modern as tomorrow

Caracas, June 5, 2020

HERITAGE IN DANGER

COVERED WALKWAY 5, CIUDAD UNIVERSITARIA DE UNDER THREAT By Carlos Raúl Villanueva, Caracas , 1954

Docomomo International became aware by Docomomo Venezuela that the Covered Walkway 5, an important structure of the Ciudad Universitaria de Caracas complex, a Venezuelan National Landmark and a World Heritage Site since 2000, is under threat.

The Ciudad Universitaria de Caracas (1940-1960), located in Caracas, capital city of Venezuela, was designed by architect Carlos Raúl Villanueva (1900-1975), the most acclaimed of Venezuelan modern architects of the Twentieth-century. “Covering an area of 164,203 hectares, it is an outstanding example of the Modern Movement in architecture. The University campus integrates a large number of buildings and functions, art and nature into a clearly articulated ensemble, creating an open and dynamic space, where the art forms become an essential part of the inhabited place. The forms and structures express the spirit and technological development of their time in the use of reinforced concrete” (UNESCO)”.1 Due to its “outstanding universal value”, the Ciudad Universitaria de Caracas was inscribed in the UNESCO List of as a World Heritage Site in 2000. Aiming to create a modern tropical architecture, Villanueva re-imagined many climate solutions from Venezuelan colonial architecture, suchs as pergolas and breeze walls. Particularly, he devised a collection of covered walkways in concrete that strongly contribute to shape the architectural character of the complex. These covered walkways connect the different areas of the vast campus, allowing circulation while providing protection from the sun and the rain. Bordering to the east the central open space of the campus (Tierra de Nadie), facing the main complex of the Central Library, the Covered Plaza and the Aula Magna, Villanueva designed together with Venezuelan structural engineers Juan Otaola Paván and Oscar Benedetti the most structurally daring of these covered walkways, a long cantilevered concrete roof called Pasillo Cubierto 5 (Covered Walkway 5), with a bold solution that allowed at the same time visual transparency while permitting free circulation in all senses, responding to the particular spatial and functional needs of this area of the campus.

On the morning of June 17, 2020, after a heavy rain, after the beam 13 broke, slabs 12-13/13-14 collapsed to the ground. According to the official release of the technical office in charge of the campus, COPRED (created in 2000 after UNESCO’s designation, in order to survey the management and conservation of the Ciudad Universitaria de Caracas), a study and restoration project for the Covered Walkway 5 exists since 2003.2 In 2006, the authorities of the Universidad Central de Venezuela gave resources to restore a part of the Covered Walkway 2. Instagram @copreducv. Comunicado. Caso: Colapso structural, Viga 13 y losas 12-13/13-14, corridor No. 5, Ciudad Universiotaria de Caracas”, Caracas, June 1, 2002: https://www.instagram.com/p/CB14tYDaXb/?igshid=1mi19zzr4xxgn

(not the section that collapsed). Since then to today, in spite of continuous demands by COPRED for support, not only this structure has not received finantial support of any kind, but what is even more alarming is the fact that the whole of the campus is without any budget to perform the conservation projects and restoration works it needs, according to its patrimonial status. Thus, not only the rest of Covered Walkway 5 is a Heritage in Danger, but the whole univesrity complex too.

The collapse of the Covered Walkway 5 has deeply saddened Venezuela and fired the alarms in the world for this important World Heritage Site of Latin American modernity. This sad event is also an example of the general situation of confusion, disinformation and also political turmoil that affects the situation of the whole university complex. Also, as days go by, we fear for the complete demolition of the collapsed section of the Covered Walkway as a simplistic solution. Docomomo Venezuela calls for a Good Conservation Practice from all the institutions involved, asking to do all they can to conserve as much as posible of the original structure, as demands its high patrimonial status. Support by international heritage institutions and conservation experts would be of subtantial help in this moment.

Information provided by Hannia Gomez, docomomo Venezuela Chair.

Hannia Gómez

Architect MSAUD

Chair

Image credit: Getty

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2. Instagram @copreducv. Comunicado. Caso: Colapso structural, Viga 13 y losas 12-13/13-14, corridor No. 5, Ciudad Universiotaria de Caracas”, Caracas, June 1, 2002: https://www.instagram.com/p/CB14tYDaXb/?igshid=1mi19zzr4xxgn