The neighborhood. In 1985, residents of Monte Chingolo, in Lanús county in the southern section of the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area, laid claim to lands in the area delimited by General Pinto, Méndez, Donato Álvarez, and Kloosterman streets. These lands belonged to the state, but had become a de facto trash dump because not given any other use. That occupation of the land in 1985 was the origin of the neighborhood La Fe. Years later, more lands were occupied, and in November 2000 and February 2002, an enlarged area was legally recognized as a neighborhood.

The La Fe Galpón, or warehouse, is located in the middle of the neighborhood. It is run by the Lanús chapter of MTD (Movimiento de Trabajadores Desocupados, a movement of laid-off workers), which itself forms part of the Frente Popular Darío Santillán coalition. The warehouse houses a soup kitchen, a bakery, and an after-school tutoring and snack program for the neighborhood kids—activities that have turned it into a self-run community center whose work makes itself felt throughout the neighborhood. The current installations are not equipped for all the activities it already houses, let alone the ones planned like a food market for local producers, classroom-workshops, and a larger . The design of a renovation of the ground floor and the addition of an upper level were debated at community assemblies. The work itself would be performed the local workers’ cooperative and its metalsmithing workshop.