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Monday, July 16, 2012

THE FIRST RATIONALIST HOUSE



In 1929, the famous local architect Alejandro Bustillo built the First rationalist-styled house of Buenos Aires. As a visit from the famous French architect Le Corbusier, creator of the rationalism, was coming, a group of local artists decided to tribute him. The writer Victoria Ocampo asked Bustillo to build a house inspired in Le Corbusier’s precepts. Hostel Colonial tells you everything about this special house locates in Palermo.

In 2831 Rufino de Elizalde Street, it’s located nowadays the National Arts Fund, but 83 years ago a curious and polemic house was built. In the lands of Palermo Chico, an exclusive part of Palermo neighborhood, Ocampo projected the first rationalist house. She wanted Bustillo to carry out the construction, but the famous architect resisted the aesthetics of modern architecture. The final result shows a tension between the traditional Fine Arts style and Modernism.

The lack of ornament and the clean lines define a house which the architect refused to sign as he stated: “It could have been built by anyone”. Nowadays, the ground floor has been renewed to host an art gallery. The upper floors remain empty. In this house, the avant-garde magazine “Sur” was founded in 1931. Most of the greatest writers of the times started publishing there: Jorge Luis Borges, Oliverio Girondo, Victoria Ocampo and others.

For further information visit the National Arts Fund website (available only in Spanish).

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