Casapueblo

Carlos Páez Vilaró began Casapueblo in 1958 around La Pionera, a box of planks found on the shore at Punta Ballena, and kept adding to it for the rest of his life, building without plans in whitewashed cement and stucco, so the result is a mass of curves, terraces and openings with almost no straight line anywhere. He called it a habitable sculpture. It now holds a museum of his work, a hotel and a cafe, and at sunset a recording of his Ceremonia del Sol is played from the terrace.

Highlights

• The hand-built form - a whitewashed structure of curves and terraces built without plans.
• The museum - Paez Vilaro's paintings, ceramics and archive.
• The sunset ceremony - his recorded text played from the terrace as the sun goes down.
• The cliff position - the building stepping down the rock at Punta Ballena.

When to go

December to March is the busy season; the sunset ceremony runs year round. Late afternoon is the point of a visit. Winter hours are shorter.

Things to know

The sunset terrace is very crowded in season and the ceremony is brief. The entry price is high for the size of the museum. Much of the building is hotel and closed to day visitors.

Nearby

Punta del Este is east, and Piriapolis is west.

Key facts