Final+Project

Final Project **__Plaza los Museos (The Museum Square) __**

The Museum Square is located in Parque los Cobos, Bellas Artes. The easiest way to go there is to take the subway and get off on Bellas Artes station, and then you walk two blocks back. This place is very famous in Caracas since there is where the two most important museums of Venezuela are located and it is the gateway to one of the most beautiful parks in the city.

 In 1800 The Museum Square was a coffee plantation called San Bernardino that was exploited by French owners. The square has a radial organization, which comb ines elements from a central and linear organization. This is a very good advantage because you can reach it without taking the same route every time. When the government built this place they took into account a few needs, such as, the needs of the people that went there because it has several roads and is a central point, the structure of the building and the context where the building is placed.  The square has a very basic form, a circle. It can only be entered from two sides, one of them is the street and the other one is from Parque los Caobos. This square was renewed in 2007; it has a granite floor with 16 colored petals.  About the context it has three essential buildings: the Science Museum, The Fine Arts museum and Parque los Caobos.

 The Science museum was built by one of the most important architects in Venezuela, Carlos Raúl Villanueva. This building was inaugurated in 1940 and is located on the south border of the square. This building has 2 floors but they are practically small so the harmony with the square is present. The materials used in the museum were brick and reinforced concrete. The walls and columns are clad in granite with marble dust. The building has the same form of the square because the columns on the front have the same sequence being part of the circle.

 The Fine Arts museum was built by the same architect that built the Science museum so they have similarities. The building was inaugurated in 1938 and it contains 5 floors. The Neoclassic style is very impressive and the columns that are on the front of the building are made of the same materials of the other museum. The museums are facing each other so it is a very good system done by the architect.

 The Museum Square is one of the most important places in Caracas because it has a cultural essence and a history that no one can ignore. One of the important aspects is that people can only enter the museum by passing through the square so they have to interact with the area. The context and the needs are very well treated because they achieve all the requirements in architecture and urban planning.