As the man at the epicentre of the 60s Pop movement, Andy Warhol shaped how we think about art now. Elevating the everyday into art, he blurred the lines between high and low culture. He created the model of the artist as media persona, mass producer and businessperson, a concept taken forward by contemporary art giants such as Damian Hirst, one of the most successful artists working today.

When Frank Almeida followed his girlfriend to Argentina in 1999, he didn’t realise he was on a one way ticket. With a casual shrug the owner of wildly successful cookie company Sugar and Spice explains: “She got homesick, brought up the possibility of moving to Argentina and I’ve always been open to living outside the US so I said sure.”

The season ahead is looking dark. Autumn and winter fast approaching, Argentina is gearing up to face the chill in heavy fabrics, a monochromatic palette and with die-hard allegiance to punk-inspired fashion. The three days of the 2010 autumn/winter edition of Buenos Aires Fashion Week showcased collections which are testament to the city’s rising recognition and status amongst the world’s style capitals.

“Old age is what old people make of it,” said Jorge Strada, founder of Papelnonos, the association that breaks all stereotypes people have about the elderly. Founded in 1989 in Mar del Plata off the back of a paper instrument-making workshop with 15 elderly people, Strada decided to form an orchestra using the instruments and members of the workshop.

With less than 100 days until the World Cup kicks off in South Africa, Argentina began their preparations with a friendly against Germany in Munich last Wednesday, and The Argentimes was there to see the match and run the rule over how Diego Maradona’s squad is shaping up ahead of the tournament.

The feat of navigating the streets of Buenos Aires is not overly taxing. The city’s very regular grid system – although vast – proves utterly manageable, once armed with a trusty ‘Guia-T’ and some sense of where you are and where you are headed. Rather, the enigma of BA’s plethora of 2,159 calles, avenidas, pasajes and autopistas surrounds their names, origins, stories and peculiarities.

Enter a world of gracious movements, adrenaline rushes and endless camaraderie. If you’re a fan of living (literally) on the edge while leading a healthy lifestyle, then this is your ideal sport. Welcome to the world of Parkour, where movement is an art.

Adventure, opportunity, escapism, the accessible Latin America, romantic visions of tango dancing among La Boca’s coloured corrugated iron, whispers of steak and wine for half the price of home. These are not just reasons to visit Buenos Aires: for increasing numbers of Europeans and North Americans, they represent sufficient motivation to move here. Surprisingly, it is this decision which turns out to be the easy part. The hard bit is Argentine immigration’s bureaucratic labyrinth.