The Casa Curutchet (1953) is located in the 'planned' city of La Plata, about an hour north of Buenos Aires. It's one of the works of Le Corbusier that probably will be admitted to the World Heritage List in 2009. I went there on a Monday morning, after having found out that the interior only is open limited hours during weekdays. What I hadn't thought about is that the Americas 'celebrate' Columbus Day on this exact day. I feared the worst, and that proved true when I arrived at the house and nobody answered the bell.

So I've got nothing to tell about the interior then. Fortunately, some of Le Corbusier's principles can be assessed from the outside too. It really is a small house, looking to make the most of its tiny plot between more sturdy neighbours. The front side harbours the medical practice for Dr. Curutchet, who commissioned the building. It has distinctive columns bearing the load, lots of open spaces and large, tall windows.

The family house is at the back, but I couldn't get more than a glimpse of that. What is visible, is the tree in the inner courtyard that was planted when the building was constructed. It now is a large tree that separates the private quarters from the working area.