Barracas in the NYT

Barracas, near the city’s old ports, means barracks or warehouses. Long since abandoned, many warehouses are being renovated into luxury housing and cultural centers.

One local artist, Marino Santa María, 59, whose studio is in the house he was born in at Pasaje Lanín 33 (www.marino-santamaria.com.ar) is credited with bringing attention to the district. He began transforming the street in 2000, layering each house with sparkling mosaics. In recent years, an open-air weekend arts festival sprang up on Lanín, running from July through December. Mr. Santa María lamented that though tourist buses visit, “a lot of maps don’t have Barracas on them.”