Informal Codex

What really impressed me was that an alternative city was in front of me.

I expected to see to shacks and shanties but I was surprised to walk along three or four storey buildings in a town that was so similar to many formal neighborhoods I had visited before. There were many services and facilities such as medical clinics, dentists, internet bars, nurseries and all kind of shops and commercial activities. It gave me the impression of a well-organized community and, apart from the unpaved streets and floating cables, it could have been any working-class district of the city. I were rather taken aback by the buildings: they had a concrete structure that almost reached five floors, some were rustic and unrefined while many of them were colorful and well looked after. Even the houses built under the viaduct had balconies with plants and flowers on the window, and painted with bright colors. The density of the edification was amazing with were very narrow streets and the blocks under the viaduct were the most incredible.

At first sight the similarity between Villa 31/31bis and Boca district was clear.

It was the same picturesque environment, made of small houses and shops and tiny lively streets. This increased the perception of being in a parallel city, so distant and hidden from the so-called formal city and yet it looked so similar.

I was introduced to some friends of Virginia’s who live there and had the opportunity to visit their houses.

The first person I met was Maria, a lady whose house is next to the main square (the very centre of the settlement) and who invited us to her house for a drink. She works as a tailor, but at that time she was not working due to an arm injury after a fall. She was worried about not being able to work as she was not earning any money and she needed it for her children’s education. She had no health insurance and she had to pay for a doctor; she was impatient to resume her work again, but she had to wait until her arm had fully recovered.

Her house were tiny and full of objects. There was a small port at the entrance with some plants, and a few steps leading to the main room. The room were approximately 20 sqm and hosted a table with a sewing machine and many tools for Maria’s job and a computer where her daughter was doing her homework. The house were provided with internet connection, they had a television set, a radio, a phone and mobile phones. In the same room there was also a bed where Maria slept with her daughter and another table for their 91