APPROPRIATING MODERN ARCHITECTURE: DESIGNERS’ STRATEGIES AND DWELLERS’ TACTICS IN THE EVOLUTION OF THE 1950S VENEZUELAN SUPERBLOQUES

Abstract

In the first half of the 20th century, masses of people moved from the decaying rural sector to Venezuelan cities in search of opportunities amid increasing revenues from the oil industry, which created greater demand for affordable housing. As the existing housing supply was deficient, they occupied Caracas’ vacant lands on slopes and green areas and built ranchos (hovels) on uncontrolled barrios (informal settlements). By 1950, an estimated 50,000 ranchos lined the hills of Caracas. As part of the so called “Batalla contra el Rancho”, (Battle against hovels), the dictatorship of Marcos Pérez Jiménez implemented a housing plan that used high-rise superbloques as the emblematic building type. From 1951 to 1958, the government built 97 superbloques with 17,934 apartments. Superbloques started to decay as soon as the dictatorship collapsed. In the last 60 years, the conditions affecting residents have changed in many ways and since the replacement of the superbloques is not conceivable due to Venezuela’s chronic housing shortages, their preservation is a present-day challenge. This dissertation is focused on the assessment of the present living conditions in the superbloques and compares two projects: Cerro Grande, the first superbloque built, that was aimed at middle income households and 23 de Enero, an emblematic community with many superbloques built for low-income households. While Cerro Grande crystalizes the ambitions of the planners to align the superbloque with trending ideas of the modern movement, 23 de Enero is an architecturally less elaborated solution addressing the increasing demand of low-cost housing solutions. This research builds an historical interpretation of the superbloque context and uses a qualitative research design that combines interviews with residents, on-site field observations, and the architectural analysis of the buildings themselves to assess the evolution of the physical organization. The research develops a theoretical framework based on Michel de Certeau´s descriptions of the dialogue between producers and consumers expressed through the use of strategies as a means of control by the former and tactics or ways of operating to navigate the everyday life by the latter. The study asses the dialogue between the strategies established by policymakers, planners, and architects in the implementation and design of superbloques and the tactics developed by residents to appropriate and transform the housing to meet their needs. As part of its outcomes, the investigation compares and analyzes the physical characteristics of the buildings to outline the evolution of the superbloque design. The study contributes to the discussion about the preservation of superbloques by outlining the differences between the evolution of the physical layout, the processes of appropriation of residents, and the challenges for the improvement of the quality of life in the two scenarios represented in both case studies.