Maison du Docteur Curutchet, 1949

The Dr. Curutchet House is on one of the avenues forming the monumental axis of the city, near a square and a park. The plot is a narrow one, intersected by a diagonal lane that forms a small square in front of the house.

Curutchet asked Le Corbusier to separate the work and living areas and to provide all the main rooms with a favourable aspect and a view of the neighbouring square and park.
Le Corbusier left the ground floor almost free of any construction, arranging only the garage and a few services. The building has been organised on the basis of two separate volumes, corresponding to the work area and the house. On the first floor front is the doctor’s surgery. The living area is located at the back of the plot and elevated in relation to the work area. The roof of the surgery forms the terrace of the living room and the dining room. The bedrooms are on the third floor. All rooms have favourable aspects and sunlight, as well as views onto the street and the neighbouring green spaces.
A ramp serves to link the two main volumes; it connects the entrance hall in the house and the work area.

In the Dr. Curutchet House can be found Le Corbusier’s main architectural principles: pilotis, free plan, free facade and roof garden. The facade enclosing the rooms on the street side is dematerialised, reduced to simple pieces of glass protected by sun-break shading devices. As in the house itself, the spatial continuity between exterior and interior clearly illustrates and materialises the space-time notion dear to the adepts of the Modern Movement in general and to Le Corbusier in particular.
The house has been remarkably integrated between two buildings of different height and architectural style and elevation drawings show visual links with the neighbouring facades.