Sulle orme di Le Corbusier. Gli esordi e la diffusione del Movimento Moderno in Argentina:dibattito, tutela e valorizzazione del patrimonio.

In 1929 Le Corbusier, through a network of intellectuals belonging to the Parisian circle, made his first Latin American trip, presenting a series of ten lectures. In collaboration with the Association of Friends of Arts, Buenos Aires was the first city to host the tour, an event which represented a decisive moment for the future projects of the Swiss architect and for the development of the Modern Movement in Latin America; in particular in Argentina. That year marked the end of a stage of strong innovation and experimentation with the avantgarde and the Neocolonialism, and a phase of achievement of the proposed theories. This first South American tour became a cultural mission, as well as a way of connecting European modernity with that of Argentina. As a result of these conferences Le Corbusier wrote in 1929, during his return to Europe, the book Précisions sur un état present de l’architecture et de l’urbanisme, a summary of the related themes covered in the conferences and the evolution of the proposed ideas, influenced by the cultural environment and South American landscape. Buenos Aires changed and, in the scenario of the debate of literary and architectural magazines, was turned into a modern building site. During his stay he got in touch with a lot of architects and intellectuals, delegates of Argentine modernity, with which an intensive thirty-year correspondence was opened. Particularly significant among them were Antonio Ubaldo Vilar, an emblematic member of the Modern Movement and Amancio Williams, the main reinterpreter of Argentinean modernity across an International language. Before the trip, in 1928, Le Corbusier had been an opponent of Argentinean architect, Alejandro Bustillo, for planning one of the first modern buildings in Argentina, the house of Victoria Ocampo. The connection that Le Corbusier created with Argentina lasted for about four decades through a dense matching network trying to complete projects which remained unfinished. After forty years of silence, dating back to the ‘70s, the first articles have been published that trace the trip of Le Corbusier and reflect upon its consequences. During the last decade this debate has been reopened, through the studies of Ramón Gutiérrez, director of the Centre of Latin-American Documents, and the research of Jorge Francisco Liernur. The first ecumenical journey, the correspondence of the following years and the unstarted projects, are transformed into the guidelines of the definition of the Argentinean Modern Movement. The thesis aims to define the cultural and architectural context in which it develops, as well as the periodization of its distinct phases and the main exponents. The research allows us to respond to the question which asks the reasons why Le Corbusier could not fully realize any work within the Argentine territory. He also aims to analyze the impact of his trip and subsequent contacts on the one hand to the architectural debate within the territory and on the diffusion of the Argentinean Modern Movement, and on the other on his professional choices and following impact on the International Modern Movement. The results could be the basis for the constitution of a single archive of the Argentinean Modern Movement laying the foundations for a coherent project of protection and valorization of heritage.