Le Corbusier's Maison Curutchet [Paperback]

Alejandro Lapunzina (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 1997

The Maison Curutchet in Argentina is one of the most interesting buildings?in Le Corbusier's oeuvre: it is the only single-family dwelling the?architect designed in the late 1940s, and it is one of his very few built?projects in the Americas. Commissioned in 1948 by Dr. Pedro Domingo?Curutchet, the house was designed by Le Corbusier without any direct?contact with the client. For many years it has been surrounded by an air?of controversy over its authorship and unique evolution.?

?The Maison Curutchet is a fascinating representation of Le Corbusier's?transitional period, stylistically as well as chronologically bridging the?purism of his buildings from the late 1920s and the maturity of his later?work in India.?

?Like The Danteum, Park GŸell, and Casa Malaparte,?this book offers an in-depth analysis of a single building through?original documents, drawings, and photographs and through critical?examination of a unique design process.

Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Princeton Architectural Press; 1 edition (October 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1568980957
• ISBN-13: 978-1568980959
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,271,882 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Le Corbusier in Argentina, May 1, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Le Corbusier's Maison Curutchet (Paperback)

Interestingly enough, Le Corbusier flew to Buenos Aires with the master of flight, Antoine du Saint Exupery. He gave a few lectures there and later on his return to Paris drew up on his own initiative a series of urban proposals for Buenos Aires. Nothing happened until a surgeon, Dr.Curutchet, sought his services for the design of his house and clinic at La Plata, Argentina. The book charts the design of this transitional house which sits right in the phase shift from the smooth purist villas to the rough tectonic gestures of his postwar years. It was aslo the model for his urban ambitions for Argentina, like the Citrohan protoype for Europe in the twenties. It is also the first modular building. The book offers a context and the detailed process of the design from the atelier in Paris to the remote site. Le Corbusier never saw the site nor the finished house. The book provides an appraisal of the work of a relevant architect. This house encapsulates almost all of his salient principles, ie, The Five Points. Two essays by the author explore the spatial and formal qualities of the house, from his post-purist painting compositions to promenade architecturale. It is more than a guide book and provides an insight into Le Corbusier's design process. It also helps belie the notion that Le Corbusier was an arrogant formalist who could not tolerate suggestions or collaboration.