- Enrique Larrañaga
(b Valencia, Mar 20, 1936; d Caracas, Dec 10, 2007).
Venezuelan architect and educator. After completing his architectural studies in 1957, Tenreiro spent a year in Europe, thanks to a scholarship from the Universidad Central de Venezuela. During that year he broadened his exposure to, and understanding of, architecture, philosophy, and other artistic fields.
Although only a small number of his buildings were ever constructed, Tenreiro is nonetheless considered a fundamental figure in Venezuelan architecture. And though he rarely wrote, lectured, or gave interviews he is regarded as an important intellectual authority in the country. He is also recognized as an inspiring educator, though he avoided creating a “school” of followers. His work is often related to that of Louis Kahn, although the two never met. His erudition was overwhelming, but his creative process appears to have been driven by a devotedly educated intuition. His courses often dealt with Jungian thought and archetypal theories, but these intellectual investigations were actually taken up years after completing most of his buildings. He referred to what now appears as an astonishingly coherent body of work as a “collections of fragments.” Indeed, Tenreiro’s legacy, in its multiplicity and diverse quality, is as admirable as not fully investigated....