How did architects in Argentina adopt modern architecture before and after Le Corbusier’s 1929 lectures?

Before Le Corbusier’s 1929 lectures in Buenos Aires, a group of Argentine architects was already actively working within a modern vocabulary. Early examples of this movement include the 1924 Sugar City project by Alberto Prebisch and Ernesto Vautier, the Siemens Building (1927) by Hans Hertlein, and houses designed by Alejandro Bustillo in 1926 and 1929.1

Following the 1929 lectures, the adoption of modern architecture continued to evolve through several distinct phases:

• Rationalism and Speculative Growth: Architects increasingly applied Modernist principles to public institutions and urban development, such as the Sarmiento School (1937) and various speculative apartment buildings in Buenos Aires.1
• The Austral Group: In 1938, Antonio Bonet, Jorge Ferrari Hardoy, and Juan Kurchan formed the "Austral" group. They sought to develop an experimental Argentine style, exemplified by the famous "Butterfly" chair and the incorporation of Corbusian elements like double-height terraces.1
• Avant-Garde and Concrete Art: In the 1940s, architects like Amancio Williams focused on objective technical arrangements, heavily influenced by the nonfigurative avant-garde and the abstract art movement.1
• Brutalism and Refinement: By the 1960s, the style matured into Brutalist architecture, notably seen in the Bank of London, alongside the refined, sober expressions of architects like Mario Roberto Álvarez.1