City University of Caracas

Infobox World Heritage Site
WHS = Ciudad Universitaria de Caracas


State Party = VEN
Type = Cultural
Criteria = i, iv
ID = 986
Region = Latin America and the Caribbean
Year = 2000
Session = 24th
Link = http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/986

The City University of Caracas ("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 60's when his deteriorating health forced him to leave some buildings in the design stage.

=Artists who contributed to the project=

International

Hans Arp (FRA)

André Bloc (FRA)

Alexander Calder (USA)

Wifredo Lam (CUB)

Henri Laurens (FRA)

Fernand Léger (FRA)

Baltasar Lobo (ESP)

Antoine Pevsner (RUS)

Sophie Taeuber-Arp (SUI)

Victor Vasarely (HUN)

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

ee also

*Carlos Raúl Villanueva
*Central University of Venezuela

External links

* [http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/986/ UNESCO World Heritage website on the Ciudad Universitaria de Caracas]
* [http://www.aaschool.ac.uk/exhibitions/villanueva/index.htm Exhibition on the Covered Plaza by the Architectural Association, London]
* [http://www.ucv.ve/villanueva.htm Central University of Venezuela website dedicated to the life and works of Villanueva] (Spanish)
* [http://copred.rect.ucv.ve/Index.shtm COPRED, Center for preservation of the UCV]
* [http://www.goruma.de/architektur_20_21_jh/amerika_mittel_sued/universitaet_von_caracas.html Die Universität in Deutsch]