Final+Project

What makes Venezuela's Architecture unique?
Venezuela, a Latin American country, is located very close to the Ecuador line, this gives us a tropical clime, which is the best clime we could ever thought and this make our architecture warm and sensitive, open to many different materials and shapes that countries with four stations could ever imagine. This special characteristic gives us the power to make a unique architecture, flexible and filled with color and light, primary. I will guide you through a trip for different places of Venezuela, with a rich architecture and a lot of potential, at the same time that this architecture will be classified according to the themes of the course: the color, acoustics, vertical and horizontal circulation, light, rhythm, human scale, and the texture, which is present in every part of the architectural design. Color __** The Central University is one of the most colorful places in Venezuela, because basically Villanueva wanted to express the difference between buildings using it, so the most important buildings like the libraries, auditoriums, and other main constructions of each faculty are emphasized. As color is used with a very strong concept and a clear intention on these highlighted buildings, he originates a dialogue between them. Color is not only used for the external walls of buildings, but also on internal walls that are closely related with internal spaces acting like works of art. For example, in the library there is a stained glass window that occupies an entire wall, allowing the entrance of light in a discrete way and at the same time creates an impressive focal point; in the covered plaza there are beautiful mosaics on isolated walls, again pieces of art, that adds color to the plaza, in fact, this walls are stranding out for the openings un strategic points of the plaza, acting like a lantern illuminating art. The university was constructed in different periods, the first one shows a modest Villanueva, the second one shows an inhibited Architect, who is not afraid of using organic shapes, totally apart of the squared. When the university was finished, he saw the university Hospital, which was the generator of all the university city and therefore belongs to the first period, and he found it incomplete, so he ask to the plastic artist Mateo Manaure to “destroyed it with color”. His assignment was to dress with colors the imposing building with a piece of art: “the polichromy” that had to be able of dilute the volume and integrate it with the architectonic modern plan of the University. Acoustics __** When you are designing for room acoustic comfort, you must think of the room and the activity that will be developed there. The opposite of the noise is the useful sound which is the reverberation, the echo of the sound in a room, and all of those are part of the acoustic of the architectural space. Acoustics comfort can be created by the shape of the space or the materials that constitutes it. Villanueva, again in the University City, was able to create one of the most amazing auditoriums of Latin America, the “Aula Magna”, not just because of the incredible feeling the space projects, but also because of its acoustic. The original material for the tapestry was Australian wool, which was able to absorb sound as well as people’s clothes, so, when the room was empty there wasn´t long reverberation. The carpet, located only in the main hallways, also had acoustics properties. The wood, used in the doors, are made of many panels so they can be solid. The material of the screen that surrounds the back of the room in conjunction whit the solid doors act as elements to prevent echo. Unfortunately, the design of Villanueva wasn’t integrating an appropriated shape for acoustics, a space in a shape of the feathers of a peacock with a vaulted ceiling, so engineers determinate that it was urgent to do something about it. The final result was the adding of some kind of clouds, pending from the ceiling, each of them located in a strategic place to help the nice development of acoustics. The effect was an enormous room that was a beautiful (with the use of color, pending elements and shape) as acoustically functional.
 * __
 * __

Circulation is the movement through a place, which links the external and internal spaces of a building with each other and themselves. It must guide the person through spaces without letting him/her get lost between them. It can severally affect the perception of the shapes and spaces, as the can create them. Circulation can be vertical or horizontal, every building will have both, but just one of them will prevail on the other because of its shape, longitude and position in the building. It is important that the addition of both don’t exceed the 30% of the habitable areas of the building. The residential building “Altolar” projected by Jimmy Alcock and located in “Bello Monte” is wonderful example of horizontal circulation and its vertical circulation also have a smaller but, also important role in its development. Now I am going to show you its vertical and horizontal circulation according to the Ching: Approach to the building: The way to the building it’s long and tortuous. As long as we get closer, we can see its position on the mountain, we can see as the building takes possession of it adapting, at the same time, to the field. This approach doesn’t show any internal space of the building, since the first time we see it, we can tell there is a clear separation between internal and external spaces. The approach is also oblique, which makes the perspective and the façade exalt. Entrance or access to the building It is vehicular and consists in cross a vertical plane, made of two columns and a beam. It is in the entrance where we can recognize by the very first time the internal space and we can see its inside architecture. Configuration of the path The path in the lowest storey is vehicular, we can tell because of its scale. In the first and second storey, the path is for pedestrians. A wide hallway receives them, and this takes them to a secondary hallway, that, because of it lineal path is the organizer element for the series of apartments. The configuration of the path is parallel and perimeter, which reinforce the horizontal spatial organization. You can be guide with no problem because of the easy perception of the spatial path. Path-space relationship The paths are related with the space, maintaining the integrity, order and shape. Between the central patio and the apartments there is a connection, because they are spatially linked by the secondary halls. From the circulation space: The hallways are the elements that slowly guide pedestrians, being the way for a horizontal circulation enjoying and contemplating the green internal areas. The vertical circulation is constituted by a closed a small space, almost like a straw, which is just a transition part that throws you into the horizontal hallways. The circulation of the Altolar is resumed by four nucleus of stairs, which are communicated whit the horizontal systems. This vertical circulation, for being closed, small and without views that make it fast, gives the hallways, with its views and it length, the main role.
 * __ Circulation __**

For using light you must first study the environment, a good architect has to think on every single aspect of the place of the place where he or she wants to design something. If he or she doesn’t the structure won’t last or it may damage the surrounding places. Light can be sifted by drenched walls; this particular system has the property of allowing the entrance of light in the spaces but in a softer way, also, this makes possible the crusade ventilation, which is wonderful in tropical climes like Venezuela’s. The Central University of Venezuela is the place where we can find many drenched walls used with more sense. Almost every building of the University is filled with these walls, and their impact on the construction is amazing, when you are walking on the outside and come into the building, the temperature can descend even 5 degrees, which sound impossible, taking into account that there isn´t any cooling system. The drenched wall is not only useful for controlling the temperature and the amount of light, but also for creating beautiful patterns on the internal spaces that act as focal points that emphasize different areas. The bad part of the drench walls is that when it rains, every single space that is covered with it, gets wet. However, according to student perceptions, they say that the feeling these walls create in normal conditions, gets over the wet theme. Seams incredible like the drench wall, as a modern system, isn´t more than the reinterpretation of the palm-made walls and roofs of the natives, used with more functional than artistic sense. Other way or controlling the light intensity and temperatures is the parasol. In the case of the University City, its shape itself is artistic; Villanueva creates rhythm with them but doesn’t make any pattern of light in the spaces. Is important to remember that the parasols are located after the normal walls, this means that they sift light for smaller openings, like windows. By the other hand, Jimmy alcock, in the Altolar, was able to create a system of crossed parasols that combine the benefit of drenched walls and the parasols, so, there is an amazing covering of light excess with the beautiful patterns in walls. The mall Parque Cristal, designed by the same Jimmy Alcock, also uses light but in a different way. The theme of Parque Cistal is basically an excavated solid, which has an enormous entrance of light on the central part, that serve the offices that are located in the highest stories and the patio that is right under it. The negative thing of the use of light on this building is that, like it is made of crystal, the reflection is so strong that arrives to the East park and it is burning the vegetation. This is an example of how the environment can be affected by aspects that wasn´t studied properly.
 * __ Light __**

Rhythm is refer to one or more objects, colors, etcetera, repeating together or with a space between them. So it can be created with objects and empties interspersed or just different objects creating a sequence. In Venezuela the most standing out constructions with rhythm are the “barrios”, precarious houses made by scant resources people, almost in every case, with no experience on construction and without a previous study of the field. This is why, with a photo from the top, we can see how the perfectly adapt to the shape of the field, which in architectural design is a good thing (the smallest modification of the land, adapting to it), but this is defiantly not good. This rhythm is the recurrence of elements having recognizable relationships between them, in this case, the repetition of shapes, where the spacing between them can vary without destroying the rhythmical character, we can also say that the barrios use the open rhythm, because they haven’t a defined beginning or end. Inspirited on our barrios, there are some constructions that use equally the rhythm but with an architectonic taste. For example, Habitat 67, located in Canada in a flat land, they create the volume of the mountains with houses, and between them, there are plazas, green areas, and other beautiful atmospheres inside the joint. Other example, maybe more similar to Caracas, is a project for the south of China, where, exploiting the condition of the land, they are going to locate 1200 houses, keeping a 3 meters distance between them, an entire residential joint, beautiful and friendly with nature for the small modification of the field.
 * __ Rhythm __**

The plaza cubierta in the Cetral University is maybe the best example we can find of human scale, this is because this plaza, like a concrete jungle filled with different highs of trees, creates different situations with the lowest and tallest roofs, there is a transition part, which is basically a main hallway that surrounds the Aula Magna, some different secondary hallways that take you out of the plaza or get you in other buildings, and the highest that defines a space of permanence. This plaza is very similar to another plaza that is in the University, but the second one is created with palm trees, where the trunks of these trees are like the columns of the covered plaza and the tip of the trees are the different roofs of concrete. All constructions have textures, from the lightly rough of the concrete of the Central University, the bumpy bricks of the Altolar to the visual texture of the smooth panels in the Aula Magna, and this is for creating different conditions of spaces, where the rough concrete of the University looks hard and this gives a sense of perdurability of the construction, which is not distant from reality, and the smooth of the aula magna, gives a peaceful and light feeling to those that goes into it. A different way of see texture is in the plazas, where the different conditions of the floors transmit different conditions to the uses, for example, a different texture can define the pedestrian an vehicular areas. This is the case of the Plaza Alfredo Sadel in Las Mecedes, where a different texture of the street where the plaza is, makes the cars go slower because this bumpy texture makes the area more for pedestrians than vehicles
 * __ Human Scale __**

In conclusion, Venezuela has an amazing architecture, in some case, it is not very well explored, and in others almost perfect. However, we are an inspiration for architects all over the world and we have to create a conscience on people, with all the tools we can find to promote the caring of our spaces, because, amazing constructions, like the central University, are more and more damaged every day, and it is a shame that we don’t take care of the good things we have. (Long version) Sources: Different links from the course nohe3.wikispaces.com www.huc.gov.ve/ [] http://encaletado.com/egg/?p=37

Also check my video on this link!  []