Built by an artist on the coast of Uruguay, Casapueblo is associated with survivors of the Andes

Paez Vilaró acquired the plot of land at the end of the 1950s with an idea Make a city out of white houses. He first installed “La Pionera” there, his atelier and summer residence made of wood. But uncontrollable southeast winds forced him to rebuild it every summer, covering it with white cement and shaping the walls with his own hands. Without any evidence other than intuition, the bright white domes, corridors, tunnels and terraces came to life against the blue of the sky and sea.

To define spaces, take the shape of the land as a reference and maintain the aesthetics of the place. Integrate the house into the landscape. He used tires and bars found at auctions and demolition barns, bartering his labor for materials. He created spaces for swallows, and incorporated pieces of wood, cane, bronze, ceramics, and stained glass into the architecture.

With time, Casapueblo has continued to grow organicallyIt was shaped by the landscape and with the help of nearby friends, fishermen and builders. Bedrooms, kitchens and bathrooms were added like cars to the locomotive. Many of them were built to accommodate visitors who come from afar for a season. The building is currently divided into parts: the workshop museum, the private residence, and the hotel Built in the last stage.

Several spaces The house is named after artists, writers and friends., such as Mario Benedetti's balcony, John Lennon's courtyard, or the room of Pablo Picasso, an artist he admired and met in Paris. But one of the most private rooms is dedicated to one of his sons, Carlos Miguel, Youngest survivor of a plane crash in the Andes in 1972.

Also known as Carlitos BaezThe artist's son appears playing the role of his father The most emotional show in “The Snow Society” The scene in which he recalls the list of those who managed to survive.

Carlos Páez Villaro settled in Chile as soon as the accident occurred. “I can't find it,” he told a friend, “the snow is as white as Casapueblo.” But he was almost the only one who did not lose hope, and he led the research process that he described in his book: Between me and my son is the moon.

Páez Vilaro was a multi-faceted artist and muralist par excellence. It is closely associated with Uruguayan popular cultureAn important part of his work can be seen in Workshop Museum Which occupies the central dome of Casapueblo. Its rooms display paintings, ceramics and sculptures made in different periods and cities in which he lived, from New York and Paris, to Buenos Aires and Montevideo.

On February 24, ten years have passed since his death. But his voice echoes through the balconies of Casapueblo every afternoon at the classic “Ceremonia del Sol” concert. there, In a recording speaking to The Sun Which he painted many times with a poem he wrote, which ends with the sun setting on the horizon over the sea.