Overview
Drawings, correspondence and photographs related to the design, by Le Corbusier (1887-1965), and construction of the Curutchet House, La Plata, Argentina.
Dates
- Creation: 1949-1979
Creator
- Le Corbusier, 1887-1965 (Architect, Person)
Language of Materials
Spanish, French, English.
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research.
Extent
1 linear feet (Extent is approximate.)The Curutchet Collection includes drawings and plans, correspondence and photographs related to the residence and clinic of Dr. Pedro Curutchet by Le Corbusier (1887-1965). In addition to the materials received from Dr. Curutchet, the collection's photographic files were supplemented by photographs taken and donated by Professor Jorge Silvetti of the Harvard Graduate School of Design in 1979.
The home and office of Dr. Pedro D. Curutchet in La Plata, Argentina, together with the Carpenter Center for Visual Arts at Harvard University, constitute the only built work by Le Corbusier in the Western Hemisphere. Commissioned by Dr. Curutchet, a distinguished surgeon with a broad interest in design, the project was undertaken in 1948 and is documented by reproductions of plans, correspondence, photographs and ephemera. The holdings of the Curutchet collection are supplemented by the wealth of resources related to Le Corbusier's professional work in the Frances Loeb Library's general collection and by the holdings of the Library's Visual Resources Department.
Biography
Dr. Pedro Domingo Curutchet was born in 1901 in Las Flores, Argentina. He was educated in La Plata, graduating in the mid 1920s with a medical degree. In 1930 he moved to Loberia, where he practiced medicine and developed the innovative surgical techniques later described in his Aximanual Surgery: Technology and History [1974] and Axitechnical Surgery and Crucimanual History [1976]. Curutchet’s intellectual interests were wide-ranging; the books are rich in references to the arts and literature. Returning to La Plata in 1948, he wrote to Le Corbusier, later attributing his choice of architect to “a shared affinity” to another innovative thinker. A detailed account of the design and construction process can be found in Alejandro Lapunzina’s Le Corbusier’s Maison Curutchet (Princeton Architectural Press, 1997).
Arrangement
The Curutchet Collection is composed of Series A (Plans and drawings), Series B (Correspondence related to the design and construction of the Curutchet House and to the acquisition of the Curutchet Collection by the Frances Loeb Library), Series C (Photographs), and Series D (Related [printed] material).
Acquisition Information
Immediate source of acquisition: Gift of Dr. Pedro Curutchet, 1978; additional material donated by Professor Jorge Silvetti, 1979.
Processing Information:
Processed by Mary Daniels
Personal Names Index
- Bok, Derek (To/From) -- Correspondence
- des00005c00014
- B002
- Curatella Manes, Germaine (To) -- Correspondence
- des00005c00013
- B001
- Curutchet, Pedro D. -- Drawings
- (Collection)
- Curutchet, Pedro D. -- Photographs
- des00005c00015
- C000
- Curutchet, Pedro D. (client) -- Architectural drawings
- des00005c00001
- A000
- Curutchet, Pedro D. (To/From) -- Correspondence
- des00005c00014
- B002
- Curutchet, Pedro D. (To) -- Correspondence
- des00005c00013
- B001
- Curutchet family -- Photographs
- des00005c00015
- C000
- Giral, Angela (To/From) -- Correspondence
- des00005c00014
- B002
- Kilbridge, Maurice Dorney (To) -- Correspondence
- des00005c00014
- B002
- Le Corbusier, 1887-1965 -- Correspondence
- des00005c00014
- B002
- Le Corbusier, 1887-1965 -- Drawings
- (Collection)
- Le Corbusier, 1887-1965 -- Photographs
- des00005c00015
- C000
- Le Corbusier, 1887-1965 (architect) -- Architectural drawings
- des00005c00001
- A000
- Le Corbusier, 1887-1965 (From) -- Correspondence
- des00005c00013
- B001
- Noe, Joel M. (From) -- Correspondence
- des00005c00014
- B002
- Silvetti, Jorge (photographer) -- Photographs
- des00005c00015
- C000
- Silvetti, Jorge (To/From) -- Correspondence
- des00005c00014
- B002
- Valdez, Alberto Rafael (director técnico) -- Architectural drawings
- des00005c00001
- A000
- Williams, Amancio, 1913- (To) -- Correspondence
- des00005c00014
- B002
Corporate Names Index
- Frances L. Loeb Library -- Correspondence
- des00005c00014
- B002
- Harvard University. Graduate School of Design -- Correspondence
- des00005c00014
- B002
- Maison Curutchet (La Plata, Argentina) -- Drawings
- (Collection)
LC Topical Headings Index
- Architects' fees -- Correspondence
- des00005c00013
- B001
- Architecture, Domestic -- Designs and plans -- Drawings
- (Collection)
- Architecture -- Argentina -- La Plata -- 20th century -- Archival resources -- Drawings
- (Collection)
- Interior decoration -- Correspondence
- des00005c00013
- B001
Geographic Names Index
- Argentina : La Plata -- Correspondence
- des00005c00014
- B002
- Argentina : La Plata : Curutchet House -- Architectural drawings
- des00005c00001
- A000
- Argentina : La Plata : Curutchet House -- Correspondence
- des00005c00012
- B000
- Argentina : La Plata : Curutchet House -- Photographs
- des00005c00015
- C000
- France : Paris : Le Corbusier Atelier -- Photographs
- des00005c00015
- C000
Genre / Form Index
- Architectural drawings /
- des00005c00001
- A000
- Construction drawings /
- des00005c00006
- A004b
- Correspondence /
- <ptr target="des00005c00012" xlink:title="B000, " xlink:type="simple"></ptr><ptr target="des00005c00013" xlink:title="B001, " xlink:type="simple"></ptr><ptr target="des00005c00014" xlink:title="B002" xlink:type="simple"></ptr>
- Drawings /
- (Collection)
- Electrostatic copies /
- des00005c00011
- A009
- Elevations /
- <ptr target="des00005c00005" xlink:title="A004a, " xlink:type="simple"></ptr><ptr target="des00005c00006" xlink:title="A004b" xlink:type="simple"></ptr>
- Floor plans /
- <ptr target="des00005c00002" xlink:title="A001, " xlink:type="simple"></ptr><ptr target="des00005c00003" xlink:title="A002, " xlink:type="simple"></ptr><ptr target="des00005c00007" xlink:title="A005, " xlink:type="simple"></ptr><ptr target="des00005c00008" xlink:title="A006" xlink:type="simple"></ptr>
- Illustrated periodicals /
- des00005c00016
- D000
- Longitudinal sections /
- <ptr target="des00005c00003" xlink:title="A002, " xlink:type="simple"></ptr><ptr target="des00005c00004" xlink:title="A003" xlink:type="simple"></ptr>
- Partial sections /
- <ptr target="des00005c00009" xlink:title="A007, " xlink:type="simple"></ptr><ptr target="des00005c00010" xlink:title="A008" xlink:type="simple"></ptr>
- Photographs /
- <ptr xlink:title="(Collection), " xlink:type="simple"></ptr><ptr target="des00005c00015" xlink:title="C000" xlink:type="simple"></ptr>
- Presentation drawings /
- des00005c00002
- A001
- Sketches /
- des00005c00013
- B001
- Slides /
- (Collection)
- Structural drawings /
- des00005c00003
- A002
- Transverse sections /
- des00005c00004
- A003
AAT Terms Index
- Architect-designed houses -- Architectural drawings
- des00005c00001
- A000
- Architect-designed houses -- Correspondence
- des00005c00012
- B000
- Architect-designed houses -- Photographs
- des00005c00015
- C000
- Balconies -- Photographs
- des00005c00015
- C000
- Bedrooms -- Photographs
- des00005c00015
- C000
- Dwellings -- Architectural drawings
- des00005c00001
- A000
- Dwellings -- Correspondence
- des00005c00012
- B000
- Dwellings -- Photographs
- des00005c00015
- C000
- Entrances -- Photographs
- des00005c00015
- C000
- Exterior views -- Photographs
- des00005c00015
- C000
- Façades -- Photographs
- des00005c00015
- C000
- Interior views -- Photographs
- des00005c00015
- C000
- Kitchens -- Photographs
- des00005c00015
- C000
- Living rooms -- Photographs
- des00005c00015
- C000
- Medical offices -- Architectural drawings
- des00005c00001
- A000
- Medical offices -- Photographs
- des00005c00015
- C000
- Models -- Photographs
- des00005c00015
- C000
- Offices (rooms and spaces) -- Correspondence
- des00005c00013
- B001
- Offices (rooms and spaces) -- Photographs
- des00005c00015
- C000
- Ramps -- Photographs
- des00005c00015
- C000
- Street elevations -- Photographs
- des00005c00015
- C000
- Street views -- Photographs
- des00005c00015
- C000
Creator
- Le Corbusier, 1887-1965 (Architect, Person)
- Title
- Curutchet Collection
- Subtitle
- An Inventory
- Author
- Special Collections, Frances Loeb Library. Harvard University, Graduate School of Design
- Language of description
- und
- EAD ID
- des00005
Repository Details
Part of the Frances Loeb Library Repository
The archival collections at GSD consist of primary source materials that further academic research in the design fields both within the GSD and beyond Harvard University. These materials, individually and collectively, offer engaging documentation of design history, theory, and practice. For further information, please visit: https://guides.library.harvard.edu/gsd/archives
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