composed by national working party of Venezuela
IMG_01: "Hospital Universitario de Maracaibo seen from the seventh floor of the Universidad del Zulia's Rectory."0. Picture of group of buildings
depicted item: IMG_01: "Hospital Universitario de Maracaibo seen from the seventh floor of the Universidad del Zulia's Rectory."
source: Terenzo Soldovieri, Panoramio.comdate: 20.03.09
IMG_02: "Hospital Universitario de Maracaibo seen from the seventh floor of the Universidad del Zulia's Rectory" (2009, Terenzo Soldovieri. Panoramio.com)1. Identity of building:
1. 1 Data for identification current name: Hospital Universitario de Maracaibo (HUM).
original name: Hospital General de Maracaibo.
number and name of street: Calle 66 with Avenida 16, Ciudad Universitaria (LUZ).
town: Maracaibo
state: Zulia
post code: 4006
block: ...
lot: ...
country: Venezuela
national topographical grid reference: 10° 40' 19.66" N 71° 37' 46.32" W
current typology: HLT
original typology: HLT
comments on typology: ...
1. 2 Status of protection
protected by: state (Instituto del Patrimonio Cultural).
grade: National Good of Cultural Interest (B.I. 069.004), Maracaibo Borough, Zulia State.
date: 09.02.1998
valid for parts of area: three slabs, a nine-story central building and two bodies of nine and eight stories high respectively, interrelated with green spaces.
remarks: ...
protected by: state (Instituto del Patrimonio Cultural).
grade: National Good of Cultural Interest (B.I. 069.004), Maracaibo Borough, Zulia State.
date: 09.02.1998
valid for parts of area: three slabs, a nine-story central building and two bodies of nine and eight stories high respectively, interrelated with green spaces.
remarks: ...
IMG_03: "The Hospital Universitario de Maracaibo under construction." (Archivo Histórico de Miraflores)
IMG_04: "The Hospital Universitario in 1960." (Centro Rafael Urdaneta S.A., Maracaibo)1. 3 Visually or functionally related buildings/site name of surrounding area/buildings:
the HUM is placed among the campus of the Ciudad Universitaria (Universidad del Zulia). It covers 70% of an irregular block between the Calle 66 and Avenue 16 in an educational sector, called sector Paraíso. Highlights of the surrounding area include the Fire Department Building and the Technical Nucleus of the Universidad del Zulia, both located to the east of the hospital, the Facultad de Odontología y Medicina building to the west, the Colegio de la Presentación building to the southwest and the new headquarters of the Rectory of the Universidad del Zulia to the north.
visual relations:
the monumental group of concrete buildings with its gigantic volume and its powerful foreign architectural style bursts into the lower site to become its dominant icon.
functional relations:
this building is the result of a time when Maracaibo was developing rapidly. A new architectural model was needed to meet the new urban conditions. In the beginning, it was planned as a "general hospital" to provide health care to the population of the north of the city, who lacked a general facility covering the four basic services: Medicine, Surgery, Gynecology and Pediatrics. The Hospital Universitario de Maracaibo, along with the other nearby buildings -the School of Nursing, the Surgical Hospital and the Medical School-, now constitutes the health core of Maracaibo, and became in itself like a health district, a zoning derived from the modern vision of concentrating compatible city functions in the same area.
other relations: ...
the HUM is placed among the campus of the Ciudad Universitaria (Universidad del Zulia). It covers 70% of an irregular block between the Calle 66 and Avenue 16 in an educational sector, called sector Paraíso. Highlights of the surrounding area include the Fire Department Building and the Technical Nucleus of the Universidad del Zulia, both located to the east of the hospital, the Facultad de Odontología y Medicina building to the west, the Colegio de la Presentación building to the southwest and the new headquarters of the Rectory of the Universidad del Zulia to the north.
visual relations:
the monumental group of concrete buildings with its gigantic volume and its powerful foreign architectural style bursts into the lower site to become its dominant icon.
functional relations:
this building is the result of a time when Maracaibo was developing rapidly. A new architectural model was needed to meet the new urban conditions. In the beginning, it was planned as a "general hospital" to provide health care to the population of the north of the city, who lacked a general facility covering the four basic services: Medicine, Surgery, Gynecology and Pediatrics. The Hospital Universitario de Maracaibo, along with the other nearby buildings -the School of Nursing, the Surgical Hospital and the Medical School-, now constitutes the health core of Maracaibo, and became in itself like a health district, a zoning derived from the modern vision of concentrating compatible city functions in the same area.
other relations: ...
IMG_05: "Hospital Universitario de Maracaibo." (Centro Rafael Urdaneta S.A., Maracaibo)2. History of building etc.
2. 1 Chronology
(Note if the dates are exactly known (e) or approximately estimated = circa (c) or (±)
commission date:
the exact date of commencement of the project remains unknown, but by the year 1948 there was an important exchange of correspondence on construction details and technical specifications between the Swedish consultancy firm and the Venezuelan Ministry of Public Works (MOP). In 1951, the Revista del Colegio de Ingenieros de Venezuela published a description of the project, saying that given its complexity it would take over two years to build. (e)
IMG_06: "Original drawing label, 1950" (Archivo del SAHUM, Maracaibo)
IMG_07: "HUM Preliminary project. Second floor plan" (Revista del Colegio de Ingenieros de Venezuela, N. 184, Caracas, 1951)
IMG_08: "HUM Preliminary project. Fourth floor plan" (Revista del Colegio de Ingenieros de Venezuela, N. 184, Caracas, 1951)
IMG_09: "HUM Preliminary project. North elevation" (Revista del Colegio de Ingenieros de Venezuela, N. 184, Caracas, 1951)
IMG_10: "HUM General Axonometric View" (Proyecto Inventario del Patrimonio Cultural, Instituto del Patrimonio Cultural, Caracas, 1998)
design period: (1946-1954). (c)
start of site work:
The construction process was divided into three stages: the first stage involved the construction of the structure, executed by the company VPACA, winner of the bidding, and began on September 19, 1952. The works lasted seventeen months and were paralyzed at the beginning of 1954. On March 18, 1957, the works restarted after re-scheduling the project. The works for the second and third stage were included in a single bidding process which included the plumbing, lighting, gasification, general sheating, the installation of additional equipment and complimentary works, delivering the building on November 15, 1957. Although in 1957 the government of General Pérez Jiménez announced that the work was completed, it was still missing 92% of the facilities. The Hospital Universitario de Maracaibo was finally inaugurated on November 18, 1960, during the government of Rómulo Betancourt, eight years after its construction began. (e)
inauguration: November 18, 1960. (e)
2. 1 Chronology
(Note if the dates are exactly known (e) or approximately estimated = circa (c) or (±)
commission date:
the exact date of commencement of the project remains unknown, but by the year 1948 there was an important exchange of correspondence on construction details and technical specifications between the Swedish consultancy firm and the Venezuelan Ministry of Public Works (MOP). In 1951, the Revista del Colegio de Ingenieros de Venezuela published a description of the project, saying that given its complexity it would take over two years to build. (e)
IMG_06: "Original drawing label, 1950" (Archivo del SAHUM, Maracaibo)
IMG_07: "HUM Preliminary project. Second floor plan" (Revista del Colegio de Ingenieros de Venezuela, N. 184, Caracas, 1951)
IMG_08: "HUM Preliminary project. Fourth floor plan" (Revista del Colegio de Ingenieros de Venezuela, N. 184, Caracas, 1951)
IMG_09: "HUM Preliminary project. North elevation" (Revista del Colegio de Ingenieros de Venezuela, N. 184, Caracas, 1951)
IMG_10: "HUM General Axonometric View" (Proyecto Inventario del Patrimonio Cultural, Instituto del Patrimonio Cultural, Caracas, 1998)design period: (1946-1954). (c)
start of site work:
The construction process was divided into three stages: the first stage involved the construction of the structure, executed by the company VPACA, winner of the bidding, and began on September 19, 1952. The works lasted seventeen months and were paralyzed at the beginning of 1954. On March 18, 1957, the works restarted after re-scheduling the project. The works for the second and third stage were included in a single bidding process which included the plumbing, lighting, gasification, general sheating, the installation of additional equipment and complimentary works, delivering the building on November 15, 1957. Although in 1957 the government of General Pérez Jiménez announced that the work was completed, it was still missing 92% of the facilities. The Hospital Universitario de Maracaibo was finally inaugurated on November 18, 1960, during the government of Rómulo Betancourt, eight years after its construction began. (e)
2. 2 Summary of development
commission brief:
the project was designed in Sweden, by the firm Svenska Entreprenad A.B. "SENTAB" (Stockholm), which contracted other professional to do the design and the calculation of the infrastructure and the services. (e)
design brief:commission brief:
the project was designed in Sweden, by the firm Svenska Entreprenad A.B. "SENTAB" (Stockholm), which contracted other professional to do the design and the calculation of the infrastructure and the services. (e)
the Swedish firm Svenska Entreprenad A.B. "SENTAB" developed the project based on a program of needs elaborated by the Venezuelan Ministry of Health and Welfare, in which stood out as general premises for the design of the new hospital that it should be also an educational center for future doctors -as a compliment to the School of Medicine of the Universidad del Zulia, a research center, a care institute for treating all kind of diseases and capable of serving a wide area, home to other several medical-care institutions. The basic principle of the project was a to build horizontal structure instead of concentrating services in single high-rise structure, so there are several elongated blocks of nine stories high. This approach allowed the separation between the diagnosis areas and the treatment and specialization areas, as well as between the adults section and the children section. The complex was planned to be divided in four parts: Ill Adults (Surgery, Medicine, Maternity and Insulation); Pediatrics; Diagnosis, Therapy and Research and General Services. It overall occupies an area of 46, 372 square meters with a ratio of 80,5 square meters per bed. (e)
building construction:
despite having been designed outside of Venezuela, the design considered the issue for adapting the building to the sometimes severe hot weather conditions of the city of Maracaibo. Thus, the location of the blocks was done that the elongated facades were oriented north and south, in order to minimize the incidence of heat from sunlight. (e)
completed situation:
Numerous sections compose the hospital, which was organized into three buildings plus the buildings that contained the general services. The two-story Block A is split into three small blocks with the main entrance to the hospital, the external consultation spaces and the reading rooms. Block B is also divided into three sub-blocks of three, eight and seven floors and contains the emergency admissions center, the external consultation spaces for adults and Pediatrics, administration offices, laboratory, obstetrics, surgery, central sterilization, radiology and residences. Block D has eight floors and is devoted to Pediatrics. Block C is the largest: is ten stories high, is divided in three sub-blocks and dedicated to hospitalization. Adjacent to these blocks were located the single for two-floor blocks: Block E, with the chapel; Block F with the autopsy room; Block G with the dining room and the three-sectioned Block H with the kitchen and the central electrical facility of the building. Blocks K and L house the laundry and the boiler room. (e)
original situation or character of site:
the sector's scale was not beyond three or four floors at the time of the hospital's construction, having remained fairly homogeneous. The arrival of the HUM produced an strong impact, changing from then on the townscape's profile.
IMG_12: " Hospital Universitario de Maracaibo's Pediatrics Building and main access" (MiD newspaper - Centro Rafael Urdaneta S.A., Maracaibo)
IMG_13: "Hospital Universitario de Maracaibo' s marquee" (2010, Fabio Zakarías Socorro. Panoramio.com)
building construction:
despite having been designed outside of Venezuela, the design considered the issue for adapting the building to the sometimes severe hot weather conditions of the city of Maracaibo. Thus, the location of the blocks was done that the elongated facades were oriented north and south, in order to minimize the incidence of heat from sunlight. (e)
completed situation:
Numerous sections compose the hospital, which was organized into three buildings plus the buildings that contained the general services. The two-story Block A is split into three small blocks with the main entrance to the hospital, the external consultation spaces and the reading rooms. Block B is also divided into three sub-blocks of three, eight and seven floors and contains the emergency admissions center, the external consultation spaces for adults and Pediatrics, administration offices, laboratory, obstetrics, surgery, central sterilization, radiology and residences. Block D has eight floors and is devoted to Pediatrics. Block C is the largest: is ten stories high, is divided in three sub-blocks and dedicated to hospitalization. Adjacent to these blocks were located the single for two-floor blocks: Block E, with the chapel; Block F with the autopsy room; Block G with the dining room and the three-sectioned Block H with the kitchen and the central electrical facility of the building. Blocks K and L house the laundry and the boiler room. (e)
original situation or character of site:
the sector's scale was not beyond three or four floors at the time of the hospital's construction, having remained fairly homogeneous. The arrival of the HUM produced an strong impact, changing from then on the townscape's profile.
IMG_12: " Hospital Universitario de Maracaibo's Pediatrics Building and main access" (MiD newspaper - Centro Rafael Urdaneta S.A., Maracaibo)
IMG_13: "Hospital Universitario de Maracaibo' s marquee" (2010, Fabio Zakarías Socorro. Panoramio.com)
IMG_14: "Hospital Universitario de Maracaibo's main facade" (MiD newspaper - Centro Rafael Urdaneta S.A., Maracaibo)2. 3 Relevant persons/organizations
original owners/patrons:
due to the accelerated concentration of population to the north of the city of Maracaibo in the 1950s (besides that the city needed, according to the Medical-Hospital Plan carried out by the Venezuelan Ministry of Health and Welfare) a general hospital, made the Government Board (of General Marcos Pérez Jiménez's dictatorship) take the decision of creating a new general hospital in Maracaibo that would perform as the core of the hospital area for the Zulia state. (e)
architect: Hakon Hahlberg. (e)landscape/garden designer(s): ...
other designer(s): ...
consulting engineers: architect Miguel N. Rodríguez (Director of Buildings and Industrial Facilities, MOP), Tyrens Ingeniorsbyra (structure), Bergstroms Ingeniorsbyra (plumbing), Siolanders Ingeniorsbyra (electricity) and engineer B. Holmer (air conditioning) and engineer Alberto E. Olivares (work supervisor). (e)
building contractors:two consortia from the Venezuelan state of Zulia: the first made up with the companies ICCA, OTICA and CACYP, and the second by the companies DOFF, SACO, CADE and VRACA. (e)
2. 4 Other persons or events associated with the building:
association: ...
event(s): ...
period: ...
IMG_15: "Hospital Universitario de Maracaibo's main access" (Centro Rafael Urdaneta S.A., Maracaibo)
IMG_16: "Hospital Universitario de Maracaibo's open corridors" (Centro Rafael Urdaneta S.A., Maracaibo)2. 5 Summary of important changes after completion type of change:
alteration/renovation/restoration/extension/other:
(extension): in 1965, the building was extended to the west incorporate a block for the Regional Radiation Service. (e)
(alteration) In 1973, some blocks are enlarged to house the Maintenance Department and its areas of painting, welding, electromedicine, gardening and storage. (c)
(renovation) In 1998, under the leadership of the current Hospital Director Dr. Teodoro Reyes and with the help of the Government of Zulia, of the Regional Health System and of the private enterprise, there were changes and improvements in the hospital facilities. The facade of the third floor was changed and the ninth floor of the main building was renovated, all the exteriors were painted, a new emergency room for adults was built, the areas for Gastroenterology and Traumatology were intervened and the corridors ans parkings were improved, among other things. (c)
dates: 1965; 1973; 1998. (c)circumstances/reasons for change:
hospital growth and general maintenance. (c)
Effects of changes:
the blurring of the original architectural features. (c)
persons/organizations involved:
hospital Director.
the Government of Zulia.
the Regional Health System.
IMG_17: "Center for cardio-respiratory rehabilitation, Hospital Universitario de Maracaibo" (Centro Rafael Urdaneta S.A., Maracaibo)3. Description of building etc.
3. 1 Building character
Summarize main character and give notes on surviving building parts:
If a building: main features, construction and materials.
the structure was designed in reinforced concrete as a self-bearing structural system, like a resistant facade. It consists of a set of columns placed very close to each other -1,20 meters-, fulfilling the function of supporting and distributing the building loads. These are complemented by the internal columns, and both are connected by one-direction ribbed slabs and two-directions flat slabs, which function as diafragm beams that interconnect the columns of the north and south facades. The building innovation that this hospital meant for Maracaibo because of its scale and complexity, continued in its building materials. The drywall, for example, was a material at the time widely available in Europe and in the United States, but little known in Maracaibo. With drywall were done most the walls of the hospital.
3. 2 Current useof whole building: Medical Assistance.
of principal components: Medical Assistance.
comments: ...
IMG_18: "Pediatrics Service's inner corridor: (Centro Rafael Urdaneta S.A., Maracaibo)
IMG_19: "Stairs of the Hospital Universitario de Maracaibo" (Centro Rafael Urdaneta S.A., Maracaibo)3. 3 Present (physical) condition
of whole building:
the is a building that belongs to the architectural repertoire of the Modern Movement. Its initial use was to be a general hospital to serve the northern area of the city of Maracaibo. The magnitude of the service, in order to achieve proper operation, required a series of blocks arranged linearly, generating a sequence of spaces that containing the different divisions, departments and hospital services; these are linked through corridors, walkways and patios, which in turn gives great vitality and dynamism to the building, because a series of interlocking connections and dependencies of the functional elements occur. This functionalist approach is evident in the following aspects: 1. direct relationship between spaces, as each block is added and joins the adjacent to produce the characteristic linearity that allows to develop activities successively, bringing each service and function closer to the next services and thus maximizing the building's internal use; 2. distribution in buildings of different shapes and sizes. Blocks of various sizes and heights, each one responding to the particular needs of each service. After the hospital's inauguration and put to use, the basic and specialized services grew progressively, until the hospital became a center for research and education of great importance to the region and country.
of principal components:Currently, the Autonomous Service of the Hospital Universitario de Maracaibo is organized in twelve areas identified by letters, to which was added a small two-storey building to expand the external care, located on the north side -where the nurses bedrooms used to be-. This building was not included in the original project.
of other elements (if applicable): ...of surrounding area (if applicable): ...
comments: ...
Indicate, if known, potential developments relevant for the conservation/threats of the building: ...
4. Evaluation
Give the scientific reasons for selection for docomomo documentation
Intrinsic value
4. 1 technical evaluation:
This building introduced in Venezuela new construction techniques and materials.
4. 2 social evaluation:
This project proposed a never-seen-before scale and dimension in the Medical assistance architecture in the country.
4. 3 cultural and aesthetic evaluation: Comparative significanceMaracaibo is the second city in Venezuela, and this outstanding modern project helped the city in catching up with the modernity of the capital, Caracas, which at the time was having an intense urban and architectural development. The Caracas Hospital Clínico, built in the monumental complex of the Ciudad Universitaria de Caracas (since 2002 a UNESCO World Heritage Site), is the other great Health reference in the modern architecture of the country. Besides the big scale of the two hospitals, the different architectural partis of the buildings enriched and helped the advance of architecture in the region.
4. 4 canonical status (local, national, international)This a building of local, national and international status, for its architectural influence in the region and because it is the work of Hakon Ahlberg (June 10, 1891, Harplinge – March 12, 1984, Stockholm) "the Swedish architect, editor and author, best known as the official architect for the repair and restoration of Gripsholm Castle near the town of Mariefred in central Sweden..." (Wikipedia).
4. 5 historic and reference values:The typological singularity of this hospital makes it a clear example and important reference of the architecture of the 1950s in the Latin American region.
5. Documentation
5. 1 archives/written records/correspondence etc. (state location/ address):
5.1.1. (Written record) Proyecto de Inventario del Patrimonio Cultural, Edificaciones, Instituto del Patrimonio Cultural, Caracas (1998). (
5. 2 principal publications (in chronological order):
5.2.2. Municipio Maracaibo, Zulia, Catálogo del Patrimonio Cultural Venezolano 2004-2010, Instituto del Patrimonio Cultural, p. 88, Caracas (1998).
5.2.3. Hospital Universitario de Maracaibo, 40 aňos de historia, Acervo Histórico del Estado Zulia, Maracaibo.
5. 3 visual material (state location/ address)
original visual records/drawings/photographs/others: ...
recent photographs and survey drawings: (see List of images and source of images)
film/video/other sources: ...
5. 4 list documents included in supplementary dossier:
5. 4. 1. CD with images
5. 4. 2. List of images and source of images (hard copy)
6. Fiche report
name of reporter: Jasmine Lizcano Gutiérrez (Docomomo Venezuela).
address: Centro Rafael Urdaneta S.A, Calle 93 (Padilla) with Avenida 12, Casa del Deporte Local, 6/7, Maracaibo, Zulia. Venezuela.
telephone: + 58 261. 700 6100
fax: + 58 261. 700 6271
e-mail: info@cru.com.ve
website: http://www.cru.com.ve
date of report: June 15, 2011.
examination by DOCOMOMO national section
approval by working party co-ordinator/registers correspondents: Hannia Gómez / Guillermo Heilbock and Valeria Ragonne (Docomomo Venezuela).
sign and date: June 27, 2011.
IMG_20: "Hospital Universitario de Maracaibo" (2011. Google Maps)examination by DOCOMOMO ISC/R
name of ISC member in charge of the evaluation:
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Version en espanol aquí.
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