FINAL+PROJECT

My name is Carola Luna and I’m going to talk about what makes Venezuela unique from an architectural perspective. The themes to treat on this project are: color, light, texture, acoustics, rhythm, circulation and scale.

Color: Colors can affect our perception of the space. Color is involved in to a space in many ways, according to color we can perceive a room bigger or smaller, cooler or warmest and it just depends of the color we use. An example of the use of color in Venezuela is the mural “Jardín lumínico” on the Prados del Este highway made by Patricia Van Dalen. Is an intervention in which the artist tried to contribute to the enrichment of the city. Patricia uses a deep blue background with a color story of 14 different shades; with this technique she suggests the abstraction of an urban landscape. The project consist in a display of color that starts with a yellow flame, which dominates the deep blue in the background, then a chromatic sequence developed through tiles like pixels that allows a gradation of colors. According to the artist her work is focus in the nature, and this piece is talking about exterior space. This mural is intervening the space to make in it a constructed type of nature and the colors used to making it allow us to perceive the garden and the nature that the artist tried to show Light and acoustic: Light is an essential element in architecture. Light have to be present in every building, house, construction. Light helps with tasks and also creates safer and comfortable spaces. The example taken for light is the Aula Magna in the Central University made by Carlos Raúl Villanueva, in there we can observe the use of accent light for the floating panels on the ceiling, creating not just a wonderful effect to the human eye but also being the illumination that doesn´t produces shades to the audience. The Aula Magna is the best example of acoustic in Venezuela, is located between the five best acoustics achieved on indoor spaces in the world. Because of the “Floating clouds” witch are hanging on the ceiling is created a hole acoustic system. Texture: textures are those qualities on the surfaces, can be rough, soft, silky, smooth, can be see, touch and feel, but can also be just to see because are fake. An example of the tactile texture in architecture in Venezuela is the “Iglesia Divino redentor” placed in Barquisimeto, a piece of Fruto Vivas. The materials of construction of this church are the determinants of its texture. Is made with a wall of bricks, in some places is coated with clay solid brick with different obstacles to achieve special treatment in the facade, the roof was made ​​of wood supported by wooden beams and metal clamps. All those materials with different textures make an excellent combination thanks to the design of Vivas.

Rhythm: Rhythm is an attribute of an object that is mark by a systematic recurrence of elements having recognizable relationships between them. In Venezuela an excellent example of rhythm not just in facade but also in planes is the “Plaza Bolívar de Caracas” placed in the historic center of Caracas. In there is the “Palacio municipal de Caracas” where we can observe rhythm and symmetry in the hole building. The windows have the same shape, are at the same high and are also separated the same distance. The columns in the facade have the same treatment. As it was mentioned before, the Palacio Municipal is placed in the Plaza Bolívar witch it planes has the same symmetry that the Palacio, it consist of 24 blocks that surround a main square, all of them are a square with the same dimensions and divided in four smaller edifications. Circulation: the circulation is the way how we move once we are in a building. The circulation must be clear in all the directions and is essential that it work well in every sense. I’m going to use the Centro Comercial Tolón placed in Las Mercedes, because is a perfect example of the work that an architect should do when he wants to restrict a route even when in my personal opinion is not that good. Tolón has two circulation modules located in two opposite wings and that force you to walk the entire floor once you’re out of the module because there is a module in the center of the building just in the first floor. Scale: The scale at the moment of design is very important. Actually the architects’ aren´t thinking in the human scale as much as they should, the scale permits people to feel comfortable and safe in the spaces. The example taken for this element is the millennium mall because this pretty building has a big mistake when you see it closely. The imposing ceiling is the surface of the entire building but is so high and open that permits the water to bounce into the mall when is raining and that is definitely an unforgettable error. Even when the mall is attractive, is not functional sometimes. So that’s an example of an aesthetic effect type of human scale. After explain all of this buildings I can conclude that all the seven elements are essentials at the moment of design because if one of them isn´t right then the building won´t work as we would like to. But of course, they aren´t necessary in every building, it would depend on the function given to them.

[]

media type="youtube" key="RcfQ2eFqOE4?version=3" height="315" width="420"