Curutchet House

Le Corbusier – Curutchet House, La Plata – Buenos Aires Argentina, 1949-1955

The Curutchet House is a building by Le Corbusier built in La Plata, Argentina. It was commissioned by Dr. Pedro Domingo Curutchet, a surgeon, in 1948 and included a small medical office on the ground floor. The house consists of four main levels with a courtyard between the house and the clinic. The building overlooks the Paseo del Bosque park. The main facade incorporates a brise-soleil.

The house exemplifies Le Corbusier's five architectural points and incorporates a ramp and a spiral staircase. The project represents a landmark in Corbusier's design journey because it exemplifies how cultural and historical characteristics of architecture (the elements of the traditional Latin American courtyard house) can be rewritten using the five points of modern architecture.

Dr. Curutchet's house is also one of the very few buildings built by Corbusier that are connected to pre-existing buildings and respond perfectly to a historical context. With this house Corbusier demonstrated, more than with any other project of his, that modern architecture could indeed be in harmonious dialogue with traditional architecture.

Inside the house you can see the wonderful architecture. There is a tree inside the house, that is, care was taken during the design that the tree will maintain and will not disturb the beauty of the house yet. The terrace, wooden folding awnings, the design of the inclined stairs, the wardrobes, the kitchen were designed between 1949 and 1953 and are the same, used in the current era as a modern design.