University City of Caracas
The University City of Caracas (Spanish: Ciudad Universitaria de Caracas) is the main Campus of the Central University of Venezuela. It was designed by the Venezuelan architect Carlos Raúl Villanueva and was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2000. The Ciudad Universitaria de Caracas is considered a masterpiece of architecture and urban planning and is the only university campus designed by a single architect in the 20th century that has received such recognition by UNESCO.
The Campus and buildings of the Universidad Central de Venezuela are considered to be Villanueva's masterwork. Built on the site of the old Hacienda Ibarra (which originally belonged to Simon Bolívar's family) and connected to the new city center around Plaza Venezuela, the project required a massive undertaking of both urban planning and architectural design. The administration of President Isaías Medina Angarita bought the Hacienda Ibarra in 1942 in order to give the University a larger location than the Saint Francis Covent, giving Villanueva a unique opportunity to apply his conscious integration of art and architecture on a grand scale. This vast urban complex of about 2 km² included a total of forty buildings and it became one of the most successful applications of Modern Architecture in Latin America. Villanueva worked closely with all the artists who contributed with their oeuvres and personally supervised the project for over 25 years until the late 1960's when his deteriorating health forced him to leave some buildings in the design stage.
Artists who contributed to the project
International
Venezuela
- Miguel Arroyo
- Armando Barrios
- Omar Carreño
- Carlos González Bogen
- Pedro León Castro
- Mateo Manaure
- Francisco Narváez
- Pascual Navarro
- Alirio Oramas
- Alejandro Otero
- Héctor Poleo
- Braulio Salazar
- Jesús-Rafael Soto
- Víctor Valera
- Oswaldo Vigas|by Víctor Valera
- Lisbhet Mariela Ojeda D´Elía
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| Museums |
Alejandro Otero Museum · Bolivarian Museum · Simón Bolívar birthplace house · Simón Bolívar Center · Children's Museum · Fine Arts Museum · La Estancia Art Center · National Gallery of Art · National Pantheon of Venezuela · Science Museum · Soto Sphere |
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