004R
Research
You are receiving this memo as part of a new internal correspondence system for the rhodia1 practice. All memos carry a number and a suffix indicating their subject area: i — infrastructure · s — secretarial · L — library · R — research · D — design. Each memo covers one subject area only. The number runs as a single sequence across all types and all recipients. The memo index is held by Patty. Before issuing any memo, confirm the next number with her. Memos are issued by Reina del Pacífico on behalf of the practice. Short, directed, specific. This memo is your introduction to the system and carries your first commission below.
01
The question
Did Joaquín Torres-García travel on Pacific Steam Navigation Company vessels — or their connections — on his return to Montevideo in 1934, or on any subsequent crossings between South America and Europe in the 1930s? The Reina del Pacífico was in service from March 1931. Torres-García is a founding influence of the studio. If he sailed on the same water as the bell, that connection belongs in the record.
02
Patty — archive enquiries
Write to the National Archives at Kew — PSNC records are held there. Also the Merseyside Maritime Museum, Liverpool. Write from patty@rhodi.ai once the address is active. Be specific — cite the dates, the vessel name, the route. A serious enquiry gets a serious response.
03
Rosaria — additional sources
Your archive instincts on where else the manifests might live. Argentine and Uruguayan national archives. Port records from Buenos Aires and Montevideo. The Museo Torres García, Montevideo holds a significant archive of his letters and diaries — these may reference the passage directly if it happened.
04
Otto — hold and watch
Log this question and hold it open. Watch for PSNC passenger manifest digitisation. Watch for Argentine and Uruguayan port records coming online. The question is precisely formed now. When the dataset surfaces — in 2031, in 2038, whenever — we will be ready to ask it immediately. The ship knew where Valparaíso was before she left Liverpool. We just have to make the crossing.
Lucía Casares · Reina del Pacífico
Buenos Aires / Valparaíso · 10 May 2026