Alejandro Chataing (1873-1928) was an important Venezuelan

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 ...

. Chataing, a disciple of , was known as the "great constructor of the regime of Cipriano Castro." He was a prolific architect who helped give

Caracas Caracas ( , ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas (CCS), is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the northern p ...

a new face. In general, his projects demonstrated a remarkable

eclecticism Eclecticism is a conceptual approach that does not hold rigidly to a single paradigm or set of assumptions, but instead draws upon multiple theories, styles, or ideas to gain complementary insights into a subject, or applies different theories i ...

, with tendencies that included

neo-Renaissance Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th-century Revivalism (architecture), architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival architecture, Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival ar ...

neo-Romanesque Romanesque Revival (or Neo-Romanesque) is a style of building employed beginning in the mid-19th century inspired by the 11th- and 12th-century Romanesque architecture. Unlike the historic Romanesque style, Romanesque Revival buildings tended t ...

morisco ''Moriscos'' (, ; ; "Moorish") were former Muslims and their descendants whom the Catholic Church and Habsburg Spain commanded to forcibly convert to Christianity or face compulsory exile after Spain outlawed Islam. Spain had a sizeable Mus ...

and neo-Baroque. At the same time, next to the traditional Venezuelan rubblework, he used

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of aggregate bound together with a fluid cement that cures to a solid over time. It is the second-most-used substance (after water), the most–widely used building material, and the most-manufactur ...

foundations, as well as iron

joists A joist is a horizontal structural member used in framing to span an open space, often between beams that subsequently transfer loads to vertical members. When incorporated into a floor framing system, joists serve to provide stiffness to the su ...

in the intrafloor space, a method characteristic of the transitional period between the 19th and 20th centuries.

Early life

Chataing was born in

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

Career

His career began when he received first prize in a contest for the facades of the San Jacinto Caracas town market in 1894. In 1895, he collaborated with his teacher, Juan Hurtado Manrique, in the design of the Arch of the Federation on the slopes of

El Calvario El Calvario is a town and municipality in the Meta Department, Colombia. It was the epicenter of the 2008 Colombia earthquake. Climate El Calvario has a borderline subtropical highland climate (Köppen ''Cfb'')/tropical rainforest climate A t ...

Projects of 1904 and 1905

In 1904, he rebuilt the National Pantheon and constructed the presidential residence of

Cipriano Castro José Cipriano Castro Ruiz (12 October 1858 – 4 December 1924) was a Venezuelan politician and Officer (armed forces), officer of the National Bolivarian Armed Forces of Venezuela, military who served as president of Venezuela, president from ...

in el Paraíso, called Villa Zoila. A year later he modified the structure and the facade of the Military School of la Planicie, with a project imitating the strength of "florentino military style." Between 1904 and 1905, he constructed the National theater, which president Cipriano Castro wished to have emulate the works of

Antonio Guzmán Blanco Antonio Leocadio Guzmán Blanco (28 February 1829 – 28 July 1899) was a Venezuelan military leader, statesman, diplomat and politician. He was the president of Venezuela for , from 1870 until 1877, from 1879 until 1884, and from 1886 until 1 ...

. In 1905 he designed the House of Baths in El Valle and modified the School of Arts and offices.

Projects of 1906

In 1906, he took on the project of the construction of a hospital for

leprosy Leprosy, also known as Hansen's disease (HD), is a Chronic condition, long-term infection by the bacteria ''Mycobacterium leprae'' or ''Mycobacterium lepromatosis''. Infection can lead to damage of the Peripheral nervous system, nerves, respir ...

patients for the island of La Providencia ( es) (at the entrance of

Lake Maracaibo Lake Maracaibo () is located in northwestern Venezuela, between the states of Zulia, Trujillo, and Mérida. While Maracaibo is commonly referred to as a lake, its current hydrological characteristics may better classify it as estuary and/or ...

) and of an Arch of the Restoration that would not be completed.

Projects of 1907

In 1907, he completed the palace of the Department of the Interior with the annexed police ward and constructed the building of the Ministry of Housing on the corner of Carmelitas.

Other architectural works

Other architectural works made by Chataing were the National Library (or Bolivarian Museum) in Bolivar plaza in 1910, the General Archives of the Nation in 1912, in 1919 in collaboration with

Luis Muñoz Tébar Luis is a given name. It is the Spanish form of the originally Germanic name or . Other Iberian Romance languages have comparable forms: (with an accent mark on the i) in Portuguese and Galician, in Aragonese and Catalan, while is archaic ...

, and the Arch of Carabobo inaugurated by

Juan Vicente Gómez Juan Vicente Gómez Chacón (24 July 1857 – 17 December 1935) was a Venezuelan military general, politician and '' de facto'' ruler of Venezuela from 1908 until his death in 1935. He only officially served as president on three occasions d ...

in 1921. Also with Luis Muñoz Tébar, he finished the church of Heart of Jesus in Caracas, the temple of Saint Augustine of the South and the church of the Servants of the Santísimo Sacramento. In addition to the construction of religious buildings, he took on the project of designing the theaters

Ayacucho Ayacucho (, , derived from the words ''aya'' ("death" or "soul") and ''k'uchu'' ("corner") in honour of the battle of Ayacucho), founded in 1540 as San Juan de la Frontera de Huamanga and known simply as Huamanga (Quechua: Wamanga) until 1825, i ...

, Capitol, Princess (today, Rialto cinema in front of Bolivar plaza), the First National City Bank (on the corner of Society) and the Bank of Venezuela on University Avenue. He constructed Las Acacias residence of the Boulton family (today, host of the Command of the National Guard) and conceived the design of the Miramar hotel in Macuto, a project that brought him recognition in 1928.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chataing, Alejandro 1873 births 1928 deaths Architects from Caracas Venezuelan architects Central University of Venezuela alumni