In a wealthy area of Buenos Aires stands the house where Victoria Ocampo lived before she moved to Villa Ocampo in 1940. Its construction in 1928 by the Argentine architect Alejandro Bustillo contributed to the adoption of modern architecture that shocked many of the writer's contemporaries but eventually reshaped the city in the firsts decades of the 20th century.
Surrounded by classic French-style houses, the rationalist-architecture building located at Rufino de Elizalde 2831 immediately catches one’s attention because of its geometrical structure and white colour. Following Ocampo’s firm instructions, the Argentinian architect Alejandro Bustillo designed three bright levels, fitted with large windows that connect to the outdoors by way of two balconies. The rationalist taste of Ocampo is visible in the austerity of the surfaces, in the complementary stability of full and empty spaces, the ratio of interior/exterior spaces, the lack of ornamentation. The house functioned as a meeting place for the artists and intellectuals of Buenos Aires (both locals and exiles), propagating relational and professional ties. Sur magazine, one of the most influential intellectual magazines of the time, was conceived there in 1931. Currently, the building houses the Casa de la Cultura del Fondo Nacional de las Artes, a public organisation that has supported cultural activities through grants since 1958.