Gio Ponti, Villa Planchart in Caracas, 1953-57
“This building, like my other house in Caracas, the BIanca Arreaza Villa, is a game of spaces, surfaces and volumes offered in different ways to those who visit. It is a ‘machine’ or, if you will, an abstract sculpture on a massive scale, not to be viewed from outside but to experience from within, penetrating it and moving through it. It is made to be observed by a continuously moving eye. But this building is not made only for the eye; it is made for the life of its inhabitants. With careful understanding, it accentuated what was requested, receiving, in the end, the truest praise for the architect: the affirmation that he succeeded in providing what was desired, and requested, for the life of the residents.” Gio Ponti