Victoria Ocampo y la construcción de la modernidad arquitectónica en Argentina: entre experimentación proyectual y confrontación ideológica.Victoria Ocampo and the Construction of Architectural Modernity in Argentina: between Architectural Experimentation and Ideological Confrontation.

This chapter reconsiders the role of Victoria Ocampo in the construction of architectural modernity in Argentina, arguing that her contribution extended far beyond cultural patronage. Rather than interpreting the reception of modern architecture as the direct transplantation of European models, the study examines the cultural networks, editorial initiatives, and intellectual exchanges that mediated the circulation and local reinterpretation of architectural ideas between Europe and Argentina during the interwar period. Through her international connections, the activities of the journal Sur, and her engagement with leading European intellectuals and architects, Ocampo transformed domestic architecture into a laboratory for aesthetic experimentation, cultural representation, and ideological debate. Drawing on archival correspondence, architectural projects, travel accounts, and contemporary publications, the chapter analyses two pivotal episodes: the Casa Cubo in Mar del Plata and the Palermo Chico residence, together with the unbuilt project commissioned from Le Corbusier and the house ultimately designed by Alejandro Bustillo. These projects are interpreted as cultural manifestos in which tensions between tradition and avant-garde, cosmopolitanism and national identity, and aristocratic representation and modern domesticity were continuously negotiated. The comparison between Le Corbusier’s radical proposal and Bustillo’s hybrid reinterpretation demonstrates that Argentine modernity emerged through processes of adaptation, mediation, and selective appropriation rather than through the simple adoption of European rationalism. More broadly, the chapter contributes to the historiography of Latin American architecture by highlighting the decisive role of women intellectuals in shaping architectural discourse and practice. It argues that architectural modernity was constructed not only through buildings and professional networks but also through editorial culture, transnational exchanges, and the active participation of cultural mediators such as Victoria Ocampo, whose work profoundly redefined the relationship between architecture, domestic space, and cultural identity in twentieth-century Argentina.