Abstract

MENDEZ, Nelson. Goodbye red roofs, hello bulldozers: engineering and modernization in Venezuela from 1923 to january 1958. Rev. Fac. Ing. UCV [online]. 2008, vol.23, n.1, pp.31-47. ISSN 0798-4065.

Along the same line of research whose first product was Méndez (2007), we present a detailed compilation of events, protagonists and circumstances related to the evolution of Venezuelan engineering from 1923 to January 1958. The first date was chosen since it marked the moment in which the exploitation of petroleum on a large scale began to bring with it decisive modernizing transformations in the country as a whole and, naturally, to its engineering activities. In the interests of research, the date of 1958 represents another important cut-off point between recognizable socio-economic and politicoinstitutional phases in contemporary Venezuelan history. To this end, a careful revision of a wide range of references on the subject have been made so as to select those sources most pertinent to the aims of this study. This we have taken to be an inventory of data, essential if we are to begin to understand this fundamental period in the history of engineering in Venezuela and, in consequence, comprehend what it is today and what it might be in the foreseeable future. We consider this to more than justify this work, representing as it does the first compilation of its kind since previous efforts have tended to concentrate on specific areas of engineering (military, civil construction, hydraulic, electrical, education, etc.) with less emphasis on presenting an integral vision of its evolution in the country.

Keywords : History of engineering in Venezuela; History of technology in Venezuela; Engineers in Venezuela; Technical change and social change in Venezuela.