Thesis

Maraña II

Project↓

National DNA

Villa Epecuén is the name of an Argentine tourist town in ruins, located in the district of Adolfo Alsina, province of Buenos Aires.

The town was founded by Arturo Vatteone on January 23, 1921, with the inauguration of the first bathing resort on the lagoon. The place was called "Mar de Epecuén" (sea of Epecuén), and soon, due to the salinity of the lagoon water, it became a tourist and medicinal paradise.

Villa Epecuén had 1500 inhabitants and received about 25 thousand tourists a year. However, in 1985, a flood submerged the town completely under water, forcing the evacuation of almost its entire population.

Subsequently, in recent years the water began to recede, leaving the ruins of the city in view, which have become a tourist attraction in their own right.

*Pablo Novak,* sole habitant of Villa Epecuén.

In this heartbreaking story we see the promise of a prosperous and happy Argentina quickly replaced by destruction and loneliness. Many people lost their homes, their memories and their lives as they knew them.

But this was not the end of Epecuén, much less the end of its history. Despite its evident transformation today it is a place visited by many and even inhabited by one person, Pablo Novak, who decided not to evacuate during the flood.

This is our identity. What makes us unique.

Despite the hardship and sadness, the Argentinean stands up and sees beauty in ugliness. Life in death.