The Amancio Williams–Designed Casa Sobre el Arroyo Wins 2024 World Monuments Fund/Knoll Modernism Prize
The World Monuments Fund (WMF) has announced Argentina’s Ministerios de Cultura y de Obras Públicas y Municipalidad de Mar del Plata (Ministries of Culture and Public Works and Municipality of Mar del Plata) as the 2024 recipient of the World Monuments Fund/Knoll Modernism Prize for its thorough yet sensitive conservation work at the former home of famed Argentine composer Alberto Williams.
Notably, it is the first South American project to be awarded the biennial prize, which “celebrates architects, designers, and preservationists who have demonstrated innovative solutions to preserve or restore threatened modern architecture.” The home joins once-imperiled prize-winners including Preston Bus Station in Lancashire, England (2021); the Karl Marx School in Villejuif, France (2018); and the Justus van Effen Complex in Rotterdam (2016). The inaugural prize in 2008 was awarded to the restoration of the Bauhaus-designed ADGB Trade Union School in Bernau, Germany.
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Post-restoration images of the main stairs looking down to the front entrance (1), living area (2), studio (3), bathroom (4), and patio (5). Photos courtesy World Monuments Fund
Named la Casa sobre el Arroyo (the House on the Stream) due to its position straddling Las Chacras creek in the coastal city of Mar del Plata south of Buenos Aires, the unique bridge-residence, built from reinforced concrete and featuring a specially designed music studio for Williams, was heralded as a playful paragon of Modernist architecture in Latin America upon its completion in 1948. “Argentinian Modernism takes its roots from multiple schools, and the Casa sobre el Arroyo represents the lively nature of that style,” said WMF president and CEO Bénédicte de Montlaur in a statement. “Its importance as an architectural icon has made it a symbol of national pride for Argentina.”
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Historic images of the house's concrete span over Las Chacras creek (6), living and dining area (7), and exterior (8). Photos by Manuel Gómez, courtesy World Monuments Fund
Designed by Williams’s son, Amancio Williams (“one of the most tirelessly experimental architects of the Modern movement” said jury chair Barry Bergdoll), with interiors by Amancio’s wife, Delfina Galvez Bunge de Williams, the home had fallen into a grave state of disrepair in recent decades, ravaged by unchecked vandalism, structural damage, and a 2004 fire that destroyed much of the structure’s original carpentry, siding, and wood flooring. In 2005, the municipality became custodian of the neglected property, which had served several other uses, including to house a local radio station, in the years between Alberto Williams’ death in 1952 and its eventual abandonment. The younger Williams died in 1989.
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Pre-restoration photos of the exterior (9), strairs and living area (10), and kitchen (11). Photos courtesy World Monuments Fund
The inclusion of la Casa sobre el Arroyo on the WMF’s 2012 Watch list of at-risk cultural heritage sites served as a catalyst for the municipality to embark on a years-long effort to save the house, with a conservation planning phase first kicking off in 2016. Since then, the property has been completely restored, with “original components repaired, and missing ones recreated using materials, technology, and methodology similar to the original construction based on archival sketches,” per the WMF. Prize jury member Susan Macdonald, head of Buildings and Sites with the Getty Conservation Institute, called the resuscitation of la Casa sobre el Arroyo “a testament to how careful research-based conservation, attention to detail, and dedication to high-quality craftsmanship by its stewards can bring Modern architecture back to life from a precarious state of decay.”
Photo courtesy World Monuments Fund
A member of the Ministerios de Cultura y de Obras Públicas y Municipalidad de Mar del Plata will accept the 2024 World Monuments Fund/Knoll Modernism Prize at a free February 27 event held at the Eero Saarinen–designed Black Rock building—itself recently refreshed—in Midtown Manhattan. In addition to presenting the winning project, the event will include a panel discussion on the Argentinian Modernist movement as well as a tribute to the late Jean-Louis Cohen. Described as a “polyglot titan of architectural history” by Bergdoll, Cohen was a tireless supporter of the WMF and served as a jury member for every cycle of the prize up until his death last summer.
Registration details for the February 27 event can be found here.
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