Jorge Eckstein is a Buenos Aires-born chemical engineer and entrepreneur whose unlikely second act has become one of Argentina's most celebrated acts of cultural preservation. Raised in Buenos Aires by Hungarian immigrant parents, he built a successful career spanning more than 30 years in the specialty oils and animal fats industry, supplying international companies including Shell, Exxon, Pfizer and Henkel.

In 1985, Eckstein purchased a derelict property in the San Telmo neighbourhood of Buenos Aires, just blocks from the Casa Rosada, intending it as a financial investment. What began as a restoration of an abandoned 1830 mansion evolved into a decades-long archaeological undertaking. Beneath the structure, workers uncovered a network of tunnels and ruins dating to the 1600s, including what would prove to be the first underground waterway switching system of the city. Eckstein spent 25 years excavating, restoring, and preserving the site entirely by hand, training specialized tradespeople where none existed and pioneering the first urban archaeological escrow agreement of its kind in the city.

The result is El Zanjón de Granados, a privately owned museum now welcoming approximately 36,000 visitors annually, among them passengers from international luxury cruise lines. The project has been recognized by Buenos Aires City Council as the most significant urban archaeological undertaking in the city's history. Eckstein is also the father of Vanessa Eckstein, founder and Creative Director of the internationally recognized Toronto-based studio Blok Design.

Images of El Zanjón de Granados are available on the Issued for Construction Instagram.

⁠⁠Jorge Eckstein - El Zanjón

Next Release:

⁠⁠Office of Sustainable Design & Architecture (OSDA)⁠⁠

Sponsors:

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Caplan's Appliances⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Doors⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Aquanta Pools⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Issued For Construction⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠