A Visit to Carlos Páez Vilaró’s Inhabitable Sculpture, Casapueblo
To see more photos and videos of Casapueblo, explore the Casapueblo location page.
In 1958, Uruguayan artist Carlos Páez Vilaró purchased property on Punta Ballena near Punta del Este, Uruguay. He built a wooden lodge on the land to live in and then began building a grand, inhabitable sculpture there stage by stage. Páez Vilaró created each new portion of his Casapueblo (“House-Village”) in the image of the mud nests that local hornero birds build.
The final product is a 13-floor surrealist compound of whitewashed cement and stucco that looks like nothing else in South America. The site has been a leading tourist destination in Uruguay since the late 1960s and now houses a museum, art gallery and Hotel Casapueblo.
Q grande!