Caracas; The Crosshatched City by Nathalie Harris

CARAC A S NATHALIE HARRIS

THE

CROSSHATCHED

CITY

Fig. A1 (Cover)- Torre David, Source: WikiMedia Author: EneasMx Fig. A2 - Aerial diagram of Torre David, edited by the author

Acknowledgements I would like to thank my dissertation tutor Shaun Murray, my design tutors Ned Scott and Yorgos Loizos, my cousin Leon Zinn for the interview, my mother, Sara Harris, for the insight into Caracas, and assistance given by Marcel Ebanks was greatly appreciated. Special thanks to Javier Da Costa allowing me to use his images of Caracas

CARACAS: THE CROSSHATCHED CITY NATHALIE ZARINA HARRIS BA ARCHITECTURE YEAR 3 TUTOR: SHAUN MURRAY word count: 5472

To be presented to the Department of Architecture and Landscape at the University of Greenwich as part of the BA(Hons) Architecture course. Except where stated otherwise, this dissertation is based entirely on the authorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s own work.

INDEX 01

KEY WORDS, ABSTRACT

AN INTRODUCTION

THE OLD CARACAS

CARACAS, NOW

METAMORPHOSIS OF A CITY

LEARNING FROM CARACAS

GLOSSARY, BIBLIOGRAPHY, FIGURES

KEY WORDS

KEY WORDS MAGICAL REALISM

An artistic genre that infuses reality with magical elements

ADAPTIVE act of making something RE- The suitable for a different purpose than its original USE intention PERC- The way in which something is seen and understood to be EPTION

CROSSHATCH

The overlapping of two separate entities

INTENTION

METAMORPHOSIS A moment of physical development leading to a complete change of form, structure, or substance

The act of determining the purpose of an action

ACTUALITY A condition of existence. The presence of something in reality

ABSTRACT

1. ABSTRACT

How does a city go from being a Latin American powerhouse to extreme poverty in a contemporary environment? Caracas, Venezuela went, and is still going through, that very transition. Once a city of wealth, luxury, and unquestionable natural beauty, the identity of the city has morphed through socialism, greed, and power hungry dictatorships. Through my dissertation, I will compare the current architectural climate in Caracas with the artistic movement of magical realism, and begin to speculate how architecture and the role of the architect, in the city can influence the attitude of the people in order to transform itself. Caracas itself is a diverse city with two faces, the formal and the informal. Architects have used Caracas as an experimental playground, leaving a series of empty monumental formal structures lying dormant.

CARACAS: A CROSSHATCHED CITY

Fig. B3 - Childhood image of myself in Caracas, Sara Harris, 2000

Fig. A3 - Childhood image of myself in Caracas, Sara Harris, 2000

Fig. C3 - Childhood image of myself and my Grandma in Caracas, Sara Harris, 2000

Fig. D3 - Childhood image of myself in Caracas, Sara Harris, 2000

INTRODUCTION

2. AN INTRODUCTION Values, Caracas, and Magical Realism

This dissertation will serve as a critical analysis of the current urban condition of the city of Caracas, Venezuela, which will then go on to discuss what can be learned from the architectural successes and failures of the city. The intention is not political, though politics is so inherently imbued within the fabric of the city that it would be impossible not to comment on it. The city has come to a tipping point following extreme rates of hyperinflation and impoverished living conditions in the dense urban landscape. The city of Caracas is on the verge of a new revolution, one that will enable it to change and cause a shift in the temporal environment. In order to conduct my research, I will be investigating facts from the current political situation in Venezuela, using a variety of different sources from both the English and Spanish speaking worlds. Articles, lectures, videos, exhibitions, books, and interviews are all rich sources of information

that will allow me to take a lateral look and deeply investigate the issues at hand. The subject came from a personal vested interest in the city of Caracas, with direct family members originating from there, feeding me a constant stream of information on the state of the country. Through my dissertation I hope to gain a deeper understanding of what is currently happening in Venezuela. I will explore the responses that the people have had to the adverse conditions that are presented to them, and how this may inform my practice as an architect. I am interested in the rebellious attitude shown by the people of Caracas, in spite or perhaps because of, the geopolitical climate within the country. Projects and studies undertaken by architecture practice Urban Think Tank exemplify this attitude and are a relevant pattern of a vernacular that are, as UTT director, Alfredo Brillembourg states in a lecture

CARACAS: A CROSSHATCHED CITY

LACK OF MEDICINE

BOLIVARIAN REVOLUTION RESTRICTIONS ON FREEDOM IMMOBILISATION HUNGER HYPERINFLATION

INSUFFICIENT HOUSING, EDUCATION, INFRASTRUCTURE

CORRUPTION

TIPPING POINT

POLITICAL UNREST METAMORPHOSIS

REVOLUTION

Fig. E3 - Diagram explaining the tipping point in Caracas, Venezuela, by the author, Nathalie Harris

EXTERNAL INTERVENTION

INTRODUCTION

at the AA in 2012 “a series of urban interventions”, and that “the interesting thing is to try things out, see how they transform and there will be consequences and effects that will stimulate other effects and multiplicities.” (Brillembourg, A, AA, 2012) I will also bring in theories from magical realism, the rebellious art genre that saw artists like Otto Dix take the stubborn mentality to create art despite hardships that could have prevented their creation. The genre of magical realism is born of these hardships, and attempts to create worlds where magic and possibility simply is, and accepted for what it is. Magical realism resides in the liminal space between what is real and what is surreal, providing a platform for the surreal to penetrate the real and allows space for the artist to contemplate many different possibilities. It erases boundaries in life that otherwise restrict, such as life and death, spirit and matter, and boundaries between communities. (Zamora, L, 1995)

Magical realism is an attitude towards life, and provides a platform for architecture to invent new worlds that allow the possibility of freedom. This genre was particularly prevalent in Latin America, where magical realism was propelled into the genre that it has become. In a state that is rife with corruption and dictatorship, the people of Venezuela, and Latin America should seek to better themselves and the current situation that they exist within by creating, not abandoning. Immigration is on the lips of many politicians today, and is one that is particularly present in Latin America, as people attempt to leave in order to find a better situation. However if there is no hope of improvement, what then?

CARACAS: A CROSSHATCHED CITY

THE OLD CARACAS

3. THE OLD CARACAS A modernist utopia or a dictator’s doll house?

Caracas has seen many periods of transformation. This history of Venezuela is extremely pertinent to the identity of the country. It is “the melting pot of all the continents, cultures, African, European, Indigenous” (Brillembourg, A, AA, 2012), the heterogeneity of the country allows diversity in environment, allowing hybrids to form. Historically originating with the indigenous tribes, Spanish conquistadors colonised the land, despite resistance from the native populations, causing tensions over territories. Alongside this it brought infusions of cultures, formation of identities, and ideologies and attitudes towards municipal issues such as education and government. A classic story of colonialism, “the image of the nation was envisioned by the lettered classes” (Franco, J and Graham, R, 2003), many of which were “well educated in European thought and letters”(Franco, J and Graham, R, 2003) which posed difficulties when attempting to ‘integrate’ the population into a modern nation-state due the heterogeneity of the population.

Simón Bolívar (b.1783), a famous name within Latin America, and Venezuela itself, is often seen as the face of independence within Latin America. Bolívar was the successor of Francisco de Miranda. Miranda, Supreme Chief of Venezuela and President of the First Republic of Venezuela, lasted in office for one month, and his strategic plan for the independence of the Spanish American colonies failed. Bolívar then took on the role as President of the Second and Third republics of Venezuela. He managed to maintain the role longer than Miranda and led Spanish America to independence, taking advantage of the frought tensions within Spain to aide the revolutionary spirit that was stirring within Latin America and push for independence from Spain (Franco, J and Graham, R, 2003). Bolívar sought the help of surrounding forces of Haiti and the Llaneros (plainsmen) ultimately leading him to victory against the royalists at the Battle of Carabobo, 1821, forging independence for Venezuela and paving the way for the rest of Latin America.

Fig. B4 - One Bolivar, Ebay, Sleimanhobby, Source: https://www.numismatica.info.ve/en/ coins/mv1bs-ca01.html Fig. A4 - 23 de Enero Housing Project, Caracas, Venezuela, Source: http://guiaccs.com/obras/comunidad-23-de-enero/

CARACAS: A CROSSHATCHED CITY

Fig. C4 - Plan drawing of 23 de Enero Housing Project, Carlos RaÃºl Villanueva, 1955, Source: http://guiaccs.com/en/obras/23-de-enero-community/

THE OLD CARACAS

Bolivar established himself a military dictatorship in attempts to “maintain internal stability” (Franco, J and Graham, R, 2003), which proved unsuccessful as unrest arose within Venezuela especially, and lead to him signing over his presidency to the “unrelenting opposition of New Granadan liberals” (Franco, J and Graham, R, 2003). Attempting to go into foreign exile, Simón Bolívar died on the coast at Santa Maria on the 17th of December 1830. The consequences of this led to a period of military acquisition and control over the country, and was mostly ruled by the forces following a series of coup d’etats in the early 20th century. The first, in 1945, saw a series of political experiments that transformed the face of Venezuelan politics. Between 1945 and 1948, the political party Acción Democrática (Democratic Action) overthrew the 46th President of Venezuela, Isaias Medina Angarita and the first elections with universal suffrage in Venezuela were held. A three-year governing period passed known as El Trienio Adeco, which put Romulo Betancourt in office, but was removed by a second coup d’etat in 1948. During this time, an agreement was made under the name of The Punto Fijo pact, written as a guarantee that signing parties would prevent single-party hedgemony, respect the results of the upcoming election, work

together to fight dictatorship, and perhaps most notably agree to share all oil wealth. The pact was signed between three of the four main political parties; Acción Democrática, COPEI, and Union Republicana Democrática, with the exclusion of The Communist Party of Venezuela. (Corrales, J, 2001) This second coup d’etat eventually placed unelected military official Marcos Pérez Jiménez into presidency through an election with a fraudulent result, despite the Punto Fijo pact. Jimenez’s presidency was a secondary shift in the timeline of the country, and under his dictation and the nationalisation of the oil and gas industry, Venezuela’s economy and infrastructure flourished. (McGuirk, J, 2014) Money was poured into the utopiation of Caracas, all in the efforts to make it the forefront of Latin America. The 1940s saw the population of Caracas double, and there was insufficient formal house for citizens to occupy which in turn led to the growth of the barrios. Jimenez wanted to create a tropical utopia and saw the barrios as an inconvenience. In response, the 2 de Diciembre housing project was brought into fruition. Commissioned to design the project was architect Carlos Raul Villanueva, a Corbusian graduate of the Ecole des Beaux-Arts and one of Venezuela’s most prominent architects. The task was to house 60,000 people who were to be forcibly removed from their homes in the barrios and rehomed within the social housing project.

CARACAS: A CROSSHATCHED CITY

Fig. D4 - Overview of 23 de Enero Housing Project, Source: http://guiaccs.com/obras/comunidad-23-de-enero/

Having recently completed the modernist design for the Universidad Central de Venezuela, Villanueva “had the chance to build his tour de force” (McGuirk, J, 2014). The estate design consisted of thirty-eight superbloques, skirted by dozens of medium sized blocks that provided over 9,000 units dotted sparsely across a terraced hillside to the west of Caracas. “The very picture of modernist utopia, this was paternalistic politics as spectacle.” (McGuirk, J, 2014) After just under six years in power, Marcos Pérez Jiménez was overthrown on the 23rd of January 1957, and thus his housing scheme was renamed 23 de Enero – 23rd of January.

Through all the confusion with the change in power, before the project was finished, an estimated 4,000 families squatted in the structures, and the building was never properly maintained or administered. As the superbloques began to fill, the people sought alternative methods of creating a home, and began erecting their own ranchitos in the land surrounding the towers. Over time, the high-rises became beacons amongst the shanty sea. As it currently stands, the blocks have now become infiltrated by the informality of los ranchitos and somehow have infused the formal modernist architecture to blend in with the metal roofed shacks. It is ironic that something that was designed in order to prevent the barrios became a barrio in itself, and

CARACAS: A CROSSHATCHED CITY

almost promoting the creation of further shacks. Another irony perhaps is that this social housing was built under a military dictatorship and not democratically elected leadership, which seems to be counter-intuitive to the policies upheld by the parties. Jimenez was and still is a divisive character. On the one hand, Caracas thrived and improved under his leadership, yet also, as a dictator, he incited fear in his people to support him without any other option. Jimenez saw housebuilding as buying loyalty, which is a tactic that has been used throughout Venezuelan history, with Chavez and Maduro also adopting the same mindset, though none as effective as Jimenez’s was.

Through conducting research into Caracas’ past, there seem to be many repetitions throughout the history of the city; an attempt at democracy, overturned through dictatorship that does further the success of the country yet at the expense of its people. Intentions of the rulers come from a want to leave a legacy. An objective look at the result of Jimenez’s dictatorship would not lead someone to the conclusion that his diktat was harmful, yet on deeper observation, the architectures he commissioned reveal a more sinister and authoritarian motive to creation. History suggests that architectural projects can only succeed as intended when the goals of the political dictatorships coincide with the strong will of the Latin American people.

CARACAS: A CROSSHATCHED CITY

Fig. A5 - Caracas, Venezuela, Source: https://opticagerencial.wordpress.com/tag/el-quinto-sistema-de-direccion-y-manejo-de-la-libre-iniciativa/

4. CARACAS, NOW A tale of disparity

CARACAS, NOW

President Nicolas Maduro has been running the country for the past six years under the United Socialist Party of Venezuela, inheriting power following the death of his superior and previous president, Hugo Chavez in early 2013. To give context to the architectural issues in the city, understanding the geopolitical environment is essential. The economy is in a state of seemingly infinite hyperinflation causing Venezuelans to endure high levels of poverty, little or no access to medicines or food and Maduro appears on an international broadcast asking people to “trust” that he has the formula that’s going to help the country recover. (Phillips, T, 2018)

During Chavez’s presidency, the price of oil - 95% of the country’s export (Depersio, G, 2018) - collapsed, causing an imbalance in the country’s economic climate. Price controls on basic goods were introduced and wages fell by 40%. Since 1994, the bolivar, the currency in Venezuela, has been devalued three times and lost 98% of its value in one year (Gillespie, P, CNN, 2018). In May 2018, Andrea Diaz of CNN suggested that it would be wiser to invest in the virtual gold of ‘World of Warcraft’, which at the time of publication, was seven times more valuable than bolivars (Diaz, A, CNN, 2018).

CARACAS: A CROSSHATCHED CITY

REVOLU 22

TION

Because of the poor economy, Venezuelans are suffering. 90% of the country is reported to be living in poverty and eating on average one meal a day. In 2017, each Venezuelan lost an average of 11kg according to studies conducted by Simon Bolivar University, Andres Bello Catholic University, and the Central University of Venezuela. Since the beginning of the crisis, the UN estimates that more than 3 million Venezuelans, around 10% of the country’s population, have left the country hoping to build a future elsewhere, leaving homes, cars and shops empty. (Phillips, T, 2018) No community has remained untouched by the strain of the crash, and despite the cities inherent structural division, there is a united movement – leave the country, there is no hope for Venezuela. Tom Phillips of The Guardian spoke to former oil industry security consultant and landlord, Luis Saavreda, whose 26 flat tower block in Caracas has only 14 flats occupied. “This populism – this so-called socialism – has finished off our country. It isn’t finishing the country off. It has finished the country off ” (Phillips, T cited Saavreda, L, 2018). Alfredo Brillembourg of Urban Think Tank put it aptly that “Indeed, we have lost faith – if in fact we ever had it – in the capacity and the will of any government to resolve the disparity between rich and poor, to recognise the value of a common ground, to blur the boundaries that divide the world into us and them, have and have-not.” (Brillembourg, A, 2013).

Fig. B5 - Rioting in Venezuela, AP, Source: http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/ articulo/mundo/2017/07/27/eu-ordena-salir-de-venezuela-familias-delpersonal-de-embajada-en-caracas

CARACAS: A CROSSHATCHED CITY

Fig. C5 - Hugo Chรกvez, illustration by the author, Nathalie Harris, 2018

Fig. D5 - Nicolรกs Maduro, illustration by the author, Nathalie Harris, 2018

CARACAS, NOW

Brillembourg makes a point, this hope in governments and organisations is lost, there is no more belief in a system, yet he suggests that we must rather place our beliefs with “the realisation of practical, sustainable solutions in the architectural profession”. We, as followers of the practice of architecture, must provide. Brillembourg is from Venezuela himself, and it seems that he has inherited the rebellious attitude that Venezuelans have from a lack of trust in the government. He challenges architects to provide that solution, to help to bridge the gap between the rich and the poor. He challenges the profession, and the ethical standpoint of the architect, perhaps suggesting that we value solutions rather than creating deities.

Not only has this mass exodus changed the face of the city, it is changing the faces of other cities in other countries. Many Venezuelans are crossing the borders to Colombia, Brazil, Argentina, Europe, and the US. I spoke to my cousin, Leon Zinn, who left the country in 2007, to study at the University of Miami about the migration patterns in Venezuela. “Parents down there, since they’ve gone through hard times as well, recognise the signs early and they try very hard to get their kids to leave the country and maybe even study abroad or live with relatives outside of the country as quickly as possible”. He went on to discuss the reasons why he has not returned to Caracas since leaving “There was a huge migration of people leaving the country back in 2005 before Chavez … would restrict people leaving the country … there’s a huge risk for me not to be able to come back [to the United States].” (Zinn, Leon, interview, 2018)

Aﬄuent ‘Middle Class’ Impoverished Crosshatched areas

In the contemporary urban environment that is Caracas, there are two faces, two sides to the city, visible by the architecture that is present on either side. As the city is located within a valley, geographical locations very much dictate wealth. Despite the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s current poverty levels, there is still a sense of hierarchy within the structure of the urban fabric. The wealthier citizens reside within the epicentre of the city, on the valley floor, and the more impoverished spread across the valley walls of Caracas. The social structure is not completely black and white, as there are pockets of crosshatched areas, such as in China Mievilleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s science fiction crime novel, The City and The City.

Fig. E5 - Poverty map of Caracas, diagram by the author, Nathalie Harris, 2018

CARACAS: A CROSSHATCHED CITY

The division of Besźel and Ul Qoma is evident through the architecture, the clothing, and the cars. The novel’s utopian hidden city, Orciny is speculated to be the crosshatched areas between them. Citizens of either city are taught to ignore the other, and interacting with the other city would cause intervention from the “Breach” organisation policing the division. Though the novel is set within eastern Europe, the premise rings true with the city of Caracas. Petare and the informal side of the city, with a sizeable population of 364,684 people (geonames.org, 2018) identifies itself through its ad-hock architecture, the community built structures, and the symbiotic relationship with abandoned formal structures. Then there are the formal districts, Altamira, Los Palos Grandes, La Florida. Traditionally home to both old and new money, the architecture harks back to the modernist era, filled with straight lines, and tall structures. Within the wealthier districts are streets considered to be ghettos. Speaking to my cousin, Leon Zinn, who grew up in Caracas, I asked about an average day walking through the streets. He spoke of “hole in the wall” areas, “you would have these really beautiful condominiums and then you would have these places in between.” “All of a sudden you would hit a wall and in this wall there would be an entrance, and in that entrance if you look down it would be a very narrow alleyway, and you would see building after building just crammed together... you would either cross the street and try not to walk in front of the space because there is a very high chance of you … being kidnapped, held for ransom, or worse being killed just for your stuff that’s on you.” (Zinn, L, interview, 2018)

Within the formalised city, there were many aspirational buildings, such as the 23 de Enero blocks. None as informalised as the Centro Financiero Confinanzas, more commonly known as Torre de David after David Brillembourg, the developer of the tower. The third tallest building in Venezuela, it stands 45 storeys tall, yet in the wake of the 1994 Venezuelan banking crisis, the financial group supporting the construction collapsed, and following the death of Brillembourg in 1993, the construction of the tower was abandoned. With the building empty, the people of Caracas began to inhabit it, creating homes within the structure that led to communities. The building became a microcosmic city; providing shelter, space for businesses, hairdressers, supermarkets, churches, and gyms. 750 families inhabited the walls of the intended office, with each customising their spaces to suit their identities. “Its members have, with great ingenuity and determination, turned a ruin into a home” (Brillembourg, A, U-TT, 2013) including making amendments to the original structure to suit their needs and create a functioning building. The intention of Enrique Gómez, the architect, was not to create a vertical city, but to create a commercial development in an economic climate that could support the structure. However, intentions are separate from reality, and like with 23 de Enero housing project, we see the people of Caracas become their own architects, not waiting for someone to tell them that its okay to inhabit, but simply doing so and providing basic human needs for themselves.

CARACAS, NOW

Fig. A2 - Aerial diagram of Torre David, Source: Google Earth, edited by the author, Nathalie Harris

Fig. F5 - Section diagram of Torre David, Urban Think Tank, 2011, Source: http://u-tt.com/project/torre-david/

Fig. G5 - Diagram of Torre David, Urban Think Tank, 2011, Source: http://u-tt.com/project/torre-david/

CARACAS: A CROSSHATCHED CITY

Fig. H5 - Torre David, Iwan Baan for Urban Think Tank, 2011, Source: http://u-tt.com/project/torre-david/

CARACAS, NOW

The people of Caracas rebel against the idea that the government is protecting them, and find ways to protect themselves, “Perhaps only Caracas, with its volatile combination of economic turmoil and demagogic politics, could give birth to such a chimera”(McGuirk, J, 2014). It seems that the average caraqueño is faced with a choice, flee their home country for the hope of something better or stay and fight the economic turmoil by repurposing their surroundings. It is an anthropological need to seek out shelter, and the adaptive reuse of the empty building is becoming more and more pertinent to today’s society.

As office blocks, old warehouses, housing blocks, and more buildings become abandoned, perhaps the adoption of adaption rather than replacement of buildings is integral to create a sustainable solution to housing shortages around the world. In order to facilitate this shift in attitude, the architecture profession needs to embrace the repurposing and reuse of what is already built, assuming the resourceful attitude of the dwellers of Torre de David. These spaces “have the capacity to affirm difference and to afford the means of escape from authoritarianism and repression.” (Brillembourg, A & Klumpner, H, U-TT, 2013)

Fig. I5 - Torre David, Iwan Baan for Urban Think Tank, 2011, Source: http://u-tt.com/project/torre-david/

Fig. J5 - Torre David, Iwan Baan for Urban Think Tank, 2011, Source: http://u-tt.com/project/torredavid/

Fig. K5 - Torre David, Iwan Baan for Urban Think Tank, 2011, Source: http://u-tt.com/project/torre-david/

Fig. L5 - Torre David, Iwan Baan for Urban Think Tank, 2011, Source: http://u-tt.com/project/torre-david/

Fig. M5 - Torre David, Iwan Baan for Urban Think Tank, 2011, Source: http://u-tt.com/project/torre-david/

Fig. N5 - Torre David, Iwan Baan for Urban Think Tank, 2011, Source: http://u-tt.com/project/torre-david/

Fig. O5 - Torre David, Iwan Baan for Urban Think Tank, 2011, Source: http://u-tt.com/project/torre-david/

CARACAS: A CROSSHATCHED CITY

Fig. P5 - Torre David, Iwan Baan for Urban Think Tank, 2011, Source: http://u-tt.com/project/torre-david/

CARACAS: A CROSSHATCHED CITY

Fig. A6 - Illustration of Caracas, drawn by the author, Nathalie Harris

METAMORPHOSIS OF A CITY

5. METAMORPHOSIS OF A CITY Magical Realism and the city

Magical Realism stems from a desire to improve the environment that currently surrounds the artist or subject of interest. The term ‘Magical Realism’ was coined by Franz Roh in the wake of the first World War, when post-war culture was in a constant state of flux. Goethe and Schiller’s Enlightenment era and Walter Gropius’ vision of modernity from the Bauhaus both concerned themselves with reformation and renewal, yet sat on contrasting ends of the philosophical spectrum. Rising between them was “a generation of painters… associated with a ‘return’ to realism seen through a modern lens” (Morris, F, Tate Modern, 2018) these painters worked individually, not forming a single group, yet managed to generate recognition of their contemporary take on realism.

Roh originally introduced magical realism alongside the alternative term ‘New Objectivity’ (Nueue Sachlichkeit) before superseding it, and made sure to differentiate this phenomenon from expressionism, which portrayed an “emotional drama” (Morris, F, Tate Modern, 2018). Roh suggested that Magical realism was “anchored in the recognisable, but aspired to achieve ‘a magical gaze opening onto a … transfigured “reality”” (Morris, F citing Roh, F, Tate Modern, 2018). Originating in Weimar Germany, the genre has bled into many different mediums, instilling an acceptance of the blend of magical within the current reality, from notable fine artists such as Georgio de Chirico, George Grosz, and Frida Kahlo, the literary works of Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Laura Esquivel, and Haruki Murakami, to the cinematic works of Hayao Miyazaki of Studio Ghibli, Jean-Pierre Jeunet, and Guillermo del Toro. 37

One reason why it has so widely infiltrated popular culture is because it is rooted in a commonality, the reality of everyday life. The relatability of the art form enables the audience to comprehend the known reality whilst also furnishing an alternate one through magical elements, that fulfil a need of the protagonist. It allows for transformation where otherwise may be prohibited, and highlights the magic within the ordinary. The architecture within these cultural mediums tends to manifest itself within the hidden world, as with The City & the City. The city of Caracas shares an attitude with The City & the City, particularly seen within the way that you walk through the city, hidden “holes in the walls” (Zinn, L, 2018) that you shouldn’t see, avoiding eye contact for your own safety. Within Miéville’s The City & the City, the subverted gaze is enforced by an institution called ‘Breach’. It’s clear that Breach are feared, owing to the fear of what would happen to a citizen were they to breach. “It's not just us keeping them apart. It’s everyone in Besźel and everyone in Ul Quoma. Every minute, every day. We’re only the last ditch: it’s everyone in the cities who does most of the work. It works because you don’t blink. That’s why unseeing and unsensing are so vital. No one can admit it doesn’t work. So if you don’t admit it, it does. But if you breach, even if it’s not your fault, for more than the shortest time … you can’t come back from that.” (Mieville, C, 2009)

The division between each city is highly distinguishable through the architecture. Yet there are moments where the cities touch, the ‘crosshatched’ areas, where land ownership is disputed and are the back streets of both of the cities “…where the two cities are close up they make for interference patterns, harder to read or predict. They are more than a city and a city; that is elementary urban arithmetic.” (Miéville, C, 2009) with the speculated hidden third city of Orciny – a place that only exists when there is someone to believe in it living within the conspiracies of some of the characters. Inspector Tyador Borlú, the protagonist of the novel, has spent his entire life as a citizen of Besźel, unseeing the neighbouring city of Ul Quoma, yet as the narrative unfurls, Borlú makes the journey across the border, now unseeing his home of Besźel. The story itself is of two parts, it blends crime and fantasy into one, with a dream-like sense of a detective story. Miéville describes the relationship between the cities as “unique but very intimate” (Miéville, C, 2009), which is appropriate to also describe the nature of the relationship between the formal Caracas and the informal Caracas. There is no particular ‘solution’ to be had from the novel architecturally, but it mirrors Caracas, and the crosshatched areas of Caracas are the places where the hidden city exists, as we see within Torre David.

Fig. C6 - Image of Caracas, Javier Da Costa, 2016, Source: https://www.instagram.com/javoldg

Fig. B6 - Torre David, Iwan Baan for Urban Think Tank, 2011, Source: http://u-tt.com/project/torre-david/

CARACAS: A CROSSHATCHED CITY

METAMORPHOSIS OF A CITY

What will allow the city of Caracas to change? The question is, does the city want to reinstate its former identity pre-Chavez, or does it want to reinvent itself in the wake of a meltdown. Urban Think Tank have been aiming to experiment with changing the identity of the city. “A series of urban interventions” says Brillembourg at the AA in 2012, these interventions carve the way to transforming the city. The social makeup of Caracas, as previously discussed, is divided. The city is duplicitous in nature, half formal, half informal. When asked his views on approaching design in the city, Brillembourg responded “I don’t know if I scale up, I rather want to scale down and maybe we can meet in the middle, so if we can scale down maybe a little bit of the pretention in the formal city and scale up a little bit of the ideas of the informal city then maybe we can find that common ground in the middle” (Brillembourg, A, 2012) which reminds one that prescription of ideas can be limiting to creativity in that the ideas that flourish within the informal environment do not have as much pressure to be perfected as within the formal environment.

Magical realism engages with the concept of the hidden cities, making the mundane magical. It serves as a playful guide to those in poverty, allowing an injection of creativity yet with surprising functionality into familiar and possibly mundane structures. Like with the magical realist artists, architects should aim to create cities that are a positive environment using the sustainable practice of repurposing buildings. In application, Magical Realism within architecture presents itself more successfully within the informal. We already see this trend within London, with companies like Street Feast, who transform “derelict and disused spaces into unique eating and drinking environments, all bringing great street food, brilliant booze and vibes to people around London.” (Street Feast, 2018). Even in a city as lively as London, there is still a sense of wonder as you enter the back doors of a street feast location and open up into the informal stalls occupying the formal structures filled with neon lights and chatter, with plenty of hidden corners to explore.

Fig. D6 (overleaf) - Division in Caracas, images from Javier Da Costa, edited by the author, Nathalie Harris, Source: https://www.instagram.com/javoldg

CARACAS: A CROSSHATCHED CITY

Fig. E6 - Nighthawks and Gadabouts: A Nocturnal Noodle Market for Clerkenwell, Interior of the market, drawn by the author, Nathalie Harris, 2018

METAMORPHOSIS OF A CITY

Fig. F6 - Nighthawks and Gadabouts: A Nocturnal Noodle Market for Clerkenwell, Daytime Exterior, drawn by the author, Nathalie Harris, 2018

Fig. G6 - Nighthawks and Gadabouts: A Nocturnal Noodle Market for Clerkenwell, Nighttime Exterior, drawn by the author, Nathalie Harris, 2018

Within my studies, I spent my second year working on a speculative design project that dealt with the issues I have discussed within this dissertation. Ideas of informality, magical realism, and repurposing suited the site in London on Leather Lane. The market identity already provided an informal environment within a formal surrounding, and I aimed to enhance that by appropriating a building along the street to create a place for the marketplace to occupy. The intention was to use an unusable space to create a pocket of magical refuge for the local community.

Although the application in Caracas might be more utilitarian, thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a similar sense of wonder at the acts of the citizens in repurposing their social housing to create gateways to Caracasâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; hidden city.

CARACAS: A CROSSHATCHED CITY

LEARNING FROM CARACAS

6. LEARNING FROM CARACAS Conclusion

Often when looking to the future, the word utopia is widely used to describe the ideal, something to aspire to. The Scott Brown, Venturi, and Izenour Learning from Las Vegas is a seminal text that has integrated itself into architectural theory across the globe, with the notion of paradise being deeply rooted within capitalism and excess. This text reached Urban Think Tank early on in their careers, and when it came time to write about Latin America, Brillembourg used his Venezuelan history to investigate the barrios of Caracas, namely La Vega, which led to the practice they called Learning from La Vega (McGuirk, J, 2014).

Fig. A7 - Image of Caracas, Javier Da Costa, 2016, Source: https://www.instagram.com/javoldg

Caracas is far from the utopian dream it once presented, holding treasures of architectural magnitude, both formal and informal. If there is no resuscitating the dying city, then it must be used as an example, the failures and must be successes studied to attempt to avoid a repetition of history. Now, as the city destructs, can we learn from the quirks that the city presented? Torre David has become the poster boy for informal communities, and although it is no longer occupied, it can still be used as a model for future cities. The idea of re-appropriating and reusing empty buildings to allow communities to grow in places where there might not be affordable living spaces otherwise, can be applied across the globe.

CARACAS: A CROSSHATCHED CITY

A breeding ground for discussion and debate is the Biennale di Venezia, which has consecutively seen pavilions approaching topics of empty buildings, reuse and recycling of buildings, and inviting community into the discussion. These discussions, mostly posed by architects, cause them to question their own practices, and question their role in society. “To the trained architect who earns a living designing buildings, the notion of appropriating buildings to live in must seem an undesirable departure from the ‘right path,’ because it requires no intellectual input in terms of concept and production.” (Lepik, A, 2013). Torre David provided a space for communities to grow, to adapt. Under Chávez, people were encouraged to appropriate empty buildings, and following a flood in Caracas that left many of the poorer citizens homeless, he introduced an emergency law allowing the government to seize land and property for either temporary occupation or to build housing. The result of this law changed the face of the city and allowed many occupations like Torre David to be born. (McGuirk, J, 2014). Manifestations like Torre David allow experimental living conditions to occur, with those in poverty occupying space vertically, infiltrating and inhabiting the city, rather than pushing them into adverse geographical conditions like the barrios of Caracas on the valley walls. They allow accessibility to the city, and improve integration of the population, increasing light quality, dampening sound, and benefitting from the many virtues of building up, without having to spend

money on labour, materials, demolition, and all else that is involved with building from scratch. In an everincreasing world, cities of the future need to provide for their people, and create a liveable environment that is not only for those that can afford it. Cities of the future ought to provide spaces that inspire and foster creation and creativity, and encourage development of individuality and self-sufficiency through the architecture. However, as Justin McGuirk says, “The future is often discovered rather than invented…” (McGuirk, J, 2014) does this mean that exploring instances where the local culture has created its own architect is more pertinent than examples where architects attempt to fix poverty. In instances like these it’s not the role of the architect to create solutions but provide the resources for people to inhabit their own solutions. Imbuing a magical realist philosophy to life and architecture begins to create spaces that bring a sense of magic. “Anchored in the recognisable” but aspiring to “a magical gaze opening onto a … transfigured “reality”” (Morris, F, citing Roh, F, Tate Modern, 2018), creating a city that encourages an optimism and creativity.

Fig. B7 - Image of Caracas, Javier Da Costa, 2016, Source: https://www.instagram.com/javoldg

BIBLIOGRAPHY Books Zamora, L. (1995). Magical realism. Durham: Duke Univ. Press. Brillembourg, A. and Klumpner, H. (2012). Torre David: Informal Vertical Cities. 1st ed. Zürich: Müller. Graham, S. (2017). Vertical The City from Satellites to Bunkers. 1st ed. London: Verso. McGuirk, J. (2014). Radical Cities. London: Verso. Harvey, D. (2013). Rebel Cities: From the Right to the City to the Urban Revolution. 1st ed. London: Verso. Calzadilla, J (1981). Espacio Y Tiempo Del Dibujo En Venezuela. (translation: Space and Time of drawings in Venezuela) Venezuela Mieville, C. (2009). The City and The City. London: Pan Macmillan Wan, K and Gale, M (2018). Magical Realism. Art in Weimar Germany 1919-33. 1st ed. London: Tate Bolivar, S (1783-1830). El Libertador: Writings of Simon Bolivar (Library of Latin America). Edited by Bushnell, D, translated by Fornoff, F. Oxford University Press, 2003 Corrales, J (2001). Strong Societies, Weak Parties: Regime Change in Cuba and Venezuela in the 1950s and Today. (Book: Latin American Politics and Society) pg 81-113 University of California, Landscapes of Opportunity. Ch 1 Dictatorship Blocks: The Battle for the New Urban Venezuela, California: University of California Press Gunkel, H., Hameed, A. and O’Sullivan, S. (2017) Futures & Fictions. London: Repeater Books Venturi, R., Scott Brown, D. and Izenour, S. (1977) Learning from Las Vegas. Cambridge (Mass.): MIT Press

Videos

Architectural Association, 09 Feb 2012, Informal City: Design as Political Engagement - Part 4 - Alfredo Brillembourg,

AA Lectures Online, Video, posted 28 Sep 2015, accessed 31 Oct 2018, available at: https://www.aaschool.ac.uk/VIDEO/lecture. php?ID=1747

NowThis News, The Venezuelan Crisis Through the Eyes of a Millennial in Caracas | NowThis, YouTube, Video, posted 11 Aug

2017, Accessed 11 Oct 2018, Available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9aNFVMs_aeY Vox, The Collapse of Venezuela, explained, YouTube, Video, posted 25 Aug 2017, Accessed 10 Oct 2018, Available at https:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1gUR8wM5vA

FRANCE 24 Espanol, Venezuela el intento desesperado por controlar la inflacion, YouTube, Video (translation: Venezuela,

the desperate attempt to control inflation), posted 30 Aug 2018, Accessed 11 Oct 2018, Available at https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=wwfMZMjhXW8

EL TIEMPO, Análisis de la crisis de Venezuela | Caracas sin filtro | EL TIEMPO (translation: Analysis of the Crisis in

Venezuela | Caracas without filter | EL TIEMPO), posted 13 Aug 2018, Accessed 25 Oct 2018, Available at https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=Jlq6tk2tLrw TED, Iwan Baan at TEDCity2.0, Ingenious homes in unexpected places, posted Sep 2013, Accessed 30 Nov 2018, Available at https://www.ted.com/talks/iwan_baan_ingenious_homes_in_unexpected_places

Penguin Random House, The City & The City by China Mieville – Border Crime, YouTube, Video, Accessed 20 Dec 2018,

Available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSUhGhn8vOo

Articles

Phillips, T. (2018). Nicolás Maduro’s plan for Venezuela adds bewilderment to despair. [online] the Guardian. Available at:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/aug/26/venezuelan-mass-exodus-continues-amid-economic-turmoil [Accessed 20 Sep. 2018].

www.MoMA.org, M. (2018). Check out the exhibition Small Scale, Big Change: New Architectures of Social Engagement at

MoMA. [online] Moma.org. Available at: https://www.moma.org/interactives/exhibitions/2010/smallscalebigchange/projects/metro_ cable.html [Accessed 2 Oct. 2018].

International Business Times UK. (2018). Venezuela: Teenager killed as violent anti-Maduro protests engulf Caracas. [online]

Available at: https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/venezuela-teenager-killed-violent-anti-maduro-protests-engulf-caracas-1625342 [Accessed 26 Sep. 2018].

Ft.com. (2018). Venezuela’s economic and political crisis in charts | Financial Times. [online] Available at: https://www.ft.com/

content/0228db48-6e4b-11e7-bfeb-33fe0c5b7eaa [Accessed 26 Sep 2018].

HuffPost. (2018). Thousands Of Venezuelans Cross Into Colombia In Search Of Food And Medicine. [online] Available at:

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/venezuela-colombia-bridge-photo_us_578be683e4b0867123e1ab77?guccounter=1 [Accessed 26 Sep 2018].

Singer, F. (2018). Venezuelans going to bed hungry as food crisis deepens. [online] EL PAÍS. Available at: https://elpais.com/

elpais/2018/02/23/inenglish/1519384349_718243.html [Accessed 24 Sep 2018].

BBC News. (2018). Plunging oil prices send Venezuela into steep decline. [online] Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/

world-latin-america-35622188 [Accessed 24 Sep 2018].

The Economist. (2018). Medieval policies. [online] Available at: https://www.economist.com/the-americas/2011/08/20/

medieval-policies [Accessed 20 Sep 2018].

Shamdasani, R. (2018). OHCHR | UN human rights team’s findings indicate patterns of rights violations amid

mass protests in Venezuela. [online] Ohchr.org. Available at: https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews. aspx?NewsID=21948&LangID=E [Accessed 9 Nov 2018].

Barbarani, S (2017). The architecture of fear: how Caracas has adapted to constant threat of violence [online] Available at:

https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2017/mar/01/caracas-venezuela-adapted-constant-violence [Accessed 9 Nov 2018]

Diaz, A (2018) ‘World of Warcraft’s’ virtual gold is seven times more valuable than Venezuela’s real money [online] Available

at https://edition.cnn.com/2018/05/08/world/world-of-warcraft-token-worth-more-than-venezuelas-currency-trnd/index.html [Accessed 14 Dec 2018]

Depersio, G (2018) How does the price of oil affect Venezuela’s economy? [online] Available at https://www.investopedia.com/

ask/answers/032515/how-does-price-oil-affect-venezuelas-economy.asp [Accessed 14 Dec 2018]

Phillips, T. (2018) The fallen metropolis: the collapse of Caracas, the jewel of Latin America [online] Available at: https://www.

theguardian.com/cities/2018/dec/18/the-fallen-metropolis-the-collapse-of-caracas-the-jewel-of-latin-america?fbclid=IwAR2cFIlgs5pBGFK_r7jPEYJfXySaZGiQm8wmTtEh7g-4TZ-QLa4hnL-Du0 [Accessed 20 Dec 2018]

Manaugh, G. (2011) Unsolving the City: An Interview with China Miéville [online] Available at: http://www.bldgblog.

com/2011/03/unsolving-the-city-an-interview-with-china-mieville/ [Accessed 20 Dec 2018] Street Feast Website (2018) About Us [online] Available at: https://www.streetfeast.com/about-us/ [Accessed 21 Dec 2018]

Exhibitions Tate Modern, Magical Realism: Art in Weimar Germany 1919-33, Exhibited 30 Jul 2018 – 14 Jul 2019, Visited 01 Oct 2018

FIGURES Cover Fig. A1 - Torre David, Source: WikiMedia Author: EneasMx

Inner Spread Fig. A2 - Aerial diagram of Torre David, Source: Google Earth, edited by the author, Nathalie Harris

Introduction Fig. A3 - Childhood image of myself in Caracas, Sara Harris, 2000 Fig. B3 - Childhood image of myself in Caracas, Sara Harris, 2000 Fig. C3 - Childhood image of myself and my Grandma in Caracas, Sara Harris, 2000 Fig. D3 - Childhood image of myself in Caracas, Sara Harris, 2000 Fig. E3 - Diagram explaining the tipping point in Caracas, Venezuela, by the author, Nathalie Harris

The Old Caracas Fig. A4 - 23 de Enero Housing Project, Caracas, Venezuela, Source: http://guiaccs.com/obras/comunidad-23-de-enero/ Fig. B4 - One Bolivar, Ebay, Sleimanhobby, Source: https://www.numismatica.info.ve/en/coins/mv1bs-ca01.html Fig. C4 - Plan drawing of 23 de Enero Housing Project, Carlos Raúl Villanueva, 1955, Source: http://guiaccs.com/en/obras/23-deenero-community/ Fig. D4 - Overview of 23 de Enero Housing Project, Source: http://guiaccs.com/obras/comunidad-23-de-enero/

Caracas, Now Fig. A5 - Caracas, Venezuela, Source: https://opticagerencial.wordpress.com/tag/el-quinto-sistema-de-direccion-y-manejo-de-la-libreiniciativa/ Fig. B5 - Rioting in Venezuela, AP, Source: http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/articulo/mundo/2017/07/27/eu-ordena-salir-de-venezuelafamilias-del-personal-de-embajada-en-caracas Fig. C5 - Hugo Chávez, illustration by the author, Nathalie Harris, 2018 Fig. D5 - Nicolás Maduro, illustration by the author, Nathalie Harris, 2018 Fig. E5 - Poverty map of Caracas, diagram by the author, Nathalie Harris, 2018 Fig. F5 - Section diagram of Torre David, Urban Think Tank, 2011, Source: http://u-tt.com/project/torre-david/ Fig. G5 - Diagram of Torre David, Urban Think Tank, 2011, Source: http://u-tt.com/project/torre-david/ Fig. H5 - Torre David, Iwan Baan for Urban Think Tank, 2011, Source: http://u-tt.com/project/torre-david/ Fig. I5 - Torre David, Iwan Baan for Urban Think Tank, 2011, Source: http://u-tt.com/project/torre-david/ Fig. J5 - Torre David, Iwan Baan for Urban Think Tank, 2011, Source: http://u-tt.com/project/torre-david/ Fig. K5 - Torre David, Iwan Baan for Urban Think Tank, 2011, Source: http://u-tt.com/project/torre-david/ Fig. L5 - Torre David, Iwan Baan for Urban Think Tank, 2011, Source: http://u-tt.com/project/torre-david/ Fig. M5 - Torre David, Iwan Baan for Urban Think Tank, 2011, Source: http://u-tt.com/project/torre-david/ Fig. N5 - Torre David, Iwan Baan for Urban Think Tank, 2011, Source: http://u-tt.com/project/torre-david/ Fig. O5 - Torre David, Iwan Baan for Urban Think Tank, 2011, Source: http://u-tt.com/project/torre-david/ Fig. P5 - Torre David, Iwan Baan for Urban Think Tank, 2011, Source: http://u-tt.com/project/torre-david/

Metamorphosis of a city Fig. A6 - Illustration of Caracas, drawn by the author, Nathalie Harris Fig. B6 - Torre David, Iwan Baan for Urban Think Tank, 2011, Source: http://u-tt.com/project/torre-david/ Fig. C6 - Image of Caracas, Javier Da Costa, 2016, Source: https://www.instagram.com/javoldg Fig. D6 - Division in Caracas, images from Javier Da Costa, edited by the author, Nathalie Harris, Source: https://www.instagram.com/ javoldg Fig. E6 - Nighthawks and Gadabouts: A Nocturnal Noodle Market for Clerkenwell, Interior of the market, drawn by the author, Nathalie Harris, 2018 Fig. F6 - Nighthawks and Gadabouts: A Nocturnal Noodle Market for Clerkenwell, Daytime Exterior, drawn by the author, Nathalie Harris, 2018 Fig. G6 - Nighthawks and Gadabouts: A Nocturnal Noodle Market for Clerkenwell, Nighttime Exterior, drawn by the author, Nathalie

Harris, 2018

Learning from Caracas Fig. A7 - Image of Caracas, Javier Da Costa, 2016, Source: https://www.instagram.com/javoldg Fig. B7 - Image of Caracas, Javier Da Costa, 2016, Source: https://www.instagram.com/javoldg

APPENDIX A MAGICAL REALISM AT THE TATE MODERN THE CIRCUS ‘Magical Realism’ was a phrase coined in the early 1920s by the German art historian Franz Roh. At a time of political and social upheaval, Roh felt that many German artists were turning away from the idealistic tendencies that prevailed before the First World War in favour of a new form of realism. Roh identified two distinct approaches. There were ‘classical’ artists inclined towards recording everyday life through precise observation. The other group were the ‘verists’ who employed realism satirically to reveal the true nature of social inequalities. Some characteristics could be traced across both approaches, including an eye for the uncanny and grotesque. Certain subjects proved especially compelling for the Magical Realist artists. One was the circus – a setting associated with fantasy and imagination, where fear and desire took tangible form. The Circus was also seen as a space for outcasts and misfits, reflecting a wider preoccupation with social boundaries and taboos.

FROM THE VISIBLE TO THE INVISIBLE What I want to show in my work is the idea which hides itself behind so-called reality. I am seeking for the bridge which leads from the visible to the invisible – Max Beckmann November 1918 saw the end of the First World War and the collapse of the German Empire. Over the following years the new democratic German government – what is known as the Weimar Republic – faced a succession of political and economic crises. There were also profound changes in the social fabric. ‘A generation that had gone to school on a horse-drawn street-car’, the cultural critic Walter Benjamin later wrote, ‘now stood under the open sky in a countryside in which nothing remained unchanged but the clouds.’ Many of the artists in this exhibition were scarred by their experiences of the wartime trenches. This room includes some of the works made during and shortly after the war, including unflinching portraiture and visionary images that seem to yearn for peace. Some paintings suggest the distorted forms and colours of expressionism, while others convey a more distanced and objective gaze. Weimar Germany’s appetite for sensation could take unsettling forms. The sexualised murder of women was a disturbing theme that recurred in books, films, and stage productions of the period, as well as in artworks such as Otto Dix’s Lust Murder.

ON THE STREET AND IN THE STUDIO After the turbulence, strikes, and attempted coups of the immediate post-war years, Weimar Germany achieved a certain stability in the mid-1920s. American loans supported a period of economic growth. This was the ‘Golden Twenties’, known for its liberal spirit and creativity. Artists depicting the urban landscape captured the uneasy overlapping of past and present. Despite the wartime losses, Berlin’s population

doubled between 1910 and 1920 to reach four million inhabitants. Economic recovery and industrialisation demanded workers, and opened up new opportunities for women. Yet the hurrying city workers contrasted with war veterans begging on the streets. Social inequality was the subject of frank and satirical commentary. As one critic remarked: ‘such realism … is not likely to be accepted to those who want art to be pretty.’ The privacy of the studio remained a place for traditional practices – the still-life, the nude commissioned portraits – undertaken with cool precision. Portraits captured individuals but could also be seen as representing social ‘types’. Weimar Germany’s fluctuation between freedom and restriction was embodied in images of fashionable ladies, liberated ‘new women’, salesmen and students.

FAITH The terrible losses of the First World War led to a renewed search for greater meaning. Many people were drawn to Rudolf Steiner’s anthroposophy – a form of mystical philosophy. The Indian writer Rabindranath Tagore lectured in Germany to promote a spiritual approach to Hinduism. Artists tended to be sceptical of organised religion, and the works shown here often show a rethinking of Christian imagery. Albert Birkle and Herbert Gurschner drew upon examples from the German and Italian Renaissance to develop an approach that was at once realistic and distorted. Some of the paintings in this room were made in the late 1920s, as the publication of war memoirs and novels brought the horrific conditions of the trenches back into public consciousness. Nationalist politicians criticised these accounts as dishonouring the memory of the fallen. The narrative of betrayal helped to build support for the National Socialists. Their extremist and anti-Semitic policies thrived after the economy collapsed again during the Great Depression of the early 1930s. They eventually gained power in 1933, bringing the hopes of the Weimar Republic to a disastrous, devastating end.

CABARET Cabaret was a popular form of entertainment across Europe in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Typically taking place in a bar or a night-club, it included song, dance, and dramatic sketches performed to an audience eating and drinking at tables. The intimate setting created a distinct social atmosphere, quite different to the traditional theatre or concert hall whose programmes were designed to appeal to a large audience. In the Weimar Republic, Kabarett was predominantly satirical, parodying social and political situations. The cabaret was built on outwardlooking and tolerant values, reflecting the ways in which German artists of all kinds engaged with international culture. For women, the shifting social and economic conditions of Weimar Germany created new possibilities. Expectations of what they could achieve widened, beyond the traditional roles of homemakers and mothers. The changing boundaries of moral acceptability meant that women could visit cabarets and bars without the same degree of scrutiny that occurred before the Weimar era.

Franz Radziwill Conversation about a Paragraph Paul Klee Comedy

1929 Oil paint on canvas laid on wood

1921 Watercolour and oil paint on paper

Rudolf Schlichter Lady with Red Scarf (Speedy with the Moon) Otto Dix Zirkus (Circus): Illusion Act

1933 Oil paint on canvas

1922 Etching, drypoint on paper Conrad FelixmĂźller The Beggar of Prachatice 1924 Watercolour, gouache and graphite on paper

Albert Birkle The Acrobat Schulz V 1921 Tempera and chalk on paper mounted on cardboard

Carl Grossberg Rokin Street, Amsterdam 1925 Tempera on panel

Otto Dix Portrait of Bruno Alexander Roscher 1915 Oil paint on board

Sergius Pauser Self-Portrait with Mask 1926 Oil paint on canvas

Richard MĂźller In the Studio 1926 Oil paint canvas

Jeanne Mammen Boring Dolls 1929 Watercolour and graphite on paper mounted on cardboard

Josef Eberz

Herbert Gurschner

Dancer (Beatrice Mariagraete)

Triumph of Death

1923

1927

Oil paint on canvas

Prosper de Troyer

Herbert Gurschner

Erik Satie (The Prelude)

Lazarus (The Workers)

1925

1928

Oil paint on canvas

Albert Birkle

Lea Grundig

Crucifixion

Into the Abyss

1921

1943

Oil paint on board

Pen and ink on cardboard

Albert Birkle The Hermit 1921 Oil paint on canvas

Albert Birkle Passau 1925 Oil paint on hardboard

would just see a whole bunch of people there. Normally that’s where a lot of

APPENDIX B

the crime was, but at least around that area, but usually that’s how it went,

INTERVIEW WITH LEON ZINN N: If you could just tell me a little bit about your experience as someone who grew up in Caracas, tell me about your experience in Caracas when you were growing up and then how it seems to you as you’re now an outsider. L: Ok, so, growing up in Caracas, at least in the time period that I grew up in was one of the best times of my life I would have to say, for sure. There was always food, violence was still there but not as extreme as it is right now. You can get away with a lot of things in Venezuela that you can’t get away with here for example (United States) regardless of your age. The people there are very friendly, very party going people in the sense that they’re always ready to have a good time, no matter what the day or what hour of the day. The food there is beyond amazing and there is such variety out there, I mean, it’s something that I miss very much from Venezuela. Now you can barely find any food, the lines to the supermarkets are, I would say on par with the people trying to get Justin Beiber’s or Miley Cyrus’ autograph sometimes. Medical wise, before, Venezuela was actually pretty good, nowdays you can barely find any medicine. I know my dad has some friends that actually have to go to the doctors here and get medicine for them that they don’t need and send it over to the people that do need it because you can’t find it and when you do find it, it’s so unbelievably expensive that hardly anyone can afford it. As far as how much the violence goes, I haven’t heard that much from my parents but from my own experience in Venezuela, I’m sure that the amount of kidnappings, the amount of people getting killed and tortured as well has gone exponentially up since I left about 10 years ago. N: So, on an average day, what kind of

things

walking

would

you

through

encounter

the

streets?

L: So, mind you most of the time that I lived there I used to live in what would be considered the nicer part of Caracas which

“there were certain spots there that you would consider them to be ghettos.”

was Altamira and Los Palos Grandes so there I mean you would encounter what you would encounter here, some homeless people, y’know just average people going on about their day, people going to kiosks to get their newspapers and cigarettes and stuff like that, going to grocery stores. There was nothing out of the ordinary with the exception that there were certain spots there that you would consider them to be ghettos. N: a

Would street

you or

say

block?

was How

corner would

of you

street

describe

it?

L: I would describe it more as a hole in the wall to be honest, because you would be walking on a street and then all of a sudden you would hit a wall and in this wall there would be an entrance and in that entrance if you look down it would be a very narrow alleyway and you would see building after building just crammed together and you

“you would have these really beautiful houses sometimes or these really beautiful condominiums, very small condominiums but still, and then you would have these places in between.”

you would have these really beautiful houses sometimes or these really beautiful condominiums, very small condominiums but still, and then you would have these places in between. N: So like pockets of crime, poverty L: Yeah, for example next to where our abuela lives, not even a block away from there there’s one of those places, so they’re everywhere.

N: And is it the kind of place that you wouldn’t look down and you’d try to avoid its existence would you say? L: Yeah, for the most part you either cross the street and try not to walk in front of the space because there is a very high chance of you, if you’re wearing nice clothes for example or if you have anything that the people there would perceive as expensive or luxury, you might end up being kidnapped, held for ransom, or worse being killed just for your stuff that’s on you. N: Right. And so, do you ever feel like there was a shift while you were there, so just tell me the years that you were there between L: So, from 1987 which was the year that I was born ‘til about 2007/8 which is when I came here to study in the university of Miami N: Ok, did you ever feel like while you were there, there was any shift in social perception or you felt like there was a point in time where things were changing for the worse? L: That happened in 99, so in 1999, around the time when Hugo Chavez came into power. There also was a really bad flood there, actually there were flash floods, so that kind of decimated parts of Caracas, especially what we call Los Ranchitos, which is the… So, if you go to Caracas and you see the Avila which is the mountain right next to the city, there are parts of it that you can barely see the actual mountain or any trees for that matter because its just covered with these small little shacks where most of the people that are in poverty live. So, the rains really devastated that part as well as the other side of the mountain which is called La Guaira. Both of these parts unfortunately are occupied by what we would call here the lower class. The people who have barely anything and either sometimes have to steal to get what they want or y’know they have jobs cleaning up the city or something of the sort, minimum wage job, something that doesn’t require you to have any education whatsoever, that you can just do repeatedly one thing after another the same thing. It was around that time that people started to get desperate and obviously, Chavez being a “man of the people” he kind of inflamed that situation where he would make the people that are lower class, which incidentally is a huge amount of the population in Caracas compared to the middle class of the higher class for that matter. He kind of gave them the sense that they don’t have to be poor anymore and that they’re part of the country and the country is going to take care of them, and he would give them the bare minimum and to them obviously it would be, I don’t know how you would describe it.

would

gold

N: So, on another note, I guess something completely different, did

L: Yeah exactly, so it would be like a banquet for them. Money, he would

you feel like culture influenced your identity as a Venezuelan? For

give them sometimes firearms as well which an unbelievably bad idea. This

example, art, or literature, or film kind of infiltrated the society?

happened about midway through his presidency, he would offer people

L: Speaking from my standpoint, I was never really all that good

alcohol, money, and firearms and a red cap, which was his signature cap that

at Spanish to be honest which is kind of funny when you come

he would always be wearing, if you would go and join his demonstrations.

to think about it. We used to read a bunch of stuff at school that I

That way, when it was televised, you would see a sea of people there and

hardly remember, the films I used to go see, at least the ones in the

I know because the school that I went to, a couple of my friends actually

movie theatre I never watched because the company I was with was

went there just to get free firearms,

the focus of my attention, but there were certain films, for example,

alcohol, and money. All they had to do was just spend two hours standing there in the crowd and just clapping every now and again. N: So, it was all just propaganda? L: Yeah pretty much. I mean, that’s the thing about Venezuelans that I do sort of enjoy that they aren’t conformists if you will. They will always try and find a way to cheat the system, they don’t really like any type of authority to be honest.

pot

“he [Chavez] would offer people alcohol, money, and firearms and a red cap, which was his signature cap that he would always be wearing, if you would go and join his demonstrations. That way, when it was televised, you would see a sea of people there”

you could say he was one of the founding fathers of Venezuela which was Fransisco Miranda and Simon Bolivar, that was kind of a fan made film but it was very well done to the point where you had the action, the battles that you read about in Venezuela, and then you have the drama from their lives and stuff that you would never know about these two guys. In terms of music, I mean Venezuela is known for one type of music, I don’t even remember what the kind of music is called, its not merengue and it’s not salsa cause those are from outside of the country, but it’s a huge influence on the culture as well though. That, and reggaeton, which has gotten so bad nowadays but… to me personally the thing that influenced me more was the people and how they treated each other.

Obviously, the people that don’t

N: And if you could summarise that attitude in one sentence?

know better, they need to be led rather than them leading themselves but

L: Accepting. So, unlike here, and especially now, a lot of people

for the most part, at least my experience it was a very anarchic society because the rules of law didn’t really apply, they were more like guidelines. N: You were saying before that you had the chance to do things that you wouldn’t do in the states, what’s your fondest memory of something that you wouldn’t do in the states? L: So, when I was around 15/16 years old, I went with my friends to the beach and we went to a liquor store and bought around, I wanna say around that time maybe $40 worth of alcohol, and mind you this was being nearly 16 years old. And we drove to the beach, and we went to

“If you get stopped by the cops, if you have a wallet full of money, you can just negotiate your way out of it, all you have to really be is think quick on your feet and have the money with you, that’s it.”

places where you’re definitely not allowed to go, also we’ve gotten stopped, we used to get stopped all the time with the cops, we used to just give them money and they would let us go. And

“there’s pretty much a melting pot of everybody from all around the world, everybody, and they all mess with each other, all of them. They all insult each other, they all joke with each other, they all back and forth, its just a way of life there, everybody laughs it off, has a beer, goes to eat an arepa, goes to the club”

here are very sensitive about what you say to them, you can’t really speak openly about a lot of things, it the PC culture. In Venezuela you don’t have that, you don’t have that at all. You would talk to people, like, you would talk, like you normally would talk, you don’t have to be careful about hurting their feelings or saying something wrong because either A, that person will send something right back at you or B, they would make fun of it. At least

we would have alcohol, some of

this is my experience, this is why things don’t really affect me when

my friends that did drugs had

people say things to me, you learn to get a thick skin there, a really

drugs in the car and they would

thick skin. So that’s why I mean when people are accepting, they

find the drugs, they would either

don’t care that you’re black or you’re Asian because there are so many

take the drugs with them to

different people in Venezuela as well. I mean there’s pretty much

use them or they would have us pay them off. It doesn’t sound as fun

a melting pot of everybody from all around the world, everybody,

as it actually is when you experience it because here, obviously people

and they all mess with each other, all of them. They all insult each

here get a rush from having to break the law, that surge of adrenaline

other, they all joke with each other, they all back and forth, its just

that people get but over there, you still feel that rush but you know

a way of life there, everybody laughs it off, has a beer, goes to eat an

that there’s no consequences to your actions afterwards, you know

arepa, goes to the club or something, I don’t know. They just let it

what I mean? If you get stopped by the cops, if you have a wallet full of

go, over here people hold grudges like crazy, they break down at the

money, you can just negotiate your way out of it, all you have to really

first small little insult or misunderstanding that you do. It’s ridiculous,

be is think quick on your feet and have the money with you, that’s it.

they’re soft, the people here are soft. I keep saying “Dude if you went to Venezuela, you wouldn’t last half an hour!” As soon as you walk

“this piece of art was untouched for years, years and years. As soon as the situation started to get bad, the copper rods started to disappear. Why? Because people would go there, cut them down, and sell them to construction people, or actually use them to build Los Ranchitos, the little shacks on the mountain.”

out of the airport that’s when

South America, rivalled by no one. They were rich obviously because it’s

it starts, because you have

a country that produces petroleum, if you look at Saudi Arabia, Saudi

those taxi drivers that come

Arabia has billions on billions of dollars, just from selling oil to the rest

up to you cause they wanna

of the world. The problem is its leadership, the problem is when you have

give you a ride to Caracas

people who are greedy and have little to no care about the people around

and they already know what’s

them or the people that they’re supposed to be leading then this is exactly

up, they already start doing

what happens, you get dictatorships popping up all over the world and

that kind of stuff to you.

its sad. Its sad because my memories of Venezuela growing up are very fond, and I’m sure that anybody that’s growing up there now it’s horrible,

Did

ever

its absolutely a living hell. A completely different place. I remember you

David?

would be able to go to any restaurant, they would have food there, you

L: Torre David? No. I don’t

would be able to walk down the street to the panaderia that was near my

think I did, what is it?

house and they would always have fresh bread, their entire inventory

encounter

you Torre

was

building

intended to be built for the financial sector and was never

finished

and

was

then taken over as a vertical city in essence, people live in it, they had hair salons and food markets and all these different things within one building and reappropriated the office block in order to live. The Maduro representation said that they were going to improve quality of life for the people that live there and in 2014, instead of improving the situations, they just evicted everyone from

“my memories of Venezuela growing up are very fond, and I’m sure that anybody that’s growing up there now it’s horrible, its absolutely a living hell. A completely different place.”

would be stocked up. Y’know, nowadays when you go to the pharmacy they’re almost empty, you go to the grocery store, aside from the line that you have to get in there’s barely enough food for people, not talking about cans or dried pasta or that kind of stuff, I’m talking about meats, any seafood, poultry,

the building and just left them homeless. After certain architecture

eggs, fresh food, its scarce,

practices did some research into the building and made a video

and unbelievably expensive too because of the amount of inflation

about it and a book and used it as an example of informal living

that’s going on in Venezuela. I mean, its gone from paradise, to

and how people can make the best out of nothing and make their

just, a dump. Landfill, sorry, landfill would be a better description.

own situation in this one building which was I think the seventh tallest building in South America. But I just wanted to know if you

had come across it or if it was something that people spoke about?

L: Not that I talk to anymore, I think most of the people that I went to

L: I haven’t come across it but from your description it doesn’t surprise

high school with are out, they went to Europe, or here to the United

me that people would just

States, or they’ve gone to somewhere else in Latin America like Colombia

take over the building and use it for their own gains or just manipulate it for their way to survive, because that’s just what Venezuelans do. There used to be, and I can’t remember the artists name,

“It used to be one of the richest, if not the richest country in Latin America, and it all just spiralled and took a turn for the worst.”

you

have

outside of the country as quickly as possible. There was a huge migration of people back in 2005-10 before Chavez grabbed and said ‘you know what, people can’t go out anymore’ like he would restrict people leaving the country, that’s why I haven’t been back home to Venezuela because be able to go and then to come

was just on the side of the highway, and its just a bunch of steel or copper

back because the national guard

rods that you would see from afar and they would actually make a shape.

or something like that would stop me at the airport and say

Soto

was

it?

Jesus

still?

to leave the country and maybe even study abroad or live with relatives

there’s a huge risk for me to not

wasn’t

there

as well, recognise the signs early and they try very hard to get their kids

interesting sculptures all around Caracas, and one of the biggest ones

friends

or Argentina. Parents down there, since they’ve gone through hard times

there used to be these really

any

“I haven’t been back home to Venezuela because there’s a huge risk for me to not be able to go and then to come back”

Soto?

no you can’t go anywhere, you

L: Yeah, I think that’s who it was. So, this piece of art was untouched

have to stay here. They probably

for years, years and years. As soon as the situation started to get bad,

wouldn’t mess with you that

the copper rods started to disappear. Why? Because people would

much with a British passport because they don’t seem to have that much

go there, cut them down, and sell them to construction people, or

problems with Europeans. If you had an American passport, that might

actually use them to build Los Ranchitos, the little shacks on the

be different, just because Maduro has a huge problem with the United

mountain. It used to be one of the richest, if not the richest country

States just like Chavez did. Which might be warranted, I’m sure the

in Latin America, and it all just spiralled and took a turn for the

US has tried to take over Venezuela like they did in other parts of the

worst. I think it was in the 50s and 60s, that was the golden period

world like Nicaragua, they set up the governments there to be friendly

of Venezuela to be honest. Infrastructure-wise, they were on top in

with them because that’s what the US wants more than anything is

just to have all the governments be friendly with them so that

express yourself and exercise your right to voice your unhappiness

way they can do whatever they want, how they want essentially.

in what’s going on around you is so good for you as a person. L: No I understand that, and I believe that they should do that but its just

N: Do you think there will ever be a change in the government, or do you

a band aid, it’s not going to solve the overall problem. And it did make the

think there’ll ever be a situation where the government can thrive again?

news a couple of times where there were videos of the protestors, horrible

L: It’s possible. What I think the best-case scenario would be, the

videos of people getting beaten, people getting hit with perdigones which

thing is thought that two things need to really happen. 1, the entire

are those rubber bullets and the rubber bullet in the shotgun form. I’ve

Venezuelan government, at least the people that would consider

seen pictures and videos of people getting hit with that and the aftermath,

themselves Chavistas still just need to go, just need to be completely

its horrible. Unless you get hit from a close range with those, in the head

stripped away of power and not be able to mess the country up

or somewhere where if you don’t get medical attention you might get

anymore. And 2, the poor people in Venezuela need to be educated

internal haemorrhaging, but it’s horrible to look at. Those things raise

enough to know the difference between a good leader, and just

awareness but outside, the only ones that would be able to do something

somebody who is trying to brainwash them into following him into

about it immediately would be the US, but we all know how that goes.

doing whatever that person/he wants. So those are the two things

But that wouldn’t be the first time they’ve invaded a foreign country and

that really need to happen, because there are people in Venezuela

tried to topple the leader because he’s a dictator and install their own

that do want to change the country for the better that are not greedy

brand of democracy there which doesn’t work. It’s the people that have to

people, but the problem is that they don’t really get the opportunity

change it and it’s the people that have to find a solution to the problem at

to really lead, because anyone that opposes the government now

hand. What it is? I have no idea because I’m not that smart. Maybe what

there is actually a story not too long ago I think it was actually 3 or

it is, is that someone needs to sit Maduro down with a beer and talk to

4 months ago maybe at most, somebody who, I can’t remember if

him and talk him down, tell him we need to get back to the people and

he was a lawyer or if he was a mayor, he literally got kidnapped in

invest in education and infrastructure and we’ll be alright. Its classism,

the middle of the night by the special forces if you will of Venezuela,

that’s why in Venezuela you don’t really have racism, you have classism.

which is a nice way of saying a kill squad of the government.

That’s why there’s much more anger if you’re poor and you see these people that have millions and millions of bolivares and all they do is take

N: There was a politician recently who supposedly ‘committed suicide’

advantage of the system and they come out on top. There is absolutely

out of one of the windows under custody of the government. They’re

no justice whatsoever in Venezuela. None. And the same thing happens

claiming that he did but there’s evidence to show that he was pushed

here. That’s what boggles my mind about the US sometimes. It’s a perfect,

out of the window or that he was tortured and was running for his life

well-polished way to control people, and this has been going on for a

and something happened that he ended up falling out of the window

long long time. That is not a new trick and that has always been the case,

L: Tripped and fell out the window? Is that the old excuse? The

there’s always someone trying to control a large group of people, whether

government when it does these kinds of things they’ll try as hard as

it be through religion, money, or I mean the real shift in control in people

they can for you to not see what really happened, they’ll use whatever

was from people being slaves and they thought that they were free after

excuse they can and if possible, they will create an even bigger

regimes toppled etc, it went from you being a slave to you owing debt. The

distraction for you to stop asking questions about the other thing.

monetary system is a devastating system to humanity. The other thing

L: I don’t understand why people still have this belief that if people go

too is education. We’ve gotten to a pretty impressive point technology-

to the poll booths or the voting centres that they’re going to change

wise, but not socially. We’re still trying to up one another. Imagine how

things because its rigged. Its been rigged since Chavez, nothings

much we could do if you didn’t have to worry about where your next

gonna happen to you, they won by an overwhelming amount of

meal is going to be from or how you’re going to pay your rent etc. You

votes, they get people’s votes that are dead, don’t exist or have voted

have all of these concerns that don’t allow you to be what you want to be.

the other way just to get them to win. The people that are counting the votes too are in on it, they’re either being threatened that if they

N: Well, thank you for answering my questions, it’s been really interesting

don’t do what they’re asked they’ll either kill them or their family

to hear your view both on Caracas and on the world as a whole.

members or they’re simply loyal to the regime if you will. I’m sure that my Venezuelan identity is being used in order to vote for Maduro, because they have your fingerprints on file, they have your signature on file too and it’s not like there’s going to be an outside investigator that comes in and says, ‘this is just a photocopy or photoshop’, that’s not going to happen. That’s not going to change a thing to be honest. All the protests that people do, it’s not enough. N: One benefit of having a protest I think is to raise awareness of the situation and make people see what is happening in Caracas and Venezuela as a whole, its being able to express your disgust or distaste in what’s happening. Sometimes that ability to

CARACAS: THE CROSSHATCHED CITY NATHALIE ZARINA HARRIS BA ARCHITECTURE YEAR 3 TUTOR: SHAUN MURRAY

Caracas; The Crosshatched City

Articles inside

4. CARACAS, NOW

3. THE OLD CARACAS

INTRODUCTION

KEY WORDS AND ABSTRACT