoke up and said, “You may be wondering why we are here. Mariana and I are products of public education.” It’s a way to give back to the public education that has given us so much. We have been able to make great strides in our lives and this is a way to give back what he has given us.”

At the end of his address to the public, Bergman thanked the restoration.

The event concluded with the Alumni Choir and Student Choir performing “Habanera” and “Marcha y coro” by Carmen and “Te Quiero” by Mario Benedetti and Alberto Favero. Voices filled the restored space as confirmation: the history of the Aula Magna is not only being preserved, it is also being renewed.

María Turull and Martín Capeluto, from the architectural firm Turull-Capelutospecialized in interventions in cultural heritage, were responsible for leading the restoration. The proposal came to them through the College Cooperator on the initiative of Eduardo Vilches and contact with Marcelo Mindlin. His studio has over twenty years of experience between Barcelona and Buenos Aires, with previous work on heritage projects such as the Sitges Museum and Casa Melier.

That’s what they said The restoration required careful methodologybased on historical studies, material analysis and pilot testing that allowed us to understand the original materiality. Specialists in stucco work, gilding, wood, textiles and blacksmithing took part, each contributing specific conservation techniques.

“Preservation requires a very long-term duration. No linear recipes are applied: we have to study how the materials behave to give appropriate answers,” they explained.

Surprises arose during the work that can only be revealed when working at many meters height. One of these discoveries became unforgettable: the signatures of the gilders who intervened in the Aula Magna in 1938twelve meters away, found on the pilasters. The written date confirmed a second major historical intervention in the space.

“The restoration work is also an investigation. What appears in the materiality builds history that is not always in the documents,” they explained.

The entire process took a year: three months of pilot testing and nine months of on-site work. “It’s a great feeling to see it finished”they agreed.