"This is the first publication in more than thirty years on Carlos Raul Villanueva (1900-1975), one of the preeminent designers of the twentieth century. Villanueva, who was raised in Europe and trained at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris, returned to his native Venezuela in the late 1920s and proceeded to transform the landscape of that rapidly growing nation while developing his own unique architectural style. Synthesizing his rigorous, analytical training with the radical modernism of Le Corbusier and the vernacular building traditions of Venezuela, he produced a functional yet artful architecture that was both avant-garde and humane.". "As the leading figure in Venezuelan architecture for some forty years, Villanueva played a vital role in the modernization of that nation's cities and rural areas. His many projects include buildings for the City University of Caracas - a four-decade project of planning and construction - the monumental El Silencio, El Paraiso, and 23 de Enero housing projects, the Museum of Fine Arts in Caracas, and the Venezuelan pavilions at the 1937 and 1967 World's Fairs."--BOOK JACKET.