Julio Dormal Godet (1846–1924) was a Belgian architect who, after studying in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, arrived in

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

in 1868 where he became one of the first exponents of the Beaux-Arts style of architecture. He built the Palermo Race Course and designed the layout of

Parque Tres de Febrero Parque Tres de Febrero, popularly known as Bosques de Palermo (Palermo Woods), is an urban park of approximately 400 hectares (about 989 acres) located in the neighborhood of Palermo in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Located between Libertador and F ...

, a park in the neighbourhood of

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Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

, completed in 1876. Construction of the

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building, designed by the Italian architect

Vittorio Meano Vittorio Meano (1860, Gravere, Kingdom of Sardinia 1904, Buenos Aires, Argentina) was an Italian architect born in Gravere, Val di Susa, Piedmont, Kingdom of Sardinia. Background and early career He studied architecture in Albertina Academ ...

, began in 1898. After Meano's murder in 1904, Dormal took the project through to its completion in 1906, respecting Meano's original designs. In the city of

La Plata La Plata () is the capital city of Buenos Aires province, Argentina. According to the 2022 Argentina census, census, the La Plata Partido, Partido has a population of 772,618 and its metropolitan area, the Greater La Plata, has 938,287 inhabit ...

, Dormal was involved with the building of the Government House, and in Buenos Aires with the final details of the

Teatro Colón The Teatro Colón () is a historic opera house in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is considered one of the ten best opera houses in the world by National Geographic. According to a survey carried out by the acoustics expert Leo Beranek among leadin ...

and with the remodeling of the old Teatro Opera. Dormal took over the building of the Pereda Palace in Buenos Aires, begun in 1919 for the wealthy doctor and cattle rancher Celedonio Pereda, when Pereda fell out with the original French architect, Louis Martin. Dormal died in 1924 and did not see the building through to its completion in 1936. Since 1944 the Palacio Pereda has been used as the residence of the Brazilian ambassador.

References

Alberto Bellucci, José María Sert in Buenos Aires, J. Decorative & Propaganda Arts, Argentine Theme Issue, 1992. {{DEFAULTSORT:Dormal, Julio 1846 births 1924 deaths Argentine architects Belgian architects Burials at La Recoleta Cemetery Place of birth missing