Eight kilometres west of Punta del Este along Route 10, on a cliff above the sea at Punta Ballena, stands Casapueblo — the life's work of Uruguayan artist Carlos Páez Vilaró. It is one of the strangest buildings in South America: a sprawling, organic, white-plastered structure that covers a clifftop and spills down the rock face, part Mediterranean village, part sculpture, part folly. Every surface curves; there are no straight lines anywhere in the building. The interior — accessible as a hotel, museum, and café — continues the aesthetic into its corridors, arches, and irregular rooms.
The building's setting is extraordinary. From the terrace cafe at the top you look out over the entire curve of the bay toward Punta del Este on the right and the open Atlantic on the left. Sunset here is one of the classic experiences of Uruguay's Atlantic coast: the hotel staff ring a bell and the guests face west in near silence as the light fades. It is as theatrical as it sounds, and fully worth it.
Come for the sunset — allow a full afternoon and take a taxi or rental car, as buses to Punta Ballena are infrequent.