Carlos Raul Villanueva

Carlos Raúl Villanueva Astoul (London, United Kingdom, May 30, 1900 - Caracas, Venezuela, August 16, 1975) was a Venezuelan architect and urban planner.

He is considered one of the most influential architects in 20th century Venezuela; he pioneer, greatest exponent and promoter of modern architecture in his country. He first came to Venezuela at the age of 28. Since then he began to participate in the development and modernization of Caracas, Maracay and other cities in Venezuela. Among his most outstanding works are the Ciudad Universitaria de Caracas, partially inaugurated in 1954 and named a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2000, and the redevelopment of El Silencio inaugurated in 1945.

Biography

Early years (1900-1922)

Carlos Raúl Villanueva was born on May 30, 1900 at the Venezuelan Consulate in London. He is the son of Carlos Antonio Villanueva, a Venezuelan civil engineer and diplomat, and Paulina Astoul, a French lady from the elites of Paris. Carlos Raúl had four siblings: Marcel, Sylvia, Susana and Laureano who preferred European life.

Years of Studies (1922-1929)

Villanueva spent the first seven years of his life in London, before moving to Paris, where he began his secondary education studies at the Lycée Condorcet. In 1922 he entered the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts in Paris and enrolled in architecture, the same career his brother Marcel had studied. After attending various drawing and urban planning workshops, Villanueva graduated in 1928. That same year he traveled to Venezuela for the first time, got to know the Caracas of the time and settled for a time in Cojedes State. Shortly after he traveled to the United States, where he lived for a year, working with his brother Marcel in the office of architectural projects for educational purposes Guilbert and Betelle .

Arrival in Venezuela and initial projects (1929-1945)

In 1929 Villanueva returned and settled in Venezuela, a country that, at that time, remained under the dictatorship of Juan Vicente Gómez. But the Villanueva family had always maintained close relations with the Venezuelan governments, so upon his arrival he began working for the Ministry of Public Works.

In mid-1937 Villanueva returned to France and resumed his studies at the Urbanism Institute of the University of Paris. A few months later he went back to Venezuela, when President Isaías Medina Angarita offered him to work on the projection and construction of the new headquarters of the Central University of Venezuela, the Ciudad Universitaria de Caracas, which would be his most outstanding work and the most finished product within the concept of «synthesis of the arts». He married on January 28, 1933, Isabel Margarita (Margot) Arismendi, who belonged to one of the most prominent families in Venezuela.

The University City and International Fame (1945-1960)

The works Unidad Residencial El Paraíso, Urbanización 23 de Enero and Cerro Piloto, high-density housing projects, were built between 1955 and 1957 in the city of Caracas for Banco Obrero (1928-1975), a government entity under the Ministry of Promotion. They were part of the “Latin America in Construction” exhibition at the MoMA Museum of Modern Art in New York. The Ciudad Universitaria de Caracas and the Jesús Soto Museum were also part of that exhibition.

Texts on Latin American architecture

Aula Magna of the Central University of Venezuela.

Villanueva and the American artist Alexander Calder in Pampatar, 1954.

Hélène Sánchez shows the work of Carlos Raúl Villanueva (CRV) according to the opinion of three authors dedicated to exposing the most representative works of Latin American architecture of Modernity. His reflection was made from the texts: Latinoamerican architecture since 1945 (Henrry-Russel Hitchcock, USA, 1955); Latin American Architecture 1930-1970 (Francisco Bullrich, Argentina, 1969) and Other Architecture in Latin America (Enrique Brown, Chile, 1988). The author examines, among others, the interpretative and comprehensive approaches present in each text and identifies which are the CRV works selected to represent Venezuela within the framework of Latin American architectural production and the way in which it is analyzed.

Hitchcock speaks of the «brutal vigor of reinforced concrete» compared to «the grace and lyricism that Brazilian architects achieve in their works». As for the Aula Magna, Bullrich describes how "the light that dynamically...transforms and reconstructs the optical dimensions of the room makes some planes emerge from the imprecise depth...with quick flashes that cross the space." While Brown, when referring to the Olympic Stadium, highlights its structural expressionism.

Sánchez highlights, as one of the most outstanding results of the integration of the arts, the roof of the Aula Magna, which is materialized through collaborative and interdisciplinary work between CRV, the acoustic engineer Robert Newman and the artist Alexander Calder. The Olympic Stadium is a characteristic work of Latin America, a building in which Villanueva's mastery and bold use of reinforced concrete can be appreciated, with which he manages to give a lyrical grace to the curved forms of the structure (Hitchcock)

Bullrich qualifies CRV as "the architect who has done the most to focus the world's attention on Venezuelan architectural production." Likewise, the role of maestro Villanueva in the university education of the replacement generation stands out: "the quality of the works of many of his disciples, direct and indirect, demonstrates Villanueva's ability in that role."

In the Plaza Cubierta of the Ciudad Universitaria, its condition as a rest area stands out, in which the games of light and shadow, the tropical gardens and the set of murals, stained glass windows and sculptures by renowned artists (Bullrich) are integrated.

Sánchez's analysis includes some references that support CRV's work. Thus, Bullrich points out that «in relation to the housing complexes of 23 de Enero, El Paraíso and Cerro Piloto, the application of the scheme of the Ville Radieuse (Le Corbusier's proposal on urban planning for the center of Paris). While the conception of the vast gardens between the towers comes from Le Corbusier's idea of the jardins anglais». Brown identifies Ciudad Universitaria as one of the most publicized works of development architecture (a term generated by Brown). Of this work, the academic character of the medical-assistance complex (University Hospital) stands out, which he characterizes as an architecture of Mendelsohnian reminiscences.

The author ends by highlighting the positive assessment that the three authors make of the Aula Magna and the Plaza Cubierta of the Ciudad Universitaria de Caracas "because of the spatial quality of the complex and as an experience of integration of the arts". However, she observes "differences in terms of the emphasis they make, whether it be in technological, environmental, perceptual or interdisciplinary integration aspects."

Works

Buildings and structures

• Hotel Jardin, Maracay, Venezuela. (1929)
• Bullring Cesar Girón, Maracay, Venezuela. (1933)
• Reurbanization El Silencio, Caracas, Venezuela. (1945)
• University City of Caracas, Caracas, Venezuela. (1954)
• Plan Cerro Piloto, Caracas, Venezuela. (1954)
• Urbanization January 23, Caracas, Venezuela, (1957)
• Urbanization San Martín Caracas, Venezuela. (1958)
• Plaza la Estrella Building, Caracas, Venezuela. (1964)
• Casa para Alejandro Otero, San Antonio de Los Altos, Venezuela. (1965)
• Venezuelan Pavilion at Expo 1967, Montreal, Canada. (1967)
• Museum Jesus Soto (City Bolivar, 1970)
• Unidad Residencial El Paraíso, Caracas, Venezuela.
• Museum of Fine Arts of Caracas, Caracas, Venezuela. (1973)
• Liceo Miguel Antonio Caro, Caracas, Venezuela. (1945)