Modern love

We take a tour of Caracas' treasure trove of midcentury and brutalist gems

- ADAM ŠTĚCH

The Venezuelan capital spreads out along the Guaire River, nestling at the foot of the Cerro El Ávila mountain range, which separates the city from the Caribbean Sea.

Only a few years ago, Caracas was considered to be the most dangerous city in the world, where kidnappings and murders were a common occurrence. Despite the unstable political regime still in place, security has improved, allowing us to take a tour, guided by local design enthusiasts Alexandra Salas and Edmundo Hernández, of the city's many modernist architectural gems.

In common with other Latin American countries, Venezuela went through a journey of national and cultural emancipation at the beginning of the 20th century. Many European immigrants found a new home and plenty of business opportunities here.

The country soon became one of the fastest developing in the world, thanks to its plentiful natural resources (oil was discovered in the 1920s). Art deco styles and the first examples of modernist architecture appeared in Caracas during the interwar period, with work by Arthur Kahn, Gustavo Wallis Legórburu, Manuel Mujica Millan and Carlos Raúl Villanueva forming the foundation for the wave of Venezuelan post-war modernism that followed.

Caracas experienced an urban boom in the 1950s, as the country reached its economic peak during the dictatorship of Marcos Peréz Jiménez. It became an architectural playground where midcentury modernism found an experimental and tropical twist. A landmark structure of this period is the Centro Simón Bolívar, 

designed by Cipriano Domínguez in 1948 as a model for a multipurpose building. It dominates the city skyline with its huge twin towers and sunshade-covered façades. Its mosaic-clad, curved forms showcase the flamboyant nature of Venezuelan modernism.