Final+Project

**WHAT MAKES VENEZUELA UNIQUE?** **From an Architectural Perspective** media type="youtube" key="yXrVkP4NS1A" width="425" height="350" [|Final Project]



Venezuela is unique from many different points of view. Since its weather and culture, the architecture becomes as a special fine art that defines the whole country but, specially, Caracas city. To find out what makes Venezuela unique, I’m going to take into consideration the following aspects: color, light, texture, acoustics, rhythm, vertical and horizontal circulation, space and scale; also, some of the famous works of Venezuelan artists like Carlos Raul Villanueva, Carlos Cruz Diez, Jesus Soto an many other. I’m going to start with color:



**COLOR**; it’s remarkable the works of the great master of color and kinetic art, Carlos Cruz Diez. He used the color to create movement and to make up the workspace arranged in the graphic representation. “The Chromatic Ambience” is an important work of this artist located In the Simón Bolívar International Airport. Its longitudinal condition complements the space and creates pleasant atmosphere for people who are there. This work makes an axis denoting the form of travel that occurs in that space.

**LIGHT**; talk about light means also talk about what light produces: shadow. Because of the strong sunlight in the country it is important for any building to protect the people and the building itself with shadows. In the Ciudad Universitaria of Carlos Raul Villanueva, the architect takes care about this fact where the behavior of light was thought very carefully, specially the natural light. To generate amazing shadows the architect creates corridors with walls that let the light penetrate and so the floor will be paint with the sunlight. This type of wall is called Lattice Wall. We can see, for example, on the facade of the Facultad de Arquitectura in the Central University the lattice wall. The light that produces is wonderful and the tour for the visitors will be very pleasant, such as in the Plaza Cubierta where the tour is define by the sunlight spots that highlight the sculptures and mosaics found there.

**TEXTURE**; Texture is a quality that can make our perception of an object varies. There are two types of texture: visual texture and tactile texture. As an example of visual texture I can mention Tomás Sanabria, who was also one the biggest architects in the history of Venezuela. The Central Bank is an example of how to use texture in architecture because of the facades and the treatments of the concrete. The architect combines different structures that generate a visual attraction and also a very beautiful and rich environment. This was an architectural piece that won The National Prize of Architecture. I cannot talk about tactile texture without mention Jesus Soto. The “Penetrable” was his most amazing work that embellishes the avenues of the country. It is a kinetic sculpture created as a “volume suspended”. This work is based on the texture and the felling generated in the person.



**ACOUSTICS**; In Venezuela is found one of the best five acoustic rooms in the whole world: the Aula Magna. It is a very important architectural piece that stands out the domain of the sound by using artistic elements, such as the Floating Clouds of Alexander Calder. These clouds were calculated in order to reflect the sound of different acoustic waves and towards different zones of hearing. There are also many other treatments in the space that helps to obtain a perfect acoustic, like the seats, which prevent the distortion of the sound, and the double doors that isolate the noises of the heavy construction of concrete.



**RHYT****HM**; the repetition of elements, the composition and dimension are related to the rhythm in architecture. In El Silencio there is a very important urbanization made by Carlos Raul Villanueva in 1942, which was the symbol of the city and modernism from that period. It’s easy to see the rhythm in this work because of the arcades and columns in the ground floor. The building is suspended by all the piles in the ground floor which lets the people walk freely. The repetition of the arcades, keeping the same size, composition and dimension, generates a rich rhythm that is also possible to see in the windows and balconies.



**VERTICAL & HORIZONTAL CIRCULATION**; It’s very important for a public space to have a great circulation where the visitors enjoy the circuit.

As an example of horizontal circulation there is The Plaza Cubierta in the Central University, which was made very carefully to attend the way that a pedestrian moves through and reach different buildings. The light, the mosaics and the different highs of the ceiling, makes it an extraordinary space where the students loves to be and that perfectly distribute a visitor to corridors, light spots and entrances of buildings.

Another architectural piece from Carlos Raul Villanueva, the Museum of Fine Arts, is an example of vertical circulation. The architect was always looking for the verticality of the building; therefore he used several factors such as the skylight that runs from roof to ground, the ramps as the main circulation that makes a less abrupt way, and the elevators and the stairs that comes as a secondary circulation.

<span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">**SPACE & SCALE**; In Caracas it is possible to find different spaces that deals with different scales, types of uses and architecture. I´m going to mention two different zones that handle with different scales related to his architecture. <span style="font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Chacao and El Hatillo, are two different zones in Caracas. In Chacao the buildings are related to a managerial scale in where we can find Towers and almost monumental buildings because of their size and how they related to the pedestrian and urbanism, such as the Crystal Park and even the monolith of Altamira Square. In contrast there is El Hatillo, which is another zone that handles a very different scale and use. This is a colonial town with houses of similar size that also shares a strict patron in their facades. The space and scale of this zone is more for the pedestrian and not for cars, because of their small streets that refers to a cozy space with a scale for the living. <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Tahoma,Geneva,sans-serif;">Studying all these aspects it is remarkable that Venezuela is a country of contrast, not only because of its geography and weather, but also because of its architecture. As we can see, there are many important buildings in the city with spaces, color, texture and many other factors that can perfectly be compare with buildings from the whole world. Even at these works are so important, there are few of them that are in a bad state or forgotten. Therefore, it is important that we recognize those works and buildings that make Venezuela unique, and how artists and architects take the culture of the country and convert them into master pieces.