The story of The Curutchet house, made by Le Corbusier It impresses architects to this day. It is the only work of the Swiss-France in Latin America, located in the city of La Plata, and was built with it kilometers away. As? Thanks to a constant letters exchange Between Le Corbusier, Amancio Williamsthe Argentine architect who materialized the project on the ground, and the doctor Pedro Domingo Curutchetwho was the client.
It all started with a doctor from the doctor to Le Corbusier where he explained that, due to the characteristics of the land –Narrow, about 160 m2, And with three adjacent houses – he did not see that all his requirements could enter a single house overlooking the Rivadavia Square. A challenge that the modernist architect immediately accepted and worked in parallel to one of his most recognized works, the Marseille housing complex.
The Curutchet house is an example of the work after the II World War II.Unesco courtesy.
A small lot
The commission had some complexity: to support Curutchet's professional and family life, with an office and common spaces for him, his lady and his two daughters. A challenge that, after several letters, Le Corbusier resolved by separating the house in two volumes connected by a ramp and an inner courtyard that would generate cross ventilation, refreshing the house. One raised as the office, overlooking the street and the other, such as the housing area oriented towards the inner courtyard, with what he endowed greater privacy.
As in its other housing projects, the Curutchet house embodies the five points for a new architecture (free facade, construction on pilotis, free ground floor, garden terrace and an atmosphere designed to measure man), but this time adapted to a small lot, turning it into an object of fascination and study For various generations of architects.
“Le Corbusier looked for respond to space challenges with the way he supported the structure. He did not download the weight on the walls but in concrete pillars, which gave him a very large freedom of work. This system was a revolution in the twentieth century and Le Corbusier was one of its great exponents, ”he explains for Digest Architectural The architect, Joaquín López, Curutchet House Guide.