# Carlos Thays

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{{Short description|French architect}}
{{Infobox person |
  name=Carlos (Charles) Thays |
  image= Retrato Carlos Thays madurez.jpg|
  caption=   Thays photo archive|
  birth_date={{birth date|1849|8|20|mf=y}} |
  birth_place=[Paris](/source/Paris), [France](/source/France) |
  death_date={{death date and age|1934|1|31|1849|8|20|mf=y}} |
  death_place=[Buenos Aires](/source/Buenos_Aires), [Argentina](/source/Argentina)
}}

'''Carlos Thays''' (August 20, 1849 &ndash; January 31, 1934)<ref name=biografia>[http://www.buenosaires.gov.ar/areas/med_ambiente/botanico/biografia.php Biography of Thays, buenosaires.gov.ar] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080408020254/http://www.buenosaires.gov.ar/areas/med_ambiente/botanico/biografia.php |date=April 8, 2008 }} {{in lang|es}}</ref> was a French-Argentine [landscape architect](/source/landscape_architecture), and a student of French landscape architect [Édouard André](/source/%C3%89douard_Andr%C3%A9).<ref name=botanico >[http://www.buenosaires.gov.ar//areas/med_ambiente/botanico/history.php?menu_id=20301 History of El Jardín Botánico, buenosaires.gov.ar] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110818121929/http://www.buenosaires.gov.ar/areas/med_ambiente/botanico/history.php?menu_id=20301 |date=2011-08-18 }} {{in lang|es}}</ref>

==Biography==
Born '''Jules Charles Thays''' in [Paris](/source/Paris), [France](/source/France) in 1849,<ref name=botanico/> Carlos Thays arrived in [Argentina](/source/Argentina) in 1889,<ref name=botanico/> after he was recommended by [Jean Alphand](/source/Jean_Alphand) to Argentine pioneer [Miguel Crisol](/source/Miguel_Crisol), who contracted Thays to design [Sarmiento Park](/source/Sarmiento_Park) in [Córdoba](/source/C%C3%B3rdoba%2C_Argentina).<ref name=biografia/> During his time in Córdoba Thays became infatuated with the young country and decided to spend the rest of his life in Argentina. After moving to [Buenos Aires](/source/Buenos_Aires) he was named the city's Director of Parks & Walkways <!-- accurate translation of Paseos, not "sights" as indicated in the en ref -->in 1891.<ref name=botanico/> This position gave him significant influence over the design of the city's open spaces, and his legacy is still strongly felt in the city's open spaces today.

Major projects included tree planting along streets, remodeling and designing public plazas and walkways as well as designing completely new parks and expanding older ones. Major parks and plazas that particularly show Thays influence on Buenos Aires include the parks [Centenario](/source/Parque_Centenario), [Lezama](/source/Lezama_Park), [Patricios](/source/Parque_Patricios), Barrancas de Belgrano and the plazas Constitución, [Congreso](/source/Congressional_Plaza), and [Mayo](/source/Plaza_de_Mayo).<ref name=botanico/> Thays' French heritage is reflected in many of his designs, in so far that Buenos Aires' parks and plazas are often compared to similar designs in Paris.

One of Thays' largest undertakings was the [Parque Tres de Febrero](/source/Parque_Tres_de_Febrero),<ref name=botanico/> a sweeping area of open land covering several square kilometers filled with thousands of trees, flowers, many fountains, and monuments in the ''[barrio](/source/barrio)'' of [Palermo](/source/Palermo%2C_Buenos_Aires).

A pet project of his was the [Buenos Aires Botanical Garden](/source/Buenos_Aires_Botanical_Garden),<ref name=biografia/><ref name=botanico/> for which he petitioned the city government to set aside land (almost 8 hectares), which he designed in sections to display plants organised by continent, with a large section devoted to the native plants of Argentina,<ref name=botanico/> which were ignored in garden-making at the time. The garden has the first ''[Ginkgo biloba](/source/Ginkgo_biloba)'' planted in Argentina. Completed in 1898, it bears his name, the ''Jardín Botánico Carlos Thays de la Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires''. One greenhouse, was first erected at the [Paris Exposition of 1889](/source/Exposition_Universelle_(1889)) and brought in sections from France to be reassembled, one of five in the garden. A brick house in the English [Gothic Revival](/source/Gothic_Revival_architecture) style, in which he lived during the construction and planting of the garden,<ref name=botanico/> now houses the [herbarium](/source/herbarium) and a small botanical library.

thumb|left|Plaza del Congreso, Buenos Aires

While Thays worked primarily in Buenos Aires throughout the years he also worked on many civic projects in other areas of Argentina, remodeling the [Parque Sarmiento](/source/Sarmiento_Park), [Córdoba](/source/C%C3%B3rdoba%2C_Argentina), designing the [Parque Urquiza](/source/Parque_Urquiza) in [Parana, Entre Rios](/source/Parana%2C_Entre_Rios), [Parque 9 de Julio](/source/Ninth_of_July_Park) in [San Miguel de Tucumán](/source/San_Miguel_de_Tucum%C3%A1n), the [Parque de la Independencia](/source/Parque_de_la_Independencia) in [Rosario](/source/Rosario%2C_Santa_Fe), and the [Parque San Martin](/source/Parque_San_Martin) in [Mendoza](/source/Mendoza%2C_Argentina).<ref name=biografia/> Thays also designed the grounds of the luxurious [Club Hotel de la Ventana](/source/Club_Hotel_de_la_Ventana), near [Sierra de La Ventana](/source/Sierra_de_La_Ventana_(town)) in [Buenos Aires Province](/source/Buenos_Aires_Province). Work outside Argentina included the urban planning of the residential neighborhood of [Carrasco](/source/Carrasco%2C_Montevideo), aid in the planning of the [Parque Rodó](/source/Parque_Rod%C3%B3), and the design of the [Plaza Cagancha](/source/Plaza_Cagancha)<ref name=loustau>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D3SalF2UujUC&q=%22ram%C3%B3n+v+benzano%22&pg=PA175|title=Influencia de Francia en la arquitectura de Uruguay|publisher=Ediciones Trilce|date=1995-01-01|page=191|isbn=9974-32-116-6|author=César J. Loustau|author-link=César J. Loustau|language=es}}</ref> and [Plaza Independencia](/source/Plaza_Independencia) in [Montevideo](/source/Montevideo), [Uruguay](/source/Uruguay).<ref name=biografia/>

Thays worked most extensively in Buenos Aires precisely at a period in the city's history where it was growing extremely fast as a result of immigration, especially from [Spain](/source/Spain) and [Italy](/source/Italy). It is often noted that had Thays not insisted on high standards of design and frequent open spaces, many of the city's current open spaces would probably not exist.

Thays was also a central reference for the establishment of [national parks in Argentina](/source/List_of_national_parks_of_Argentina). In order to advance the integration of Misiones, the Gobernación del Territorio de Misiones and the Ministry of the Interior commissioned the re-nowned landscape architect and botanist Carlos Thays to travel to Iguazú and explore the tourist and environmental prospects there. In 1902 Thays recommended the establishment of a National Park around the [Iguazú Falls](/source/Iguazu_Falls). In order to define the use of the national park and to advance plan-ning, the expertise of Carlos Thays was again sought. And so, Thays made another trip to Iguazú that resulted in a detailed report, richly illustrated with photos, entitled "Parque Nacional de Iguazú", which the famous landscape architect presented to the Minister of Agriculture, Adolfo Mujica, in March 1912. <ref>{{cite book |last1=Kaltmeier |first1=Olaf |title=National Parks from North to South. An Entangled History of Conservation and Colonization in Argentina |date=2021 |publisher=WVT, UNO |location=Trier, New Orleans |page=7-13}}</ref>

Alongside Francisco Moreno and other prominent figures, Thays founded the [Boy Scouts Association of Argentina](/source/Scouting_and_Guiding_in_Argentina), on July 4, 1912.

Thays died in Buenos Aires in 1934.<ref name=botanico/>
{{botanist|Thays}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{ACArt}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thays, Carlos}}
Category:1849 births
Category:1934 deaths
Category:Argentine architects
Category:French landscape architects
Category:Argentine landscape architects
Category:Argentine people of French descent
Category:Squares in Buenos Aires
Category:Uruguayan urban planners
Category:Burials at La Chacarita Cemetery

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Carlos Thays](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_Thays) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_Thays?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.