Final+project

Final Project - by Adarenis García and Angela Herrera

Architecture and Urban Planning in Venezuela is a conjugation of our indigenous culture with different architectural cultures from the foreign. That’s not strange because our race, culture and town are miscegenation where we can’t impose the beginning or the end of our origins. Before the Colonia, Venezuela had functional architecture and urban planning. The structures and the urban morphology weren’t very prepared and the buildings were constructed with materials of the nature. Those materials were the improvisation of the Indigenous. During the Colonia (from 16th century to 1810), our country developed a very important type of architecture. The principal features of this architecture are the discreet modesty and the defined features of design. The horizontal and vertical circulations were adapted to the tropical weather, so the principal focus is the protection from the sunshine, rain and light. The color was important; it gave the nickname to Caracas, the city of red roofs. In this time it began the first urban grain in the center town of Caracas, and at the same time, it produced the first plane and the projects to the urban vision. Actually, architecture and urban planning represents eclecticism and they are looking for the combination and the conciliation of the present with the past and the future. That combination and the mixture of elements from cultures and times make our architecture and urban planning unique, rich and different from anywhere of the world.
 * Introduction **

The best example of architectural acoustic in Venezuela is the Teresa Carreño Theater, located in Caracas. It’s located on a state of 22.586 m² and with more than 80.000 m² of construction. It has two main rooms: “Ríos Reyna” and “José Félix Ribas”. The José Félix Ribas room has been the most praised space. This room tries to adjust the acoustic by absorption space elements. In this case the setting is part of the space together with the auditorium. Its resonance corresponds to two seconds of mid-frequency reverberation in the room full. The acoustic effects of the roof designed by Soto are  variables that affect positively on the board and the reception capacities of the public and artists.  Otherwise, the acoustic of the Ríos Reyna room is supported by a technical system controlled through a sound console. There are a series of sounding boards, an amplification system (Closter), a series of "clouds" or acoustic panels and they are adaptable to the  noise emission of each show. **Color ** One of the things that make Venezuela unique is the diversity of colors in the natural and urban landscape. The Venezuelan weather let colors be bright and cheerful during all the year. It’s a country with different and heterogeneous cities, the buildings don’t have a pattern, there are many materials like concrete, glass, brick, and wood, among others, and they create a big palette of colors and they make cities colorful. The natural landscape is rich in colors and shapes, they create a mixture and they give diversity and splendor to the landscape. For example, Caracas has the presence of vegetation element in the valley coexisting with the city and creating mixture of natural and artificial colors. There are many places like Simón Bolívar walk, San Ignacio mall, where the horizontal and vertical circulation mix at different levels, giving a unique dynamic to these places. Other buildings with these features are Central Park Towers. They have vertical circulation modules, like stairs and elevators connecting the street level with the building spaces and the groundwater and air levels. These spaces have horizontal circulation modules too, like walkways, sidewalks, hallways and passageways.  The square of Altamira is one of the public spaces of Caracas with a <span style="-webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18px;">dazzling display  <span style="-webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18px;"> of vertical and horizontal circulation in the zone of the subway’s station. It’s a combination of the vegetation element, water in the source and the concrete of the square creating a variety of textures and shapes, and giving a great urban quality to the square. <span style="-webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18px;">Other aspect in Venezuela is the light. For example, Caracas has a North-South orientation and it has a good illumination during the day. The main vehicular ways has a diagonal orientation and the circulation in the sunrise and sunset is favorable in any case. <span style="-webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18px;">From the urban planning point of view, the rhythm is wonderful in many places of Venezuela. There are repetitions in the dimensions of the blocks, dimensions and colors of the houses. Colonia Tovar, founded and inhabited mainly by Germans, is other place with a unique <span style="-webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18px;">physiognomy. The buildings create rhythmic style with the colors of roof, walls and structures and the combination with the nature colors and the presence of the mountains makes an exceptional space. <span style="-webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18px;"> <span style="-webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18px;">In the different cities of Venezuela are taken into account two scales: the human and the vehicular scale. Actually, the vehicle has more importance than at other time. That generates the configuration of the vehicular and pedestrian ways. The configuration of spaces in our country is very rich and it has many styles. We can see in different images of the main cities of Venezuela like Caracas, Maracaibo and Valencia how exist a great variety of spaces with a different morphology, organization and hierarchy. <span style="-webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18px;">The multiple and different textures make Venezuela an exceptional place, both architectural and town planning. There are tactile texture like the different materials used in the sidewalks of Caracas, and the different rough, soft and scratchy textures of the building of the city. “Cerro El Ávila” is part of the urban landscape of the city and it produces a rough visual texture. <span style="-webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18px;"> media type="youtube" key="t81EAUPTGTE" height="344" width="425"
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18px;">Acoustic **
 * <span style="-webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18px;">Horizontal and Vertical Circulation **
 * <span style="-webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18px;">Light **
 * <span style="-webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18px;">Rhythm **
 * <span style="-webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18px;">Spaces and Scale **
 * <span style="-webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18px;">Textures **