Hipódromo La Rinconada, Arthur Froelich y Asociados, 1959.
Conjunto 23 de Enero (antes 2 de Diciembre) Carlos Raúl Villanueva, José Hoffmann y José Manuel Mijares, 1955-1957.
Helicoide de la Roca Tarpeya, Jorge Romero, Dirk Bornhorst, Pedro Neuberger, 1956.
New spaces for civic and institutional representation disseminated in different points –closer to large infrastructures and urban fragments– changed the logic of expansion of the capital, reinforced by territorial planning and the functionalism of the regulatory plan. Thus, this "instant modernization" materialized in singular and isolated urban pieces that were erected following their own order, connected by expressways, and where a unitary image was not pursued. Strictly speaking, these were macroprojects that promoted disintegration by concentrating large programs in specific places of the valley, promoting an increasing process of displacement of uses from the foundational center towards the peripheries. This strategy of appropriation of the valley had two consequences: earning the privilege of being the single and autonomous form of territorial occupation, both by the new urbanizations and by building pieces of a certain size, and the confirmation of the road network as a future system of urban organization and as a mechanism to ensure the intense mobility and speed of displacement within the valley. The requalification of the urban space through Centro Simón Bolívar (1954) –the federal and administrative center–, the worker's city of 23 de Enero (1955), Ciudad Universitaria (1945-67) the military axis formed by the Los Precursores promenade (1953) and Círculo Militar (1950-52), Escuela Militar and Escuela de Aplicación (1945), Hipódromo La Rinconada (1953), El Helicoide de la Roca Tarpeya commercial and convention center (1956), and the Teleférico and Humboldt Hotel (1956) among other emblematic works, constitute the clearest examples of the patterns of territorial transformation for Caracas.
opposite end of the axis (Lasala p. 166). Rotival revisits the ideas of separating activities by zones and an express road network for the center; in this context, he proposes the "sketch on the urban structure of Caracas" an image that reinterprets the strict Violich zoning in four zones (transport, housing, shantytowns and green areas) 9 . We believe that this scheme, which does not establish any future image –on the contrary, it confirms the scenario under which the metropolis had developed in those decades– is the consequence of the new way of understanding modernization and accelerated growth. Towards 1970, new urban control tools appear, aspiring to capitalize on the emerging order and scale and embracing regulation in terms of growth, densities, uses and roads. The plan of the Municipal Office of Urban Planning OMPU distances itself from the plans formulated in 1936 and 1951, and "concentrates on stopping, organizing and directing the rapid physical and demographic growth, applying modern planning statements" (Bellorín 2014). Under this logic, with particular criteria of action to define a future scenario, a new modern model of regulation is assumed in order for Caracas to achieve the goals, objectives and policies contained in the General Urban Plan of Caracas 1970-1990 (OMPU, 1972). Finally, between 1948 and 1970, Caracas will be the result of the superimposition of different visions: the urban design and synthesis of Rotival's architectural project reflected in the "instinctive, fast or short approach" (Frechilla 1994, p. 374) presenting a vision for the city; the urban planning and institutional structure of control proposed by Violich, based on the identification of the problems of the city, the question of housing, land uses, zoning and road infrastructure; the influence of the arterial road plan of Moses and the superimposition of striking public and private projects, which as urban fragments gave form and scale to the modern metropolis.
THESIS FOR CARACAS, 1958
In 1958 Rotival is hired by Centro Simón Bolívar to undertake a new study for the foundational center. In the so-called 'Tesis para el Centro de Caracas', "he proposes to revitalize the center of the capital, restoring its true character as the heart of the city" 8 , and "he once again insisted on the creation of a government center, which is now being considered at the eastern end of Avenida Bolívar" with the purpose of balancing the development of the
8 Martin Frechilla, Juan José. Rotival de 1939 a 1959. "De la ciudad como negocio a la planificación como pretexto". In El Plan Rotival, la Caracas que no fue. p. 102. Instituto de Urbanismo Ed., Caracas 1991. 9 This "Thesis" contained in the publication of the CSB "Acción para Caracas" conceived and directed by Rotival, had no major impact on the city, because "it was nothing more than an academic exercise" (Lasala, p. 166).
BIBLIOGRAPHY
- AA.VV: El Plan Rotival, la Caracas que no fue. El Plan Urbano para Caracas. Instituto de Urbanismo (Ed.), Caracas 1991. - Almandoz, Arturo: Área central de Caracas: conflictos y oportunidades. Punto 65, 1983. - Bellorín, R.: "La planificación urbana en la ciudad de Caracas 1936-2013: en búsqueda de la modernidad perdida". In G. P. Roberto, & P. E. Urbana (Ed.), Modernidades ignoradas, p. 219). Puebla, Mexico 2014. - De Sola, Irma: "Contribución al estudio de los planos de Caracas, la ciudad y la provincia 1567-1967". Ediciones del Cuatricentenario de Caracas, 1967. - Martín Frechilla, Juan José: "El urbanismo francés en Venezuela de 1936 a 1950 (Rotival y Lambert en una historia de gestiones diplomáticas, contratos y zancadillas)". In Estudios Demográficos y Urbanos Vol. 8 No 2, p. 337-443. México 1993. - Frechilla, Juan José: "Petroleo nuestro y ajeno: la ilusión de modernidad". Consejo de Desarrollo Científico y Humanístico. Caracas 2005. - Gobernación del Distrito Federal: "Plan Regulador 1953. Ordenanza de Zonificación". Dirección de Obras Municipales, 1953. - González Téllez, S.: El oficio de urbanista según Víctor Fossi. Equinoccio, 1998. - Martín Frechilla, Juan José: "Rotival de 1939 a 1959. De la Ciudad como negocio a la planificación como pretexto, in El Plan Rotival, la Caracas que no fue. Instituto de Urbanismo (Ed.) Caracas 1991. - OMPU, Concejo Municipal del Distrito Federal: "Síntesis de la proposición del plan general urbano presentado por la Oficina Municipal de Planeamiento Urbano al ilustre Concejo Municipal del Distrito Federal de Caracas. Plano General Urbano 1970-1990, Proposición de usos de la tierra y la vialidad". December 1972. - Puchetti, Roberto: "Memoria y lugar, interacción y propuesta. Proyecto arquitectónico en el borde sur de la Ciudad Universitaria de Caracas como detalle del territorio". Thesis to qualify for the master's degree in architectural design. FAU, UCV, 2004.
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