Carlos Raúl Villanueva Astoul (May 30, 1900 – August 16, 1975) was a
Venezuela
Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...
n
modernist
Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...
architect
An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...
. Villanueva went for the first time to Venezuela when he was 28 years old. He was involved in the development and modernization of Caracas,
Maracay
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption =Top:Maracay Municipal Garden and Las Delicias area, Second: Sindoni Tower, Los Tamarindo residential area and overview to Maracay, Third:Maestranza Cesar Giron Bullring Stadium, Girardot Square and Maraca ...
and other cities across the country. Among his works are El Silencio Redevelopment which included 7797 apartments and 207 shop premises and the Ciudad Universitaria, the main campus of the
Central University of Venezuela
The Central University of Venezuela (Spanish: ''Universidad Central de Venezuela''; UCV) is a public university of Venezuela located in Caracas. It is widely held to be the highest ranking institution in the country, and it also ranks 18th in ...
. The Campus was declared a
World Heritage Site
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
by
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
in the year 2000.
Early life and education (1900-1928)
Villanueva was born in the city of
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
on May 30, 1900. He was the son of Carlos Antonio Villanueva and Paulina Astoul from a family originally from
Valencia
Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. The wider urban area al ...
,
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
who had settled in
Venezuela
Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...
in the 18th century. His father was sent as an envoy from Venezuela to the Exposition Universelle of 1889 in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
where he met Paulina Astoul and married her in 1893. A few years later, in 1896, he was appointed
Consul
Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states throu ...
General of Venezuela in
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
by the government of
Joaquín Crespo
Joaquín Sinforiano de Jesús Crespo Torres (; 22 August 1841 – 16 April 1898) was a Venezuelan military officer and politician. A member of the Great Liberal Party of Venezuela, he served as the president of Venezuela from 1884 to 1886 and ag ...
. Carlos Raúl was born four years later near the Venezuelan Consulate and was the youngest of the five children of the family. In the following years his family moved back to Paris, where he received his basic schooling at the
Lycée Condorcet
The Lycée Condorcet () is a school founded in 1803 in Paris, France, located at 8, rue du Havre, in the city's 9th arrondissement. It is one of the four oldest high schools in Paris and also one of the most prestigious. Since its inception, var ...
. Later on he moved with his family to Málaga, Spain, until 1919 when he returned to Paris. In 1922, following the footsteps of his brother Marcel, Carlos Raúl was admitted to the Second Class of the Department of
Architecture
Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...
of the
École des Beaux-Arts
École des Beaux-Arts (; ) refers to a number of influential art schools in France. The term is associated with the Beaux-Arts style in architecture and city planning that thrived in France and other countries during the late nineteenth centur ...
and entered the workshop of
Gabriel Héraud
In Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam), Gabriel (); Greek: grc, Γαβριήλ, translit=Gabriḗl, label=none; Latin: ''Gabriel''; Coptic: cop, Ⲅⲁⲃⲣⲓⲏⲗ, translit=Gabriêl, label=none; Amharic: am, ገብ ...
. In 1925 he entered the First Class of the Department of Architecture and worked closely with León Joseph Madeline. During that time he collaborated on a project for a ''Hôtel d'ambassade a construire dans un pays d'Extreme Orient'' with another student of Héraud's workshop, Roger-Leopold Hummel, which won the Second prize of the Grand
Prix de Rome
The Prix de Rome () or Grand Prix de Rome was a French scholarship for arts students, initially for painters and sculptors, that was established in 1663 during the reign of Louis XIV of France. Winners were awarded a bursary that allowed them t ...
in 1928. On June 6 of the same year, he received his
Architecture
Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing building ...
degree and traveled for the first time to Venezuela and the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
where he joined the architectural firm
Guilbert and Betelle Guilbert and Betelle was an architecture firm formed as a partnership of Ernest F. Guilbert and James Oscar Betelle. The firm specialized in design of schools on the East Coast of the United States, with an emphasis on the " Collegiate Gothic" styl ...
with his brother in
Newark, New Jersey
Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.200px, Gran Colombia School (1939-1942), Caracas (currently the Francisco Pimentel School). -->
After gaining some experience in France and the United States, Villanueva arrives in Venezuela full of enthusiasm and ideas; in particular, thanks to the influence of his close friend
Auguste Perret
Auguste Perret (12 February 1874 – 25 February 1954) was a French architect and a pioneer of the architectural use of reinforced concrete. His major works include the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, the first Art Deco building in Paris; the C ...
. Both men shared a profound conviction that architecture was the art of organizing space. Consequently, Villanueva sees himself as a man of action and will work countless hours to fulfill his passion. His first jobs were on the city of
Maracay
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption =Top:Maracay Municipal Garden and Las Delicias area, Second: Sindoni Tower, Los Tamarindo residential area and overview to Maracay, Third:Maestranza Cesar Giron Bullring Stadium, Girardot Square and Maraca ...
, a city which became the de facto capital of the country under
General
A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry.
In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED ...
Juan Vicente Gómez
Juan Vicente Gómez Chacón (24 July 1857 – 17 December 1935) was a Venezuelan military general, Politician and ruler of Venezuela from 1908 until his death in 1935. He was president on three occasions during this time, ruling through puppe ...
. He received his first important assignment in 1929: the "Hotel Jardín". In his reform of the building it was possible to already observe some features that will become common in his designs. Among them were the use of covered galleries to provide protection from the weather and the use of interior courtyards and gardens to harmonize built and unbuilt spaces. On January 28, 1933, he married Margot Arismendi Amengual, a member of the prominent Venezuelan Arismendi family, and had four children with her.
His first important commission came in 1935 with the project to build the Museum of Fine Arts of Caracas. This project allow him to create a space for the exhibition of art, one of his most important passions. Already at this time his devotion to the artistic vanguards of the century could be seen in his library, where his large collection of books on architecture was complemented by those on art. It was also during this time that he met the sculptor Francisco Narváez with whom he collaborated in the Museum of Fine Arts as well as in a series of other important projects like the "Natural Science Museum"(1936–1939) and the "Gran Colombia School" (1939–1942) which became Villanueva's first attempt to bring into fruition the guiding principle of career: the synthesis of the arts. The buildings also showed Villanueva's application of some of the most defining ideas of
modern architecture
Modern architecture, or modernist architecture, was an architectural movement or architectural style based upon new and innovative technologies of construction, particularly the use of glass, steel, and reinforced concrete; the idea that for ...
like the simplification of form and the importance given to functionality.
Ciudad Universitaria (1944-1970)
The Campus and buildings of the
Universidad Central de Venezuela
The Central University of Venezuela (Spanish: ''Universidad Central de Venezuela''; UCV) is a public university of Venezuela located in Caracas. It is widely held to be the highest ranking institution in the country, and it also ranks 18th in ...
are considered to be Villanueva's masterwork. Built on the site of the old Hacienda Ibarra - which originally belonged to
Simon Bolívar
Simon may refer to:
People
* Simon (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name Simon
* Simon (surname), including a list of people with the surname Simon
* Eugène Simon, French naturalist and the genus ...
's family - and connected to the new city center around Plaza Venezuela, the project meant a massive undertaking of both urban planning and architectural design. The administration of Isaías Medina Angarita bought the Hacienda Ibarra in 1942 in order to give the University a larger location than the San Francisco Covent, giving Villanueva a unique opportunity to applied his conscious integration of art and architecture on a grand scale. This vast urban complex of about 2 square kilometres includes a total of 40 buildings and it remains one of the most successful applications of
Modern Architecture
Modern architecture, or modernist architecture, was an architectural movement or architectural style based upon new and innovative technologies of construction, particularly the use of glass, steel, and reinforced concrete; the idea that for ...
in
Latin America
Latin America or
* french: Amérique Latine, link=no
* ht, Amerik Latin, link=no
* pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...
. Villanueva worked closely with all the artists who contributed with their oeuvres and personally supervised the project for over 25 years until the late 60's when his deteriorating health forced him to leave some buildings in the design stage.
Quotations
Synthesis of the arts
In 1954, Villanueva described the guiding principle behind the Ciudad Universitaria in the following way:
Works
1920s
* Banco Obrero and Banco Agrícola y Pecuario (Maracay, 1929); (currently the Museum of Anthropology and History)
* Hotel Jardín (Maracay, 1929–1930); (currently the Aragua State House)
1930s
* Sports Club (Maracay, 1930)
* Plaza Bolívar (Maracay, 1930–1935)
* "La Maestranza" Bullring (Maracay, 1931–1932)
* Bolivarian Museum (Caracas, 1931)
* Mental Hospital (Caracas, 1931–1933)
* Plaza Carabobo (Caracas, 1934)
* Museum of Fine Arts (Caracas, 1935–1938)
* Museum of Natural Sciences (Caracas, 1934–1935)
* Venezuelan Pavilion at the Paris Exposition (Paris, France, 1937 - Demolished)
* Plaza Simón Bolívar (Valparaíso, Chile, 1938)
* Los Rosales and El Prado Residential States (Caracas, 1938–1940)
* Gran Colombia School (Caracas, 1939–1942); (currently the Francisco Pimentel School).
1940s
* Headquarters of the Venezuelan Chamber of Commerce (Caracas, 1940)
* Plaza La Concordia (1940)
* Buena Vista Preorientation Boarding School (Los Teques, 1940–1942)
* Passenger Terminal (Valera, 1941–1942)
* El Silencio Redevelopment (Caracas, 1941–1945)
* Radio Communications Building (Caracas, 1943)
* General Rafael Urdaneta Development (Maracaibo, 1943)
* Unidad Vacacional Los Caracas (1944)
*
Ciudad Universitaria de Caracas
The University City of Caracas (Spanish: ''Ciudad Universitaria de Caracas''), also known by the acronym CUC, is the main campus of the Central University of Venezuela (UCV), located in central Caracas, the capital of Venezuela. It was designed by ...
- Campus of the
Central University of Venezuela
The Central University of Venezuela (Spanish: ''Universidad Central de Venezuela''; UCV) is a public university of Venezuela located in Caracas. It is widely held to be the highest ranking institution in the country, and it also ranks 18th in ...
(1944–1970)
* Plaza Rafael Urdaneta (Caracas, 1945)
* University Hospital (Caracas, 1945)
* Anatomical Institute (Caracas, 1945)
* Rafael Urdaneta School (Maracaibo, 1945–1946)
* El Hipódromo Development (Maracay, 1946)
* Las Delicias Neighborhood Unit (Maracay, 1948–1952)
1950s
* Hacienda La Pimpera House (Barlovento, 1954)
* Diego de Losada Development (Caracas, 1954)
* Atlántico Norte Development (Caracas, 1954–1955)
* Lomas de Pro Patria (Caracas, 1954)
* Cotiza Housing Estate (Caracas, 1954)
* Artigas Residential Estate (Caracas, 1954–1955)
* La Vega Residential Estate (Caracas, 1955)
* 23 de Enero Development (Caracas, 1955–1957)
* Simón Rodríguez Development (Caracas, 1956)
* Altos de Curia Residential Estate (Caracas, 1954)
* School of Petroleum Engineering (Maracaibo, 1956)
1960s
* La Salle Foundation (Caracas, 1961–1962)
* Caomita House (Caracas, 1962)
* House for Alejandro Otero (San Antonio de Los Altos, 1965)
* Plaza Estrella Building (Caracas, 1964)
* Venezuelan Pavilion for the Montreal Expo (Montreal, Canada, 1967)