University City of Caracas

UNESCO World Heritage Site

Ciudad Universitaria de Caracas
Name as inscribed on the World Heritage List
Type	Cultural
Criteria	i, iv
Reference	986
UNESCO region	Latin America and the Caribbean
Inscription history
Inscription	2000 (24th Session)
University City of Caracas is located in Venezuela Location of University City of Caracas in Venezuela.

The University City of Caracas (Spanish: Ciudad Universitaria de Caracas) is the main Campus of the Central University of Venezuela. It was designed by the Venezuelan architect Carlos Raúl Villanueva and was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2000. The Ciudad Universitaria de Caracas is considered a masterpiece of architecture and urban planning and is the only university campus designed by a single architect in the 20th century that has received such recognition by UNESCO.

The Campus and buildings of the Universidad Central de Venezuela are considered to be Villanueva's masterwork. Built on the site of the old Hacienda Ibarra (which originally belonged to Simon Bolívar's family) and connected to the new city center on Plaza Venezuela, the project required a massive undertaking of both urban planning and architectural design. The administration of President Isaías Medina Angarita bought the Hacienda Ibarra in 1942 in order to give the University a larger location than the Saint Francis Covent, giving Villanueva a unique opportunity to apply his conscious integration of art and architecture on a grand scale. This vast urban complex of about 2 km² included a total of forty buildings and it became one of the most successful applications of Modern Architecture in Latin America. Villanueva worked closely with all the artists who contributed with their oeuvres and personally supervised the project for over 25 years until the late 1960s when his deteriorating health forced him to leave some buildings in the design stage.

Artists who contributed to the project

International

• Hans Arp
• André Bloc
• Alexander Calder
• Wifredo Lam
• Henri Laurens
• Fernand Léger
• Baltasar Lobo
• Antoine Pevsner
• Sophie Taeuber-Arp
• Victor Vasarely

• 

  Cloud Shepherd, by Hans Arp

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  Cloud Shepherd, by Hans Arp

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  Clouds, by Alexander Calder

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  L'Amphion by Henri Laurens

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  L'Amphion by Henri Laurens

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  Stained-glass window Fernand Léger

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  Mural by Fernand Léger

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  Maternidad by Baltasar Lobo

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  by Antoine Pevsner

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  Tribute to Malevich by Victor Vasarely

Venezuela

• Miguel Arroyo
• Armando Barrios
• Omar Carreño
• Carlos González Bogen
• Pedro León Castro
• Mateo Manaure
• Francisco Narváez
• Pascual Navarro
• Alirio Oramas
• Alejandro Otero
• Héctor Poleo
• Braulio Salazar
• Jesús-Rafael Soto
• Víctor Valera
• Oswaldo Vigas
• Lisbhet Mariela Ojeda D´Elía

• 

  by Pascual Navarro

• 

  by Mateo Manaure

• 

  by Mateo Manaure

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  by Alejandro Otero

• 

  by Alejandro Otero

• 

  by Víctor Valera

External links

• UNESCO World Heritage website on the Ciudad Universitaria de Caracas
• Exhibition on the Covered Plaza by the Architectural Association, London
• Central University of Venezuela website dedicated to the life and works of Villanueva(Spanish)
• COPRED, Center for preservation of the UCV