Explaining Villanueva’s shiny box: The Project of the Fina Gómez Foundation (Maison du Venezuela) at Cité International Universitaire de Paris, 1969

Abstract

On the basis of letters, drawings and texts of the explanatory — not descriptive — report which accompany a few photos of the model, we reconstruct the design process of this private commission. The historical, theoretical and design analysis of the dormitory for students from Venezuela — and other nations — in Paris aims to understand, compare and evaluate design decisions. At the end of his career and in the modern movement’s final phase, this residence summarizes some of Villanueva’s experiences with large social housing programs headed by him at the Venezuelan public administration, where he experimented with the theories of modern housing, now implemented in a context that was different from a historical, urban, social and technological point of view. This preliminary design was a radical proposal for the southern periphery of Paris, subverting CIUP’s norms and the planning regulations of Paris. This shiny box, away from the opaque and porous volumes of his tropical architecture, is one more example of his architectural research: a modern balance of the Vitruvian triad. In this case, functionality is a germ of the architectural form, full of Jesús Soto’s art and covered with Jean Prouvé’s technology.

Keywords: Carlos Raúl Villanueva, Jean Prouvé, Jesús Rafael Soto, Cité Internationale Universitaire de Paris, Venezuela, housing units, student dormitory, prefabrication.