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COLLECTION Identifier: DES-1977-0002-000603292

The Curutchet Collection

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

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

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

Contact:
Gund Hall, Room L12
48 Quincy St.
Cambridge MA 02138 USA
(617) 495-9164