Venezuela 1945-1959. the Little Explored Coincidences of Two
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Venezuela 1945-1959. ched and enlarged thanks to his connection allowed Villanueva to capture another way The little explored coincidences of two with a country that had all the elements of the of viewing the urban without abandoning the Masters. New World: huge mountains, plains, rivers, necessary translation to the present of those forest, sea, and a mixed population formed “plastic elements used (for colonial architec- Azier Calvo by whites, blacks and Indians. Venezuela ture) in defence against the elements. “ It is also represented for Carpentier the opportu- considered the most important and infl uential nity to see the other side of the coin: he wor- piece of Venezuelan architecture, the crea- We need to fi nd the Universal in the bowels ked as a publicist in the ARS company, foun- ting of the University City of Caracas was of the local and in that circumscribed and li- ded by his Parisian friend Carlos Frias, who fortunate to have continued almost without mited, the eternal. had strong ties with the United States and interruption until 1958 despite the shocks Miguel de Unamuno lived in Caracas part of his existence that he and changes experienced by the country in Between 1945 and 1959 Venezuela is con- had rejected in New York. As is pointed out that period. verted, by coincidence, in the place where by Roberto González Echeverría: “Caracas Thus we fi nd that both Villanueva and Car- the most relevant work of two key fi gures ... is suffering a profound transformation that pentier both undertook in the period that we in Latin American culture takes place: Alejo puts Carpentier in touch with a post-industrial are discussing important investigations which Carpentier (Lausanne 1904-Paris 1980) and society, and in direct contact with the mass were located in different planes of action. Carlos Raúl Villanueva (Caracas 1900-Lon- media that characterizes it ... Carpentier, in a Thus, Carpentier’s consolidation of thought don 1975). couple of words, experiences the Latin Ame- about what is American, although it cannot Beyond being a period corresponding to their rica of the future and its most remote past.” be exempted from a range of circumstances own maturity proper of the age they were All this, it should be added, amid convulsi- surrounding his life, his education and his in- going through, both artists lived during this ve political circumstances and an economic tellectual trajectory it is possible to refer to it period in a country that was in the process boom linked to the abundant oil production. in two fundamental aspects which were the of transformation in all spheres, denoting the We must remember that Villanueva became product of all his written work in Venezuela. inclination from literature by one and archi- directly linked to Venezuela at the age of 28 The fi rst is the gestation and subsequent de- tecture by the other, a way of thinking and having lived all his life in Europe. He brought velopment of a true aesthetic theory focused doing which had much in common, beyond with him a degree in architecture from the on what might be called an optimistic view of 106 the contacts and direct exchanges that have Ecole de Beaux Arts in Paris as well as the America since surrealism. The second is the taken place between them. baggage of one who had been in contact with transformation that Carpentier’s outlook su- This brief paper will attempt to highlight the the major avant-garde movements. Although ffered after the initial impact produced by his conditions that helped make this possible he studied Latin America from France, like rediscovery of America by way of surrealism, such as the concurrences and distances in Carpentier he began to “discover it” when he the contact being on a level which was phy- the processes of approaching reality followed came into direct contact with its climate, its sical and existential, anthropological and eth- by each one which allowed them to lay the geography, its history, its cultural events, its no-graphic with the Venezuelan jungle and foundations not only of a line of work but pri- cities and its architecture. Thus, the evolutio- the cultural stages presented to him there, in marily in a way of knowing. nary process that his work followed, similar to which the infl uence on him of Sartrian exis- Carpentier’s relationship with Venezuela oc- that shown by Carpentier, could be unders- tentialism plays an important role. Carpentier curred within circumstances which could be tood (as noted by Unamuno) as a gradual expressed his connection with philosophical catalogued as special and to a certain point and consistent pursuit of the universal in the trends of the time which is evidenced by a surprising. The Cuban writer landed in Mai- bowels of the local without abandoning the series of questions and refl ections on the quetia at the age of 40 with the clear intention commitment of the time to which it belonged. subject of the authenticity or the good faith of of having a break which would allow him to On the other hand, 1945 was the year in modern man; the role of culture in Western ci- settle down and delve deeper into the inves- which they inaugurated the Urban Redeve- vilization particularly when addressed by the tigations that he had already advanced on lopment of “El Silencio”, project in which Vi- knowledge of distant and different peoples his return from his European exile and with llanueva managed to combine his refl ections distinct to the patterns that characterize it, the intuition that he had arrived to a country around the permanent values of the city and the effects of modernity, its relationship to the that would allow them. His reencounter with the architecture of Venezuela’s past, after 15 urban drama and its infl uence on the subject Cuba and its music as well as the fascinating years of uninterrupted activity. Catalogued who lives it; and above all the distressing contact with Haiti and the history of its inde- as “the fi rst element of the modern city”, “El problem of artistic creation. The fi rst aspect pendence process, seen from the principles Silencio” became the cornerstone of what should be reviewed in the light of the work of surrealism (movement he formed part of would thereafter be the urban transformation “The real wonder of America” (1948) comple- while living in France) allowed him between of Caracas. A year earlier the construction of mented with clarifi cations that Carpentier was 1939 and 1944 to develop an interpretative the University City had also begun, the culmi- able to incorporate in subsequent works in theory of the American that would be enri- nating point of a constant exploration which relation to the subject matter itself. With res- pect to the second aspect we do not believe reaches his peak from between 1952-1953, also the liberation of symmetry and the anti- that there is nothing better than the analytical continued adjusting his master plan of the thesis between internal and external space”. reading of The Lost Steps (1953), which we University City, giving it a radical turnaround Carpentier and Villanueva, were men of their consider to be his most important novel. to that of the initial academic concept that time, who in full maturity worked tirelessly in Villanueva meanwhile, as a product of his would fi nally be refl ected in 1954. These are the same territory building a cosmopolitan strong will to assimilate the permanent values also the years in which great attention is gi- scaffold based on their background and Eu- present in the cultural events of his country, ven to Brazilian architecture. He read Bruno ropean training, with the same obsession to published in 1950 The Caracas of yesterday Zevi and designed the heart of the campus. build bridges between different cultures as and today, its colonial architecture and the As Silvia Hernández de Lasala said: “His ar- a way to understand and express their own urban redevelopment of “El Silencio”, a key chitecture became less fragmented than in culture and as ones who tried to show that piece in the understanding of this work of the immediately preceding years and it as- the French accent that distinguished them interpretation, looking back from the eighte- sumed the characteristics of a complex orga- was nothing but a circumstantial characteris- enth century, it supports all the operations nism that lived in the place”. tic. We believe that, without doubt, both were of the expressive bringing up to date of this At this point we wonder if when Villanueva attentive and assimilated the teachings which urban complex carried out by the architect, acknowledges the courtyard as “an ageless each one was demonstrating through their becoming the fi rst opportunity given to Vene- element of architecture” or interprets the past respective work. The didactic commitment zuelan architecture to refl ect on its origins. As to lay the foundation for the architecture of that accompanied the actions of these two a continuation of the inquiry held in Caracas the future, is he not therefore following the bright careers allows one to understand their yesterday and today ..., appeared a short same deductive path that allows Carpentier questioning and activities as social events full article in 1952 entitled “The meaning of our to associate baroque and the marvellously of unquestionable citizenship. The Unamuno colonial architecture” a substantial synthesis real as permanent constants in that which is maximum, a shared guide contributes to de- that would open the doors to the understan- American. We also ask ourselves if the revi- termine the validity of both in this world where ding not only the experimentation in many of val of the Baroque spirit “at any time and in everything expires in time periods which are the orders that governed the development of many of the creations of the most contempo- getting shorter and shorter.