CUBAN MODERNISM

Victor Deupi
Jean-François Lejeune

Cuban
Modernism
Mid-Century Architecture
1940 –1970
With photography by Silvia Ros

Birkhäuser
Basel
Victor Deupi
To my parents,
Carlos Deupi and Teresita Santaballa Vignale

Jean-François Lejeune
To Astrid Rotemberg,
and in memory of Roberto Segre
CONTENTS

PREFACE ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 6

INTRODUCTION – Modernity and Cubanidad �������������������������������������������������������� 8

CHAPTER 1 – The Modern Cuban House ���������������������������������������������������������������� 40

CHAPTER 2 – The City as Landscape: Forestier, Sert,

and the Planning of Havana ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 94

CHAPTER 3 – The Modern City: Housing,

Civic Infrastructure, and Representation ������������������������������������������������������� 136

CHAPTER 4 – Tropicality, Tourism, and Leisure ��������������������������������������������� 212

With the Participation of Alfredo Rivera

CHAPTER 5 – The Synthesis of the Arts ��������������������������������������������������������������� 250

CHAPTER 6 – Exile and Heritage ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 280

With the Participation of María Gabriela Dines

BIOGRAPHIES ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 316

Humberto Alonso * Raúl Álvarez * Nicolás Arroyo and Gabriela Menéndez * Carlos
Artaud * Eugenio Batista * Max Borges * María Elena Cabarrocas * Hilario Candela *
Aquiles Capablanca * Rafael de Cárdenas * Hugo Consuegra * Martín Domínguez *
Emilio Fernández * Ricardo A. Galbis * José Gelabert and Rosa Navia * Ernesto Gómez-
Sampera and Mercedes Díaz * Sergio González * Henry W. Griffin * Enrique Gutiérrez *
Manuel Gutiérrez * Emilio del Junco * Frank Martínez * Lilliam Mederos * Myrtha Merlo
Vega * Víctor Morales * Nujim Nepomechie * Ermina Odoardo and Ricardo Eguilior *
Ricardo Porro * Clara Porset * Elena and Alicia Pujals * Antonio Quintana * Nicolás
Quintana * Mario Romañach * Daniel Serra Badué * Osvaldo de Tapia-Ruano

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 330

INDEX ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 334
ILLUSTRATION CREDITS ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 340
ABOUT THE AUTHORS ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 342
6

PREFACE which for the first time attempted to track the origins and spe-
cific representations of modernity in a parallel survey of Mexico,
Within the last thirty years, Roberto Segre, Eduardo Luis Brazil, Argentina, and Cuba. Barry Bergdoll, Carlos Eduardo
Rodríguez, Carlos Sambricio, and Francisco Gómez Díaz roused Comas, Jorge Francisco Liernur, and Patricio del Real followed
the study of mid-twentieth-century Cuban architecture in their up on that momentous effort with their Latin America in Con-
many influential books and essays. Their vigorous publication struction: Architecture, 1955–1980 also at MoMA in 2015, in
efforts shed new light on countless masters and masterpieces, which Cuba received even greater consideration. Individual
long forgotten after the revolution of 1959, and those produced efforts­such as John Loomis’s Revolution of Forms: Cuba’s For-
since then. Inspired by the great figures of Joaquín Weiss, Luis gotten Art Schools (2011), Timothy Hyde’s Constitutional Mod-
Bay Sevilla, Pedro Martínez Inclán, Emilio Roig de Leuchsenring, ernism Architecture and Civil Society in Cuba, 1933–1959 (2013),
and others who had previously written about the topic in the Allan Shulman’s Building Bacardi: Architecture, Art & Identity
middle decades of the twentieth century, their publications in- (2016), and Joseph Hartman’s Dictator’s Dreamscape: How
troduced the buildings of modern Cuba to a broader academic Archi­tecture and Vision Built Machado’s Cuba and Invented
and specialist audience. However, much work remains to be Modern Havana (2019) provided insightful scholarly research
done as very little of this material is available in English. It is into specific moments in twentieth-century Cuban architectural
critical that non-native scholars engage with Cuban architec- culture, but to date no work surveys the period in a comprehen-
ture, thus injecting the tremendous wealth of extant source sive manner.
material with new points of departure, varied interpretations, There is also a new book in preparation by the Italian cul-
and diverse agendas. Equally important, historians need to tural historian, Alessandra Anselmi, titled L’Avana déco: arte,
reach beyond the confines of Cuba, situating Cuban architec- cultura, società that will consider the art and architecture of
ture in a broader context by examining its interaction with oth- the early half of the twentieth century in Havana in an equally
er centers of modern culture such as the wider Caribbean, comprehensive manner.
Latin America, North America, and Europe. Lesser-known archi- In 2016, the authors curated an exhibition at the Coral
tects, women, and minorities need to be seen and heard. These Gables Museum in South Florida titled Cuban Architects at
considerations form the basis of Cuban Modernism: Mid-Cen- Home and in Exile: The Modernist Generation that served as the
tury Architecture 1940–1970, in which the authors have at- foundation stone for the much larger project which is this book.
tempted to approach pivotal moments in the building culture of The three-month long exhibition was followed by a series of
the mid-twentieth century through an examination of Cuban remarkable and generous donations of architectural collec-
architecture at home and abroad. tions by individuals and families associated with the exhibition
Despite the publication efforts of those authors mentioned to the University of Miami’s Cuban Heritage Collection at the
above, the scholarly research on Cuban twentieth-century ar- Richter Library, creating what is the most significant archive of
chitecture remains incomplete. There are admittedly many tour- Cuban architecture outside of the island. Additionally, a lengthy
ist guides, photo albums, and coffee-table books with beautiful- chapter titled “Cuban Architects at Home and in Exile: The Mod-
ly illustrated images of Cuban architecture of the twentieth ernist Generation” in the recently published collection of es-
century, but proper scientific research with full annotations and says Picturing Cuba: Art, Culture, and Identity on the Island and
comprehensive bibliographies remains regrettably incomplete. in the Diaspora (2019), edited by Jorge Duany of the Cuban Re-
Sigfried Giedion’s landmark book A Decade of New Architecture search Institute at Florida International University, served as the
(1951), and Henry-Russell Hitchcock’s Latin American Architec- de facto account of the exhibition. It is therefore our sincere
ture since 1945 (1955), both brought to light the modern archi- hope that our new book, Cuban Modernism, will complete the
tecture of Latin America including several works from Cuba. project to date and inspire future generations of architects and
Hitchcock’s pivotal publication was also associated with a ma- historians to build on the literature that exists and make the
jor exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York study of mid-century Cuban architecture something that every-
in 1956. In Brussels, Jean-François Lejeune curated the exhibi- one considers relevant to the study of twentieth-century mod-
tion Cruauté et utopie: villes et paysages d’Amérique latine ern architecture.
(Cruelty and Utopia: Cities and Landscapes of Latin America),
***
 7

We would like to recognize and thank the following institu- day research and writing possible. Ramón and Nercys Cernuda
tions and individuals who have made this effort possible. The graciously opened their gallery and archives to us without res-
list is far too great to mention here in full and we regret that we ervations, as did Juan Bergaz of the Bacardi Corporation. Jorge
cannot recognize everyone who has contributed to this effort, Duany of the Florida International University Cuban Research
but we are confident that this project is open ended and that Institute, Rene Ramos of the Miami Dade College Archives, Wil-
future investigations will allow everyone involved to have a liam Whittaker and Allison Rose Olsen of the Architectural Ar-
voice. chives of the University of Pennsylvania School of Design, all
To produce the book, we would like to thank María Gabriela deserve special thanks. Other local institutions include the Cor-
Dines and Alfredo Rivera for their research and contributions to al Gables Museum, HistoryMiami Museum, and the Wolfsoni-
certain critical sections of the manuscript. Without Silvia Ros’s an-FIU. Several academics and independent scholars deserve
superb photographs, the book would not be complete. More mention as well for their thoughtful suggestions and com-
importantly, her brilliant work, supported by Anne Swanson, ments. These include Rosa Lowinger, Alessandra Anselmi, Abi-
brings to light the terribly important need for further cultural gail McEwan, Emilio Cueto, Carlos Sambricio, Enrique Larraña-
preservation on the island. The same can be said of Eduardo ga, Robert Hill, Rafael DiazCasas, Hermes Mallea, and Belmont
Latour who contributed to the original exhibition which Freeman. We would like to especially thank Barry Bergdoll and
kick-started the process. Several research assistants deserve Patricio del Real of MoMA for helping us at critical junctures in
mention, namely Astrid Rotemberg, Taimaisú Ferrer Sin, Yiqing the process.
Wang, Antoine Laduron, and Valentin Secq. Ria Stein and her There were many Cuban architects and their families who
team at Birkhäuser gave us the chance to fulfill this project. contributed to the project from the beginning and we are ex-
Sean McCaughan provided much needed copy editing, for tremely grateful for their support. These include Hilario Cande-
which we are extremely grateful. la, Raúl Álvarez, David Cabarrocas, Teresita Vignale, Carlos Deu-
Several institutions contributed to the project and deserve pi, Angel Saqui, Orestes del Castillo, Cristina Vidal Artaud, Diana
recognition. First of all, the Graham Foundation for Advanced Artaud, Humberto Alonso Jr., Maria Alonso, Carmen Alonso, Bob
Studies in the Fine Arts provided a generous institutional grant and Ed Chisholm, Adam Frisius, Jorge Mantilla, Matilde and Car-
that enabled the project to be realized. The University of Miami los Batista, Sara and Manuel Gutiérrez, Lin Arroyo, Max Borges
School of Architecture, and Dean Rodolphe el-Khoury, encour- Recio, Emilio and Otilia Fernández, Fernando Capablanca, Terry
aged and supported both the exhibition and the present book. Dezmelyk, Myrtha Merlo Vega, Mariana Ravenet and Carlos Pa-
Several faculty members including José Gelabert-Navia, Allan dial Jr., Carlos Ramírez-Corría, William H. Griffin, Francisco Jayo,
Shulman, and Rafael Fornés provided precious help. Dean Alicia McHugh and María E. Crosby, Marilys R. Nepomechie,
Charles Eckman of the University of Miami Libraries, and Eliza- Maria Elena Zas, Elena de Tapia-Ruano, Hervin Romney, Raul L.
beth Cerejido, and her team at the Cuban Heritage Collection Rodriguez, Juan Luis Morales, Margarita and Pablo Cano, Celso
provided us with invaluable access to their extraordinary col- González-Falla, and Domitila Fox.
lections. Ingrid Nitchman of the interlibrary loan department Finally, the authors would like to thank their respective
made possible what seemed improbable. Gilda Santana and spouses, Jill Deupi and Astrid Rotemberg, for their enduring
her team at the Architecture Research Center made the day-to- support, trust, and faith in our work.
 9

INTRODUCTION

Modernity and Cubanidad

The architecture of the period reflects a process of continuous transition, always with
a high quality of production, in the hands of a vanguard that managed to interweave
the diverse influences that carried the codes of the evolving modernity—including the
Latin American ones—with a series of vernacular components. The latter had to do
with tradition—structure, typology, atmosphere—, with the tropical climate—
screening from sun and light, thermal stability and bonanza—, with the fluidity of
interior and exterior spaces, and with contemporary languages adapted to the place
as proposed by Team X. In doing so, they aimed at building a city that could be config-
ured as the Antillean metropolis par excellence.
 Francisco Gómez Díaz
10

Nicolás Quintana. Children's play area In Cuba, students of architecture were increasingly impa-
at the Residential Yacht Club (Cabañas del
tient to see the profession open to modernism and, in 1944, the
Sol), Varadero (1955).
infamous Quema de los Vignolas—the burning of copies of Vi-
gnola’s treatise on the orders in classical architecture—took
Emilio Sanchez. Colonia Jagüey,
watercolor on paper (1954). place on the patio of the University of Havana School of Archi-
tecture. As Nicolás Quintana commented later, the reason for
this symbolic act was the quest for “the freedom of design …
we wanted to start a search that did not include the classical
orders.”4 The new generation was particularly enamored with
Gropius, who eventually visited the island in early April 1949 as
a guest of the University of Havana School of Architecture, and
gave a public lecture to students and professionals at the head-
Pioneering Influences quarters of the College of Architects in the Vedado.5 His visit
In the late 1920s, Cuban periodicals such as El Arquitecto and and lecture were well-documented in the April edition of Arqui-
Arquitectura started debating and publishing the works of mod- tectura, with various essays, photographs, and a cheeky cari-
ern architects. Discussions on the relative merits of tradition
1
cature image of him by the Cuban artist Heriberto Portela.
and modernity typically included the championing of the great Long before Gropius’s memorable visit, Josef Albers had
monuments of history in contrast to provocative quotes from visited Cuba in 1934 at the invitation of the designer Clara Por-
the early pioneers of the modern movement. El Arquitecto gen- set, who at the time was the head of the Escuela Técnica Indus-
erally favored conservative positions, whereas Arquitectura, trial (Technical Industrial School) for women in Rancho Boyeros,
published by the Colegio Nacional de Arquitectos de Cuba (Na- and an early advocate of contemporary design adapting to
tional Institute of Cuban Architects), opened its columns to ar- tropical climates.6 Albers delivered a series of three public lec-
ticles and projects discussing works by Bruno Taut, Adolf Loos, tures at the Lyceum and Lawn Tennis Club, the premier wom-
Frank Lloyd Wright, Le Corbusier, Walter Gropius, and others.2 en’s cultural institution in the city, as well as exhibiting his work
The regional expression of modernity—how to be modern and there. Porset met Albers at the suggestion of Gropius, who en-
Cuban at the same time—also emerged in Cuban architectural couraged her to study with him at the newly founded Black
circles during this time, and it was increasingly tested by issues Mountain College in North Carolina, where he had settled after
of national identity, in particular Spanish and American influenc- leaving the Bauhaus in 1933.7 Porset spent a summer with Jo-
es, but also African roots. Simultaneously, European modernism sef and Anni Albers, developing a friendship that would last for
began to influence Cuban architects in a more direct manner. many years. Albers would return to Cuba again in 1952, this
Figures such as Richard Neutra, Walter Gropius, and José Luis time at the invitation of the School of Architecture to lecture to
Sert among others began to visit the island, lecture to students students and faculty.8
at the University of Havana School Architecture, and take on Nathaniel Cortlandt Curtis, Sr., a North American architect,
projects in collaboration with local Cuban architects. preservationist, and the first dean of the Tulane School of Archi-
The September 1937 edition of Arquitectura included excerpts tecture, also lectured at the University of Havana in 1938.9 His
from Walter Gropius’s pivotal essay, “Arquitectura functional” presentation on the evolution of modern architecture from
(Functional architecture), from the November 1930 lectures he Henry Hobson Richardson to the present singled out Gropius,
delivered in Spanish in Bilbao and San Sebastián, Spain.3 He Le Corbusier, and J.J.P. Oud as the leaders of the movement and
argued that the demands of modern life necessitated an ap- the ones whose work had most dramatically altered the land-
proach that was removed from the specific or regional contin- scape of contemporary design, even though he was critical of
gencies of society. For Gropius, the stylistic formalism of the Le Corbusier’s buildings on pilotis (known in Cuba as palafi-
late nineteenth and early twentieth century had given way to a tos).10 Oud and Le Corbusier had never visited Cuba, but the
new investigation of function, what he considered the essence latter’s writings were regularly translated in Arquitectura and
of architectural form. However, he suggested that climate and Arquitectura y artes decorativas during this time, literally bring-
proportion also contributed significantly to the architect’s ing to Cuban architects his ideas on the city, geometry, and the
interpre­tation of form, and these were not simply functional potential of residential design in achieving the espíritu nuevo
criteria. (new spirit) in architecture.11
Introduction Modernity and Cubanidad 11

Another influential foreign architect to visit the island was study of vernacular architecture and its urban expression in the
the Austrian-American modernist Richard Neutra, who first pueblos (villages), from Castile to Andalusia to Ibiza. Architects
came to Havana in 1945.12 He lectured on La arquitectura y el and theorists like Fernando García Mercadal in Madrid and José
mundo de hoy (Architecture and the world of today), again at Luis Sert in Barcelona advocated the development of a modern
the University of Havana School of Architecture, with his former architecture that would be based upon the reinterpretation and
pupil, Cuban architect Rafael de Cárdenas Culmell, translating the simplification of the vernacular. In particular, Sert and his
his talk into Spanish. In a review of Neutra’s lecture, the re- colleagues in the Grupo de Arquitectos y Técnicos Españoles
nowned Cuban writer, attorney, and art critic, Jorge Mañach, para la Arquitectura Contemporánea (Group of Spanish Archi-
noted that within the last fifteen years, Cuba had established a tects and Technicians for Contemporary Architecture, or GATE-
new generation of young architects that included Eugenio Ba- PAC) extolled the lessons of Ibiza, the island where “the ‘histor-
tista, Emilio de Soto, Rafael de Cárdenas, Emilio del Junco, ic styles’ do not exist.”17 At the same time in Italy, architects like
Nicolás Arroyo, Lilliam Mederos, and Gabriela Menéndez, Gio Ponti, Bernard Rudofsky, and Adalberto Libera—to name
among others. As co-founder in 1927 of the Revista de Avance, but a few—used the vernacular to define a way to be both
a journal that brought to light a number of modern Cuban art- modern and Italian. In 1936, the rationalist architect Giuseppe
ists and the new tendencies in Cuban art, Mañach did actively Pagano exhibited and published his spectacular photographs
follow the emergence of modern architecture on the island. 13
of Italian rural architecture as potential inspiration to
By the late 1920s, modern art in Cuba had become much more modernity.18
political, reflecting opposition to the dictatorial regime of Gerar- In Latin America, the vernacular was primarily the colonial
do Machado and the American neo-colonial presence on the architecture, and above all, the private houses whose typology
island.14 Inspired by the Mexican mural movement, many Cu- and construction details—the patio, the thin rooms permitting
ban vanguard painters sought to push for more socially con- cross-ventilation, the louvers as brise-soleils, and the deep por-
scious public art. Reflecting this trend, in 1938 the School of ticoes—offered both privacy and a unique response to the en-
Architecture at the University of Havana held a major group vironmental conditions. From the first decades of the twentieth
exhibition of Mexican painters that included David Alfaro Sique- century and in each country of the Southern cone and the Car-
iros, José Clemente Orozco, Diego Rivera, and others. 15
Like ibbean, the architects of the neo-colonial movement increas-
their Mexican counterparts, Cuban artists were seeking a gen- ingly questioned the French-influenced and dominant Beaux-
uine mode of expression that responded to the immediate so- Arts system at the turn of the century. Hence, the white
cial issues in Cuba, to the complex workings of mainstream surfaces, the reduced ornament, and the asymmetry of compo-
culture, popular discourse, and vernacular origins. Similarly, sition in plan and volume opened the way to the more radical
Mañach argued that the young Cuban architects were giving vision of a modern movement that would advocate the synthe-
Cuba a new creative, imaginative, and elegant architecture that sis between international modernity, tradition, and national
was suited to the natural climate and levity of the island.16 But identity.19 From his early neo-colonial works in Guadalajara to
then Mañach noted a problem with this new generation, asking his residential masterpieces in Mexico City, Luis Barragán
whether such an architecture would be suited to the Plaza de demonstrated the architectonic and poetic authority of “ver-
la Catedral in Old Havana. His response was certainly negative, nacular modernism.”20 Likewise, for Lúcio Costa in Brazil, mod-
suggesting that a stylized colonialism that maintained the for- ern architecture was “a Mediterranean expression on its way to
mal coherence and spiritual unity of the place was preferable becoming international.”21 Modern architecture entailed a re-
to the extreme functionalism of the new architecture. In other covery of the clarity and objectivity of Greco-Roman architec-
words, Mañach believed that the genuine legacy of colonial ture, and in particular that of the Spanish Mediterranean and its
Cuban architecture was something to be preserved and re- South American extension. In 1922, he dedicated a year to the
spected, and this too was a tendency that would greatly influ- study of colonial cities in the region of Minas Gerais, whose
ence the emerging young architects on the island. vernacular would become a major reference for his
architecture.22
Extolling the Vernacular In Cuba as well, the modern movement’s concern with ty-
From the early 1920s, the rediscovery of the Spanish country- pology heavily influenced how the new architecture of the
side was a geographical, cultural, and professional endeavor 1920s and the 1930s—however much clad in neo-colonial
that spurred a radical revision of Spanish identity through the dress—would depart from the early twentieth-century man-
12

sions and public buildings, all heavily influenced by the French subsequently produce nearly twenty cover images for the jour-
Beaux-Arts theory and particularly prevalent in the Vedado dis- nal between 1943 and 1947, including many views of his native
trict and western suburbs of Havana. In particular, the re-emer- city of Santiago de Cuba, and various streetscapes of Bayamo,
gence of the patio or courtyard was the most conspicuous ex- and Camagüey.28 Significantly, the patio houses and streets of
ample of the new way of thinking about the past to define a the Cuban city of Trinidad appeared repeatedly among the pag-
genuinely Cuban modernity. Additionally, like in all Latin Ameri- es of the periodical, making the city a literal “monumento de la
can countries, the art-deco movement in Cuba endowed build- nacionalidad” (nationality monument).29
ings of all types with a modern architectural image that married Hence, the modern concept of cubanidad (Cuban identity
clarity and functionality with a tropical character. Of particular of transculturation), which was already present in literary and
interest among the scores of well-designed and functional struc- artistic circles, was the impetus behind the first generation of
tures built in the 1930s and 1940s were Pedro Martínez Inclán’s Cuban modernists’ search for an architecture that could con-
Justo Carrillo apartment building in the Vedado (1931), Mira and ceivably represent a national and regional idiom. 30 The idea
Rosich’s Edificio López Serrano in the Vedado (Apartment build- was propelled by the Cuban architect and planner, Pedro
ing, 1932), de Soto’s Clínica de Maternidad Obrera (Maternity Martínez Inclán, who noted in his entry address to the National
clinic for workers, 1943), and Luis Dauval’s Hospital Infantil An- Academy of Arts and Letters on January 23, 1926, that “from an
tituberculoso (Children’s Anti-Tuberculosis Hospital, 1944). architectural point of view, Havana possesses an individuality
The periodical Arquitectura began publishing essays on Cu- which consists in absolutely having none.”31 Though he argued
ban vernacular architecture in the latter half of the 1930s, bring- that the colonial era architecture on the island certainly had a
ing to light the historical importance, design simplicity, and clear identity, the subsequent arrival of other European styles,
modest beauty of the many rustic buildings in towns, villages, including neo-classicism, neo-Gothic romanticism, art nou-
and landscapes throughout the island. 23
More specifically, the veau, and Catalan Modernisme, had rendered the city paradox-
focus was on the vueltabajera (literally the “lower around”) re- ically unidentifiable. His plea for the recovery of a singular ar-
gions of Cuba, including the extreme far west provinces of Pinar chitectural language that could reposition the Cuban capital as
del Río and Viñales (a fertile land known as Vuelta Abajo), and the exemplary garden city of the Ibero-American world, led to
also Nueva Gerona (Isle of Pines), Remedios, and Oriente. These the break with the eclectic past, and the embrace of a form of
areas were littered with caseríos (rustic shacks), rural bohíos neo-­colonial civic and private architecture as a way of returning
(native Taino timber dwellings with thatched roofs), and country to Cuba’s roots.
bodegas (stores that sell food and other domestic provisions). In 1938, the College of Architects instituted the annual Pre-
Yet, despite the signature portales (arcades or porticoes) and mio Medalla de Oro (Gold Medal) competition for the nation’s
thatched roofs that characterized the casita criolla (Creole finest new work of architecture. The inaugural competition in
house), these buildings typically had dirt floors, porous walls early 1939 came down to three finalists: Joaquín E. Weiss for his
and roofs, no proper kitchens or baths, or clean water source magnificent Edificio de la Biblioteca (Library) for the University
other than open wells.24 The vernacular structures throughout of Havana, Saturnino Parajón for his Teatro Fausto (Fausto
the island were both picturesque landmarks of the Cuban coun- Theater) on the Paseo del Prado, and the brothers ­Ernesto and
tryside, and horrific living and working structures for their unfor- Eugenio Batista, for a new residence for the Falla Bonet family
tunate inhabitants. Here, mid-century Cuban architects were in Miramar. The jury, however, could not decide on a winner
particularly concerned with the obvious contradiction. 25
given the great diversity of projects and their vastly different
In addition to the articles on vueltabajera buildings, Arqui- scales.32 It was determined that the inaugural prize would be
tectura regularly featured cover illustrations of Cuba’s colonial postponed until 1940 and that the award would be given in the
and vernacular architecture, usually drawn in graphite or pen category of residential architecture. Nevertheless, the compe-
and ink by some of the island’s most respected draftsmen, in- tition brought to light an intense debate between traditionalists
cluding Carlos Ramírez Guerra, Alejandro Sánchez Felipe, and modernists that would never really disappear, invariably
Manuel Alvarez, and Daniel Serra-Badué.26 Serra-Badué, in par- shaping the modern architecture of Cuba along the lines of re-
ticular, had studied architecture at the University of Havana gional character.
from 1939–1941 before he completed his artistic training at the In 1941, the journal Arquitectura published an article by
Academia de San Alejandro, also in Havana, in 1943. He was 27
Carlos Mendoza Zeledon titled “Por una arquitectura cubana”
featured in Arquitectura in 1939 and again in 1941, and would (For A Cuban Architecture) that argued in favor of a unified
Introduction Modernity and Cubanidad 13

Daniel Serra-Badué. Esquina que forman Poster for the VII Congreso Panamericano Eugenio Batista. Casa de los Condes de
las calles Carnicería y San Jerónimo, de Arquitectos. San Fernando en la Plaza de la Catedral de la
Santiago de Cuba. Habana (March 27, 1927).
14

architecture­that reflected the characteristics of both colonial and the Radiocentro Building, promoted not only the evolution
and modern buildings, and recognized that only in exceptional of Cuban architecture but also one of its most interesting char-
cases should other “styles” of architecture be produced.33 This acteristics, the continuity between past and present within the
would guarantee that the architecture produced in Cuba would city fabric.35
respond to the natural contingencies of the island’s landscape,
climate, materials, and ways of living. Similarly, the writings of Nuestra casa de ayer y de hoy
Joaquín E. Weiss, Luis Bay Sevilla, Pedro Martínez Inclán, Emilio In April 1936, the periodical Social devoted a special issue to
Roig de Leuchsenring, and others would bring to light the inher- the Casa cubana (Cuban House), and more specifically to the
ent value of Cuba’s colonial past in architecture and the impor- principles that should, according to various authors, guide the
tance of Havana as a modern cosmopolitan capital.34 development of the modern Cuban house. By the 1930s, resi-
Architects like Eugenio Batista were early practitioners of dential design had become the natural testing ground for new
architectural sketching and drawing as a way of better under- innovative ideas on architecture and modern life throughout
standing the country’s colonial past, its buildings and urban Europe and Latin America, but the Cuban profession and up-
spaces. His sketches are not only detailed inquiries into the per- and middle-class clientele lagged behind. The entrance of
nuanced character of colonial architecture and urbanism, but Social into the discussion of the modern house was thus criti-
also beautiful drawings in and of themselves. In June 1949, Ar- cal, as the monthly magazine was primarily read by the high
quitectura published the winning entry for the poster announc- bourgeoisie and thus could be influential in directing clients to
ing the VII Congreso Panamericano de Arquitectos (Seventh accept new typologies and aesthetic. In his introductory essay
Pan-American Congress of Architects) to be held in Havana in “Nuestra casa de ayer y de hoy,” (Our house from yesterday
December 1949: Emilio de Soto’s collage of the Havana cathe- and today) Joaquín Weiss explicitly argued that the untarnished
dral, the Capitol, the art-deco tower of the Compañía Telefónica “rationalism” of Cuban colonial architecture deployed along
de Cuba, the new headquarters of the Colegio de Arquitectos, centuries of use “connected it ideologically with the contempo-

Eugenio Batista. Drawing of the Casa del

Marqués de Aguas Claras, Plaza de la
Catedral, Old Havana (1927).

Photograph of Eugenio Batista with

students visiting a patio in Old Havana
(n.d.).
Introduction Modernity and Cubanidad 15

rary architectural trends.”36 For the author, the large size of the reject any preconceived distribution, style or materials, and ab-
rooms, the patio, the portal or colonnaded arcade, the large stract the process from technical and social experiments.38 In
balconies, and the windows were the “rational” elements of other essays, the architects Luis de Soto and César Guerra ad-
colonial architecture, most of them linked to the climatic con- vocated for greater experiment in new forms, materials, and
ditions and ensuing urban culture, that had disappeared during ways of life, but unequivocally referred to them in relation to
the last decades of architectural development. Most specifical- the invariants of Cuban colonial typologies and buildings de-
ly, he described the colonial patio as the “real lung of the house, scribed by Weiss.39 José María Bens Arrarte discussed the chal-
the oasis that provides refreshment against the scorching sun lenge of the modern apartment building—too often organized
and protection against dust and street noise,” whose “artistic around narrow and unusable courtyards—and the necessity of
possibilities and, one could venture to say, ‘poetic’ ones … reinventing both the type and its relation to the natural context.
gave it an inestimable spiritual value.”37 He advocated the tra- He wrote that “in the future, dwellings will be built on lots of
ditional and protective portal against the popular, yet difficult to other proportions, and the courtyards will be transformed into
use, open terraces, and eulogized the inventiveness of the Cu- large collective gardens inside the blocks.”40
ban builder in matters of windows, louvers, and other screen- At the time of the publication, many Cuban architects had
ing devices. Hence, to design and develop the modern ideal already initiated their search for the modern house, and, in par-
Cuban house, Weiss maintained that it was necessary to depart allel with their investigation of the colonial house and its vari-
from the postulates linked to the physical and social milieu, ants, they focused on achieving the maximum comfort, and the
16

functional logic of a design, where air, light, hygiene, and other os (courtyards), and portales (porticoes or arcades) — as nec-
practical matters would reign supreme.41 They also had to rely essary elements of a Cuban modernism that would use tradi-
entirely on private patronage for support as there was little tion, history, and adaptation to climate to represent the
speculative residential building at the time and no programs of modernizing national identity of the island. Interestingly, Clara
public housing as in other Latin American countries such as Porset had, in 1931 already, advocated for the same tenets in
Mexico and Brazil. Therefore, the private house provided the her essay “La decoración interior contemporánea. Su adaptac-
most fruitful opportunity for exploring new ideas of living, build- ión al trópico,” published in Cuba that year.43 As Batista wrote:
ing, and working. As new houses were usually located on sub-
urban lots, the architects adapted the colonial principles to In making of their houses a defense against our torrid trop-
these new conditions. They produced an architecture that ical sun, our ancestors found three splendid resources, a
could be labeled as neo-colonial and was identified by the legacy that would be inconsiderate not to use today: patios
asymmetry of the plan, the thinness of the rooms, and the (courtyards), portales (porticoes or arcades) and persianas
presence of porticoes and patios. The resulting designs were
42
(louvers), these being the three “P”s that constitute the
in many ways similar to the neo-Mediterranean architecture in “ABC”s of our tropical architecture.44
California and Florida, but also in Mexico or Brazil with the early
houses of both Luis Barragán in Guadalajara and Lúcio Costa in In the published essay, Batista pointed out the limited size of
Rio and the countryside. windows and the continuous use of translucent glass in color,
Eventually, Eugenio Batista opened the way with the Falla known as vitrales (stained glass windows), in simpler forms
Bonet house along the sea in Miramar in 1938. Built for the than the half-circles typically used during colonial times. He
wealthy industrialist and philanthropist Eutimio Falla Bonet, the also acknowledged the changes produced by the automobile
house was organized around a series of patios, lined with ar- often occupying the front of the house, as well as the impor-
cades and windows protected by wooden louvers. It is only in tance of new materials. Notwithstanding, he affirmed that the
1960 that he published his essay “La casa cubana” but Batista three “P”s should continue to model the new Cuban archi­
is known to have repeatedly advocated, particularly through his tecture in the material realm, while “rhythm, gaiety and clean-
teaching, the use of the three “P”s — persianas (louvers), pati- liness” would be needed to fulfil its “spiritual” future.45
Introduction Modernity and Cubanidad 17

To be sure, Batista was embracing Joaquín Weiss’s thesis French capital until 1939 when he received an invitation from
and making more palatable the modern adaptation of the Cu- Walter Gropius to join the faculty at the Harvard University
ban variants. From there onward, the Cuban architects out- Graduate School of Design. The same year, Sert and his wife left
shone each other in virtuosity and invention in plan, section, Europe and spent a few months in Havana preparing for their
and structure. In doing so, they produced scores of beautiful immigration to the United States.46 There he established impor-
houses that were not only unabashedly modern but genuinely tant contacts with the new generation of architects, particularly
Cuban in their typological organization and response to social with Eugenio Batista, and undoubtedly inspired them to active-
and climatic conditions. A few years later, the arrival in Cuba of ly promote modern architecture on the island.
the Spanish architect and planner, José Luis Sert, would most In 1941, a group of architects, engineers, and other techni-
significantly widen the course of Cuban modernism by prioritiz- cians associated with the Congrès internationaux d’architec-
ing housing and masterplanning the greater Havana. ture moderne (International Congress of Modern Architecture,
or CIAM) formed the Agrupación Tectónica de Expresión Con-
Sert, ATEC, and the Charter of Havana temporánea (Tectonic Group of Contemporary Expression, or
Fleeing the Spanish Civil War, José Luis Sert moved to Paris in ATEC), a “nucleus of young minds, inclined to the experimenta-
1937. There, in collaboration with Luis Lacasa, he built the Pa- tion, the investigation, and the fight” and intent to study and
vilion of the Spanish Republic at the Exposition Internationale resolve “the architectonic and urbanistic problems in Cuba, al-
des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne, at the heart of ways in the present and toward the future.”47 They embraced
which was Picasso’s large mural, Guernica. He lived in the the principles of CIAM but quickly started to secure their own

Eugenio Batista. Ricardo Cervera Falla View of the ATEC exhibition, Trinidad, Nicolás Quintana. Wall and door,
residence, detail of façade, Miramar lo que fue, es y será (1943). Trinidad, photograph.
(1949).
18

Arroyo and Menéndez Christmas party

on the terrace of the office’s studio,
Miramar (early 1950s). José Luis Sert is at
the back of the group, with eyeglasses.

Nicolás Arroyo and Gabriela Menéndez.

Studio workshop of the architects Arroyo
and Menéndez, Miramar (ca. 1952).

identity. In 1943, the Patronato Pro-Urbanismo (Pro-Urbanism Nicolás Arroyo and the organizers of the exhibition concluded
Society) and the ATEC set up an innovative exhibit of colonial that Trinidad, representative of the best of the colonial architec-
architecture titled Trinidad, lo que fue, es y será (Trinidad, what ture and urbanism, could inform contemporary architecture
was, is, and will be) in the heart of Havana. Curated by Emilio and progressive urban design, while avoiding any temptation to
del Junco, Eduardo Montoulieu and Miguel Gastón, the exhibi- a false historicism. By and large, the exhibition was a continua-
tion’s message was manifold: it advocated that the urban and tion, at the urban and regional scale, of Batista’s thesis about
architectural qualities of Trinidad should be historically pre- the three “P”s and the invariants of Cuban architecture. In 1948,
served, not as a “romantic” expression of Cuban culture and Clara Porset detailed how those elements could be best used
way of life, but rather as an example for the future. The exhibi- in modern Cuban architecture, and paid homage to the ATEC
tion promoted the integral recuperation of the city fabric, not as group in a lecture titled “Espacio interior para vivir en Cuba.
a monument but as a vital and contemporary environment: Gestación de síntesis cubana” (Interior space for living in Cuba.
Gestation of a Cuban synthesis).
Trinidad, in addition to its great archeological value, is a city
that is alive. Harshly punished, forgotten, Trinidad did not ATEC is the group which has given us examples of how to
die; and it is potentially a city that can and should revive its organize space for living in Cuba … how to assimilate the
splendid and glorious past in the nineteenth century, with vital elements of our architectural heritage, how to make
the physiognomy of the twentieth century. 48
concrete the universal principles that will fructify in giving
them a Cuban expression … It is the members of ATEC who
Introduction Modernity and Cubanidad 19

have embarked on the task, which is, in the last instance, a concepts related to the civic importance of the city, the need for
full-fledged battle against the climate … The fight against low-income housing, the neighborhood unit, and the necessity
the hurricanes, against the light and the excess of noise, of a parks system. More significantly, Martínez Inclán inserted
and, even more so, the FIGHT AGAINST THE HEAT … It is the two new sections. The first one, titled “Legislation,” outlined the
eternal fight of man against nature.49 administrative and political components of the systematic plan-
ning of the city and the region, thus asserting the requirements
In 1948, Martínez Inclán published the Código de Urbanismo of the new constitution of 1940 and sustaining the goals of the
(Urban Planning Code), subtitled Carta de Atenas, Carta de La Patronato Pro-Urbanismo. The second one, “Urban Aesthetics,”
Habana (Charter of Athens, Charter of Havana) and presented it emphasized the importance of the Cuban manifestations of
as the Cuban version of the Charter of Athens published in Civic Art, such as the critical value of the plazas and historical
French in 1943 and in English three years later. The document
50
ensembles of buildings, the importance of the streets and their
followed closely the structure of its source but added many continuity, as well as the adequate placement of monuments.51
20

Interestingly, it advocated also the integration of agriculture that shied away from precise solutions and eventually did little
within the densest urban areas, whether in the form of satellite to position the CIAM group within the complex reality of Amer-
cities or neighborhood units. In brief, it was a unique document ican cities and suburbs. Yet, Sert’s standpoint about civic life,
that promoted cubanidad in the field of urbanism. This theo-
52
community values, and the importance of urban space would
retical stand anticipated, to some extent, the upcoming break- quickly evolve. In 1943, he signed, with Sigfried Giedion and
out of CIAM and the birth of Team X at the CIAM X in Dubrovnik Fernand Léger, the manifesto “Nine Points on Monumentality.”
(1956). In this postwar environment, Cuban architects and ur- Going against the socially driven attacks against monuments
banists were moving away from the strict modernist orthodoxy. and grand-scale civic architecture as expressions of the “rich
Like in Spain and particularly for the GATEPAC, the relation of and the powerful,” the authors asserted the need for a modern
modernity that Cuban architects entertained with the vernacu- artistic and architectonic expression that would represent the
lar as a whole was not only based on single subjects of archi- postwar values of democracy and community.56 If the Mediter-
tecture but involved the urban milieu in its full complexity.53 ranean—and particularly the vernacular of the island of Ibiza—
During all those years, Eugenio Batista maintained an in- determined the direction of Sert’s vision of modern architec-
tense correspondence with Sert, but the Catalan, now a major ture from the 1930s onward, it was the cities of Latin America
professional figure in the United States and Latin America did that influenced his postwar humanist conception of urbanism
not come back to Cuba until 1953. With few personal contacts and the progressive return to the basic principles of the street,
and lacking a license to practice, Sert began his professional the block, the square, and the civic center. For Sert, as for Le
activity in New York not as an architect, but as an urban plan- Corbusier and Gropius in particular, the encounter with Latin
ner. In August 1941, he met the architect Paul Lester Wiener America’s authentic urban life and genuine public spaces al-
who was married to Alma Morgenthau, the daughter of the lowing for social interaction across the society spectrum—
United States Secretary of the Treasury, Henry Morgenthau. This what one could call the “Mediterranean” side of urban life in
alliance was extremely useful when they formed Town Planning contrast to its commercialized Northern European or American
Associates (TPA) and the Secretary of State Cordell Hull himself counterpart—was a major turning point in the development of
recommended them to develop urban plans in Latin America modern urban design.
with a state department grant. This would represent the most Developed with Paul Lester Wiener, the plan for Cidade dos
direct source of work for the next ten years and a way to apply Motores (City of Motors, Brazil, 1943–1947) and, more impor-
the CIAM principles on a large scale and in a different context. tantly, the plan for Chimbote (Peru, 1946–1948) epitomized the
As a result, Sert became the liaison between the CIAM groups revisionist concern with civic life and public spaces that Sert
in Europe, North America, and Latin America. would advocate, emphasizing in other words the necessity of a
fifth function excluded from the Athens Charter. TPA’s drawings
The Heart of the City for the port of Chimbote illustrated a concern with local condi-
tions, and a willingness to study smaller-scale alternatives, par-
You have united the Mediterranean spirit with that of the ticularly patio houses, instead of the CIAM multi-story blocks
New World, giving the age-old patio idea of the dwelling a that would not be appropriate in the Peruvian desert.57 The
new meaning.54 Chimbote patio house and its extension in the pattern known as
“carpet housing” or “mat building,” hinted also at possibilities of
When Sert invited Lewis Mumford to write the preface to his do-it-yourself construction and prefabrication, two key ele-
book Can Our Cities Survive?, the presentation of the Charter ments of future housing schemes for the poorer city dwellers
of Athens for the American public, the historian and sociologist developed contemporarily in Morocco by ATBAT-Afrique and
rejected the offer. While sympathetic to CIAM’s objectives in George Candilis, and in other Third World countries by Doxiadis
general, he saw a “serious flaw” in the general outline of the Associates.58 Chimbote and Puerto Ordaz in Venezuela were the
four functions of housing, recreation, transportation, and in- theater of Sert’s most intense experiment with the concept of
dustry, and he asked, “What of the political, educational, and the civic center and its associated “integration of the arts.”59 The
cultural functions of the city: what of the part played by the civic centers were conceived, both at the neighborhood and the
disposition and plan of buildings concerned with these func- city-scale level, as enclosed and pedestrian squares that, albeit
tions in the whole evolution of city design?” Sert went on pub-
55
different in shape and language, reflected the urban principles
lishing the book in 1942, a hybrid and somewhat didactic work defined four centuries earlier in the Laws of the Indies.60
Introduction Modernity and Cubanidad 21

José Luis Sert and Paul Lester Wiener.

Pages from the article “Can Patios Make
Cities?”

The need for civic life and appropriate urban spaces be- In 1952, Sert and TPA got their first opportunity to return to
came the central theme of CIAM VIII in Hoddesdon, England, Cuba. They designed a prototype neighborhood for the Cuban
under the title The Heart of the City: Towards a Humanization of National Housing Program, that consisted of approximately
Urban Life (1952). “As outside experts linked to the economic three hundred patio-based housing units loosely organized on
and military power of the United States and the artistic prestige two axial directions on both sides of a linear but free-form park.
of Le Corbusier,” Eric Mumford wrote, “Sert and his collaborators The park had the potential to connect to other adjacent neigh-
sought to make modernism more acceptable by appealing to borhoods, but its primary function within the unit was to pro-
local urban traditions.” TPA’s projects were also part of a delib-
61
vide a pedestrian connection between the school and the
erate strategy linked to the Good Neighbor Policy established by neighborhood center, organized as a plaza faced by a market
Roosevelt in the 1930s. This policy intended to keep Latin Amer- structure and a community center. The plan and the house ty-
ican countries away from Fascist tendencies, and was adapted pologies (one-story patio houses with two, three, or four bed-
later to counter Cold War fears of seeing the socio-economically rooms) derived directly from the Chimbote and Puerto Ordaz
troubled continent tip into the communist camp. masterplans. The Cuban architecture profession must have
22

been surprised, and at the same time encouraged, when Sert of Le Corbusier, Sert and his collaborators sought to make
and Wiener published a long article in Architectural Forum in modernism more acceptable by appealing to local urban
August 1953, “Can Patios Make Cities?” which utilized the draw- traditions, yet found their efforts to spur democratic devel-
ings of the Cuban project to explain the principles of a new or- opment by providing spaces for public gathering lacked lo-
ganization of the neighborhood unit for American cities. Built cal government support.65
upon the Radburn principles of separation of traffic and contin-
uous landscape system, it was designed to respond to the so- The Tropical and the African
cio-cultural and urban traditions of the South, the Mediterrane- Beyond the morphological and typological revisions to the
an, and its extension to the Caribbean and Latin America: CIAM doctrine, Sert’s experiences in Latin America brought him
to reconnect with his advocacy of the vernacular modernism,
Because every element of these cities is related to the ba- which he had advocated for in the early 1930s in Catalonia. As
sic patio idea, each city plan has an underlying coherence, we have seen, Chimbote was a turning point as, for the first
a kind of trademark visible in the smallest unit (the patio time, he abandoned the linear typologies of international mod-
house), the intermediate unit (patio greens, patio parks, ernism. Cuba gave him further opportunities to develop his
neighborhood centers), individual public buildings (patio concept of regional modernism, and, at the heart of the Carib-
schools, patio churches, patio shopping centers)—all the bean, the modernist values of the “tropical”:
way to the biggest unit, the monumental city center which
is, invariably, a series of gigantic piazzas (or big patios) that [t]he architecture in Cuba is the architecture of the Carib-
form places of outdoor assembly for all the citizens.62 bean, of the tropics, which responds to a certain climate
and determined materials. Architecture cannot be defined
Following a period of intense lobbying by Fulgencio Batista, as international or national but rather as regional and with-
Montoulieu, Arroyo, and many others, Town Planning Associ- in its region I find in Cuba the most notable examples.66
ates were eventually appointed as consultants to develop a
metropolitan plan for Havana.63 Referred to as the Plan Piloto Weiss and Batista had, of course, initiated the debate, but by
de La Habana (Pilot Plan), the idea was to coordinate large are- advocating the tropical, Sert opened the way to a more intense
as of urban growth and expansion around Havana, while devel- discussion and, ultimately, to a wider cultural interpretation of
oping additional masterplans to promote and control the tour- the concept, more specifically from the colonial to the tropical.
ism developments in Varadero and Trinidad. 64
Commissioned In the text of a conference held in Palm Beach, Florida, at the
by dictator Fulgencio Batista, the Plan Piloto for Havana was beginning of 1955, Nicolás Arroyo argued that the traditional
TPA’s culminating synthesis of the rapidly evolving, and thus at urban environments in Cuba were lessons in simplicity, sincer-
times contradictory ideas, pursued by Sert and his partners. ity, human scale, proportion, and economy: “just as the square
Praised for their concerted effort to manage growth and expan- was the center of social life, the patio became the center of the
sion, as well as to provide more parks and green spaces, the domestic life, placing all the rooms and important services
project received considerable pushback for its design ideas. around it.”67
Although very innovative within the context of modernist CIAM­- For Arroyo, the arrival of modernism from the 1930s on-
inspired planning, the proposals for Old Havana and the Ma- ward had interrupted the eclectic flood of foreign and often
lecón would have been eminently destructive, expensive, and non-adapted styles. However, over the years, modernism was
ultimately more fantasy than reality. Completed in 1958, the also transforming into “a new formula of eclecticism” that more
Pilot Plan was understandingly shelved by the Castro regime often than not replaced the lessons of historic styles with sim-
and its publication in 1959 marked the end of Sert’s interven- plistic clichés and formulas. In response, he advocated a return
tion in the Latin American panorama. By then, all of Sert’s plan- to “human scale” in architecture and in the urban community.
ning projects in Latin America had failed, from Venezuela to The time of functionalist architecture had now passed and Cuba
Peru to Cuba. As Eric Mumford commented: needed:

[N]o longer engagé political participants in postwar Latin a more complete vocabulary, new aesthetic values; in them
America, but outside “experts” linked to the economic and we will be able to find a more perfect harmony, more in line
military power of the United States and the artistic prestige with nature, greater plastic freedom, a coordination of the
Introduction Modernity and Cubanidad 23

arts, and a freer use of form, texture and color … in brief, a forms of architecture and artistic activity “which would remain
dynamic architecture, truly a good Architecture under the isolated of the social growth of the civilization and of any type
Sun.68 of construction that would not serve at improving Life.”72 Ac-
cording to Quintana, “in Cuba there was no structured architec-
Arroyo’s concerns were widely shared, but also deceitful as tural movement” and he advocated the necessity of a new
more and more examples of international style modernism, al- humanism in architecture and urban planning that would es-
beit somewhat adapted to the climate, were changing the sky- tablish the social needs of men and women at its center.
line of the city. Spurred by the Hotel Law 2074 that granted a Quintana argued that the real roots of Cuban architecture
gaming license to anyone who invested one million dollars in a emphasized space more than forms and details, and that a full-
hotel or two hundred thousand dollars in a new nightclub, ho- fledged spatial analysis—including proportions, scale, homoge-
tels like the Capri, the Riviera, and the Havana Hilton, brought neity, continuity, contrast—was needed to create a genuine
in high-rise scale and glass façades that advertised the arrival Cuban modern architecture.73 He outlined three trends in Cu-
of fully air-conditioned rooms and public spaces. 69
ban architecture—the romantic-formalist, the structuralist, and
In a country where extreme political opposites were rising, the organic human—that he described as “a new conscience,
many architects felt the pressure to resist the growing intrusion accompanied with a deeper humility” and that he illustrated
of the North American money and presence, and the architec- with examples by Emilio Fernández, Fernando Salinas, Raúl
tonic style and methods of urban planning that its economic González Romero, and Frank Martinez.74 Following the lessons
sponsors and actors—at the heart of which was the casino of Sert, architecture and urbanism needed a spatial continuity,
mafia and its American head Meyer Lansky—were imposing on because “the exterior of the house is the interior of the town.”75
the urban landscape. In an article published in Espacio in 1956, The supreme example was thus the Cuban town of Trinidad, a
the architect Emilio del Junco, who had left the island to live in miracle of an environment unified with a clear homogeneity. Its
Sweden and Ontario from 1948 to 1956, provocatively made low-scale narrow streets and fully hospitable urban spaces,
the case that “from Scandinavia, I have seen a different Cuba ... with their traditional patio-based fabric could be envisioned as
and this has allowed me to perceive the rich cultural heritage a basic typology for a genuinely Cuban modern city. Quintana’s
of the ‘Creole’ architectural style.” 70
Del Junco advocated the reference to Fernando Salinas was important as the young ar-
need for preservation of the colonial heritage and its modern chitect became a leading voice in the definition and the role of
continuation to combat foreign influences. Alluding to the ur- architecture under a revolutionary spirit.76
ban past, he wrote: A few years earlier, in 1951, the twenty-six-year-old archi-
tect Ricardo Porro won a fellowship from the French govern-
We should not copy, but preserve and restore in a respon- ment to pursue postgraduate studies in Paris. At the same time,
sible way, what is artistic and valuable in [our built past], as the Cuban College of Architects awarded him a travel grant to
well as develop a work that continues the tradition…. We further extend his voyage across Europe, and particularly go to
should preserve Havana from becoming the architectural Italy. While in Paris for his post-graduate studies at the Institut
branch of Miami. 71
d’Urbanisme, he regularly visited Wifredo Lam, the Chinese-Cu-
ban artist whose work, as Narciso Menocal wrote, “touched
Another influential voice came out from the new generation. upon the essence of black hagiography.”77 Black culture was a
Son of the prominent architect Nicolás Quintana, founder of the major theme for the Cuban artist, who, after World War II, even-
firm of Moenck and Quintana in Havana, the younger Nicolás tually exposed the profound essence of his painting through its
Quintana was one of the participants in the famous iconoclas- exploration of Afro-Cuban religion and practices. In Paris, Porro
tic bonfire of the Vignolas. He attended the 1953 CIAM confer- also embraced Marxism, a political direction that reinforced his
ence in Aix-en-Provence where he met Sert and returned to vision of a new democratic architecture in Cuba.
Spain with him. He later became a member of the Team X Back on the island, he experimented with sensual forms for
movement. In 1955, he was appointed Head of the Planos Reg- the design of two residences, the feminine Cristina Abad’s
uladores (Regulatory Plans) of Varadero and Trinidad, and in house in 1954 and the masculine Timothy James Ennis’s house
that capacity worked closely with Town Planning Associates. In of 1957.78 His vision of architectural cubanidad owed a lot to the
a text published in April–May of 1959, Quintana quoted Bruno works and teachings of Batista, but eventually differed greatly
Zevi who, in his book Saber ver la arquitectura, rejected all from his teacher’s main tenets. He remained truthful to many
24

Ricardo Porro. Escuelas Nacionales de

Arte de la Habana – Cuba, aerial perspective
sketch (1961).
Introduction Modernity and Cubanidad 25
26

elements of Cuban modernism, such as the vitrales and the fil- Two architectural figures made strong impressions on the
tered light, but he embraced freer and more sensual forms that trio: the first was, of course, Villanueva, whose architecture was
were, to some extent, a Latin response to Bruno Zevi’s organic an inventive modernist adaptation of the colonial material of
architecture and a Cuban follow-up to the multiracial architec- Venezuela. He deployed the three identical “P”s that governed
ture of Oscar Niemeyer in Brazil. It is in the periodical Nuestro Cuban modernity according to Batista—patios, portales, and
Tiempo that Porro published his influential essay ”El sentido de persianas—yet, here in Caracas, they were used to the benefit
la tradición“ (The meaning of tradition) in 1957. The journal was of a public architecture open to all and beautifully merged into
published by the Sociedad Cultural Nuestro Tiempo, an associ- the landscape. The second one was Italian architect Ernesto
ation created in 1951, in the politically polarized climate of the Nathan Rogers, a member of the Milanese group BBPR, with
early 1950s, by a group of intellectuals, mixing classical musi- whom they had direct contacts in Italy: Porro in a CIAM sum-
cians and artists from other disciplines. Their foundational and mer course in 1951, Garatti as professor at the Polytechnic Uni-
anti-North American manifesto unabashedly endorsed: versity of Milan, and Gottardi who worked with him for two
years before Rogers convinced him to move to South America.
an American art, free of political or religious prejudices, At the end of 1953, Rogers became the new editor of Casabella
which is a synthesis of what we believe is valid and perma- and changed its title to Casabella-continuità. In his first editori-
nent in America. We are the voice of a new generation that al, he argued in favor of continuity “not only with the most re-
emerges at a time when violence, despair and death want cent heritage of the Modern Movement, but with its deeper
to be taken as the only solutions. 79
roots (the work of the proto-Modern), and even with the whole
history of architecture.”82 The entire history of the city was at
Inspired by the work of Lam and other Cuban painters and art- the core of his program, from antique and medieval times to,
ists who were increasingly building on the multi-racial roots of perhaps more surprisingly, the city of the eighteenth and nine-
Cuban culture—the African heritage and, in particular, music— teenth century, of which Milan and Turin were rich examples
Porro’s essay argued for another vision of modern Cuban and that young professionals like Aldo Rossi had started to
architecture: study and write about. As Manuel López Segura wrote, “any
architect, not blinded by the avant-gardist cries against the his-
We are the product of the Spaniard, above all the Spaniard torical city, had to be touched by the arcades, the galleries and
of the southern part of the peninsula, and of the black Afri- the profound shadowed entrances open to the cortile; that is,
can. From here comes forth our character. The mixture of by an urbanity conveying an extraordinary civic sense, a deep
the severe and intense Spaniard with the black African has espressione di civiltà (expression of civility).”83 The teachings of
produced, in our midst, warm and easy going, a man/a Rogers must have deeply influenced the young architects, and
woman of extreme sensuality.80 particularly Porro who was not foreign to the Cuban discourse
about tradition and modernity:
Shortly after the publication, he was caught in the aftermath of
the failed general strike of the same year and moved to Vene- [E]rnesto Rogers always talked about the environmental
zuela. There he started to teach architecture and urban plan- preexistence. As a teacher, he made me stick my head into
ning at the Central University of Caracas, along with Carlos Raúl what this term meant: the fact that one is going to build in
Villanueva, the urbanist and architect of the new Ciudad Uni- a place where there are things and also people … It can be
versitaria (University City). The campus included a new School an urban landscape or a natural landscape … This is envi-
of Architecture, completed in 1957 according to Villanueva’s ronmental preexistence. For me, this is fundamental.84
plans.81 It was in Caracas that Porro befriended the two young
expatriate Italian architects Vittorio Garatti and Roberto Got- It is thus the postwar Italian context and the debates of which
tardi, who would later be his partners. Garatti left Milan in 1957 Rogers was a major actor that encouraged many architects to
to join his family in the Venezuelan capital, while Gottardi challenge the tenets of the modern movement and eventually
moved the same year to work in Maracaibo and then Caracas. support “the climate of fervor and restlessness that found in the
The three architects discovered a country in full transformation Cuban revolution a short-lived opportunity to consolidate the
and its capital, Caracas, in rapid expansion and modernization interests and directions of the previous decade from a leftist
with a rich cultural and intellectual life. ideological point of view.”85 Batista, Quintana, and many others
Introduction Modernity and Cubanidad 27

Cover of Arquitectura.
January 1959.

had undoubtedly emphasized the importance of tradition for a Architecture in Transition

new architecture that would be at once modern and Cuban. Yet, In the January 1959 issue of Arquitectura, the Colegio Nacional
Porro and his colleagues Gottardi and Garatti expanded the de Arquitectos de Cuba (National College of Cuban Architects,
meaning of tradition by claiming other preexistences, origins or CNAC) advertised its support of the Cuban Revolution with a
and traditions, and in particular emphasizing the African influ- bright red cover framing a collage of black and white images of
ences that had shaped Cuban culture and art for centuries. revolutionary combatants in triumph.87 The cover was strikingly
Following the Cuban Revolution, Porro returned to Cuba different from previous ones that routinely featured popular
and in 1960 was designated by Fidel Castro as the head of de- Havana buildings, and the editorial page was another clear cel-
sign for Havana’s new Escuelas Nacionales de Arte (National ebration of Castro’s victory, declaring the Revolution as the
Art Schools, now known as the Instituto Superior de Artes, “savior of homeland freedoms.”88 The relief and patriotism of
ill. p. 24–25, 206–207) on the grounds of the former golf course the Cuban architects came through most noticeably in the final
of the Country Club neighborhood in the western suburb of paragraph of the editorial, which ended with the well-known
Cubanacán. Porro invited Gottardi and Garatti to join him in the phrase Viva Cuba libre (Long Live Free Cuba!).89 The College of
ambitious and programmatically complex project. Although Architects had been an integral part of the architectural com-
they were built during the first years of Castro’s regime, the munity of Cuba since its formation in 1933. Its art-deco modern
Cubanacán Art Schools can be directly related to the 1950s and headquarters, a work of Fernando de Zárraga and Mario Es-
the development of an alternative path to cubanidad—an “ar- quiróz built from 1944 to 1947, was the embodiment of the
chitecture, [that] instead of being international, is part of a local growing professional community of architects in Cuba and the
tradition.” 86
college controlled issues such as licensure, title, and architects’
28

pensions and benefits.90 Apart from publishing Arquitectura (in ter-revolutionary activities.96 On January 28, 1961, José Ge-
April 1959 it became Arquitectura Cuba), the college actively labert, the Director of the Department of Architecture and Pub-
promoted the achievements of Cuban architects, both through lic Works for the City of Havana and recently elected president
annual celebrations of El día del arquitecto (the Day of the Ar- of the Colegio Provincial de Arquitectos de La Habana, set up a
chitect) every March 13, and through the annual Premio Medal- small exhibition of important quotes by José Martí throughout
la de Oro (Gold Medal). the CNAC headquarters to celebrate the birthday of Cuba’s na-
Shortly after taking control of Cuba, Fidel Castro visited the tional hero.97 At the same time, the College was preparing La
college on February 16 and met with its president, Horacio Gran Exposición de la Construcción Revolucionaria (The Great
Navarrete, and the Minister of Public Works, Manuel Ray, to dis- Exhibition of Revolutionary Construction) to promote the many
cuss his plans for the Instituto Nacional de Ahorro y Vivienda projects completed and underway within the first two years of
(National Institute of Savings and Housing, or INAV), a new gov- the revolutionary government.98 Communist members and mi-
ernment agency established to carry out the provisions of the litia troops led by the architect Arquímides Poveda stormed the
Agrarian Reform Law of 1959. 91
The agency was given broad college and demanded that quotes by Fidel Castro be included
authority to organize the collective cultivation of land and to throughout the building. Gelabert refused to celebrate Fidel
regulate all matters related to agricultural production, land ten- Castro on José Martí’s birthday and took down the leader’s
ure, credit and trade, in the hope of also creating job opportu- quotes. 99 The president was forcibly removed from the premis-
nities for those in the construction industry.92 In principle, the es and declared a traitor along with his wife, Rosa Navia, and
National Institute of Savings and Housing had three main objec- two other executive committee members.100
tives: first, to eradicate shantytowns like Las Yaguas; secondly, This event was largely a response to the increasing divide
to build new housing complexes, both in the form of casas between those Cuban architects who supported the new re-
baratas (economical houses) and apartment buildings; and gime and those who voiced opposition to it, but it also reflected
thirdly, to develop technical and economic solutions to achieve the growing disappointment with the many leading architects
the aims efficiently. The March issue of Arquitectura featured
93
and architectural educators who fled from Cuba. The US gov-
the meeting with the title ”El Colegio de Arquitectos recibe al ernment had already issued a partial trade embargo with Cuba
Doctor Fidel Castro“ (The College of Architects receives Doctor on October 15, 1960, and President Kennedy declared in his
Fidel Castro).94 Castro’s official visit, the first to any professional first press conference following his inauguration that he would
association, confirmed the CNAC’s strong support of the revo- not negotiate with Fidel Castro while Cuba was in the grip of
lution, as well as the artistic and intellectual avant-garde’s mu- Communism. After Cuba’s nationalization of major banks and
tual backing of the revolutionary government. enterprises, the United States retaliated by declaring a full em-
The abrupt end of private commissions in 1959 propelled bargo on April 25, 1961. This effectively wiped out any remain-
the architectural community into a sudden crisis, as architects ing architectural practices on the island and going forward, the
had to leave Cuba in search of professional work or find em- economic squeeze resulted in the severe reduction of building
ployment in one of the government’s ministries, such as public materials such as steel and timber, machinery, and mechanical
works, planning, or construction. For those who remained on equipment. Therefore, the attack on the CNAC headquarters
the island, the change in architectural practice did not repre- was not just a symbolic act but more importantly, one that ini-
sent an aesthetic or even cultural shift, but rather a social and tiated the demise of the venerable institution.
economic one. The profession would no longer function as a
95

private artistic discipline dependent on elite and exclusive pa- Tradition and Prefabrication
tronage and clientele, but rather would serve the social and In the wake of the defunct College of Architects, Fidel Castro
cultural program put forth by the new government. But unlike began to articulate his position with respect to artistic endeav-
the visual arts of painting and sculpture, to which the govern- ors through a series of meetings held at the Sálon de Actos
ment gave much greater creative license, architecture would (Auditorium) of the National Library (on June 16, 23, and 30,
be subjected to persistent pressure by the revolutionary gov- 1961) that included nearly the entire community of artists and
ernment. Architectural militias were soon established in the intellectuals in Havana and further afield. These gatherings re-
Colegio Provincial de Arquitectos de La Habana (the Provincial sulted in his famous speech, Palabras a los intelectuales (Words
College of Architects of Havana, a local affiliate of the CNAC to the Intellectuals), which he delivered on the last day of the
with offices in the same building) to defend against coun- meetings.101 Castro addressed the censorship concerns that
Introduction Modernity and Cubanidad 29

Emilio Sanchez. Las Yaguas (informal

settlement), lithograph (1956).
30
Introduction Modernity and Cubanidad 31

artists and other intellectuals had raised, noting that, “[t]he fear architect Beatriz Masso, and included the International Exposi-
has been stirred up here that the Revolution could stifle that tion of Architecture, Cuban Painting and Sculpture, Books on
freedom, whether the Revolution is going to smother the crea- Art and Architecture, Industrialization and Construction, Archi-
tive spirit of writers and artists.” He further suggested that, “[t] tecture and Film, and a competition for a memorial to com-
he economic and social revolution must inevitably produce a memorate the victory at Playa Girón (also known as the Bay of
cultural revolution in turn in our country.” He concluded with the Pigs).108 Finally, a series of specially designed granite tiles by
admonition, “within the Revolution, everything; against the Rev- some of Cuba’s most respected vanguard artists, including
olution, nothing,” in effect outlining a new revolutionary policy Wifredo Lam, Amelia Peláez, and René Portocarrero, as well as
in which art would be in the service of politics. 102
As an example younger artists such as Sandú Darié, Antonio Vidal, and Hugo
of this new policy, Castro cited the yet unbuilt National Art Consuegra, were strategically placed along the sidewalk of La
Schools. Despite his praise of this project, Castro’s agenda for Rampa, underlining the new government’s commitment to the
creative expression would significantly curtail the ability of art- integration of the plastic arts in both public and private works.109
ists and intellectuals to express freely and openly any individual As noted by Alfredo Rivera, “[l]ocated centrally between the
interest or critical independence. A new official organization, Malecón and the Habana Libre Hotel, the Pabellón Cuba in-
the Consejo Nacional de Cultura (National Council of Culture, or fused Brutalist architecture and sensual, tropical landscaping
CNC, now the Ministry of Culture), was created to control the … its massive prefabricated concrete grid ceiling upheld by
cultural sector.103 Members of the newly founded Unión de Es- repeating concrete columns, or pilotis, provide the building a
critores y Artistas de Cuba (Cuban National Union of Writers and sculptural, monumental appearance. It expressed a technolog-
Artists, or UNEAC) were required to declare party membership ical and nationalist utopia, one full of a revolutionary fervor
in order to benefit from public opportunities. Architects were reverberated in the spectacle of the congress’s opening
officially prohibited from practicing privately on November 22, festivities.”110
1963. They could only survive by developing an intimate rela- Cuban architects in exile pleaded with the union’s admin-
tionship with government planning or construction. 104
istration not to hold the conference in Cuba, asking for human-
itarian intervention in the case of Alfonso Rodríguez Pichardo,
a professor of architecture at the University of Havana and ar-
chitect of the Museum of Fine Arts, who had been imprisoned
Juan Campos and Lorenzo Medrano.
as an anti-revolutionary, and sentenced to death in 1962.111
Pabellón de Cuba, La Rampa, Vedado
(1963), exterior view. Despite the protests—Pichardo was eventually released and
went into exile in the US—the Congress took place in Havana,
focusing on the theme of “Architecture in Emerging Countries.”
It was attended by more than 2,500 members, representing
Meanwhile, the Seventh Congress of the Union internationale eighty countries. Aspects of social planning, prefabrication, and
des architectes (International Union of Architects, or UIA) took Soviet-style construction techniques that promoted high-den-
place from September 29 to October 3, 1963 in Havana, the first sity housing were discussed at great length.
time it was held in the Americas. 105
A monumental pavilion to One unexpected initiative of the congress was the propos-
host the event known as the Pabellón de Cuba was designed al to renovate colonial Havana under the supervision of the
by Juan Campos and Lorenzo Medrano on La Rampa in the Ve- Dirección de Artes Plásticas del Consejo Nacional de Cultura
dado.106 The Pabellón was a simple and monumental structure (Directorate of Fine Arts of the National Council of Culture), with
consisting of two free-standing pavilions situated on either side the architects Hugo Consuegra and Joaquín Rallo in charge of
of a high-rise apartment building and connected underground. the works.112 In particular, the Plaza de la Catedral, the Palace
Made of concrete columns and waffle-slab ceilings, the first of the Marqués de Aguas Claras, the Plaza and Convent of San
pavilion was conceived of as an open-air primitive Cuban gar- Francisco, and other public sites in the old city were singled out
den, whereas the second pavilion was semi-enclosed to house for conservation and restoration. Consuegra also visited Trini-
an exhibition organized by the architect Enrique Fuentes on the dad and Cienfuegos, ultimately producing a theoretical master-­
history of Cuban architecture in three phases—primitive and plan for future restoration projects.
colonial; republican; and revolutionary.107 A series of affiliated In 1964, the publication of Alejo Carpentier’s essay La ciu-
exhibitions were also organized throughout La Rampa by the dad de las columnas (The city of the columns) coincided with
32

the emerging nationalist rhetoric that the revolution had put embargo.118 As noted by Louis A. Pérez, attempts to remedy
forth from 1959.113 In this context, Habana Vieja, or colonial Ha- these conditions began early. Housing construction expanded
vana, appeared as an environment of defiance against the he- at a brisk pace, averaging an annual 17,000 new units between
gemonic architectural and urban forms coming from interna- 1959 and 1963, most of which were located in the country-
tional modernism and the United States in particular. side.119 One of the enduring aspects of the new housing pro-
Carpentier’s poetic essay was dedicated to the old city, its syn- gram—priority of the countryside over the cities, and the prov-
cretic fusion of styles, and its invariant elements celebrated inces over the capital—was established early and sustained
twenty-five years ago by Batista and friends—the patio, the throughout. Among the large-scale public housing projects
portal, the mediopunto (half-circle stained glass window), and carried out under the Ministry of Construction and the INAV,
other vitrales. In the first of his sixteen essays written in 1960 several were simply continued from the Batista period. The
during his travels to Cuba in the company of Simone de Beau- newly opened tunnel under the Havana harbor in 1958 enabled
voir, Jean-Paul Sartre intuited the dilemma that was to guide the development of Eastern Havana with the Unidad Vecinal
the architectural debates of the 1960s: No. 1 from 1959–1961 being among the most high-profile pro-
jects.120 Designed by Mario González, Hugo D’Acosta, Mercedes
[t]here is still this: the revolution attempts a beautiful archi- Álvarez, Reynaldo Estévez, and a team of architects and engi-
tecture, raising from the earth its own cities. In the mean- neers, this project in particular exhibited many of the architec-
time, it fights Americanization by opposing it with the colo- tural characteristics of the Batista era in terms of having
nial past. In the past, Cuba invoked, against the hungry well-designed apartment blocks of four-story low-rise and elev-
metropolis that was Spain, the United States’ independ- en-story high-rise buildings, set within a loosely defined open
ence and freedom; today it searches its national roots public realm.121 It was considered so successful from both a
against the United States and resuscitates the dead colo- planning and architectural perspective that it was exhibited at
nizers … The revolutionaries have only clemency for the the Seventh Congress of the International Union of Architects.
buildings built by their grandparents in the first times of Other projects in Eastern Havana followed, including the new
Cuban democracy.114 Guiteras, and Alamar neighborhoods, and to the south, the
Boyeros and Fontanar neighborhoods were also taking shape.
Despite the proposal to preserve parts of Old Havana, the new Finally, between 1965–1970, Fernando Salinas developed an
architectural mandate that emerged from the congress was experimental house prototype using the Multiflex concrete
that the Ministry of Construction in Havana would resolve the modular system that he developed with his students at the Uni-
ever-changing technical and social needs of Cuban society versity of Havana School of Architecture.122 Employed in 1969
through prefabricated modular units throughout the island.115 at the suburb of Wajay, 18 kilometers southwest of Havana, the
This new approach paralyzed the National Art Schools project system consisted of a kit of parts with a support structure in
that was now seen as a symbol of “bourgeois formalism” and the form of a central column that held up 6 by 6 meter panels
“utopianism.”116 However much Castro had exalted the Art and allowed for growth in multiple directions. In addition to the
Schools at the start of the revolution, their sensuous forms and panels, there were prefabricated doors, windows, closets,
high aesthetic value, rendered them irrelevant to the pressing kitchens and baths. The Multiflex was simple, flexible, and easy
needs of mass housing and economic restrictions. On July 26, to assemble even though it never developed into a large-scale
1965, the National Art Schools officially opened with the schools production system. Therefore it was eventually scrapped by the
of modern dance, plastic arts, and ballet largely complete, and Ministry of Construction in favor of high-rise housing and heavy
the schools of dramatic arts and music still under construction. prefabrication technology imported from the Soviet Union. De-
Despite a highly articulate defense of the schools by Hugo spite the enthusiasm, many of the public housing projects
Consuegra­ in Arquitectura Cuba, work on the remaining sec- failed quickly due to poor construction and infrastructure. The
tions of the schools came to a halt. Both Ricardo Porro and use of pre-fabricated building systems negated the idea that
Vittorio Garatti left Cuba permanently, and only Roberto Gottardi architecture was a form of cultural expression, and as a result,
remained. 117
residents often let the buildings deteriorate. Likewise, the so-
From then on, the Ministry of Construction directed its fo- cialization of the ground in the existing city led to the subdivi-
cus onto housing, prefabrication, and the technical and eco- sion and overcrowding of many buildings, particularly in Old
nomic challenges that faced the nation in the wake of the US Havana and Habana Centro, and the lack of maintenance accel-
Introduction Modernity and Cubanidad 33

erated the physical degradation that had already been noticed Art Schools (Porro, Gottardi, and Garatti), as well as artists from
and researched in the 1950s by Town Planning Associates dur- Los Once, such as Raúl Martínez, Guido Llinás, and Tomás Oli-
ing the preparation of the Plan Piloto. va.129 This group of young talented idealists was intent on redi-
To amend the suburban and rural situation, a new type of recting architectural education to conform to the cultural pro-
housing emerged in the Microbrigade movement of the 1970s gram of the revolutionary government, though many of them
that Castro himself spearheaded to provide an alternative mode would not remain on the island long enough to see their efforts
of building construction in which workers would build houses realized. In the end, they were too “intellectually oriented,” and
for themselves.123 The state provided land, materials, equip- were replaced by more establishment figures, such as Eduardo
ment, tools, and technical advice, while the workers dedicated Granados and Antonio Quintana Simonetti, who instituted a
several years to the construction of their houses. Even graduate policy forbidding students from visiting the National Art
architecture students contributed to the process. 124
However, Schools.130 According to Consuegra, the romantic period of any
limited access to materials often left projects abandoned, and revolution is its only truly revolutionary moment, and once the
seldom did they contribute to the betterment of their immediate “romantic” has been lost, what is left is death and betrayal. He
context. By the 1980s the movement had dwindled. 125
resigned from the faculty of the School of Architecture in 1966,
eventually leaving Cuba in 1967 never to return.
The End of a Profession As opportunities for creative design were increasingly lim-
Architectural education in Cuba during this period had also ited, the reputation of the profession dwindled. Few architects
changed dramatically.126 The University of Havana had closed in could maintain a professional practice, except for a handful of
November 1956 with the School of Architecture and Engineer- recognized figures from the 1950s who remained after the rev-
ing one of the many departments that stood in solidarity olution, such as Antonio Quintana and Fernando Salinas. The
against the Batista regime. On March 13 of the following year negative effects of the socialist housing model became a par-
(the Day of the Architect), José Antonio Echeverría, an architec- ticularly painful reality as prefabrication was more often than
ture student and leader of the Federación Estudiantil Universi- not inappropriate to local conditions or incompatible with the
taria (Federation of University Students) was assassinated fol- traditional fabric of the city.131 Architects who supported the
lowing the failed attack on the Presidential Palace. Echeverría traditional building approach of the National Art Schools were
and another fellow student, Rubén Batista Rubio, who had been considered “elitists” or “cultural aristocrats.”132 Havana suffered
killed in 1953 during a student protest, became the architectur- too, as the new socialist program benefited the rural communi-
al martyrs of the revolution, and their memory would live long ties and provincial cities more than it did the capital, which at
within the architectural culture of the new regime.127 The uni- the time of the revolution had over one million residents. Few
versity remained closed until shortly after Castro’s victory in resources were directed at preserving the historic city, and in-
1959, though the other architecture school in Havana, the pri- stead housing authorities resettled the many indigent residents
vate Catholic university Santo Tomás de Villanueva, maintained who lived in peripheral shantytowns, such as Las Yaguas or La
its architecture program during the entire period. Timba, into abandoned homes, commercial storefronts, or new
In September of 1960, Hugo Consuegra, the Director of the rural communities.133 And while the eradication of the indigent
Department of Fine Arts in the Ministry of Public Works, and the communities was considered a success, there was little left of
young architects Fernando Salinas and Raúl González Romero the imagination of the city and its symbolic potential. Overall,
were given the task of reorganizing the architectural curriculum the technocratic bureaucracy of socialist planning resulted in a
at the University of Havana, as many of the established faculty conspicuously anti-urban and anti-architectural bias that re-
had departed the island. 128
They invited several other architects mained largely in place until the fall of the Soviet Union in 1989.
to join them, including the three that would design the National
34
Introduction Modernity and Cubanidad 35

Plano de la Habana, Estéban T. Pichardo, 1900. Pichardo’s plan

shows the situation in 1900, when the city had a population of
558,000 and an area of 3,000 hectares, and the planned develop-
ment of the city until the 1920s (uncolored blocks). The Almen-
dares river marks the edge of the city. Miramar and the other
western suburbs will develop in the first decades on the western
side of the river. The empty area marked “23” will become the site
of the University of Havana campus. To the south of the Castillo
del Príncipe is the small hill (Loma de los Jesuitas or Loma de los
Catalanes) where the future Civic Center will be planned from
1925 to the late 1950s.
36

NOTES Walter Gropius,” Revista Lyceum V, no. 18 Vernacular, and the Mediterranean in Spain,” in
(May 1949): 93–95. Modern Architecture and the Mediterranean:
1 Several authors have recently assessed the 6 Jorge R. Bermúdez, Clara Porset: diseño y cultura Vernacular Dialogues and Contested Identities,
modern architecture of Cuba, and their (Havana: Letras Cubanas, 2005), 13; and eds. Jean-François Lejeune and Michelangelo
publication efforts have been fundamental to “Chronology,” Josef and Anni Albers Founda- Sabatino (London: Routledge, 2010), 65–94.
our research. These include: Eduardo Luis tion, accessed February 27, 2020, https:// 18 See Giuseppe Pagano, Architettura rurale
Rodríguez, La Habana, arquitectura del siglo XX albersfoundation.org/artists/chronology/. italiana (Milano: Hoepli, 1936); and Michelan-
(Barcelona: Blume, 1998); Eduardo Luis 7 Flores O. Salinas, Ana E. Mallet, and Gálvez A. gelo Sabatino, Pride in Modesty: Modernist
Rodríguez, The Havana Guide: Modern Hernández, El Diseño de Clara Porset: Inventando Architecture and the Vernacular Tradition in Italy
Architecture 1925–1965 (New York: Princeton un México Moderno = Clara Porset’s Design: (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2010).
Architectural Press, 2000); Eduardo Luis Creating a Modern Mexico (Madrid: Turner Eds., 19 See Aracy Amaral, Arquitectura neo-colonial,
Rodríguez, La arquitectura del movimiento 2006), 17–19. Caribe, Estados Unidos (São Paulo: Memorial
moderno: Selección de obras del Registro Nacional 8 “La exposición de la Escuela de Arquitectura y Fondo de Cultura, 1996).
(Havana: Ediciones Unión, 2011); Carlos el cursillo del Profesor Albers,” Arquitectura, no. 20 On vernacular modernism, see Vernacular
Sambricio and Roberto Segre, Arquitectura en la 225 (April 1952): 147–51; and Frederick A. Modernism: Heimat, Globalization, and the Built
ciudad de La Habana: primera modernidad Horowitz and Brenda Danilowitz, Josef Albers Environment, eds. Bernd Hüppauf and Maiken
(Madrid: Electa España, 2000); and Francisco To Open Eyes: The Bauhaus, Black Mountain Umbach (Stanford: Stanford University Press,
Gómez Díaz, De Forestier a Sert: ciudad y College, and Yale (London: Phaidon, 2009), 51. 2005).
arquitectura en La Habana, 1925–1960 (Madrid: 9 Nathaniel Cortlandt Curtis, “La arquitectura 21 Carlos Eduardo Comas, “Report from Brazil,” in
Abada, 2008). To avoid lengthy repetition, we moderna,” Arquitectura, no. 60 (July 1938): Cruelty and Utopia: Cities and Landscapes of
have decided not to provide continuous page 267–73. Curtis was the author of the influential Latin America, ed. Jean-François Lejeune (New
references for these sources, unless of course book, Architectural Composition (Cleveland, OH: York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2005), 176.
necessary. Instead, we will provide original J.H. Jansen, 1923). 22 See “Diamantina,” in Lúcio Costa, Lúcio Costa:
source material and lesser-known references 10 Curtis also mentioned Mies Van der Rohe, Registro de uma vivência (São Paulo: Empresa
throughout. One exception is Emilio Soto’s though he was not as impressed with him as das Artes, 1997), 27. Also see Jean-François
seven volumes of the Album de Cuba (Havana: much as the other three. See Segre, Arquitectura Lejeune, “Al di là del Mediterraneo: Le
Universidad de La Habana, 1950–1960), which antillana del siglo XX (Havana: Arte y Literatura, Corbusier, Costa, Niemeyer e il ‘vernacolare
regrettably do not have any page numbers. We 2003), 177. moderno’ in Brasile,” in Mediterranei traduzioni
have therefore decided not to provide 11 Le Corbusier, “No olvide que …,” Arquitectura y della modernità, eds. Paolo Carlotti, Dina
continuous references for these as well. artes decorativas 16, no. 4 (July 1932): 23; Nencini, and Pisana Posocco (Milan: Fran-
2 See for instance Silvio Acosta, “La arquitectura “Pensamientos de Le Corbusier,” Arquitectura, coangeli, 2015), 46–69.
moderna,” Arquitectura, no. 12 (November no. 52 (November 1937): n.p.; “Opiniones de Le 23 Enrique Cayado, “Arquitectura vueltabajera,”
1928): 25–26; Gustavo Botet, “Lo nuevo y lo Corbusier sobre la ciudad moderna,” Arquitectu- Arquitectura, no. 69 (April 1939): 123–25; and
viejo,” Revista del Colegio de Arquitectos de La ra, no. 53 (December 1937): n.p.; and Helio Segre, Arquitectura antillana: 35 ff.
Habana 13, no. 3 (March 1929): 26–27; Duarte, “Las ideas de Le Corbusier y A. Lurçat,” 24 See Luis Bay Sevilla, “La vivienda del campesi-
Leonardo Morales, “La arquitectura en Cuba de Arquitectura, no. 58 (May 1938): 195–198. no,” Arquitectura, no. 36 (July 1936): 9–10; and
1898 a 1929,” El arquitecto 4, no. 33 (May 12 See Jorge Mañach, “Neutra y su estela,” “Los problemas de la vivienda rústica,”
1929): 423–31; and Joaquín E. Weiss, “La Arquitectura, no. 140 (March 1945): 89–90. Arquitectura, no. 37 (August 1936): 13–16.
nueva arquitectura y nosotros,” Universidad de 13 Juan A. Martínez, Cuban Art and National 25 Luis Bay Sevilla, “Una ley de casas baratas: la
La Habana 1, no. 3 (May–June, 1934): 5–19. Identity: The Vanguardia Painters, 1927–1950 única solución para el problema de vivienda,”
3 “Arquitectura funcional,” Arquitectura, no. 50 (Gainesville: University Press of Florida, Arquitectura, no. 88 (November 1940): 291–93.
(September 1937): 37–39. The essay was 1994), 6. 26 “Dos plumillas de Sánchez Felipe,” Arquitectura,
originally published in the Spanish journal, 14 Juan A. Martínez, “Social and Political no. 53 (December 1937): n.p.
Arquitectura (February 1931), 451–62. On Commentary in Cuban Modernist Painting of 27 Florencio García Cisneros, Latin American
Gropius’s lecture, see Francisco Javier Muñoz the 1930s,” in The Social and the Real: Political Painters in New York (Miami: Rema Press,
Fernández, “Arquitectura racionalista en San Art of the 1930s in the Western Hemisphere, eds. 1964), 238–244; and José Veigas, Adolfo V.
Sebastián. Las conferencias de Fernando García Alejandro Anreus, Diana L. Linden, and Nodal and Cristina Vives, Memoria: Cuban art of
Mercadal y Walter Gropius,” Ondare, no. 23 Jonathan Weinberg (University Park: the 20th century (Los Angeles: California/
(2004): 195–213. Pennsylvania State University Press, 2006), International Arts Foundation, 2002), 334.
4 Nicolás Quintana, in the interview by Rafael 21–41. 28 Ramón Guirao, “El pintor cubano Serra Badué,”
Fornés, “El Gran Burgués,” Revista encuentro de 15 “La pintura moderna mexicana,” Arquitectura, Arquitectura, no. 75 (October 1939): n.p.;
la cultura cubana 18 (Fall 2000): 30. See Jacopo no. 61 (August 1938): n.p.; and Olga María Ramón Guirao, “Daniel Serra Badué,”
Barozzi da Vignola, Regola delli cinque ordini Rodríguez Bolufé, Relaciones artísticas entre Arquitectura, no. 93 (April 1941): 126–27; and
d’architettura (Canon of the five orders of Cuba y México (1920–1950): momentos claves de Daniel Serra-Badué, Santiago de Cuba historico:
architecture), first published in 1562. una historia (Mexico: Universidad Iberoamerica- dibujos a pluma (Barcelona: I.G. Seix & Barral
5 Vicente A. de Castro, “La visita del Profesor na, 2011), 46–59. Herms S.A., 1929).
Walter Gropius a La Habana,” Arquitectura, no. 16 Mañach, “Neutra y su estela,” 90. 29 Aquiles Maza and Raúl Macías, “La arquitectura
189 (April 1949): 98–99; Manuel Carrera, 17 From an illustration of Ibiza in A.C., no. 6 colonial de Trinidad,” Arquitectura, no. 66
“Charla con Walter Gropius,” Arquitectura, no. (1932). On the GATEPAC, see A.C.: la revista del (January 1939): 5–17; Luis Bay Sevilla,
189 (April 1949): 100–01; Joaquín Weiss, “La GATEPAC, eds. Enrique Granell Trias, Josep “Trinidad, monumento de la nacionalidad,”
conferencia del Profesor Gropius en al Colegio: María Rovira, and Antonio Pizza (Madrid: Arquitectura, nos. 94–95 (May–June 1941):
Discurso de presentación,” Arquitectura, no. 189 Museo Nacional de Reina Sofía, 2008). Also see 186–89; Antonio Navarrete Sierra, “La Villa de
(April 1949): 102–03; Rafael Marquina, “La Jean-François Lejeune, ”Built Utopias in the La Santísima Trinidad,” Arquitectura, no. 140
conferencia de Walter Gropius,” Arquitectura, Countryside: The Rural and the Modern in (March 1945): 100–103.
no. 189 (April 1949): 103–04; and Lilliam Franco’s Spain,“ Ph.D. diss. (TU Delft, 2019); 30 See M.A. Llaneras-Sierra, “Cubanidad y arte,”
Mederos de Baralt, “Una vida de fuerte diseños: and Jean-François Lejeune, “The Modern, the Arquitectura, no. 87 (October 1940): 262; Eliana
Introduction Modernity and Cubanidad 37

Cárdenas Sánchez, En la busqueda de una (Guadalajara: Universidad de Guadalajara, GATEPAC, 1931–37 (Madrid: Museo Nacional
arquitectura nacional (Havana: Letras Cubanas), 2009); Guilherme Wisnik, Lúcio Costa (São Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, 2008). On CIAM
1991; Eliana Cárdenas Sánchez, Historiografía e Paulo: Cosac & Naify, 2001); Federica Zanco, and Team X, see Mumford, The CIAM Discourse
identidad en la arquitectura cubana (Havana: Luis Barragán: The Quiet Revolution (Milan: on Urbanism, passim.
Ediciones Unión, 2015); Segre, Arquitectura Skira, 2001). 54 See Walter Gropius’s retirement speech for José
antillana, 125 ff; and Eduardo Luis Rodríguez, 43 Reprinted in Bermúdez, Clara Porset, 68 ff. Luis Sert (1969), quoted by Reginald R. Isaacs
“Theory and Practice of Modern Regionalism in Porset revisited the theme later, as can be seen in The Macmillan Encyclopedia of Architects, ed.
Cuba,” Docomomo-Cuba, no. 33 (2005), 9–19. in the lecture “Espacio interior para vivir en Adolf K. Placzek, vol. 4 (New York: The Free
31 Pedro Martínez Inclán, Discurso de ingreso como Cuba. Gestación de síntesis cubana” on January Press, 1982), 40.
miembro de número de la sección de arquitectura 30, 1948 (courtesy Archivo Clara Porset, Center 55 See Eric Mumford, The CIAM Discourse on
(Havana: Impr. El Siglo XX, 1926), 10–11. of Investigation of Industrial Design, School of Urbanism, 1928–1960 (Cambridge, MA: The
32 “No ha sido adjudicado el premio Medalla de Architecture UNAM, Mexico City). MIT Press, 2000), 130 ff; and José Luis Sert,
Oro,” Arquitectura, no. 73 (August 1939): 44 Eugenio Batista, “La casa cubana,” Artes Can Our Cities Survive? (Cambridge, MA:
299–301. Plásticas 2 (1960): 4–7. There is also an English Harvard University Press, 1942).
33 Carlos Mendoza Zeledon, “Por una arquitectura translation by Raúl García, see “Patios, Portales 56 Mumford, The CIAM Discourse, 180; see also
cubana,” Arquitectura, no. 101 (December y Persianas: The Cuban House,” Herencia 3, no. José Luis Sert, Sigfried Giedion, and Fernand
1941): 427–28. See also Cárdenas Sánchez, En 1 (Spring–Summer 1997): 18–21. Léger, “Nine Points on Monumentality,” in Sert
la busqueda, passim. 45 Idem, 21. Arquitecto en Nueva York, eds. Xavier Costa and
34 Pedro Martínez Inclán, La Habana actual: 46 Josep M. Rovira, José Luis Sert: 1901–1983 Guido Hartray (Barcelona: Museu d’Art
estudio de la capital de Cuba desde el punto de (Milan: Electa, 2000). Contemporani de Barcelona, 1997), 14–17.
vista de la arquitectura de ciudades (Havana: P. 47 Nicolás Arroyo, “La A.T.E.C. y la última 57 When the project was presented during the
Fernández y Cía., 1925); Emilio Roig de exposición de Trinidad,” Arquitectura, no. 118 eighth CIAM congress, Sert emphasized the
Leuchsenring, La Habana de ayer de hoy y de (May 1943): 190–95. The group included role that the municipal squares could have in
mañana (Havana: Sindicato de Artes Gráficas, Eugenio Batista, Miguel Gastón, Nicolás the democratic life of a country, not only as a
1928); Aquiles Maza Santos, “Camagüey Arroyo, Gabriela Menéndez, Manuel de stage of commerce but as places of discussion
tríptico,” Arquitectura, no. 54 (January 1938): Tapia-Ruano, Carlos Alzogaray, Beatriz Masó, and assembly.
n.p.; “Cosas de ayer y de hoy que embellecen la Rita Gutiérrez, Emilio del Junco, Eduardo 58 The work of TPA was widely disseminated and
capital,” Arquitectura, no. 63 (October 1938): Montoulieu, Alberto Beale, Frank Martínez, included in a major exhibition at the Museum
n.p.; José María Bens Arrate, “El caracter de La Ricardo Porro, Martín Domínguez, Nicolás of Modern Art in 1947 entitled: Two Cities:
Habana antigua,” Arquitectura, nos. 94–95 Quintana, and others. Trinidad was the second Planning in North and South America. Also see
(May–June 1941): 167–70; Luis Bay Sevilla, “La exhibition organized by the group, following Rovira, José Luis Sert, passim.
evolución de la arquitectura en Cuba,” the inaugural one on Varadero. 59 Xavier Costa, Tina Dickey, Eric Mumford, Martí
Arquitectura, no. 101 (December 1941): 48 Quoted from Emilio del Junco in a lecture titled Perán, and Maurici Pla, Hans Hofmann. El
412–26; and Joaquín E. Weiss, “Ventanas y “Trinidad, caso de urbanismo,” in Arroyo, “La proyecto Chimbote: la promesa sinergética del arte
balcones coloniales,” Arquitectura, no. 103 A.T.E.C.”: 192. On the Patronato Pro-Urbanismo, moderno y la arquitectura urbana (Barcelona:
(February 1942): 43–46. see Chapter 2. Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona,
35 The congress was delayed and took place in 49 Clara Porset, “Espacio interior para vivir en 2004). Town Planning Associates dissociated
April 1950. Cuba. Gestación de síntesis cubana,” lecture themselves from the project in the early 1950s
36 Joaquín E. Weiss, “Nuestra casa de ayer y de given on January 30, 1948, at the University of and nothing was ever built.
hoy,” Social 20, no. 4 (April 1936): 11. Havana School of Architecture. The reference 60 See Jean-François Lejeune, “The Ideal and the
37 Ibidem. comes from the original manuscript displayed Real: Urban Codes in the Spanish-American
38 Idem, 12. in the exhibition Cuba: la singularidad del diseño, Lettered City,” in Urban Coding and Planning, ed.
39 Luis de Soto Sagarra, “La renovación de nuestra Museo de Arte Moderno, Mexico City (October Stephen Marshall (London: Routledge, 2011),
arquitectura doméstica,” Social 20, no. 4 (April 2019–March 2020). The document was 59–82. For the text, see “Transcription of the
1936): 19; and César E. Guerra, “La evolución exhibited, courtesy of the Archivo Clara Porset, Ordinances for the Discovery, the Population
de nuestra vivienda,” Social 20, no. 4 (April Centro de Investigaciones de Diseño Industrial, and the Pacification of the Indies, enacted by
1936): 33. Facultad de Arquitectura, UNAM, Mexico City. King Philip II, the 13th of July 1573, in the
40 José María Bens Arrarte, “Mi cuarto a espadas,” 50 Pedro Martínez Inclán, Código de Urbanismo. Forest of Segovia, according to the original
Social 20, no. 4 (April 1936): 34. Carta de Atenas. Carta de La Habana (Havana: manuscript conserved in the Archivo General
41 See for instance Víctor A. Martorell, “Proyecto Imprenta P. Fernández y Cía., 1949), reprinted de Indias in Sevilla,” in Cruelty and Utopia: Cities
de casa de dos plantas,” Arquitectura, no. 49 in Felipe J. Préstamo y Hernández and Marcos and Landscapes of Latin America, ed. Jean-
(August 1937): n.p.; and Luis Bay Sevilla, “El A. Ramos (eds.), Cuba: arquitectura y urbanismo François Lejeune (New York: Princeton
problema de la vivienda campesina y sus (Miami: Ediciones Universal, 1995), 437–49. Architectural Press, 2005), 18–23.
soluciones más recomendables,” Arquitectura, Congrès internationaux d’architecture moderne 61 See Eric Mumford, “CIAM and Latin America,”
no. 72 (July 1939): 249–58. On the role that (CIAM), La Charte d’Athènes or The Athens in Sert Arquitecto en Nueva York, eds. Xavier
journals played in the promotion of modern Charter [1933], (Cambridge, MA: The Library of Costa and Guido Hartray, 52.
houses, see Gricelys Rosario Pina, “Caribbean the Graduate School of Design, Harvard 62 José Luis Sert and Lester Wiener, “Can Patios
Modernisms. The Discourse on the Modern University, 1946). Make Cities?,” Architectural Forum (August
Dwelling in Four Architectural Magazines, 51 See Chapter 2. 1953): 124–131. Sert’s own house in Cam-
1945–1960,” Ph.D. diss. (Polytechnic University 52 Timothy Hyde, Constitutional Modernism: bridge was centered on a patio.
of Turin, 2015). Architecture and Civil Society in Cuba, 1933– 63 Hyde, Constitutional Modernism, 131.
42 See Leonard Morales, “Como debemos orientar 1959 (Minneapolis: University of Minneapolis 64 Nicolas Arroyo, Mario Romañach, and Town
una casa para hacerla fresca,” Arquitectura, no. Press, 2012), 70 ff. Planning Associates, Plan Piloto de La Habana.
53 (December 1937): n.p; Vicente Pérez 53 Antonio Pizza and Jaume Freixa, J.L. Sert y el Directivas generales: diseños preliminares,
Carabias and María Dolores del Río López, Mediterráneo (Barcelona: Colegio de Arquitectos soluciones tipo (New York: Town Planning
Vivienda en Guadalajara: una visión de arquitectos de Cataluña, 1997); and A.C. La revista del Associates, 1959).
38

65 Eric Mumford, “CIAM and Latin America,” 72. 80 Loomis, Revolution of Forms, 164. The Cuban Revolution: Origins, Course and
66 Reinaldo Estévez Curbelo and Samuel 81 See for instance Sibyl Moholy-Nagy, Carlos Raúl Legacy (New York: Oxford University Press,
Biniakonski, “Habla José L. Sert,” Espacio Villanueva and the Architecture of Venezuela 2012).
(July–October 1953): 21. (New York: Praeger, 1964). 92 Reinaldo Estévez Curbelo, “Arquitectos
67 Nicolás Arroyo, “La arquitectura bajo el sol,” 82 Ernesto Nathan Rogers, “Editorial,” Casabel- reforma urbana y vivienda,” Arquitectura, nos.
Arquitectura, no. 259 (February 1955): 59. la-continuità, no. 199 (December 1953/January 309–310 (April–May, 1959): 149–55; and
68 Ibidem. 1954): 2–3. The four partners of BBPR were “Entrega de viviendas por el instituto nacional
69 The Cuban government received a 25,000 dollar Gianluigi Banfi, Lodovico Barbiano di de ahorro y viviendas (INAV),” Arquitectura,
fee for each license plus a percentage of the Belgiojoso, Enrico Peressutti, and Ernesto no. 318 (January 1960): 41–47.
profits from each casino established. See Nathan Rogers. The proto-Modern included 93 Joseph L. Scarpaci, Roberto Segre, and Mario
Enrique Cirules, The Mafia in Havana: A architects like Adolf Loos, Peter Behrens, and Coyula, Havana: Two Faces of the Antillean
Caribbean Mob Story (Melbourne/New York: Hendrik Berlage. Metropolis (Chapel Hill: University of North
Ocean Press, 2004); T.J. English, Havana 83 Manuel López Segura, “Neoliberty & Co.: The Carolina Press, 2002), 201.
Nocturne: How the Mob Owned Cuba—and Then Architectural Review against 1950s Italian 94 “El Colegio de Arquitectos recibe al Doctor
Lost It to the Revolution (New York: HarperCol- Historicism,” Cuadernos de Proyectos, ETSAM 4, Fidel Castro,” Arquitectura, no. 308 (March
lins, 2008); Styliane Philippou, “Un modernis- 101. 1959): 100–101.
mo vanidoso: Espacios de ocio turísticos 84 María José Pizarro and Óscar Rueda, ”Ernesto 95 Manuel R. Gutiérrez, “El futuro de la
durante los años cincuenta en Miami y La N. Rogers y la Preesistenza Ambientale en las arquitectura en Cuba,” Arquitectura Cuba, no.
Habana = Vanity Modern: Tourist Playgrounds Escuelas Nacionales de Arte de La Habana, Rita, 321 (April 1960): 193–201; and Roberto
in Miami and Havana of the 1950s,” Arquitectu- no. 3 (April 2015), 98. The quote comes from Segre, “La Habana siglo XX: Espacio dilatado y
ra y urbanismo XXXVI, no. 1 (2015): 62–85; and the interview realized by the authors in Paris in tiempo contraído,” in Arquitectura cubana:
Peter Moruzzi, Havana before Castro: When Cuba January 2012. metamorfosis, pensamiento y critica, eds.
Was a Tropical Playground (Salt Lake City, UT: 85 Gaia Caramellino, “Italians in Cuba: Between Martín E.R Castro and Concepción Otero
Gibbs Smith, 2008), 170–233. Achievable Utopia and Modern Humanism,” (Havana: Artecubano Ediciones, 2002): 58–59.
70 Armando Maribona, “No debe convertirse La AREA, no. 150 (2017): 64–65. 96 “Declaración del Colegio Provincial de
Habana en sucursal arquitectónica de Miami. 86 Ricardo Porro, “El sentido de la tradición,” Arquitectos de la Habana,” Arquitectura Cuba,
Lo que opina el arquitecto Emilio del Junco,” Nuestro Tiempo 16 (1957), reprinted in Loomis, nos. 311–317 (June–December 1959): 229;
Arquitectura, no. 278 (September 1956): 406. Revolution of Forms, 163. and “Milicias Arquitectónicas,” Arquitectura
71 Ibidem. 87 Belmont Freeman, “Housing the Revolution: Cuba, no. 318 (1960): 68.
72 Nicolás Quintana “Arquitectura cubana: una Cuba 1959–1969,” Archivos de Arquitectura 97 Notes presented to authors in Miami by José
búsqueda de la verdad,” Arquitectura, no. 309 Antillana, no. 34 (2009): 18–33; Patrick Calmon Gelabert-Navia, April 5, 2019.
(April–May 1959): 167, from Bruno Zevi, Saber de Carvalho Braga, “Arquitectura Cuba and the 98 The exhibition opened on March 13, the
ver la arquitectura. Ensayo sobre la interpretación Early Revolutionary Project,” International official “Day of the Architect” in Cuba. See
espacial de la arquitectura (Buenos Aires: Journal of Cuban Studies 9, no. 2 (Winter 2017): “Exhiben arquitectos obras del gobierno,” El
Editorial Poseidon, 1951). 235–259; and Victor Deupi, “The Profession of Mundo (March 1961): n.p.
73 Quintana, “Arquitectura cubana,” 170. Architecture in Cuba Since 1959,” in Cuba 99 It should be noted that Gelabert’s recent
74 Idem, 172. Facing Forward: Balancing Development and election as president of the college came at the
75 Idem, 169. Identity in the Twenty-First Century, eds. David expense of his opponent, Osmundo Machado
76 Carlos Véjar Pérez-Rubio, Y el perro ladra y la White, Lucas Spiro, Victor Silva, and Anya Ventura, a communist and supporter of
luna enfría, Fernando Salinas: diseño, ambiente y Brickman Raredon (Boston: The Affordable Castro. See “Triunfó Gelabert en los Comicios
esperanza (Mexico: Universidad Autónoma Housing Institute, 2018): 61–91. de Arquitectos,” a newspaper clipping without
Metropolitana, Unidad Azcapotzalco, 1994). 88 José María Bens Arrarte, “Editorial,” Arquitectu- date or source presented to the authors by
Salinas worked with the Italian architect Franco ra, no. 306 (January 1959): 3. José Gelabert-Navia, April 7, 2019.
Albini in the studio of architect Miguel Gastón, 89 As noted by Tom Gjelten, “the idea of a free and 100 Gelabert and his wife sought asylum in the
at the time they were elaborating a proposal of sovereign nation ruled by the Cuban people, Ministry of Venezuela and eventually fled
urban development for Habana del Este. In white, black, and mulatto, representing the from Cuba. See “Expulsó el Colegio de
1959, Salinas wrote a political but also poetic dreams of the generations that preceded them,” Arquitectos a cuatro colegiados por haber
letter to the Italian in one of the first editions was a noble Cuban cause from the independ- traicionado a la Patria,” a newspaper clipping
of Arquitectura after the revolution: see “Carta a ence movement of the nineteenth century. without date or source presented to the
Franco Albini por el arquitecto Fernando Only later in the first decade of the twentieth authors by José Gelabert-Navia, April 7, 2019;
Salinas,” Arquitectura, no. 307 (February 1959): century was it transformed into the famous and “Serviràn a Cuba los Arquitectos,” El
91–96. cocktail made with Bacardi rum and Coca-Cola. Mundo (January 29, 1959): A-1.
77 Narciso Menocal, “An Overriding Passion—the See Tom Gjelten, Bacardi and the Long Fight for 101 Fidel Castro, “Palabras de Fidel a los
Quest for a National Identity in Painting,” in Cuba (New York: Penguin Books, 2009), 72 ff. Intelectuales,” Artes plásticas 3, no. 1 (1962).
The Journal of Decorative and Propaganda Arts, 90 See Chapter 3. An English translation can be found in Radical
no. 22 (1996): 214. Also see Gerardo Mosquera, 91 Jorge Rodríguez Beruff, “La reforma agraria Perspectives in the Arts, ed. Lee Baxandall
“Modernidad y Africanía: Wifredo Lam in his cubana (1959–1964): el cambio institucional,” (Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1972),
Island,” in Wifredo Lam, ed. Manuel García Revista de ciencias sociales 14 (1970): 203–31; 267–298. See also Hugo Consuegra, Elapso
Muñoz (Madrid: Museo Nacional Centro Reina David Barkin, “La transformación del espacio Tempore (Miami: Ediciones Universal, 2004),
Sofía, 1992), 43–68. On Ricardo Porro, see en Cuba post-revolucionaria,” Boletín de 266–269; and Abigail McEwen, Revolutionary
John Loomis, Revolution of Forms: Cuba’s Estudios Latinoamericanos y del Caribe, no. 27 Horizons: Art and Polemics in 1950s Cuba (New
Forgotten Art Schools (New York: Princeton (December 1979): 77–95; Adrían Guillermo Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2016),
Architectural Press, 2011). Aguilar, “Las bases del ordenamiento territorial 196 ff.
78 See Chapter 1. algunas evidencias de la experiencia cubana,” 102 James Lynch, “Cuban Architecture since the
79 “Sociedad Cultural Nuestro Tiempo,” https:// Revista Geográfica, no. 109 (January–June Revolution,” Art Journal 39, no. 2 (Winter
www.ecured.cu/Sociedad_Cultural_Nuestro_ 1989): 87–111; and Marifeli Pérez-Stable, 1979–1980): 100–106.
Tiempo.
Introduction Modernity and Cubanidad 39

103 Previously, cultural activities fell under the tos,” and the “Letter from José Gelabert to the 121 See Chapter 3.
Dirección de Cultura of the Ministry of Colegio de Arquitectos de Cuba,” both of 122 Fernando Salinas, “La industrialización de la
Education. See Navarro Cantón and Duarte which can be found in the Eugenio Batista vivienda: una proposición,” Arquitectura Cuba,
Hurtado, Cuba: 42 años de revolución: cronología Collection, Cuban Heritage Collection, no. 336 (1966): 32–39; Freeman, “Housing
histórica (Havana: Ciencias Sociales, 2006). University of Miami Libraries, Coral Gables, the Revolution,” 28–29; and Scarpaci, Segre,
For a discussion of the literature that Florida, CHC0331 (henceforth the Eugenio and Coyula, Havana: Two Faces, 207–209.
exhorted the revolution, see Roberto González Batista Collection, CHC0331). 123 Scarpaci, Segre, and Coyula, Havana: Two
Echevarría, “The Humanities and Cuban 112 Consuegra, Elapso Tempore, 301–03. Faces, 141–143; and Kosta Mathéy, “Recent
Studies, 1959–1989,” in Cuban Studies since 113 Alejo Carpentier and Paolo Gasparini, La Trends in Cuban Housing Policies and the
the Revolution, ed. Damián J. Fernández ciudad de las columnas (Barcelona: Editoria Revival of the Microbrigade Movement,”
(Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida, Lumén, 1970). Bulletin of Latin American Research 8, no. 1
1992), 199–215. 114 Quoted in Jean-Paul Sartre, Huracán sobre el (1989): 67–81.
104 Loomis, Revolution of Forms, 115. Azúcar (Montevideo: Ediciones Uruguay, 124 Susana Torre, “Architecture and Revolution:
105 UIA, Cuba: Architecture in Countries in the 1960), 8. Cuba, 1959 to 1974,” Progressive Architecture
Process of Development (Havana, 1963); 115 Hugo D’Acosta, “La investigación y el (October 1975): 84–91.
Reinaldo Estévez Curbelo, “El VII Congreso de desarrollo técnico en las construcciones de 125 Mario Coyula, “La lección de Alamar,” Espacio
la Unión Internacional de Arquitectos,” Cuba, después de la revolución,” Arquitectura Laical, no. 4 (2011): 54–61.
Arquitectura Cuba (1964): 3–7; and James M. Cuba, no. 332 (April–June 1965): 37–57; and 126 Eliana Cárdenas Sánchez, Un siglo de
Richards, “Report from Cuba,” Architectural Roberto Segre, Arquitectura Cubana (Buenos enseñanza de la arquitectura en Cuba (Havana:
Review 135 (March 1964): 222–24. See also Aires: Ediciones Nueva Visión, 1970), 51–64. Ediciones ISPJAE, 2002).
Scarpaci, Segre, and Coyula, Havana: Two 116 Loomis, Revolution of Forms, 118. 127 “Nuestro Espacio: Rubén Batista Rubio,
Faces, 101. 117 Hugo Consuegra, “Las Escuelas Nacionales de Nuestro Hermano Caído,” Espacio 2, nos. 7–8
106 “Pabellón Cuba en la Exposición del VII Arte,” Arquitectura Cuba, no. 334 (1965): (January–April 1953), 59; and Julio García
Congreso UIA,” Arquitectura Cuba (1964): 14–25; reprinted in Loomis, Revolution of Oliveras, “La operación Radio-Reloj,” Bohemia
36–41; and James M. Richards, “Havana Forms, 168–73; and Consuegra, Elapso (March 15, 1959), 10.
Pavilion for the 7th IUA Congress,” Architec- Tempore, 336–41. 128 Loomis, Revolution of Forms, 14; and
tural Record, no. 135 (February 1964): 118 Maruja Acosta León and Jorge E. Hardoy, Consuegra, Elapso Tempore, 194 ff. On
145–47. Urban Reform in Revolutionary Cuba (New Consuegra’s life and work, see Hugo Consuegra,
107 “Exposición Cuba,” Arquitectura Cuba (1964): Haven, CT: Antilles Research Program, Yale eds. Lissette Martínez Herryman and Gustavo
38–41. University, 1973); J.M. Fernández Núñez, La Valdés (Miami: Ediciones Universal, 2006);
108 Eduardo Rodríguez Pérez, “Exposiciones en el vivienda en Cuba (Havana: Editorial Arte y and McEwen, Revolutionary Horizons, 35 ff.
VII Congreso de la Unión Internacional de Literatura, 1976); José L. Luzón, “Housing in 129 Consuegra, Elapso Tempore, 246–47, and 342
Arquitectos,” Arquitectura Cuba (1964): 28–35. Socialist Cuba: An Analysis Using Cuban ff.
109 As early as 1960, Raúl Macías had published Censuses of Population and Housing,” Cuban 130 Idem, 346; and 366–67.
an article in the journal Arquitectura Cuba, in Studies 18 (1988): 65–83. 131 Scarpaci, Segre, and Coyula, Havana: Two
accordance with the UIA and the IAA/AIAP 119 Louis A. Pérez, Cuba: Between Reform and Faces, 210 ff.
(International Association of Art), affirming Revolution (New York: Oxford University 132 Loomis, Revolution of Forms, 117.
the necessity of integrating the arts. See Press, 1995), 367. 133 Scarpaci, Segre, and Coyula, Havana: Two
“Integración de las artes plásticas,” Arquitectu- 120 UIA, Cuba, 102–18; “Unidad Vecinal,” Faces, 135–36; see also Carlos Ripoll, Evocación
ra Cuba, no. 318 (January 1960): 57–58. Arquitectura Cuba (1964): 48–49; Richards, de ‘Las Yaguas,’ Indigencia y Socialismo (New
110 Alfredo Rivera, “Revolutionizing Modernities: “Report from Cuba,” 222–24; Segre, York & Coral Gables: Editorial Dos Ríos,
Visualizing Utopia in 1960s Cuba,” Ph.D. diss. Arquitectura cubana, 19 ff.; and Dania 2009).
(Duke University, 2015), 204. González Couret, “Medio siglo de vivienda
111 See for example, “Letter from Eugenio Batista social en Cuba,” Revista INVI 24, no. 67
to the Federación Panamericana de Arquitec- (2009): 9–92.
 41

CHAPTER 1

The Modern Cuban House

Recently, our most concerned young architects have sought guidance in our colonial
architecture, in the expressive nature of our Cuban citizenship. Indeed, we have many
useful lessons to learn, not so much because of the indisputable artistic value of a
great number of colonial residences, but because they are the result of an exemplary
adaptation of our grandparents’ way of life to the same natural physical environment
in which we live. In this earthly paradise that is the Island of Cuba, we enjoy the
same climate, the same landscape, the same light, the same atmosphere, and we have
the same natural materials.
 Eugenio Batista
42

Mario Romañach. House of Rufino

Alvarez, Reparto Biltmore (1957), patio.

Eugenio Batista. Eutimio Falla Bonet

residence, Miramar (1938), street view.

Eugenio Batista. Eutimio Falla Bonet

residence, Miramar (1938), axonometric 0 5 15m

drawing and ground floor plan.

Vernacular Modernism Following Leonardo Morales’s example on how to orient a

Eugenio Batista emerged in the late 1930s as the figure who house to achieve the best ventilation, Batista promoted a mod-
would most rigorously reconcile aspects of traditional Cuban ern architecture that looked to history for lessons on climate,
architecture with the abstraction, simplicity, and technological materials, and building technique.5 Criticizing the many recent
advancements in construction of the modern movement. He 1
buildings that blindly emulated the works of Gropius, Neutra,
began his career working at Morales & Company, under the and Mies van der Rohe, Batista wondered if the architects re-
direction of the firm’s founder, Leonardo Morales. 2 Batista de- sponsible had ever spent a summer on the island. With his ad-
veloped a profound sense of the many strains of classicizing vocacy of the three “P”s—persianas (louvers), patios (court-
tendencies that were prevalent at the time in Cuba and abroad, yards), and portales (porticoes or arcades), he provided a clear
as the two traveled together on an extended trip to Europe in direction for a modernism that would use tradition, history, and
1924–1925. Batista was also a master draftsman and his early
3
adaptation to climate to represent the modernizing national
studies of Cuban colonial architecture would remain with him identity of the island.6
throughout his life as a source of inspiration. His early work The house in Miramar for the wealthy industrialist and phi-
included elegant private residences, and the open-air theater lanthropist Eutimio Falla Bonet (ill. also p. 41, 44, 45, 250) was the
on the Avenida del Puerto in Havana, designed in conjunction best example of Batista’s synthetic approach.7 Batista had pre-
with the architect Aquiles Maza in 1934.4 Nevertheless, it was viously designed a memorial chapel for the Falla family in 1932,
in his residential architecture that Batista would make his most so he was well-connected with the family, who owned many
significant contribution to Cuban modernism. sugar mills, banks, and interests in several other industries
1 The Modern Cuban House 43

0 5 10m

throughout the island.8 Built by Eugenio in 1938 in collaboration tury parochial churches of San Juan Bautista in Remedios in
with his brother Ernesto, an engineer, the house was located 1944–1946 by Aquiles Maza, and Nuestra Señora del Carmen in
along the coast. In plan, the house wraps around a private Santa Clara in the 1950s.11 They certainly viewed architectural
courtyard that sits between a motor court in the front and a patronage as a meaningful way of celebrating the legacy of
rear patio with a pool overlooking the Straits of Florida. The in- Cuban colonial architecture.
tegration of colonial vernacular elements such as brick, stucco, Though certainly a threshold moment in the history of
wood, tile, and wide over-hanging eaves with a more modern twentieth-century residential architecture in Cuba, the house
emphasis is very similar to what Frank Lloyd Wright had been for Eutimio Falla Bonet only received the Medalla de Plata (Sil-
doing in his early career with the prairie-style houses. Batista’s ver Medal) in the 1940 Premio Medalla de Oro competition.12
pin-wheel plan around the courtyard is also very much like The winning prize went to Rafael de Cárdenas, also known as
Wright’s approach to the hearth as a centralizing device, though Felo, who had worked with both Paul Frankl and Richard Neutra
here the patio is the focus. Throughout the scheme, wooden in Los Angeles, designing several modern houses before re-
galleries intersect and connect the various volumes, creating turning to Havana to resume his career.13 Back in Havana, de
an open plan that “devotes considerable space to living and Cárdenas designed three modern properties in the Alturas de
lounging area, leaving the bedrooms relatively small.” 9 Finally, Miramar neighborhood for his maternal uncle, Bernabé
the architect painted the indoor bar with a landscape mural Sánchez Batista.14 According to the historian Eduardo Luis
containing Creole motifs that underlined the rustic vueltabajera Rodríguez, the three houses “form the most important group of
(referring to the regions “below and around” Havana) character modern residences to be built during the thirties” in Cuba.15
of the structure.10 As great patrons of architecture, the Fallas One of the houses was for Bernabé’s daughter, Anaís, who had
not only built superb residences but also engaged in early pres- married the wealthy merchant, Augusto Echavarri y Aragón. It
ervation projects such as the restoration of the eighteenth-cen- is likely that Bernabé had the houses built as gifts for his three
44
1 The Modern Cuban House 45

Eugenio Batista. Eutimio Falla Bonet Eugenio Batista. Eutimio Falla Bonet
residence, Miramar (1938), detail of side residence, Miramar (1938), courtyard.
entrance.

married daughters, as de Cárdenas had already designed in grand and semi-open public rooms extended in three direc-
1934 the house of Hilda Sarrá, the sister of Dr. Ernestina (Tina) tions with views open to the gardens. Yet the house was not
Sarrá Larrea.16 The Hilda Sarrá house (ill. p. 47, 48), at the corner simply an exercise in stylistic interpretation, it fulfilled the new
of 2 and 19 Streets in the Vedado, is considered an exempla-
nd th
mandate to respond to the functional needs of the day as well
ry model of Cuban streamline moderne architecture, contain- as adapt to the particular demands of the local climate. To that
ing a curvilinear black and white staircase whose form is ex- end, an instrumental component of the project was the land-
pressed on the exterior. It would be repeated in one of the scaping of the courtyard and gardens by the American land-
three Sánchez Batista residences. Bernabé could not have scape architect Milton Link, whom Sylvia Kaffenburg brought to
found a more appropriate architect for his properties, as Rafael Havana from Florida.18 In appearance, the Kaffenburg residence
de Cárdenas was considered among the pioneers of the new was much more in line with the neo-colonial palaces, or quin-
tendencies in residential architecture in Cuba. tas (country houses), in Havana. However, in character, it paral-
In any event, de Cárdenas received the 1940 Premio leled the streamlined modern houses that de Cárdenas de-
Medalla de Oro for a Mediterranean Revival residence in the signed in the previous decade. In that sense, it could have
Country Club neighborhood for the Americans Albert and Sylvia easily fit into Palm Beach or Beverly Hills.
Kaffenburg (ill. p. 49), whose family owned the Standard Havana Rafael de Cárdenas had two other projects listed as final-
Tobacco Company. The asymmetrical house wrapped around a ists for the 1940 Medalla de Oro. They were both located in the
large central courtyard, with one side open to the garden.17 The Alturas de Miramar neighborhood. One of them, the house for
other three sides contained a columnar arcade that resembled Augusto Echavarri y Aragón and Anais Sánchez Culmell
the cloister of a California mission. From there, a series of (ill. p. 46), the architect’s first cousin, was one of the three prop-
46

erties that he had designed for Bernabé Sánchez Batista, and noted in his review of the competition that the Kaffenburg res-
without a doubt, the most modern of the five submissions for idence fulfilled Le Corbusier’s mandate that a house be a
the prize. The final project was for a house for the attorney
19
“[beautiful] machine for living.”23 It would, however, be the
and industrialist Jorge E. de Cubas. It was the most rustic of de first—and last—strictly traditional residential project to receive
Cárdenas’s designs, with projecting rafter tails, exposed wood- the Medalla de Oro from the College of Architects.
en brackets, louvered shutters, and wooden columns and rail- In the wake of the 1940 Medalla de Oro competition, Euge-
ings on the projecting balconies. Eduardo Luis Rodríguez has
20
nio Batista continued to experiment with the fusion of Cuban
described Rafael de Cárdenas as a “contradictory figure who colonial architecture and aspects of modern abstraction and
seemed capable of delivering masterpieces in any style what- simplicity in the casa-taller (house and studio) that he built for
soever,” and while his three competition submissions clearly himself (ill. p. 50) in the Miramar neighborhood in 1944.24 Locat-
display his stylistic flexibility, the issue of contradiction remains ed one block in from the coast on 3rd Avenue, the house con-
disputable. 21
Today, it is widely recognized that many twenti- sisted of three interlocking cubic volumes around a small
eth-century modernist architects from Adalberto Libera in Italy courtyard, with a columnar porch at the back of the house
to José Antonio Coderch in Spain owed a great deal to the ver- overlooking the garden—a solution not unlike the Falla Bonet
nacular building traditions of the Mediterranean region and house. The one-story gable-roofed studio building stood paral-
elsewhere.22 It would be a mistake to dismiss this vitally impor- lel to the street with direct access, and a two-car garage sepa-
tant aspect of early twentieth-century architectural culture, and rated by a covered gallery was placed perpendicular to it, fram-
in that sense, Rafael de Cárdenas should be recognized for his ing two sides of the courtyard. The main house at the back was
versatility and contribution to early-modern Cuban architec- a tall two-story rectangular block with a hipped roof and a trap-
ture. To that end, the editor of Arquitectura, Luis Bay Sevilla, ezoidal dining room that protruded into the double-story porch
1 The Modern Cuban House 47

House of Augusto Echevarri y Aragón

and Anaís Sánchez Culmell, Alturas de
Miramar (ca. 1935), exterior view (left).

Rafael de Cárdenas. House of Bernabé

Sánchez Batista, Alturas de Miramar
­(ca. 1935), exterior view (right).

Rafael de Cárdenas. House of Hilda

Sarrá, Vedado (1934), staircase.
48
1 The Modern Cuban House 49

Rafael de Cárdenas. House of Hilda

Sarrá, Vedado (1934), exterior view.

Rafael de Cárdenas. Kaffenburg

residence, Reparto Country Club (1938),
main façade and plan.

at the back. The upper floor contained bedrooms that opened consisted of simple volumes with pitched roofs, stone walls,
on to the porch, an outdoor space enclosed by a wooden lat- louvered windows, and a central breezeway that ran through
tice that resembled a Japanese screen more than a Cuban lou- the house from the front patio (with a raised pool) to the back
ver. This type of combined live-work unit would become the terrace overlooking the sea. The Cervera Falla house was made
standard for Cuban architects on the island, as most of the of a series of distinct volumes connected by wooden galleries
emerging professionals often had small practices in tandem and porches. In all of Batista’s houses, the architectural forms
with their siblings or spouses. responded in a traditional manner to the environmental condi-
Two final projects by Eugenio Batista during this period tions of Havana, but they were also adapted to the new social
were the waterfront house for Nicolás G. Mendoza on 1 Ave- st
patterns of the time. In this sense he was able to look to the
nue in Miramar (1948), and the house for Ricardo Cervera Falla colonial past of Cuba and maintain the timeless lessons of the
(ill. p. 51) on 28th Street and 1st Avenue in Miramar (1949), next country’s vernacular architecture while still responding to the
door to Eutimio Falla Bonet’s residence. The Mendoza house
25
ever-changing needs of the present.
50

Cuban House #1

Eugenio Batista. House of Eugenio

Batista, Miramar (1944), street façade.

Eugenio Batista. House of Eugenio

Batista, ground floor and first floor plans
and exploded axonometric drawing.

Dining
Dining room
room Terrace
Terrace Bedroom
Bedroom

Living
Living room
room Kitchen
Kitchen Bedroom
Bedroom Bedroom
Bedroom

Garage
Garage Garage
Garage
Bedroom
Bedroom Bedroom
Bedroom
Office
Office

0 5 10m
1 The Modern Cuban House 51

Eugenio Batista. Ricardo Cervera Falla

residence, Miramar (1949), street façade.

Batista’s Legacy and engineer, building great mansions throughout the city.26
There are many examples of vernacular modern residences in The young Max became one of the most versatile designers of
Havana that followed Eugenio Batista’s direction, many by the residential, and commercial buildings in Havana. His brother
generation of architects that were born in the decades follow- Enrique was also an architect and the two would often collab-
ing him, including Max Borges, Víctor Morales, María Elena orate. The waterfront house for Martín Fox, the owner of the
Cabarrocas, Emilio del Junco, Nicolás Quintana, and Frank Tropicana Night Club, on 1st Avenue in Miramar (1941), was one
Martínez, all of whom married elements of colonial-era Cuban of Borges’s first commissions.27 In plan, the main rectangular
architecture with aspects of modern design. It is also important volume of the house is fronted with a garage and an L-shaped
to remember that many of these men and women came from rustic portico that provided access to the main entrance, and
distinguished families of architects whose practices flourished at the back, a small cut-out patio faced the sea. Made of stone,
in the first half of the twentieth century when eclecticism in stucco, clay tile, and wooden posts, brackets, and louvers, the
residential architecture prevailed. It was incumbent upon them simple cubic volumes integrated the traditional elements of the
to maintain a certain degree of continuity in practice, and Cuban house.
moreover it was often a demand of their clients as well. Víctor Morales was the nephew of the legendary Cuban
Max Borges Recio came from a reputable family of archi- architect Leonardo Morales, and a contemporary of Eugenio
tects, his father Max Borges del Junco was a notable architect Batista and Rafael de Cárdenas among others.28 Víctor joined
52

the family firm in 1930 and his early work showed an eclecti-
cism that he inherited from his uncle. The Pedroso house on 5th
Avenue and 12th Street in Miramar (1943) was built for his cous-
in Víctor Pedroso, a wealthy banker from a merchant family that
traced its roots back to the early eighteenth century in Cuba.29
The house received the Gold Medal from the College of Archi-
tects in 1943, though only the façade was published in the col-
lege’s journal. The house is composed of simple cubic volumes
with punched openings and a tiled roof with projecting wooden
rafters. Simple wooden louvers fill the window and door open-
ings, and aside from the metal railings to protect the ground
floor openings from intruders, there are no additional decora-
tive elements anywhere on the façade. At the annual awards
ceremony, the architect Horacio Navarrete described the pro-
1 The Modern Cuban House 53

Emilio del Junco. House of Emilio del Junco, Nicolás Quintana. Carlos Ramírez Corría
Alturas de la Coronela (1957), exterior view residence, Alturas de la Coronela (1957),
and ground floor plan. Notice the salvaged courtyard view.
traditional windows with arcos de mediopunto
(left wing on the photograph) and the
projecting louvered bathrooms (right wing on
the photograph).

ject as having the quality and character that is proper to the tween the interior and exterior. However, by the end of the
traditions and climate of Cuba, while simultaneously employing 1950s, María Elena would abandon traditional elements alto-
new materials and providing a distribution of spaces that is gether, embracing wholeheartedly a rational modern
appropriate to the time. Víctor Morales’s own family vacation
30
approach.
house in Punto Kawama, Varadero Beach, built between 1952 Emilio del Junco was a partner in practice with Miguel
and 1954, also fulfilled a similar mandate. Gastón and Martín Domínguez, producing some of the most
In 1950, María Elena Cabarrocas, the niece of the celebrat- recognizable modernist housing projects and buildings in Ha-
ed architect Félix Cabarrocas Ayala, designed two modern vana.32 Between 1948 and 1956 he lived in Sweden and Cana-
houses in Miramar that were featured in the journal Arquitectu- da. Upon returning to Cuba, he built his own house in the
ra the following year. 31 The first, located on 6th Avenue and 46th Alturas de la Coronela neighborhood (1957) as a regional mod-
Street, had several traditional elements like roof tiles, ample ernist exercise, consisting of two parallel slabs with an open
eaves, and persianas, but the cubic volumes, stripped piers, patio between and a connecting gallery of wooden columns on
and simple punctured openings gave the house the necessary stone bases.33 The façades are made of brick walls with lou-
modern character that was demanded. The second house on vered openings, and the eaves are made of small prefabricated
7 Avenue and 46 Street was even more daring with ample
th th
vaults that “resemble old colonial eaves of layered tiles, known
gardens surrounding the house and greater transparency be- as tejaroz.”34 The house also incorporated elements taken from
54

Nicolás Quintana. Carlos Ramírez Corría

residence, Alturas de la Coronela (1957),
view from the street.

Nicolás Quintana. Carlos Ramírez Corría

residence, Alturas de la Coronela (1957),
main floor plan.

0 5 10m
m

colonial-era homes, such as stained glass, and combined them the School of Architecture at the University of Havana (1927),
with traditional cement tile floors and modern Scandinavian the Biltmore Yacht and Country Club (1928), and the Auditorium
furniture. Of all the Cuban architects who experimented with of the Sociedad Pro-Arte Musical in the Vedado (1928).36 The
the syncretism of tradition and vanguardism, Emilio del Junco younger Nicolás joined the firm in 1951, and quickly received
seems to have done it in reverse. recognition for his early modern residences.37 The plan of the
Nicolás Quintana also came from an established family of house of the neurosurgeon Carlos Ramírez Corría (ill. also p. 53,
architects.35 His father, also named Nicolas Quintana, founded 90), built in 1957 in the Alturas de la Coronela neighborhood,
the firm of Moenck and Quintana in 1926 in collaboration with resembles that of a sprawling Pompeiian villa, with multiple
Miguel Ángel Moenck, building such renowned structures as courtyards, terraces, a large porch, and gardens.38 Other tradi-
1 The Modern Cuban House 55

Nicolás Quintana. Carlos Ramírez

Corría residence, Alturas de la Coronela
(1957), exploded axonometric drawing.

tional elements include wooden ceilings and louvers, colorful in collaboration with his classmate Nicolás Quintana, designing
stained glass, and exposed masonry walls. The house itself residential projects.42 Like the Ramírez Corría residence by
consists of several volumes of differing heights, with pitched Quintana, the Stanley Wax house spreads out over multiple
roofs that pin-wheel in an open plan around a galleried court- courtyards, terraces, porches, and gardens. The open plan con-
yard. The courtyard featured a mural by the Cuban artist Do- figuration allows for free movement from the interior to the
mingo Ravenet, who was married to Corría’s sister and lived exterior, with wooden louvers and stained-glass panels sepa-
next door in a house designed by the Cuban-American archi- rating the two. The rustic exposure of brick walls and the tile
tect Henry Griffin. Although the typology of the house is dis-
39
floors further evoke the colonial roots of the house. Eugenio
tinctly Cuban, the language is entirely modern, using large Batista was so taken by this project that he included several
blank wall surfaces and thin vertical strips around window and images of it in his pivotal essay “La casa cubana,” which he
door openings. Quintana said of the project that it “contains all published in 1960, alongside images of his own work and sev-
the traditional elements of Cuban architecture of the formative eral historic examples. Batista must have felt proud that for the
centuries (those being the eighteenth and nineteenth), inter- last twenty years he had encouraged a group of emerging ar-
preted in a language of contemporary expression that evolves chitects to embrace the “ABC”s of Cuban vernacular architec-
the tradition by updating it and projecting it into the future.” 40
ture, adapting them to a contemporary sensibility that would
Finally, Frank Martínez’s house for Stanley Wax (ill. p. 56, forever be associated with the modern Cuban house.
57), in the Reparto Biltmore (now Siboney, 1959), is described A rare example of an architect who followed the principles
by Eduardo Luis Rodríguez as “a masterpiece of adaptation to of Cuban vernacular architecture without having a connection
local cultural tradition and an outstanding example of modern to the island was the Miami architect Wahl Snyder. In 1949, he
Cuban regionalism.” Frank Martínez began his career in 1951
41
was commissioned by Amalia Bacardí Cape (p. 58), the youngest
56

daughter of Emilio Bacardí Moreau and Elvira Cape to design a

house for her in Miramar.43 Situated on a rectangular lot, the
house was centered on a courtyard and adjacent garden sepa-
rated by a covered walk that extended to the front of the lot as
the main entrance. The garage was located on the street next
to the entry, and the main house was a two-story structure at
the back with a combined living room and library that extended
out into the rear garden. In elevation the house resembled a
Caribbean—or perhaps more specifically a Bahamian—type of
structure with white walls and a stepped flat-tile roof. Amalia
Frank Martínez. House of Stanley Wax,
Bacardí did not approve of the original design, and in 1950,
Reparto Biltmore (1959), street façade.
Snyder produced a variant to the scheme on a double lot, with
the main house in a rectangular form perpendicular to the ga-
Frank Martínez. House of Stanley Wax,
rage, creating a larger courtyard and side yard which were now Reparto Biltmore (1959), interior and
on the other side of the garage. That project was eventually patio doors.
built and included exposed stone surfaces, a flat-tile roof,
wooden jalousie windows (a typical Miami detail), and decora-
tive metal columns for the walkway, giving the house a hybrid
character unlike any other residence in the city.
1 The Modern Cuban House 57

Between 1952–1953, Wahl Snyder, well-known in Miami wooden partitions, and louvered windows. The design under-
at the time, designed a weekend beach house for Dr. and lines Snyder’s strong belief in a tropical modernism that was
Mrs. Pedro Grau (who would later be involved in the early de- based on local materials, climate, and geography, and that suit-
velopment of Habana del Este), in Playa el Fraile, about an hour ed the specific needs of its users, a kind of regionalism that
east of Havana.44 Snyder’s project shows a deep respect for would largely define the 1950s rationalist architecture in Cuba.
the architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright. A Miami Herald article
from 1952 titled “Is Architecture Heading for Gutter” asked four Adapting European Rationalism
local architects to comment on Frank Lloyd Wright’s famous Nicolás Quintana identified three tendencies of modern Cuban
criticism of contemporary modern architecture, as “overdone architecture in his 1959 essay ”Arquitectura cubana: una
and getting worse” from a previous New York interview.45 In the búsqueda de la verdad“ (Cuban architecture: a search for the
article, Snyder accepted that Wright’s comments were partially truth). The three tendencies were romantic formalism, structur-
valid, and noted that “we’ll never have a universal modern alism, and organic humanism. First, he described romantic for-
architecture for the simple reason that what’s modern in malism as a “false” tradition, where technology is applied to
South Florida wouldn’t be in New York or other parts of the buildings that resemble works from the past. At first glance, it
country … Modern architecture is nothing more than meeting may seem that his critique was aimed at the work of Eugenio
local problems—of materials, climate, and geography—and Batista and his followers, who often used tradition quite explic-
providing structures that fill the needs of the people who use itly in their work. However, Quintana differentiated between an
them.” To that end, Snyder’s weekend residence for Dr. and
46
organic and human interpretation of tradition and a formalist
Mrs. Grau took the form of a small two-story rectangular box, one. In that sense, he was opposed to the architecture of sem-
rising from a stone foundation with a cantilevered balcony sup- blance and imitation but not to one informed by history. It is not
ported by pilotis, a flat, over-hanging concrete roof, screened certain which architects he was describing as romantic formal-
58

Wahl Snyder. House of Amalia Bacardí

Cape, Miramar, 1950, perspective.

Miguel Gastón. House of Miguel Gastón,

Miramar (1952), exploded axonometric
drawing. The two-story rationalist
structure, entirely on pilotis, connects the
street to the swimming pool overlooking
the sea.

ists, but most likely he was referring to the kinds of projects

that were used to advertise modern building materials in mag-
azines and journals, usually employing traditional details with-
out any real sense or meaning, a kind of ersatz architecture
that is still commonly found throughout the world today.
The second tendency, structuralism, could be further sub-
divided into works whose forms followed a clear and rational
structure, as in the Miguel Gastón house (1952), and those that
employed structural elements “per se” in a more expressive
manner. In the first category, there was a Corbusian divorce
between interior and exterior, given that the façade was now a
free element of composition and no longer bound to represent
interior volumes or a hierarchy of spaces, because it was no
longer part of the structure that held them up. Quintana was
very much attracted to these types of buildings, describing
them as essentially “scenographic.” The second category often
resulted in works of overly complicated structural systems and
details, a kind of baroque formalism that lent itself to the plastic
potential of concrete and other materials, often at the expense
of simple tectonic appearances. Quintana also appreciated
these buildings, though he noted that they required a kind of
1 The Modern Cuban House 59

“super-imagination” to realize. The final category, organic hu-

manism, referred to a new type of architecture that served the
public with humility and flexibility, a consequence of the revo-
lution no doubt, but also as we shall see, an approach that
predated the events of 1959. The first strand of structuralism
will be discussed below, whereas expressive structure and the
organic humanist approach will be discussed further down.
Born in 1917 into a family of artists and educated at the
University of Havana, Mario Romañach cultivated the most ra-
tional approach to the modern Cuban house. 47 Profoundly in-
spired by the work of Walter Gropius, Richard Neutra, and José
Luis Sert, Romañach set out to produce the finest examples of
the International Style in Cuba. He found early patronage in the
Noval family, whose first residence he designed in 1948 in con-
junction with the architect Silverio Bosch for Julia Cueto de
Noval in the Country Club neighborhood. Both architects
earned a Gold Medal for it from the College of Architects in
1949.48 In plan, the ground floor is centered on a lush patio with
the main public rooms all around it. The second-floor bedrooms
are in the form of a long linear bar with a large overhanging
roof and a continuous gallery that bisects the centralized
scheme and projects beyond it in both directions, creating cov-
ered columnar porches at the ends below. The character is se-
vere, consisting of cubic masses, columnar compositions, and
punctured openings, with wooden louvers as the only recog-
nizable traditional detail. The end result was a unique villa that
on the one hand was planned like a Cuban country house and
on the other appeared like a Corbusian box on stilts.
The house for José Noval Cueto (1949, ill. p. 60, 61), also by
Bosch and Romañach, is considered the masterpiece of resi-
dential architecture in Havana. 49 Deeply influenced by Ro-
mañach’s mentor and friend Walter Gropius, the house adapts
the rationalist aesthetics of the modern movement to the trop-
ical climate of Havana by incorporating long overhanging
eaves, patios, pools, and gardens to increase ventilation and
comfort. It is conceived as a leisure villa in the form of a
    Silverio Bosch and Mario Romañach.
Julia Cueto de Noval residence, Reparto three-story linear bar building, with a rectangular patio carved
Country Club (1948), ground floor plan out of it, creating two asymmetrical volumes at the ends. These
and courtyard. end sections are raised on stilts and connected across the pa-
tio with thin mezzanines that add further dynamic movement
to the whole. The front façade is mainly a plain wall with punc-
tured openings whereas the garden façade is almost entirely
transparent with full-height louvers providing shade. The
ground floor is open to the front and rear gardens, with only the
entry vestibule, cocktail bar and garage enclosed. Overall, the
detailing is minimalist and exceptional. If any criticism could be
made, the editors of the American journal House and Home
60

Silverio Bosch and Mario Romañach. Silverio Bosch and Mario Romañach. Silverio Bosch and Mario Romañach.
House for José Noval Cueto, Reparto House for José Noval Cueto, Reparto House for José Noval Cueto, Reparto
Country Club (1949), exterior view. Country Club (1949), open courtyard. Country Club (1949), garden façade and
project diagrams.
1 The Modern Cuban House 61

noted in a 1952 article that “the Noval house will have little and gardens surround the private quarters and pool area. In sec-
direct­influence upon run-of-the-mill modern architecture: con- tion and elevation, the house employs large planes of sliding
temporary house architects are not often called upon to ponder glass, persianas, and louvered clerestory lights above projecting
the problem of pools at the foot of cocktail bars, the problem of horizontal eaves. The entry vestibule is marked by its distinctive-
how to relate the swimming pool to the reflecting pool, the ly sloping roof. According to Eduardo Luis Rodríguez, “[t]he home
problem of where to entertain the client’s male guests while the was considered by Richard Neutra to be ‘the best house in Ha-
client’s wife is entertaining her women friends.”50 This was the vana’ … though it also reflects the influence of Mies van der
kind of sarcasm that Fidel Castro would use in his speech to the Rohe and exhibits a deep understanding of local conditions.”52
intellectuals in 1961 to dismiss the architecture of Country Club Perhaps more than any other modern-rationalist project in
residences. However, despite the harsh criticism, the house Cuba, Max Borges Recio’s own house in Miramar (1950, ill. p. 62,
demonstrated most convincingly how to make a structure in 63) embodies the machine aesthetic of Le Corbusier by incor-
Cuba that was both functionally and aesthetically exceptional. porating such radical elements as ribbon windows, pilotis, and
Surprisingly, the José Noval Cueto house did not win a prize an open floor plan to achieve a clear rational structure.53 The
from the College of Architects, but Romañach and Bosch re- house is conceived as an L-shaped cube elevated on stilts with
ceived their second Gold Prize for the house of Evangelina Aris- a garage and service quarters occupying the rear portion of the
tigueta de Vidaña (ill. p. 62, 159, 160) and her husband Luis Hum- lot. The garden is raised one level up on fill with a stone retain-
berto Vidaña Guasch in 1955. Built in 1953 on a large sloping
51
ing wall wrapping around the corner lot. An open stair bisects
site on the Country Club grounds, the house takes the form of a the cube to provide direct access from the street to the elevat-
right angle, with one wing containing the library and private ed garden at the back. The main floor is accessed by a sus-
quarters and the other, in the form of a split level, containing the pended stair in the front and is open in plan except for the
living, dining, and kitchen above, with the garage and other ser- kitchen. Sliding glass doors provide transparency between the
vices below. An entry vestibule mediates between the two wings public living spaces and the terraced garden, and an art-deco
and accommodates the various levels with stairs. A patio occu- curved stair rail is the signature feature of the interior. The up-
pies the re-entrant corner of the plan from the vestibule, and an per floor contains bedrooms, baths, and a small pantry. The
elevated pool and terrace extend from the living room. Terraces main façade is a relentlessly flat plane with continuous ribbon
62

Kitchen

Dining

Living room
Silverio Bosch and Mario Romañach.
House of Evangelina Aristigueta de
Vidaña, Reparto Country Club (1953),
night view.

Silverio Bosch and Mario Romañach.

House of Evangelina Aristigueta de
Vidaña, Reparto Country Club (1953),
interior view toward garden.
Bedroom

Bedroom

Garage

0 1 3m
1 The Modern Cuban House 63

Max Borges Recio. House of Max Borges Max Borges Recio. House of Max Borges Max Borges Recio. House of Max Borges
Recio, Miramar (1950), ground, first floor Recio, Miramar (1950), street façade. Recio, Miramar (1950), entrance stairs
and second floor plans. Notice the missing wooden brise-soleils on under pilotis.
the upper floor whose structure remains in
place.
64

Richard Neutra with Raúl Álvarez,

Enrique Gutiérrez, Roberto Burle Marx,
and Hans Knoll. House of Alfred de
Schulthess, Reparto Country Club (1956),
advertisement from the Diario de la Marina
(November 4, 1958).

Roberto Burle Marx. House of Alfred de

Schulthess, Reparto Country Club, land-
scape plan and specifications (ca. 1956).
1 The Modern Cuban House 65

Richard Neutra with Raúl Álvarez,

Enrique Gutiérrez, Roberto Burle Marx,
and Hans Knoll. House of Alfred de
Schulthess, Reparto Country Club (1956),
garden façade.

windows at the top and a running wooden lattice (no longer tects of record on the Schulthess residence along with Neutra,
existing) to provide shade. The pure white volume floating Roberto Burle Marx as the landscape architect, and Hans Knoll
above the landscape on stilts with a stone wall supporting an as the interior designer. The concrete structure with great pro-
elevated garden could have easily fit into in any number of jecting eaves allows the walls to be open to the gardens, with
Mediterranean locations given its international sensibility. only the wooden louvers mediating between the interior and
One of the most important modern-rationalist houses in exterior spaces. The forecourt garden functions as a reception
Cuba was not designed by a Cuban architect, but rather by the area, while the open garden façade and rear terraces lead to
Austrian-American Richard Neutra, who made his mark in the garden, extending the interiors out to the landscape. The
Southern California.54 Called to Cuba by the Swiss banker Alfred house received the Gold Medal in 1958, and perhaps more than
de Schulthess to design a house in the Country Club district of any other in Cuba, represents the full synthesis of architecture,
Havana, Neutra collaborated on the house with a young Cuban landscape, and interior design.
architect by the name of Raúl Álvarez. 55
The latter began his Aside from these signature works that defined the modern
professional career working for Arroyo and Menéndez before Cuban house most succinctly, there are several other archi-
setting up a practice in Old Havana with his cousin Enrique tects and projects that are worth considering as they shed light
“Henry” Gutiérrez. 56
In 1955 they were asked to be the archi- on the wealth and depth of Cuban architectural talent, and
66

Manuel Gutiérrez. Ingelmo residence,

Nuevo Vedado (1953), street façade.

Manuel Gutiérrez. Ingelmo residence,

Nuevo Vedado (1953), detail of an angle
with louvered windows.

many of these architects have not been sufficiently considered. as adjustable full-height wooden louvers, and balconies that
Manuel Gutiérrez was one of the main protagonists of the ur- resemble front porches. The house can be compared with the
ban landscape of Havana in the 1950s, and an advocate of the Noval Cueto house by Romañach in its asymmetrical massing,
traditional values of Cuban architecture. His Ingelmo residence elevated plan on fluted pilotis, and projecting flat roof. The use
(1953) in the Nuevo Vedado was a model of structural and func- of continuous full-height windows, concrete block walls, and
tional efficiency, with hints of Cuban tradition in the full-height exposed concrete slab floors on the exterior also makes refer-
wooden shutters that nearly enclose the entire perimeter of ence to Le Corbusier’s Dom-ino system. In contrast, Martínez’s
the main block.57 The concrete structure is the closest thing to house for Manuela Ofelia Viamontes (1957, ill. p. 71) in the
Le Corbusier’s Maison Dom-ino (an open floor plan structure) in Reparto Biltmore is like a California case-study house situated
Cuba, with a modular system that formed the basic dimensions on a large and deep rectangular lot.60 The façade is an open
of the plan, structure, and even details. The project was so im- carport covered by a flat concrete slab, with a delicate metal
pressive that in 2004, the Florida chapter of the American Insti- grille of continuous circles separating the porch from the first
tute of Architects awarded Gutiérrez a “Test of Time” award for patio that one must traverse before arriving at the main part of
the project’s enduring legacy, noting its “simplicity of design the house. The main block consists of three wings surrounding
and efficiency of construction.”58 a galleried, south-facing court, with the main public rooms in
Frank Martínez’s house of Isabel and Olga Pérez Farfante in the two front sections that connect the patios, and the private
Nuevo Vedado (1955 , ill. p. 69, 70) is really a duplex unit of two quarters slightly angled at the far back. Masonry walls of brick
modern houses separated by a covered patio. 59
Martínez em- and stone, tile flooring, wooden louvers, and stained-glass win-
ployed various traditional elements of Cuban construction such dows complete the composition.
1 The Modern Cuban House 67
68

Manuel Gutiérrez. Ingelmo

residence, Nuevo Vedado (1953),
entrance perspective.

Manuel Gutiérrez. Petra Verdera

residence, Nuevo Vedado (1955), front
façade. A series of reinforced concrete
vaults supported by metallic columns
float over the Mies-inspired free plan
of the house. Tall persianas protect
the living room area.

Frank Martínez. House of Isabel

and Olga Pérez Farfante, Nuevo Vedado
(1955), detail of street façade.
1 The Modern Cuban House 69
70

Frank Martínez. House of Isabel and

Olga Pérez Farfante, Nuevo Vedado (1955),
street façade.

Another proponent of the modern house was Carlos Ar- Frank Martínez, House of Isabel and
Olga Pérez Farfante, Nuevo Vedado (1955),
taud, a talented and prolific architect whose work deserves
interior view of living room.
much greater attention.61 Artaud worked in the offices of
Gómez-Sampera & Diaz Architects as a university student, and
he subsequently founded Artaud and Gutiérrez Architects
(1952–1958) with Fidel Gutiérrez. The Chisholm residence (1952)
in Nuevo Vedado contained a variant of the inverted gable, rib-
bon windows, and wooden louvers and screens.62 Yet, it is in the
design and production of small and economical houses that Ar-
taud developed a unique practice. Affordable housing emerged
as a concern in Cuba early in the twentieth century in a number
of high-profile working-class projects. Throughout the 1940s and
1950s, there were a few projects that embraced modern archi-
tecture in relation to planning and affordable housing, yet over-
all the production of public housing in Cuba was minimal and
totally insufficient to fulfill the increasing demand.63 As a result,
the concern with casas económicas or baratas (inexpensive
houses) developed independently of planning. These often took
the form of improved vernacular dwellings for people who lived
1 The Modern Cuban House 71

Frank Martínez. House of Manuela

Ofelia Viamontes, Reparto Biltmore
(1957), street façade.

Artaud and Gutiérrez. Chisholm in the countryside, or simple modern houses that responded to
residence, Nuevo Vedado (1952), night
the pressing needs of the urban working and middle class.64
view.
Carlos Artaud was an early proponent of these types of houses
and produced in 1954 a series of freestanding affordable homes
(ill. p. 72) that may very well be his greatest contribution to the
modern Cuban house. Several of them were built in emerging
neighborhoods throughout Havana, such as the Nuevo Vedado.
Stylishly modern and simple in plan, these homes often fit into
straightforward rectangular lots and displayed the character of
the case-study homes of Los Angeles. They would typically be of
one or two stories with portales, and persianas, but few had
patios due to the limited size of the lots. Single sloped roofs,
projecting eaves, stone walls, and screens underlined the re-
gional Cuban character of these modern homes.

Grit and Determination

Women architects in Cuba emerged in the 1940s and 1950s
and began receiving a degree of recognition in architectural
books and journals like Arquitectura.65 Even though the School
72

Artaud and Gutiérrez. Low-cost house

(Vivienda económica) (1954), plan and
perspective.

Artaud and Gutiérrez. Low-cost houses

(Viviendas económicas), Nuevo Vedado (ca.
1954), exterior view of two houses.

of Architecture at the University of Havana started admitting

women in the academic year of 1922–1923, it took ten years to
see the first female graduate.66 Nevertheless, through passion
and perseverance, women architects in Cuba forged ahead and
broke through the glass ceilings of the academy and profes-
sion. At the beginning of the 1950s, there were over forty wom-
en architects, mainly in Havana, but also in Matanzas, Santa
Clara, and Santiago de Cuba. By the end of the decade there
were double that number.67 While it is not the intention of the
authors to Balkanize the topic by isolating it under one heading,
a remarkable number of women graduates from the School of
Architecture entered the profession, and contributed signifi-
cantly to the formation of the modern Cuban house.68
The first practicing woman architect in Cuba was Concep-
ción “Conchita” Bancells, who graduated in 1934 from the
School of Architecture at the University of Havana.69 In 1938,
she began her professional career in architecture, which in-
cluded over two hundred buildings—though she admits to nev-
er having realized one that she considered a “pure” work of
architecture. Lilliam Mederos graduated from the School of
Architecture at the University of Havana in 1941, producing a
thesis project for a sporting and social club in the Bay of
Cabañas.70 Shortly thereafter, in collaboration with the architect
Ricardo Morales, she built the celebrated Lyceum and Lawn
Tennis Club on Calzada and 8th Street in the Vedado, giving it a
homelike quality of simplicity and spiritual refinement.71 In 1954
she designed the house of the Cuban writer and critic, Jorge
Mañach, in the Country Club neighborhood.72 It is worth men-
1 The Modern Cuban House 73

Alica Pujals Mederos. Arroyo and Menéndez. House of

House of Alicia Pujals and Raúl L. Mora, Gabriela Menéndez de Arroyo, Miramar
Miramar (ca. 1958). (ca. 1942), street façade, advertisement.

tioning that Mañach, the great advocate of emerging new tal- ducing residential architecture that reflected the new spirit in
ent in art and architecture and a regular guest and speaker at Cuba. Her two houses for Irma, Yolanda, and Ildefonso Quesa-
the Lyceum, decided to support a woman architect above the da López-Chávez, built as a family compound at Playa Santa
more recognized male counterparts that were receiving all the María del Mar, east of Havana (1955), were exercises in cubic
praise and prizes from the College of Architects and other in- volumes, stripped columnar porches, simple punched open-
stitutions. This kind of architectural patronage was unfortunate- ings, and flat projecting eaves.76 The siblings were the owners
ly rare in Cuba, as it was everywhere else in the world. of the prominent Lámparas Quesada Industrial S.A., a company
Elena and Alicia Pujals came from a distinguished family of that produced lamps and other residential lighting products,
architects and builders. Their father and uncle ran a civil engi- and had stores throughout the island as well as in Panama,
neering and construction firm in Havana.73 The two sisters Venezuela, the Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico.77 The two
worked professionally as architects within the family firm, houses, perpendicular to one another, recall Le Corbusier’s
building several private residences and apartments throughout twin villas for the Weissenhof Siedlung housing estate in Stutt-
the city. Elena’s first major residence was a family house for
74
gart (1927), with the smaller house in the form of a Maison
her grandmother, Inés Cabañas, on 20th Street in the Vedado Citrohan, and the larger one a long rectangular box on stilts.
(1949). It was featured in the journal Arquitectura, showing her Several women architects were the spouses and business
rational design sensibility and respect for traditional Cuban el- partners of well-known male counterparts. These women in-
ements such as the portal out front, a galería facing the court- cluded Gabriela Menéndez, the wife of Nicolás Arroyo,
yard, and louvered windows. 75
Alicia and her husband, the Mercedes Díaz, who was married to Ernesto Gómez-Sampera,
structural engineer Raúl L. Mora y Suarez Galbán, designed and and Rosa María Navia, the wife of José Gelabert, but they
built their own house on 24th Street, between 5 and 7 Ave-
th th
should not be considered simply as female cohorts. They were
nue in Miramar, just before the revolution. Alicia also conceived instrumental figures in maintaining the day-to-day affairs of
an abstract exterior mural that was located on the side porch their respective offices and they were responsible for many
of the house. Together, the sisters would be responsible for designs, including most of the interiors produced by their re-
eleven houses, and eight apartment buildings, all in search of a spective firms. In many instances, women also collaborated
modern Cuban architecture that was technically well-crafted with male architects, as in the cases of María Teresa Fernández
and yet respected the essential elements of tradition. Selles, who worked with Pedro Pablo Mantilla, and Maria Berg-
As previously mentioned, by the 1950s, María Elena Cabar- son, the well-known New York designer who worked with Emil-
rocas had fully embraced the modern rationalist aesthetic, pro- io de Soto.
74

Nicolás Arroyo and Gabriela Menéndez met in architecture

school at the University of Havana and married in 1942, a year
after graduating.78 While at school they befriended José Luis
Sert and after graduation they were also in contact with Neutra
and Gropius on their respective visits to Havana. Yet their first
house and studio (ca. 1942, ill. p. 73), like Batista’s Falla Bonet
residence, showed influences from Frank Lloyd Wright, espe-
cially in its pin-wheel plan.79 Situated on 5th Street in Miramar,
at the corner of 84th Street, the house is an excellent example
of the early art-deco villa of cubic volumes, flat projecting
eaves, and both vertically and horizontally extruded windows.
It is centered around a brick clad stairwell that functions as a
hinge around which all the main volumes extend, and their stu-
dio was located above the carport that extended directly out
front, perpendicular to 5th Avenue.
Perhaps the most successful residential project designed
by Arroyo and Menéndez during this early period was the Díaz
de Villegas house in the Country Club neighborhood, from the
late 1940s.80 Like their other houses, this was a villa of stripped
cubic volumes with a curved columnar portico out front and a
covered columnar terrace at the back. Simple punctured open-
ings, flat projecting eaves, screened walls, and louvered win-
dows and doors gave the house the classic sense of Cuban
modernism. Inside, a curvilinear stair was suspended in front of
a double-height window and a rustic stone wall, giving the
house a monumental quality comparable to the eclectic and
art-deco villas of the earlier half of the century.
Around 1950, Arroyo and Menéndez created a new com-
pound around their 5th Avenue house that included a large es-
tudio taller (studio workshop, ill. p. 18, 19), and an adjacent prop-
erty that was renovated for extended family.81 The family lived
in the original house at the corner of the lot, and just behind it
on 84th Street rose the three stories of the new studio work-
shop. The entire façade was clad with vertical louvers, and a Arroyo and Menéndez. Díaz de Villegas
house, Reparto Country Club (late 1940s),
large roof terrace overlooked the street. Shortly after Fulgencio
entrance.
Batista’s military coup in the spring of 1952, Nicolás Arroyo was
appointed Cuba’s Minister of Public Works, a government posi-
Arroyo and Menéndez. House of Nicolás
tion he held until 1958, when he was made Ambassador to the Arroyo and Gabriela Menéndez, Reparto
United States. The family acquired an existing house in the Country Club (ca. 1952), garden façade.
Country Club district across the street from the Díaz de Villegas
house.82 Situated on a large lot, the house offered great privacy
and could also accommodate a helicopter pad. Nicolás and Ga-
briela renovated the house extensively with new modern wings
and moved in some time in 1953. A brick and concrete brise-
soleil wall and entry gate provided access to the house from
the street, and covered porches projected out from the back
around the swimming pool and gardens, creating a series of
1 The Modern Cuban House 75

Gelabert and Navia. House of José

Gelabert and Rosa Navia, Reparto Biltmore
(ca. 1956), courtyard.

   Gelabert and Navia. House of José

Gelabert and Rosa Navia, Reparto Biltmore
(ca. 1956), street view at night and ground
floor and first floor plans.

0 5 10m
76

Ermina Odoardo and Ricardo Eguilior. Ermina Odoardo and Ricardo Eguilior.
House for Jorge and Yvelise Bosch, Alturas House for Joaquín Bacardí, Punta Gorda,
de Vista Alegre, Santiago de Cuba Santiago de Cuba (ca. 1958), aerial view.
(ca. 1958), street view.

outdoor entertaining spaces. Given the security risks associat- staircase. Perforated screens, louvers, and sliding glass doors
ed with publishing this house, it was one of their least known allow for the house to open in every direction, taking advantage
works, and remains so to this day. of natural breezes and sunlight. Colorful decorative tiles, iron-
José Gelabert and Rosa Navia met in architecture school at work, and a rustic stone wall separating the carport from the
the University of Havana, both graduating in 1952. They mar-
83
office remind visitors of the colonial-era building and craft tra-
ried the following year and started their practice by designing ditions on the island.
modest modern residences in Havana.84 They would emerge Ermina Odoardo deserves special recognition as she es-
late in the 1950s as important institutional architects in Havana. tablished a successful practice with her husband, Ricardo
Their own residence (ca. 1956, ill. p. 75) is a great example of Eguilior, whom she met at the University of Havana in 1941. 87
the casa-taller, or house and studio.85 Designed very much like Her portrait was featured in the journal Arquitectura, which
a California Case Study house, the residence is located in the celebrated the class of 1945 by highlighting eleven recent grad-
middle of 194 Street, between 17 and 19 Street, in the fash-
th th th
uates—she was the only woman in the group. 88 Ermina and
ionable Biltmore neighborhood.86 In plan, the house is a rectan- Ricardo found great success in Santiago de Cuba, working for
gular volume with an open patio at the center, and a home of- the Bacardi Company and several of the company’s family
fice and covered carport at the front. The wing along the office members.89 Ermina was the principal designer, while Ricardo
side contains private quarters and a stair leading up to the was the technician responsible for working drawings and con-
master bedroom suite, which includes a terrace overlooking struction management. They were instrumental in designing
the garden at the back. The opposite wing includes the living several houses in the fashionable Vista Alegre neighborhood of
room, kitchen, and dining room, which opens to a covered rear Santiago—the equivalent of the Vedado in the capital—as well
terrace and to the service wing beneath the master suite. A as social clubs throughout the city.90 Their 1950 house for Adela
small rectangular pool extends from the central patio to the Babun Selma, in the Terazas de Vista Alegre section of the dis-
exterior, beneath a bridge that connects the master suite to the trict, is a curvilinear Moorish art-deco residence whose smooth
1 The Modern Cuban House 77

light-colored surfaces contrast with large panels of red ceramic

latticework that covered the windows.91 Similar in character to
the house of Martial Facio by Enrique Virgilio Pérez (1941–1943)
in the Miramar neighborhood of Havana, the Babun Selma
house conveys the character of an inward-looking Mediterra-
nean Arabic villa.92
Within the same neighborhood, Odoardo and Eguilior de-
signed the house for Jorge and Yvelise Bosch (ca. 1958), one of
the few modern houses outside of Havana or Varadero Beach
that the journal Arquitectura featured.93 The published images
convey that the one-story house with a basement was set on a
small hill that provided ample views on all sides. The L-shaped
house, with a traditional hipped tile roof, was clad with perfo-
rated metal screens, stone walls, louvered windows and doors,
and projecting porches on the back and sides. The front porte-
cochere was made from a curvilinear concrete frame from
which a flat slab was suspended to provide shade and protec-
tion. Finally, the living room at the back of the house, facing the
garden, is of particular interest. It is in the form of an attached
pavilion with a single sloping roof, and full-height louvered
doors that, when open, allow the room to be an outdoor space.

0 5 10m

Nicolás Quintana. House of Mardonio Nicolás Quintana. House of

Santiago, Reparto Biltmore (1957), Mardonio Santiago, Reparto Biltmore
street façade and garage court. (1957), ground floor, first floor and
roof plans.
78

   Nicolás Quintana. House of Mardonio

Santiago, Reparto Biltmore (1957),
exploded axonometric drawing and
interior view.

Nicolás Quintana. House of Mardonio

Santiago, Reparto Biltmore (1957),
side façade.

Odoardo and Eguilior’s 1950s house for Joaquín Bacardí

(ill. p. 76), on the edge of the Punta Gorda peninsula, was their
most dramatic residence in the city of Santiago.94 In plan, the
house consists of a long two-story rectangular volume angled
along the waterfront, with a projecting wing at the back to
frame the pool and garden. A free-standing garage and guest
house are situated perpendicular to the rear wing, and the two
are connected via a covered columnar portico with an open
terrace above. The house is entered at the short end of the
volume, where the garage and wing form a re-entrant corner.
There, the ground floor of the rectangle opens to create a cov-
ered porte-cochère with tapered concrete columns and beams.
At the opposite end, a towering volume with an inverted gable
1 The Modern Cuban House 79

Mario Romañach. House of Mario Romañach. House of Mario Romañach. House of

Ana Carolina Font, Reparto Ana Carolina Font, Reparto Ana Carolina Font, Reparto
Biltmore (1956), street façade. Biltmore (1956), garden façade. Biltmore (1956), section.
80

Mario Romañach. House of Rufino

Alvarez, Reparto Biltmore (1957), street
façade.

Mario Romañach. House of Rufino

Alvarez, Reparto Biltmore (1957),
ground floor plan.
1 The Modern Cuban House 81

Mario Romañach. House of Rufino

Alvarez, Reparto Biltmore (1957),
stairwell.

roof punctuates the tip of the peninsula, acting as a ship-like (ill. p. 77, 78) that he built in the Reparto Biltmore in 1957. 95
structure sailing into the bay. The house is thoroughly modern Consisting of three volumes of different heights connected by
in character, painted white with vast expanses of glass and ground floor galleries with patios on either side (one enclosed
open areas. Only the louvers remind us that we are in the by a wall and the other open to the garden), the most interest-
Caribbean. ing aspect of this house is not the plan but rather the plasticity
of the wall and roof surfaces that wiggle throughout in an an-
Structuralism and Organicism gular manner. The result is an abundance of triangular and trap-
In his essay, ”Arquitectura cubana: una búsqueda de la verdad,” ezoidal shapes and spaces, described by Francisco Gómez
Nicolás Quintana described a kind of structuralist approach Díaz as Miesian in plan and Corbusian in section. 96 However
that explored the plastic potential of concrete and other new accurate, the walls are filled with colored glass, screens, and
technologies. To that end, Nicolás’s most structurally expres- wooden louvers to retain the sense of a traditional Cuban
sive private residence was the house of Mardonio Santiago residence.
82

Two later projects by Mario Romañach are the houses for Humberto Alonso was another architect fascinated with
Ana Carolina Font (1956, ill. p. 79), and Rufino Alvarez (1957, the expressive potential of construction.99 After having graduat-
ill. p. 40, 80, 81), both in the Biltmore neighborhood of Havana. ed from the School of Architecture at the University of Havana
Unlike the Noval Cueto residences, these two houses paid spe- in 1948, he started his architectural practice and founded the
cial attention to structure, with many cleverly considered de- Arquitectos Unidos (United Architects), a collaborative group of
tails. The Font residence is conceived as a H-plan on multiple architectural students that were responsible for several pro-
levels, with inverted gables or “butterfly roofs” supported on a jects, including the College of Architects’ office building in the
concrete frame that resemble traditional heavy timber con- Vedado (1953–1955), and the Instituto Edison in La Víbora
struction.97 Wooden louvers, screens, and ceramic tiles give the (1954–1955).100 His house for Juan F. Lamas in the Reparto Bilt-
house a sense of comfort and flexibility that is in direct contrast more (1959) is perhaps the most conspicuous and extraordinary
to the massive masonry structure. The house of Rufino Alvarez, example of the structuralist approach, and tectonic expression.
like the Corría residence by Nicolás Quintana that was built at The house adopts a Miesian plan, made up of open and inter-
the same time, is a large residential project with multiple patios, locking spaces on multiple levels. Above, a massive concrete
terraces, and gardens on a sprawling site.98 It has multiple lev- roof, supported by a complex system of concrete beams and
els, inverted gables, and a complicated concrete structural sys- cross beams, projects over the whole ground floor, creating a
tem. It also has exceptional wood detailing, stained-glass win- rather exciting, if not disturbing, sense of uneasiness.
dows, and other traditional Cuban elements that are translated A similar approach can be seen in the houses of Emilio
into a modern idiom. Both houses undoubtedly reflect Ro- Fernández, who was a member of CIAM and served on the ed-
mañach’s growing interest in Japanese architecture and its po- itorial board of the School of Architecture’s journal, Espacio.101
tential adaptation to the Cuban reality, He started his architectural practice in Havana in 1956 and de-
1 The Modern Cuban House 83

Humberto Alonso. House of Juan Emilio Fernández. House of Avelino

F. Lamas, Reparto Biltmore (1959), González, Güira de Melena, Province of
front façade. Havana (1955), street façade.

signed private homes, apartments, and commercial buildings.102 well (see Chapter 5). Emilio’s residence for Avelino’s brother
Like the Lamas house by Humberto Alonso, Fernández’s house Conrado González (ill. p. 84), also in Güira de Melena (1956), has
for the hardware entrepreneur, Avelino González, in the town of a massive concrete roof that consists of three tapered concrete
Güira de Melena in the Province of Havana (1955, ill. also p. 271), columns and their associated beams, creating a kind of Y-shaped
has a deep two-story open porch at the front, with an open flight structure with the upper parts only sloping gradually in a “but-
of stairs, similar to the kind one finds throughout the Caribbean, terfly” manner. Situated on a lot with very poor soil conditions,
but with a much greater sense of transparency. The minimalist the three columns were used to reduce the number of footings.
frame is contrasted with the wooden louvers, screens, and rail- Steel tension rods at the ends of the beams hold the structure
ings. Emilio also designed the furniture and lights for the interior to the ground in case of hurricanes or other potentially threat-
and painted the abstract mural just off the living room as ening circumstances. The effect is impressive, as the immense
84

   Emilio Fernández. House of Conrado

González, Güira de Melena, Province of
Havana (ca. 1956), street façade and plan.

roof hovers above the otherwise simple rectangular box, and it

is further pierced in the front to allow light to filter down to the
entry patio. Screened walls, and louvered windows and doors
give the house a curiously vernacular sensibility. In fact, inside
the house the concrete roof slab was also left exposed, with
only two coats of clear varnish creating what the architect
called a sense of “organic ornamentation.”103
While Quintana’s essay described the structuralist trend as
a kind of baroque formalism, there were certainly other mod-
ern approaches in Cuba that similarly achieved a strong sense
of formalism, and these were not entirely structurally oriented.
Curvilinear walls, various kinds of vaults and arches, and hyper-
bolic paraboloid shapes all contributed to a distinctly plastic
approach that was vastly different from the kind of Internation-
al Style rationalism that was so commonly found in North
America and Europe. A good example is Emilio Fernández’s
vacation house for Dr. Carlos Manuel González in Varadero
(1956), where stucco-covered brick walls are molded to create
1 The Modern Cuban House 85

organically shaped rooms and outdoor spaces. The two-story

house is planned in a pin-wheel manner, with the various vol-
umes extending from a central hall and stair. An outdoor cov-
ered terrace extends from the hall as well, and gardens sur-
round the entire site. In elevation, curved lines and rounded
corners dominate the composition, while flat concrete slabs for
the floor and roof project on both levels to provide shade to the
various terraces below. Full-height, louvered windows and
doors fill the spaces in between the structure, and textured
curvilinear concrete blocks are used to fill the balcony railings.
An extraordinary example of a modern organic residence
that was regrettably never built is the Casa Gómez-Mena (1958,
ill. p. 86), designed by the well-known Italian architect Luigi
Moretti on a rectangular lot presumably in the western suburbs
of the city. Conceived for the race-car driver and enthusiast,
Alfonso Gómez-Mena, the house is made of two curvilinear
concrete terraces that overlap and are superimposed above a
complex radial plan, organized on a straight perpendicular grid.
The house introduced a conceptual theme that Moretti experi-
mented with for the first time, the “dynamic accentuation of the
masses by means of the juxtaposition of circular planes that
are not aligned with each other.”104 The deep overhanging ter-
races, and the multi-angular plan would have provided a well
Emilio Fernández. House of
Dr. Carlos González, Varadero Beach cross-ventilated composition of masses and a unique response
(1956), street façade and ground and to the tropical climate.
first floor plans.
86

By far the most recognized Cuban architect who experi-

mented with an organic approach was Ricardo Porro.105 As a
student in Paris, he was introduced to the paintings of the Cu-
ban artist Wifredo Lam, a figure whose highly erotic work would
influence him throughout his life.106 He returned to Cuba in
1954, and immediately became a great provocateur, criticizing
the work of contemporary Cuban architects such as Romañach,
Martínez, Quintana, and others, as “passé,” “déjà-vu,” and “fini”
(old-fashioned, already-seen, and finished). 107 He was ada-
mantly opposed to the kind of European rationalism that had
taken hold of architecture, claiming that “Cuba is not rationalist,
the oniric is everywhere.”108 He began to take on several resi-
dential commissions in Havana. His house for Cristina Abad in
the Nuevo Vedado (1954) employed curvilinear lines, rounded
corners, an inverted gable roof, and full-height colored glass.109
At the terminus of the channel created by the two inverted
gables, Porro inserted a sculptural figure that resembled a
woman’s external genitalia. The symbolic ornament functioned
as a waterspout that fed a small basin below, giving the house
a kind of erotic anthropomorphic quality that had been largely
absent in modern architecture. Porro’s house for Timothy Luigi Moretti. Casa Gómez-Mena,
Havana area (1958), model.
James Ennis (1957, ill. p. 88), also in the Nuevo Vedado, was the
last house he built in Cuba before his self-imposed exile to Ven-
Luigi Moretti. Casa Gómez-Mena,
ezuela until 1960. Here, hard straight lines and a single sloped
Havana área (1958), perspective and
roof contrast with the curvilinear walls and volumes below.
ground floor plan.
Resting on a rock wall, the house lacks the delicateness and
transparency of the earlier Abad house, and not surprisingly,
the waterspout resembles a male phallus.
1 The Modern Cuban House 87

Ricardo Porro. House of Cristina Abad,

Nuevo Vedado (1954), façade detail of the
stained-glass windows (vitrales).

Ricardo Porro. House of Cristina Abad,

Nuevo Vedado (1954), street façade.

Finally, the house for Eugenio Leal by Eduardo Cañas Abril

and Nujim Nepomechie in Miramar (1957, ill. p. 89, 90) was
highly influenced by the intensely expressive work of Félix Can-
dela and Oscar Niemeyer.110 Built for a young and growing fam-
ily, the house was designed to represent the discreet desires of
its owners, avoiding any palatial or stylistic pretensions, while
at the same time providing a modern interpretation of tradi-
tional Cuban typologies.111 Conceived as a long rectilinear cube
on two stories, the ground floor has an additional kidney-shaped
social lounge and game room (with a built-in cocktail bar) that
projects into the rear garden. A service wing is placed perpen-
dicular to the main structure, opposite the lounge, creating a
small patio in between. Multiple terraces, a pool, and gardens
complete the large property. Most interestingly, an entry pavil-
ion in the form of two intersecting thin-shell catenary vaults
serves as a porte-cochère. At the back, a curvilinear terrace,
supported by the lounge and service wing below, creates a
large private space that extends organically from the bed-
rooms, overlooking the pool and gardens. Wooden louvers,
stone walls, and stunning murals by Amelia Peláez (behind the
bar) and Mario Carreño (on the exterior of the lounge), give the
house an unmistakable Cuban presence in achieving a fully
modern integration of the arts.
Mario Romañach’s house for José Noval Cueto has often
been lauded as the masterpiece of modern Cuban residential
design, but Eduardo Cañas Abril and Nujim Nepomechie‘s
house for Eugenio Leal, with its outstanding design and com-
plete integration of the arts, could very well dispute that dis-
88

Ricardo Porro. House of Ricardo Porro. House of Ricardo Porro. House of

Timothy James Ennis, Nuevo Timothy James Ennis, Nuevo Timothy James Ennis, Nuevo
Vedado (1957), exploded Vedado (1957), street view. Vedado (1957), ground floor
axonometric drawing. and first floor plans.

0 5 10m
1 The Modern Cuban House 89

Eduardo Cañas Abril and Nujim Eduardo Cañas Abril and Nujim
Nepomechie. House of Eugenio Leal, Nepomechie. House of Eugenio Leal,
Miramar (1957), entrance façade. Miramar (1957), exploded axonometric
drawing, ground floor and first floor
plans.

0 5 10m
90

Eduardo Cañas Abril and Nujim

Nepomechie. House of Eugenio Leal,
Miramar (1957), detail of entrance
and view of garden pavilion.

Nicolás Quintana. Carlos Ramírez Corría

residence, Alturas de la Coronela (1957),
living room. Note the painting by Fidelio
Ponce de León, Soldado Ruso (1941), oil on
canvas.

tinction. To be sure, Ricardo Porro may have had the last word light. Nicolás does not deploy the trompe l’oeil effects of the
when he wrote about Nicolás Quintana’s Corría house of 1957: colonial baroque, those that magnify the space. Simply, with
the interior walls lower than the ceiling he manages to give
In the midst of the republican period in which the bourgeoi- fluidity to the space. Without playing with big supports, the
sie predominates, Nicolás absorbs the essence of colonial incline of the roofs produces a feeling of great spaciousness.
architecture, i.e., the sensuality of his spaces … The house In the rationalist glass box, it is the lightness of the wall that
is introverted like those of the colony. Spaces are made up is sought. Here, the large vertical exterior walls between the
around a system of patios that seek the family’s privacy. floor-to-ceiling windows are powerful elements that also
Red, blue and white glasses give the interior a pink atmos- characterize the space of the room. They give to the bour-
phere. Thin blinds filter the light. Thus, it achieves a sensual geois house an aristocratic elegance. And all this, he
atmosphere that contrasts with the violence of the exterior achieves with a language of the twentieth century.112
1 The Modern Cuban House 91

NOTES 12 “Premio Medalla de Oro: Colegio Nacional de Master of Shell Design,” Docomomo-Cuba,
Arquitectos,” Arquitectura, no. 89 (December no. 41 (September 2009): 65–72.
1 Several authors have recently assessed the 1940): 314–31. 27 Weiss, Arquitectura cubana contemporánea, 91.
modern architecture of Cuba, and their 13 Fernando R. de Castro, “In Memoriam: El On Fox and the Tropicana, see Rosa Lowinger
publication efforts have been fundamental to Arquitecto Rafael de Cárdenas y Culmell,” and Ofelia Fox, Tropicana Nights: The Life and
our research. These include: Eduardo Luis Arquitectura, no. 285 (April 1957): 209–11; and Times of the Legendary Cuban Nightclub
Rodríguez, La Habana, arquitectura del siglo XX Soler, Los propietarios, 119–21. (Orlando, FL: Harcourt, 2006).
(Barcelona: Blume, 1998); Eduardo Luis 14 Joaquín E. Weiss, Arquitectura cubana 28 Víctor’s father Luis, an engineer, also worked in
Rodríguez, The Havana Guide: Modern Archi- contemporáneo: colección de fotografías de los más the family firm. See “Discurso del arquitecto
tecture 1925–1965 (New York: Princeton Archi- recientes y característicos edificios erigidos en Navarrete,” Arquitectura, no. 127 (February
tectural Press, 2000); Eduardo Luis Rodríguez, Cuba (Havana: Cultural, 1947), 95–96. On 1944): 57–58; Jiménez Soler, Los propietarios,
La arquitectura del movimiento moderno: Selección Bernabé Sánchez Batista, see Soler, Los 397–400; and the “López Oña y Morales Family
de obras del Registro Nacional (Havana: Ediciones propietarios, 488–90. Collection, 1906–2013,” University of Miami
Unión, 2011); Carlos Sambricio and Roberto 15 Rodríguez, The Havana Guide, 73. Libraries, Coral Gables, FL, Cuban Heritage
Segre, Arquitectura en la ciudad de La Habana: 16 Hilda and Ernestina Sarrá’s father was Collection, CHC5326. On Morales & Co., see
primera modernidad (Madrid: Electa España, Dr. Ernesto Sarrá Hernández, owner of the well- Jiménez Soler, Las empresas de Cuba 1958
2000); and Gómez Díaz, De Forestier a Sert: known pharmacy Droguería Sarrá, on Teniente (Havana: Ciencias Sociales, 2004), 455–56. In
ciudad y arquitectura en La Habana (1925–1960). Rey Street in Old Havana. See José Manuel 1944, Víctor and his uncle Leonardo established
To avoid lengthy repetition, we have decided González de la Peña Puerta, ”La Historia de la the Premio Morales y Compañía, an annual
not to provide continuous page references for Farmacia Cubana decimonónica“, Ph.D. diss. competition to stimulate architecture students
these sources, unless of course necessary. (University of Seville, 2015), 45–48. to produce increasingly better designs. See “El
Instead, we will provide original source material 17 “Premio Medalla de Oro,” Colegio Nacional de ‘Premio Morales y Compañía’,” Arquitectura,
and lesser-known references throughout. One Arquitectos. Arquitectura, no. 89 (December no. 138 (January 1945): 26.
exception is Emilio Soto’s seven volumes of the 1940): 314–28. 29 “Premio Medalla de Oro, 1944” Arquitectura,
Album de Cuba (Havana: Universidad de La 18 Hermes Mallea, Great Houses of Havana: A no. 127 (February 1944): 51–52. On Víctor
Habana, 1950–60), which regrettably do not Century of Cuban Style (New York: Monacelli Pedroso, see Jiménez Soler, Los propietarios,
have any page numbers. We have therefore Press, 2011), 187. 431–33; and Las empresas, 132–33.
decided not to provide continuous references 19 “Residencia de Sr. Augusto Echevarri en 30 “Discurso del arquitecto Navarrete,” 57.
for those either. Avenida Ramón Mendoza y calle 13, Reparto 31 “Residencias por la arquitecta María Elena
2 Heriberto Duverger, “Eugenio Batista,” in Alturas de Miramar: Rafael de Cárdenas Cabarrocas,” Arquitectura, no. 210 (January
Diccionario Akal de la arquitectura del siglo XX, Arquitecto,” Arquitectura, no. 90 (January 1951): 20–23; and Florencia Peñate Díaz, “La
eds. Jean-Paul Midant, Juan Calatrava Escobar, 1941): 8–10. obra de las arquitectas cubanas de la República
and José L. López Jiménez (Madrid: Akal, 20 “Residencia de Sr. Jorge E. de Cubas en calle 12 entre los años 40 y fines de los 50 del siglo XX,”
2004), 96; and Guillermo Jiménez Soler, Los Linea, Reparto Alturas de Miramar: Rafael de Arquitectura y Urbanismo 33, no. 3 (September–
propietarios de Cuba 1958 (Havana: Editorial de Cárdenas Arq.,” Arquitectura, no. 93 (April December 2012): 75.
Ciencias Sociales, 2006), 63–64. 1941), 124–25. On Jorge E. de Cubas, see 32 Nicolás Quintana, “Evolución histórica de la
3 See Batista, “Career Outline in Church Jiménez Soler, Los propietarios, 173–74. arquitectura en Cuba,” in La Enciclopedia De
Architecture,” Eugenio Batista Collection, 21 Rodríguez, The Havana Guide, xiii. Cuba, vol. VII (San Juan: Enciclopedia y Clásicos
CHC0331. 22 On vernacular modernism, see in particular Cubanos, 1975), 92 and 100; Rodríguez, “Emilio
4 On the theater, see Chapter 2. Modern Architecture and the Mediterranean: del Junco,” Diccionario Akal, 470; and Arniches y
5 Leonardo Morales, “Como debemos orientar Vernacular Dialogues and Contested Identities, Domínguez, Pablo Rabasco and Martín
una casa,” Arquitectura, no.53 (December 1937): eds. Jean-François Lejeune and Michelangelo Domínguez Ruz eds. (Madrid: Akal, 2017).
n.p.; and Eugenio Batista, “Educación Sabatino (London: Routledge, 2010). 33 Ricardo Porro, “Emilio del Junco,” Architecture
arquitectónica,” Arquitectura, nos. 184–85 23 “Premio Medalla de Oro,” Arquitectura, no. 89 d’aujourd’hui, no. 350 (January–February 2004):
(November–December 1948): 279–81. (December 1940): 326. It should be noted that 72–75.
6 Eugenio Batista, “La casa cubana,” Artes in 1945, Emilio Vasconcelos received the Gold 34 Rodríguez, The Havana Guide, 233.
Plásticas 2 (1960): 5. Medal for his strictly neo-classical Academia de 35 Nicolás Quintana Papers, University of Miami
7 “Havana, Cuba: All Rooms in this House Open Música in Central Havana, a project that recalls Libraries, Coral Gables, FL, Cuban Heritage
on Courtyards,” Architectural Record 86 the Roman façades of St. Peter’s and St. John Collection, CHC5314 (henceforth the Nicolás
(July–Dec. 1939): 45–46; and Ricardo Porro, the Lateran. See “Los nuevos Dirigentes de Quintana Papers, CHC5314).
“Villa Falla, La Havane, Eugenio Batista,” nuestra Institución,” Arquitectura, no. 138 36 Quintana, “Arquitectura cubana,” 89–92; and
Architecture d’aujourd’hui, no. 350 (January– (January 1945): 7–13. Jiménez Soler, Las empresas, 452.
February 2004): 70. 24 Roberto Segre, Arquitectura antillana del siglo XX 37 “Una obra del Arq. Nicolás Quintana,”
8 On the chapel, see Chapter 5. On the Falla (Havana: Arte y Literatura, 2003), 186–87. Arquitectura, no. 277 (August 1956): 356–57.
Bonet family, see Jiménez Soler, Los propietari- 25 Eugenio Batista Collection, CHC0331. 38 “Una obra del Arq. Nicolás Quintana,”
os de Cuba, 202–06. 26 On Max Borges del Junco, see “Construcciones Arquitectura, no. 303 (October 1958): 450–58.
9 “Havana, Cuba: All Rooms in this House Open Max Borges [Sr.],” in El Libro de Cuba: historia, On Carlos Ramírez Corría, see Jiménez Soler,
on Courtyards,” Architectural Record (November letras, artes, ciencias, agricultura, industria, Los propietarios, 457.
1939): 45. comercio, bellezas naturales, eds. Wifredo 39 On the mural, see Chapter 5. See Mariana
10 Batista dates the mural to 1938, but the Fernández and Emilio Roig De Leuchsenring, Ravenet Ramírez and Carlos Padial, Ravenet
completion date for the house is usually given (Havana: Talleres del Sindicato de Artes (Madrid: Fundación Arte Cubano, 2015), 202;
as the following year. Gráficas, 1925), 821; and Jiménez Soler, Los and A Tribute to Ravenet, the Ramírez-Corría
11 Joaquín E. Weiss, La arquitectura colonial cubana propietarios, 90. On Max Borges Recio, see (Miami: Arte al Día Ediciones, 2005), 8 and 28.
siglos XVI al XIX (Havana: Letras Cubanas, Eduardo Luis Rodríguez, “Max Borges Jr.,” in Ravenet met Griffin while the architect was
2002), 165–67, and 452–53; and Aquiles de la Diccionario Akal de la arquitectura del siglo XX designing the house of his sister-in-law, Elba
Maza, Eutimio Falla Bonet: su obra filantrópica y (Madrid: Akal, 2004), 134–35; and Eduardo Ramírez Corría (Notes presented to the authors
la arquitectura (Geneva: Skira, 1971). Luis Rodríguez, “Max Borges Recio: Cuban by Mariana Ravenet, March 25, 2019).
92

40 “Residencia Dr. Carlos Ramírez Corría, 1995,” Cuba: By Richard Neutra, Architect,” Arts & “El Lyceum y su mundo interior,” Revista
Nicolás Quintana Papers, CHC5314, series Architecture 76, no. 2 (February 1959): 28–29; Lyceum 11, no. 37 (February 1954): 32–47;
no. 2a. Eduardo Luis Rodríguez, Modernidad Tropical: María Luisa Guerrero, ‘El Lyceum de La
41 Rodríguez, The Havana Guide, 32–33. Neutra, Burle Marx y Cuba: La Casa de Schulthess Habana: 1929–1968,” Revista Cubana 1, no. 2
42 See “Architectural Firm of Frank Martínez & (Havana: Embajada de Suiza en Cuba, 2007); (July–December 1968): 467–70; and K. Lynn
Nicolás Quintana, Havana, Cuba, 1954,” “Neutra in Cuba: The Schulthess House, Sixty Stoner, From the House to the Streets: The Cuban
Nicolás Quintana Papers, CHC5314. Years After,” Area, no. 150 (2017): 50–57. On Woman’s Movement for Legal Reform, 1898–1940
43 The house is now a private residence for the Schulthess, see Jiménez Soler, Los propietarios, (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 1991),
U.S. Embassy in Cuba. See the Wahl Snyder 509–10. 74 ff.
Architectural Records, HistoryMiami Museum, 56 See Cuban Architects: Their Impact on the Urban 72 Peñate Díaz, “La obra de las arquitectas,” 75;
Miami. On Amalia Bacardí Cape, see Tom Landscape of Miami (Miami: Cuban Museum of and Arquitectura, no. 258 (January 1955):
Gjelten, Bacardi and the Long Fight for Cuba Arts and Culture, 1985), 15–19; and the Raúl inside front cover.
(New York: Penguin Books, 2009), 112 ff. Álvarez Papers, University of Miami Libraries, 73 Peñate Díaz, “La obra de las arquitectas,”
44 It is not known if any of these properties were Coral Gables, FL, Cuban Heritage Collection, 75–76; Peñate Díaz, “Significado de la obra de
ever built. On Pedro Grau, see Jiménez Soler, CHC5484 (henceforth the Raúl Álvarez Papers, las arquitectas cubanas Elena y Alicia Pujals
Los propietarios, 275–77. CHC5484). Mederos,” Arquitectura y Urbanismo 37, no. 1
45 “Is Architecture Heading for Gutter? Four 57 “Una Obra del Arq. Manuel R. Gutiérrez,” (January–April 2016): 25–36; and the Alicia
Miamians Answer Wright’s Blast,” The Miami Arquitectura, no. 272 (March 1956): 114–20. Pujals Mederos Collection, University of Miami
Herald (August 3, 1952), 80. 58 See the “Design Awards: Test of Time Award, Libraries, Coral Gables, FL, Cuban Heritage
46 Ibidem. Ingelmo Residence, Havana, Cuba,” Florida/ Collection, CHC5544 (henceforth the Alicia
47 Rodríguez, “Mario Romañach,” in Diccionario Caribbean Architect (Fall 2004): 37. Pujals Mederos Collection, CHC5544).
Akal, 782–83. See also the Mario J. Romañach 59 Mallea, Great Houses of Havana, 259–69. 74 “Edificio de la American National Life Insurance
Collection, The Architectural Archives, 60 “Una Obra del Arq. Frank Martínez Jústiz,” Co. – Egido y Apodaca: Elena Pujal, Arquitecta,”
University of Pennsylvania, No. 48 (henceforth Arquitectura, no. 302 (September 1958): Arquitectura, no. 159 (October 1946): 302; and
the Mario J. Romañach Collection, No. 48). 386–90. Weiss, Arquitectura cubana contemporánea, 78
48 “El Premio Medalla de Oro de 1949: La 61 There is no scholarly work to date on the life and 112.
Residencia de la Familia Cueto de Noval,” and work of Carlos Artaud. His archives can be 75 “Una obra de la arquitecta Elena V. Pujals,”
Arquitectura, no. 198 (January 1950): 9–15. See found at the Vidal Artaud Family Collection, Arquitectura, no. 195 (October 1949): 293–98.
also Jiménez Soler, Los propietarios, 408; and Miami. 76 Arquitectura, no. 262 (May 1955): back cover.
Las empresas, 398–99. 62 The Chisholm house was located at #899 26th 77 Jiménez Soler, Las empresas, 406.
49 “Una obra de los arquitectos Silverio Bosch y Street, at the corner of 47th near the zoo, in 78 See the Nicolás Arroyo and Gabriela Menéndez
Mario Romañach,” Arquitectura, no. 219 Nuevo Vedado. Notes presented to authors by Papers, University of Miami Libraries, Coral
(October 1951): 430–31; “Residencia Rpto. Ed Chisholm, May 25, 2019. Gables, FL, Cuban Heritage Collection,
Country Club,” Espacio I, no. 5 (September–Oc- 63 See Chapter 3. CHC5489 (henceforth the Arroyo and
tober 1952): 43–45; “Una obra de los 64 See for instance, Luis Bay Sevilla, “Serán Menéndez Papers, CHC5489).
arquitectos Silverio Bosch y Mario Romañach,” mejorados sanitariamente los bohíos,” 79 Arquitectura, no. 113 (December 1942): back
Arquitectura, no. 243 (October 1953): 420–23; Arquitectura, no. 104 (March 1942): 96–100. inside cover; and Weiss, Arquitectura cubana
Nancy Levinson, “Looking for Romañach,” 65 Weiss, Arquitectura cubana contemporánea, contemporánea, 88–89.
Metropolis (February 2004): 92–96; and Emilia passim. 80 Arroyo and Menéndez Papers, CHC5489. See
Terragni and Helen Thomas, 20th Century World 66 Peñate Díaz, “La obra de las arquitectas,” also Jiménez Soler, Los propietarios, 178–79.
Architecture (London: Phaidon Press, 2012), 70–82. 81 See Chapter 3.
731. 67 Idem, 73. 82 Notes presented to authors by Lin Arroyo,
50 “Caribbean mansion in Havana by architects 68 If women architects began to emerge in Cuba in February 29, 2019. Images can be found at the
Silverio Bosch and Mario Romañach combines the 1940s and 1950s, black architects would Arroyo and Menéndez Papers, CHC5489.
beauty with climate control,” House & Home have to wait until after the revolution to study 83 See the Gelabert-Navia Arquitectos Records,
(August 1952): 119. and practice more successfully. One exception University of Miami Libraries, Coral Gables, FL,
51 “Casa Vidaña,” Espacio, no. 6 (November–De- was the architect and civil engineer, José Cuban Heritage Collection, CHC5488
cember 1953): 34–42; and “El Premio Medalla Manuel Betancourt, see “In Memoriam: El (henceforth the Gelabert-Navia Arquitectos
de Oro de 1955: La residencia de la Sra. Arquitecto José Manuel Betancourt,” Records, CHC54880).
Evangelina Aristigueta de Vidaña en el Country Arquitectura, No. 262 (May 1955): 254–55. 84 See for instance Arquitectura, no. 270 (January
Club,” Arquitectura, no. 270 (January 1956): 69 Maria Pererramos, “Las arquitectas cubanas en 1956): back cover.
14–22; and “House by Mario Romañach, activo,” Arquitectura, no. 236 (March 1953): 85 “Una Obra de los Arquitectos José Gelabert,
Architect,” Arts & Architecture 73, no. 1 106; and Marta E. Lora, “Tras el rastro de una Marcelo y Rosa Navia Castaño,” Arquitectura,
(January 1956): 28–29. On the owners, see arquitecta,” Arquitectura y Urbanismo 28, no. 2 no. 272 (March 1956): 137–40.
Jiménez Soler, Los propietarios, 307, 570–72; (2007): 74–77. 86 The Case Study Houses were experiments in
and Las empresas, 140–41. 70 Peñate Díaz, “La obra de las arquitectas,” 74. American residential architecture sponsored by
52 Rodríguez, The Havana Guide, 50. Her younger sister was the political activist Arts & Architecture magazine, which commis-
53 “Obras del Arq. Max Borges Recio,” Arquitectu- Elena Mederos. See Nancy Alonso, and Mirta sioned major architects of the day, including
ra, no. 204 (July 1950): 318–21; and “Una Obra Yáñez, Damas de Social: Intelectuales cubanas en Richard Neutra, Craig Ellwood, Charles and Ray
del Arquitecto Max Borges Jr.,” Arquitectura, la revista Social (Havana: Ediciones Boloña, Eames, Pierre Koening, Eero Saarinen, and
no. 238 (May 1953): 199–201. 2014), 177–83. others, to design and build inexpensive and
54 Thomas S. Hines, Richard Neutra and the Search 71 The original Lyceum building was a colonial efficient model homes for the residential
for Modern Architecture: A Biography and History casona on the Calzada del Cerro. See the housing boom caused by the end of World War
(New York: Oxford University Press, 1982). brochure “Lyceum and Lawn Tennis Club,” II and the return of millions of soldiers. See
55 “El Premio Medalla de Oro del Colegio de 1942, University of Miami Libraries, Coral Elizabeth Smith, Julius Shulman, and Peter
Arquitectos de 1958,” Arquitectura, no. 306 Gables, FL, Cuban Heritage Collection, Goessel, Case Study Houses (Cologne/New York:
(January 1959): 10–18; “House in Havana, CHC0124000012; Elena Mederos de González, Taschen, 2002).
1 The Modern Cuban House 93

87 See the Ermina Odoardo and Ricardo Eguilior 97 “Una obra del arquitecto Mario Romañach,” cubana, no. 32 (Spring 2004); and Brian Brace
Architectural Records, University of Miami Arquitectura, no. 308 (March 1959): 116–21. Taylor, Ricardo Porro (Old Westbury, NY: New
Libraries, Coral Gables, FL, Cuban Heritage 98 “Una obra del Arq. Mario Romañach,” York Institute of Technology, 2010)..
Collection, CHC5498 (henceforth the Odoardo Arquitectura, no. 303 (October 1958): 434–43. 106 See Chapter 6.
and Eguilior Architectural Records, CHC5498). 99 See the Humberto Alonso Papers, University 107 Consuegra, Elapso Tempore, 103.
88 “Arquitectos graduados en el año 1945,” of Miami Libraries, Coral Gables, FL, Cuban 108 Ricardo Porro, “Cuba y yo,” Escandalar 5,
Arquitectura, no. 153 (April 1946): 127. Heritage Collection, CHC5476 (henceforth the nos. 1–2 (January–June 1982): 154.
89 See Chapter 4. Humberto Alonso Papers, CHC5476). 109 Ricardo Porro, “Villa Villegas, La Havane,
90 See Ermina Odoardo’s resume, Odoardo and 100 On the Arquitectos Unidos, see Consuegra, Ricardo Porro,” Architecture d’aujourd’hui,
Eguilior Architectural Records, CHC5498. Elapso Tempore, 150 ff; Consuegra “Evocación no. 350 (January–February 2004): 71.
91 Heriberto Duverger and Nicolás Ramírez, de los Espaciales,” Herencia 7, no. 1 (Summer 110 “Una obra de los arquitectos Eduardo Cañas
Oriente De Cuba: Guía de Arquitectura = An 2001): 74–77; and the Humberto Alonso Abril y Nujim Nepomechie,“ Arquitectura,
Architectural Guide: Santiago De Cuba, Papers, CHC5476. no. 304 (November 1958): 494–500.
Guantánamo, Holguín, Las Tunas, Granma 101 There is little scholarly work to date on the life 111 Cañas Abril gave a lecture at the College of
(Seville: Junta de Andalucía, Consejería de and work of Emilio Fernández. His archives Architects in which he argued for a greater
Obras Públicas y Transportes, 2002), 154. can be found at the Emilio Fernández urgency for human values, integrated
92 On the Martial Facio house, see Rodríguez, The Collection, Cincinnati, OH. planning, and establishing a hierarchy of
Havana Guide, 89. 102 See Chapter 3. needs. See Eduardo Cañas Abril, “Función
93 “Una obra de los arquitectos en los alrededores: 103 Notes presented to authors, February 5, 2019. social del arquitecto,“ Arquitectura, no. 249
Ermina Odoardo y Ricardo Eguilior de Santiago 104 Carmen L. Guerrero, Salvatore Santuccio, and (April 1954): 149–54.
de Cuba,” Arquitectura, no. 295 (February Nicolò Sardo, Luigi Moretti— Le ville: disegni e 112 Ricardo Porro, “Nicolás y la Trinidad,”
1958): n.p. modelli (Roma: Palombi, 2009), 100–05. On Revista encuentro de la cultura cubana, no. 18
94 Odoardo and Eguilior Architectural Records, Luigi Moretti, see for instance Luigi Moretti: (2000): 51.
CHC5498. Razionalismo e trasgressività tra barocco e
95 Nicolás Quintana Papers, CHC5314. informale, eds. Bruno Reichlin and Letizia
96 Francisco Gómez Díaz, De Forestier a Sert: Tedeschi (Milan: Electa, 2010).
Ciudad y arquitectura en La Habana (1925–1960) 105 On Porro’s life and work, see “Homenaje a
(Madrid: Abada, 2008), 478. Ricardo Porro,” Revista encuentro de la cultura
 95

CHAPTER 2

The City as Landscape:

Forestier, Sert, and the
Planning of Havana

When this critical balance is achieved—but in constant change—the miracle of

urbanity occurs and a high level of civilization and quality of life is reached. That is
when citizens identify fully with their city and feel part of it ... calling themselves
habaneros, santiagueros, trinitarios, espirituanos, cienfuegueros, matanceros,
etc. There is a pride, which expresses the joy of belonging to a larger social group,
when one can “adjectivize” the citizen with the name of his city. 
 Nicolás Quintana
96

Statue of the Alma Mater (Mario

Korbel, 1919) seen from the portico of
the rectorate, University of Havana,
El Vedado.

Arból de la Fraternidad Americana

or Tree of the American Brotherhood
(ca. 1930).

Paseo del Prado with view of the

Capitol in construction, postcard
(ca. 1927).

Paseo del Prado, detail of benches

and Darden-Beller lampposts.

A Symbol of Cubanidad lio (Capitol), originally expected to host the conference head-
On January 16, 1928, the Sexta Conferencia International Amer- quarters, remained unfinished, with the metallic structure of its
icana (Sixth International America Conference) opened in Ha- dome terminating the view from the Paseo del Prado and loom-
vana with US President Calvin Coolidge and twenty-one Latin ing over the new Parque de la Fraternidad Americana, the site
American heads of state attending. Within forty days President of the former Campo de Marte (Field of Mars).3
Gerardo Machado y Morales and the Secretary of Public Works, Five weeks later, the commemorative Árbol de la Fraterni-
Dr. Carlos Miguel de Céspedes, inaugurated the first phase of dad Americana (ill. p. 95), a cottonwood ironically described by
an ambitious Keynesian program that was intended to trans- the society magazine Social as the “pobre ceiba” (the poor cei-
form the colonial image of the city into a metropolitan vision in ba tree), was planted at the center of the park, in line with the
tune with the ambitions of the Cuban republic.1 Yet, as Joseph transversal axis of the Capitol.4 The act was symbolically admi-
Hartman stated, “the urban works of 1920s and 1930s Havana rable but politically ambiguous, since the conference had not
spoke to modern aspirations of Cuban nationhood and cosmo- resolved a conflict between political theory—the unanimous
politanism, but they also recalled colonial-era social structures respect for the independence of every nation—and practical
of race, power, and urban space.” At the head of a French-­
2
facts—the support given by many to the military intervention in
Cuban team of architects, engineers, and artists, the French Nicaragua by the United States. Forestier and architect César
landscape architect and urbanist Jean Claude Nicolas Forestier Guerra y Massaguer surrounded the tree with a circular marble
made his mark on that program with his designs for the Paseo plinth topped by a magnificent bronze circular grille—a reja—
del Prado, the Parque Central, the Parque de la Fraternidad fabricated by the Havana-based Darden-Beller Company and
Americana, the esplanade of the Avenida de las Misiones, the decorated with the coats of arms of all twenty-one American
extension of the Malecón (the waterfront boulevard), the Plaza nations. In a moment of genuine understanding of the island’s
del Maine, and the great staircase of the university. The Capito- history, they not only evoked the foundation of the city and the
2 The City as Landscape: Forestier, Sert, and the Planning of Havana 97
98

first mass celebrated under a similar ceiba tree, four hundred

years earlier in the place occupied by the Doric Templete, but
they elevated the tree to the dimension of a monument.5 J.C.N. Forestier. Preliminary plan for a
system of avenues and parks for Havana
The same unique fusion of nature, architecture, and urban
(1926–1927).
design was achieved in Forestier’s reconstruction of the Paseo
del Prado (ill. p. 96, 97). Out of this illustrious avenue lined with
J.C.N. Forestier. Sketch of the General
palaces, hotels, and theaters, connected together on both Plan of Havana and its Surroundings
sides by tall arcades, but reduced in the last decades to a badly (Esquema para el Proyecto del Plano
maintained median strip crossed by electric wires, Forestier Regulador de La Habana y de los Alrede-
dores), (1926).
and his collaborators created the “salon” of the twentieth-cen-
tury city. Under a vault of laurel trees, the paseo became an
Pedro Martínez Inclán. Masterplan
architectural promenade, a Caribbean rambla, visually articu-
for a network of avenues and parks
lating two main monuments: the Capitolio at one end and the
for Havana (ca. 1920).
Morro Castle at the other, by the sea above the entrance of the
bay. By elevating the paseo, geometrizing its pavement, and
bordering it with walls and stone benches made from coral
rock that supported the Darden-Beller bronze streetlights and
2 The City as Landscape: Forestier, Sert, and the Planning of Havana 99

lions, the Cuban architect Raúl Otero and Forestier himself

gave the paseo a mineral character: it became an excretion of
the soil, a memory of the geological origin of the island, a public
symbol of cubanidad.6

Forestier’s Plan and its Sources

If the lucrative activities of the secretary Carlos Miguel de Cés-
pedes—he was a building and land developer since 1910—
were not always irreproachable, his economic and aesthetic
interest in the beautification of the city was undeniable.7 Ac-
cording to a letter posthumously published in Arquitectura, he
asked the French Minister of Culture to suggest “the name of an
architect who could collaborate with Cuban architects in order
to embellish and plan the expansion of the city of Havana.”8 The
name of Jean Claude Nicolas Forestier came as no surprise; his
achievements in Paris, Barcelona, Sevilla, Morocco, and Buenos
Aires had assured him an uncontestable renown in both French
and Cuban professional circles. 9 Moreover, in 1918 he had de-
signed a proposal for a small park around the fortress of La
Punta at the entrance of the bay, on the invitation of President
Menocal and the wealthy entrepreneur Enrique Cornill.10
However, when Forestier arrived in Havana in December
1925, the seeds for his planning mission had been planted. Dur-
ing the 1920s, publications such as the Revista de la Sociedad
Cubana de Ingenieros and Arquitectura, founded in 1909 and
1917 respectively, promoted a movement in favor of civic art
and urban planning, within which Pedro de Chacón, an engi-
neer later to become the chief of urban beautification in the
Secretariat of Public Works, played a major role. The year of
Forestier’s arrival, the Cuban architect and urbanist Pedro
Martínez Inclán published his important book, La Habana Actu-
al. Written between 1919 and 1922, the work was at once di-
dactic, scientific, and political, as it read as a thorough denun-
ciation of the general state of the city and the passivity of
successive governments concerning urban reform and social
housing. Largely influenced by the Civic Art and Park Move-
ments in the United States, as well as the international theory
of urban design promoted by the Société Française des Urban-
istes (Society of French Urbanists or SFU), of which Forestier
was a founding member in 1911, Martínez Inclán advocated the
beautification of the city through public art and gardens, the
renovation of the Malecón, and the construction of parks and
neighborhoods for the indigent and working classes.11 His pro-
gram, which he labeled as social and patriotic, also promoted
the nation’s acquisition of unoccupied lands to create land re-
serves, a program for the construction of schools, the trans­
formation of the colonial fortresses into parks and public mon-
100

J.C.N. Forestier. Project for a civic center

at the Loma de los Catalanes, Havana.

uments (namely the fortresses of Atarés and El Príncipe), a Forestier’s first working trip to Havana took place from De-
great park project along the Almendares River, which he called cember 8, 1925 to February 28, 1926. Having received assuranc-
the Gran Paseo del Oeste (the Grand Promenade of the West), es concerning the availability of funds and local collaborators,
and other innovations regarding the preservation of monu- he brought with him five young architects from the École des
ments and historic buildings. The backbone of his scheme was Beaux-Arts: Eugène Beaudouin, Jean Labatut, Louis Heitzler,
the opening or widening of twenty-six great avenues and a doz- Théodore Leveau, and the only woman on the team, Jeanne
en new squares that would ease circulation between the vari- Surugue.14 He then integrated local professionals into his group,
ous districts of the city, including those in the periphery. Taking among whom were the architects Raúl Otero, Emilio Vasconce-
up ideas from Raúl Otero’s graduation thesis of 1905 and from los, Raúl Hermida, and J.I. del Alamo, as well as the artists
the city engineer Enrique Montoulieu’s own proposals, Martínez Manuel Vega and Diego Guevara.15 Emulating Le Corbusier’s
Inclán’s plan (ill. p. 99) identified the undeveloped zone to the fascination with the aerial gaze, he flew in an airplane over the
southeast of the Castillo del Príncipe, known as the Loma de los city and its hinterland to comprehend its urban form and land-
Catalanes (Catalan Hill), as the future center of the city. As had scape.16 In doing so, he expanded to the metropolitan scale a
been suggested by Montoulieu, he proposed a circular plaza concept he had previously developed in his private and public
“bigger than, or at least as big as, the Place de l’Étoile in Paris,” gardens in France, Spain, and Morocco—“the science of land-
as the core of a new civic center, from which his radiating sys- scape at the service of civic (urban) art.”17 In an article
tem of grand avenues would link with different areas of the city, published in 1952, Henri Prost, one of the most important
as well as its future extensions.12 Unsurprisingly, this new urban French urbanists of the first half of the century, wrote about
network would have entailed severe destruction and disruption Forestier:
to the colonial and post-colonial urban fabric. 13
2 The City as Landscape: Forestier, Sert, and the Planning of Havana 101

His secret was to compose within nature and conceive in tions with existing streets and roads that link the city with
situ with broad ideas. One understood all the power behind centers of agricultural and industrial population.20
this man when he was seen on the site itself: before imag-
ining and designing, he walked it over, he smelled it, he saw Following the practice and tenets of international Beaux-Arts
everything, and then, in his imagination, the great lines of planning—including Martinez Inclán’s own proposals— Fores-
change or a new creation crossed the landscape. 18
tier’s plan intended to create major avenues and parkways
across the existing fabric. Most of those involved the suburban
The Plano del Proyecto de La Habana (ill. p. 98, 99), designed in and unconsolidated areas of the city, but they would have en-
March 1926 and slightly revised after his second trip from Au- tailed massive demolitions, for instance the elimination of the
gust 19 to December 15, 1928, established a framework of ex- nineteenth-century arcades of the calzadas (roads) del Cerro,
traordinary magnitude. The goal was to bring the city in line Belascoín, Infante, and Galiano, as well as the widening of Calle
with the modern European and American vision of urbanism Teniente Rey on an axis with the Capitol, a project that ap-
and urban organization for international business and tour- peared in the latest version of the plan.
ism. 19
Following the American tradition that the Société From the Plaza de la Loma de los Catalanes (later to be
Française des Urbanistes had made its own, the general plan called Plaza de la República), Forestier traced the “logical dia-
covered a wide geographic area that included suburban areas gram” for the modernization and expansion of the city. It mainly
outside of the municipal limits. consisted of two perpendicular axes, designed as wide park-
Working rapidly, Forestier strategically integrated Montou- ways or avenues-jardin, forming a grand urban “T.”21 The first
lieu’s and Inclán’s ideas with his own. Like Martínez Inclán, he parkway, laid across some scarcely built areas and a section of
immediately understood the necessity to re-center the metrop- the Cerro district, led east to the proposed new maritime and
olis, while preserving the colonial core from further being train terminal in the Bay of Atarés, but the necessary demoli-
transformed into sites for office buildings. Accordingly, the fo- tions—minimal in comparison with those proposed by Martínez
cus of the plan was the proposed civic center located at the Inclán—would have dislocated some of the fragile fabric of the
Loma de los Catalanes, but Forestier placed it slightly north of Cerro’s neo-classical neighborhood. The second parkway, a
Martínez Inclán’s position. Moreover, whereas the Cuban ur- sumptuous avenue 120 meters wide, led south across undevel-
banist imagined the new area as a central hub for traffic whose oped land to a proposed vast park, the Gran Parque Nacional.
radial tentacles would have deconstructed major sections of Fusing both the picturesque and the geometric, a large lake
the nineteenth-century fabric, he envisioned the civic center as terminated the axis in the direction of the Almendares River. To
a vast T-shaped square, featuring a central monument to José the north, Forestier extended the Civic Center along a parkway
Martí in its upper section, articulated on two levels connected that ended at the new university campus and its spectacular
by stairs, ramps, and terraces. The plan included fountains, an belvedere. As a focus of the grand perspective of the Paseo de
alameda (linear mall), as well as buildings such as the Museum Carlos III, at the intersection with the avenue-park of the Er-
of Flora and Fauna, and the Ministry of Agriculture. With the mita, he proposed various ideas to transform the Castillo del
exception of the alameda, oriented east to west in the lower Príncipe into a museum in the midst of a public park. A model
section of the project, most streets and avenues did not inter- for this design may be found in Giuseppe Poggi’s approach to
sect the civic center but paralleled or circumnavigated it. In so the Piazzale Michelangelo in Florence, with its winding drive
doing, Forestier emphasized its practical and conceptual land- intersecting a theatrical series of stairs leading to the top plat-
scape organization while reducing the impact of traffic. In engi- form and its belvedere positioned over the landscape.22
neer Chacón’s description, the general plan for Havana con­ As the future heart of the metropolis, the Gran Parque Na-
sisted of: cional (also known as the Bosque de La Habana) was the center
of the scenographic system of parks and parkways that inte-
[a] series of boulevards, avenues, streets, and paseos, that grated the Caribbean Sea and the geography of the hinterland.
interconnecting with existing ones would facilitate interur- In a grand sweeping gesture that reminds one of the Emerald
ban movement as well as expand and increase the city’s Necklace of parks in Boston, the system of parks continued
activity and beauty, giving it squares, plazas, open areas, upstream along the scenic shores of the Almendares River to
and parks for the people to enjoy. This would also facilitate include the Gran Paseo del Río, coming close to the Colón cem-
the decongestion of commercial districts, creating connec- etery (which was to be transformed into a public park), to then
102

J.C.N. Forestier. Perspective view of the

new Malecón at the entrance of the Bay of
Havana (1929). From left to right: the new
public buildings to be erected between the
colonial fabric and the bay (unbuilt and
replaced by parks and the open-air
theater); the new Avenida de las Misiones
connected the Presidential Palace to the
new embarcadero and steps (unbuilt); the
restored Paseo del Prado linking the fort
of La Punta to the Capitol (not visible).

turn eastward to absorb the proposed extension of the Ma-

lecón toward the west, and then continue to the new Plaza del
Maine, finally to rejoin the Castillo de la Punta. At that location,
Forestier widened the Malecón with a series of parks to create
a continuous waterfront avenue to the Castillo de Atarés. An-
other branch followed the Paseo del Prado, crossed the Parque
de la Fraternidad, and extended to connect with the new train
station. Finally, a series of parkways connected back to the
Gran Parque Nacional. As seen on the only drawing showing
the entire metropolitan area beyond Havana’s limits on both
sides of the bay, three concentric rings and a network of diag-
onal avenues were foreseen to transversally unite the new
neighborhoods and connect the growing western sections to
the east and the historic center.
2 The City as Landscape: Forestier, Sert, and the Planning of Havana 103

Extending the Malecón entrance channel to the bay, Forestier’s new Avenida del Puerto
radically transformed the appearance of the colonial city and its
The embrace of the sea is the “memorable vision” of the city interaction with the sea. The surviving old walls were unforgiv-
... the creative gesture that unifies it and makes it “sing.” 23
ingly demolished, as were the Carcel de Tacón (prison) on the
edge of the Paseo del Prado and the Cortina de Valdez prome-
In the footsteps of the Civic Art Movement, the American engi- nade. The new linear esplanade along the bay, partially built on
neers working in Havana during the first American military in- fill, created a straight edge to replace the former, more organic,
tervention (1899–1902) started to reclaim the landscape values walled water edge. It stretched from the fort of La Punta to the
of the Caribbean Sea. Their objective was threefold: to improve fort of La Fuerza, located on one side of the Plaza de Armas.
the sanitary conditions of the chaotic coastline, to establish a Surprisingly, Forestier did not take advantage of the cloverleaf
major artery able to handle future traffic, and to embellish the moats on all sides of the Renaissance structure and isolated it
city. The first stretch of the Malecón (waterfront esplanade and from the water.
avenue), from the intersection of the Prado to Calle Crespo The connection with the Palacio Presidencial was a main
(also known as Calle Lealtad) to the west, was initiated in feature of the plan: Forestier designed the Avenida de las Mi-
1901.24 Although the sketch showing a treelined paseo parallel siones on an axis with the palace as a formal link to the sea,
to the roadway was not applied, swift regulations were put into with a central garden bordered by two symmetrical allées
place to build the reclaimed parcels with continuous arcades (paths) of royal palms. The baroque design of the first project
according to the ordinances of 1861. At the eastern terminus,
25
(1926), with its arcaded, half-circular square at the intersection
the circular temple or glorieta—built in 1902 in memory of the of the Avenida del Puerto, was revised in 1929 as a downsized
students assassinated by the Spanish government on Novem- plaza anchored by the fort and a monumental embarcadero,
ber 27, 1871—soon became one of the focal points of social planted with two high obelisks whose sculpted reliefs illustrat-
and recreational life in Havana for amorous encounters, family ed scenes from Cuban history. The embarcadero, suggested by
reunions, meetings, concerts, and political rallies. Construction Inclán in 1919, had originally been requested by President
proceeded again under President Estrada Palma until San Lá­ Machado as a grand, symbolic entrance to the city for the
zaro Street. Later in 1914, it was decided to continue the pro- Pan-American Conference of 1928, but it was later abandoned.
ject to the Almendares River and create two monumental pla- However, the Avenida de las Misiones was completed, and cre-
zas overlooking the sea: one was built over the small bay and ated, in combination with the rebuilt Paseo del Prado, a power-
beach of San Lázaro—Martínez Inclán bitterly deplored its dis- ful system of public places opening the colonial city to the new
appearance—for the General Maceo monument (designed by waterfront.
Domenico Boni, 1916); the other was built for the Maine mon- Similarly, the large public buildings in a classical-deco-mod-
ument (designed by Govantes and Cabarrocas, 1925) at the ern style that Forestier included in his perspective were not
foot of the former Santa Clara Battery. constructed and the new section of the Malecón never became
Forestier was familiar with the Malecón since 1918, when the anticipated administrative and cultural center.27 In their
Manuel Tejedor, secretary of the Delegación de Cuba in Paris, place and in harmony with Forestier’s design strategy, Aquiles
and a group of Cuban intellectuals commissioned him, on be- Maza designed a series of promenades of royal palms and clas-
half of General President Menocal, to design the small park sical gardens where, in 1934, the architect Eugenio Batista built
around the fort of La Punta and connect it through a new paseo a serene open-air theater (ill. p. 104), a project conceived while
to the Palacio Presidencial (Presidential Palace). Published in he was teaching at Princeton.28 Situated in the public park, the
Jardins in 1920, the unbuilt project consisted of small intercon- theater was designed as a semi-circular Mediterranean stone
nected gardens, conceived as a sequence of closed and green monument surrounded by trees and gardens, against one of
rooms.26 Although drawn in Paris, the plan was coherent with the most beautiful stage sets of the Americas, with the edge of
the general pedestrian character of the area. the city on one side and the acropolis-like complex of El Morro
Ten years later, the requirements of modern traffic and in Castle and San Carlos de la Cabaña Fortress standing on the
particular, the necessity to open up vehicular access to the port promontory beyond the entrance to the bay. Although the park
infrastructure in the area of the Plaza San Francisco obliged partially obscures the colonial city, it does engage the modern
Forestier to reimagine the waterfront public spaces. To the east, flâneur in the observation of the natural and artificial landscape
between La Punta and the Plaza de San Francisco, along the of the city. It operates like an expanded fortification wall and
104

protects the spirit and the scale of the colonial city while giving and quality. 29 Although it was not fully built according to
it a metropolitan façade. The new Malecón also aimed at im- the plans and sketches, the new Malecón was the climax of
proving the traffic in the highly congested city center. The last Forestier’s method of staging the natural landscape. He con-
segment, that was to link the former arsenal to the fort of ceived this pedestrian and automobile promenade along the
Atarés and the grand square proposed in front of a new train Atlantic Ocean as the metropolitan façade of the modernized
station, was unfortunately not carried out. city. Forestier exploited the familiar elements of the Mediter­
To the west, Forestier’s focus of attention was the beauti- ranean realm as they can be found in the modern promenades
fication and the extension of the Malecón from the Plaza del or paseos marítimos (seafront avenues) of Cádiz, Málaga,
Maine to the Almendares River. During the second voyage of Naples, Casablanca, and others: a succession of terraced view-
1928, he redesigned the plaza around the Maine monument, points, esplanades, parks, and gardens clearly and geometri-
which had been damaged during the hurricane of October cally delineated, combining enclosures from the streets,
1926. He laid out new linear gardens and opened the square alignments of royal palms, and monuments. The Mediterranean
toward the Vedado with a wide exedra entrance at the foot of city more than Paris was the model for J.C.N. Forestier, while
the cliff dominated by the gardens of the Hotel Nacional, but Carlos Miguel de Céspedes rightfully dreamed of Havana as the
eventually the final design was dramatically reduced in scope tropical Nice.30
2 The City as Landscape: Forestier, Sert, and the Planning of Havana 105

Eugenio Batista and Aquiles Maza. Aerial view of Havana and El Malecón
Teatro al Aire Libre (Open-air Theater), (1950s), with Plaza del Maine and the
Avenida del Puerto, Old Havana (1932) FOCSA apartment building in the
foreground.
106

J.C.N. Forestier and César Guerra. J.C.N. Forestier, et al. Masterplan for the University of
Grand staircase of the University of Havana campus, (1929). The grand staircase can be seen,
Havana and portico of the rectorate, partially cut, at the bottom of the drawing. At the top of the
(1929). The buildings on the lower stairs, the rectorate building with its monumental portico;
terraces have not been completed yet. behind the portico, the central square with U-shaped library
to the left; and the proposed belvedere on an axis with the
Avenue of the University (both unrealized).
2 The City as Landscape: Forestier, Sert, and the Planning of Havana 107

Imagining the University Campus belvedere (ill. p. 109). Beyond it, he sketched the spectacular
Forestier worked on designs for the University of Havana during per­-spective that the wide parkway, Avenida de la Ermita, was to
his first and second visits, and the campus became a critical establish in the direction of both the Loma de los Catalanes and
articulation of his masterplan. Housed for 174 years in the Con- the fortress of Príncipe Hill, transformed into a public park. The
vento de Santo Domingo at the heart of Old Havana, the Univer- belvedere and the avenue were never constructed, thus leaving
sity was transferred under the American military administration the connection of the rear of the university with the Paseo de
to the distant Aróstegui Hill, at the edge of the Vedado. The Carlos III and the Avenida de los Presidentes, coming from the
secretary of public works adopted a general plan for a new Vedado, as an unresolved urban problem.
university campus at the same time that its first building, the Because of delays in the construction of the Capitol, Carlos
Aula Magna, was being built by the architect Francisco Ramírez Miguel de Céspedes decided to transfer the seat of the Sexta
Ovando. Completed in 1911, the strict neo-classical structure Conferencia Internacional Americana to the university and
housed the splendid central salon, which was illuminated with complete the campus’s monumental entrance. Based upon the
a series of half-moon medallions and decorated with seven 1926 design realized by Forestier and the French team, César
large frescoes painted by Armando García Menocal, represent- Guerra designed the great flight of stairs in record time. On its
ing medicine, the sciences, the fine arts, philosophy, the liberal summit, following Columbia University as a model, sat the stat-
arts, literature, and law. 31
ue of the Alma Mater (ill. p. 94), the work of Czech sculptor
In this plan, the university was conceived following the Mario Korbel, originally installed in 1919 in the middle of the
American model of the autonomous campus, as an artistic campus and relocated to the staircase following a suggestion
grouping of freestanding buildings linked to San Lázaro Street by Forestier. The sculpture, cast in bronze by the New York-
at the bottom of the hill by terraced gardens. In the mid-1910s, based Roma Bronce Works, owes its beauty to the syncretic
the architect Enrique Martínez revised the plan and established vision of its sculptor, who employed two models simultaneous-
its symmetrical composition. Following that scheme, he de- ly: the figure of Feliciana Villalón y Wilson, a youth of sixteen
signed symmetrical buildings for the departments of chemistry years from a well-known family of Spanish origin, and the body
and physics in 1916. Behind them he placed the rectorate, a of a mulata that brought a feeling of Roman gravitas to the
long structure featuring a central portico that he completed in composition. Inaugurated in December 1927, the great stair-
1921, in collaboration with Félix Cabarrocas. An all but cube of case, with its geometric pavement, its eighty-eight steps organ-
light marked by four tall Corinthian columns on each side, the ized in five sections, and its terraced gardens, is one of the
portico of the rectorate was conceived as the propylaea of an most beautiful in the history of urban architecture. It deserves
acropolis of wisdom and knowledge, dominating the interior of a place alongside Michelangelo’s Roman Capitol, the parlia-
the campus on one side and the city and the sea from the other. ment steps of Helsinki, or the staircase of Odessa, as celebrat-
This structure transcended the American academic classicism ed by Sergei Eisenstein. Perched above the bottom square, lo-
that inspired it and called forth memories of the great masters cated in the angle of L Street and San Lázaro, the classically
of European neo-classicism, such as Karl Friedrich Schinkel in styled terraces, shaped as bastions, established a coherent
Berlin or Hans Christian and Theophilus Hansen in their Atheni- relationship between Havana’s colonial-type grid to the east
an works. A comparison with the National Library, the Acade-
32
and the Vedado’s modern checkerboard structure.
my, or the central building of the University of Athens demon- In Forestier’s first project for the heart of the campus in
strates the quality of the architectural and urban work of 1926, a continuous group of buildings in the form of a “U” was
Enrique Martínez, whose vision Forestier would inherit and to embrace the rectorate and enclose a landscaped plaza par-
develop with his team as well as with such architects as Pedro tially open toward the east and Havana’s colonial center. The
Martínez Inclán. final plan, realized during his second visit of 1928, simplified the
In a schematic plan dated April 1926, Forestier undertook to part. Three freestanding buildings now enclosed the plaza. On
link the university with the sea and the Príncipe Hill through two the eastern side were the sport and recreational facilities and
important pieces of urban infrastructure. The first was the grand on the western one, a series of parallel academic buildings cre-
staircase—the one for which Emilio Heredia had proposed a ated a grid-like campus with a monumental entrance on the
landscape project in 1916—to unite the campus propylaea with Avenida de los Presidentes, one of the major axes of the Vedado
the bottom of the hill. To the rear of the campus facing the district. The essential elements of the plan were built in the thir-
countryside to the south, Forestier made detailed plans for a ties, following the reopening of the university under Engineer
108

Cadenas’s second rectorship. Among its most remarkable fea- urban expansion, and open space versus enclosed urban
tures, the central garden plaza, completed in 1939, fulfilled the space. The French engineer Jean-Pierre Le Dantec clearly stat-
plan’s promises. Facing it, on an axis with the rectorate portico, ed how Forestier approximated the American vision:
stands the library (1938–1939), a monumental work in a classi-
cal-modern style by Joaquín E. Weiss; to the eastern side, the [f]or Haussmann and his successors, the city was a political
U-shaped courtyard of the Sciences Building (1930), by Pedro center to be dominated militarily and administratively, this
Martínez Inclán, opens directly to the square, closed off by a demand being the first condition for its development (eco-
majestic Corinthian arcade in which the capitals are woven nomic, financial, hygienic, etc.). On the other hand, in the
with palm trees in an architectural vision of magic realism. The case of Forestier, who had meditated on the American ex-
Enrique José Varona Building by architect Luis Dauval (1937), ample, a great city was a historical phenomenon in which
which was the seat of pedagogy, philosophy, and letters, the the form and the quality express a culture in the making, as
School of Architecture and Engineering by Moenck and Quin- well as its degree of freedom from the original nature—he
tana (1927), as well as the School of Commercial Sciences and had an aptitude for reinventing the past into new forms.34
the School of Pharmacy (1940), both conceived by Martínez
Inclán, should also be singled out. The latter two structures Forestier’s heritage was thus, in spite of the political and social
stand above a tall podium. Each is finished with an Ionic colon- conditions of his works, fundamentally democratic. He envi-
nade, and placed symmetrically to each other at the foot of the sioned the Caribbean metropolis as a large garden, and far from
monumental staircase, on the location of the former gardens being a mere system of radial avenues, his plan represented “a
and terraces. proposal to take control of the landscape of the city.”35 The av-
enues and diagonals were always linked to larger elements,
Forestier’s Legacy either natural or man-made. In some way, we could, in talking
Even though his masterplan was only partially implemented, about Forestier’s Havana, paraphrase Ignasi de Sola-Morales’s
Forestier’s impact on the city was remarkable and shaped its analysis of Burnham & Bennet’s Chicago Plan of 1909:
urban form—and also what could be called its “imaginary sub-
stance”—for many decades to come. After more than sixty [t]he plan of the city as architecture is inseparable from the
years, Forestier’s contribution to Havana remains one of the plan of the city as urban park ... The great process of estab-
most important chapters of the urban history of Cuba: the re- lishing an urban dynamic (…) is just like the planning of a
construction of the Paseo del Prado; the expansion of the Ma- huge park in the manner of Versailles, in which certain are-
lecón along the colonial center and out toward the new subur- as are devoted to urban spaces, some monumental, some
ban neighborhoods of Vedado and Miramar; the overall for walking around, together with smaller gardens and
maste­rplan of the university; and the initiation of a system of parks. The principles expressed by the analogies suggested
parks and gardens. Highly praised until the 1950s, his plan was by the Beaux-Arts style are taken to their limits, in such a
later negatively presented as a retrograde, Haussmannian and way that the parks and gardens of the city are like a re-
destructive project designed for and directed by a bloody dic- duced section of a global concept for the unlimited metrop-
tator. The truth is that, in the manner of Mussolini, the public
33
olis, and produced according to the same principles.36
works realized under Machado and Céspedes acted like a vast
propaganda machine for the republic and contributed to mask- With the new Avenida del Puerto, the Parque de la Fraternidad,
ing the contradictions of the dictatorship behind the urban the new design of the Parque Central, and the rebuilt Paseo del
beautification. Yet, Forestier’s plan was not strictly an imported Prado, Forestier and his team designed one of the most beau-
French Beaux-Arts concept. First, it acknowledged the ideas of tiful urban sequences of the Americas. To compensate for the
his predecessors and, through drawings, gave them an urban disparate nature of the existing architecture they implemented
form and a comprehensible and mobilizing image. Second, it a large-scale unifying strategy that emphasized the aesthetic
was a truly modern plan, inspired by the American City Beauti- quality of street furniture—particularly the beauty and variety
ful and the Regional Park Movements, that demonstrated a of floor lamps and bronzes produced by Herman Beller—and
widespread awareness of the issues of modernity, comparable the richness of the landscape. As Théo Leveau would write, “to
to Le Corbusier’s. These were the issues of hygiene, traffic re- the rigid geometry imposed by the architectural environment,
organization, densification of the city centers, control of the Forestier added the chromatic and formal diversity of the trop-
2 The City as Landscape: Forestier, Sert, and the Planning of Havana 109

J.C.N. Forestier. Perspective of the

Avenue of the University taken from the
university belvedere in direction of the
Príncipe Castle (1928), unrealized.

ics—the linearity of the royal palm tree, the volume and the [t]he final objective—the beauty of the city—depends on
spaciousness of the ceiba tree, the voluptuousness of the fern the consideration given to Nature as the other architecture
or the philodendron.” The public spaces, parks and other em-
37
which must be present. The natural beauty of plants and
bellishments that he legated to Havana were well designed, trees, and a rational architecture devoid of exoticisms and
solidly built, symbolically powerful, and eventually accessible based on order, give a sense of proportion to plastic urban
to all citizens. They have survived the many political crises and, beauty.39
while deteriorating by lack of care, they have endured as testi-
monies of a time when autocratic regimes were still guided by The Civic Center in Contention
fundamental symbols of permanence, stability, optimism, and With the fall of the Machado regime in 1933 and the world in
illusion. Forestier’s vision could be summarized in the words of crisis, Forestier’s plan lost momentum and the only activity was
Karl Brunner, an Austrian architect and planner who, in Bogotá the completion of some works in progress in Old Havana, on
where he directed the department of urban planning, wrote in the Malecón, on the university campus, and the revival of the
his Manual de Urbanismo: 38
project for a metropolitan park, the Gran Bosque de La Habana.
110
2 The City as Landscape: Forestier, Sert, and the Planning of Havana 111

Jean Labatut, Raúl Otero, and Enrique

Varela. Axonometric drawing (partial) of
the Civic Center (Plaza Cívica) with the
star-shaped Monument to Martí (ca.
1942).

Jean Labatut, Raúl Otero, and Enrique

Varela. Model of the Civic Center or Plaza
Cívica (1938), with the Monument to Martí
(proposal Juan José Sicre and Aquiles Maza).
In this proposal, the monument appears as a
Greek temple with its cella open to the skies.

Juan José Sicre and Aquiles Maza.

Monument to Martí (1940).

In 1938 however, a major competition took place for the design Two other rounds of competition took place in 1938 and
of the monument to José Martí (ill. also p. 112, 113), at the heart 1941 to produce three finalists in February 1942.43 The first place
of the future Civic Center.40 As outlined in the brief, “[t]he Mon- was awarded to the proposal by Aquiles Maza and Juan José
ument projects shall be original and unpublished, and its lines Sicre, consisting of a large classical-modern temple with a large
shall constitute an expression of contemporaneous architecture open atrium and the sitting statue of Martí at its rear. The sec-
and sculpture, with a careful study as to the effects of light ... ond prize went to Govantes and Cabarrocas, who designed the
The Civic Square and the great buildings to be located thereon, monument as part of a functional high-rise library. The third and
shall complete the same.” The jury decided not to award a first
41
final prize was attributed to the previous winner, the La­batut,
prize, but gave a second prize to the project designed by Jean Otero and Varela team, now including the architects ​Manuel de
Labatut in collaboration with Enrique Varela, Raúl Otero, and the Tapia-Ruano and Víctor Morales, who presented a revised and
sculptors Oliverio Waterland and Herrera. The monument, tall
42
taller version of their 1938 entry.44
and in the shape of a star, was sited in front of a large paved The proposals for the monument were radically different,
plaza that, following the principle of Forestier’s two-level square, but the masterplan within which they were to be sited was
was connected by ramps and staircases to a lower large-scale essentially that proposed by Otero and Varela in 1938. Their
square. Behind the monument, coming from the south, the ar- design for the Civic Center was paradoxical. In place of the
chitects proposed two concentric rings of public buildings. compact proposal made by Forestier with a T-diagram, which
112

maintained the gridded geometry of most blocks and thus kept forward to motivate the final choice. Indeed, the Palace of Jus-
the layout flexible and urban for public and/or private buildings, tice, which was to be located, according to the masterplan, at
their proposal of 1938 saw both the dilation and the dilution of the southwestern entrance of the Civic Center facing the cen-
the urban space. The overall size of the Civic Center grew, and
45
tral park, had been relocated and was being constructed within
its footprint became almost as large as all of Old Havana. For- the park, quite close to the future location of the Martí monu-
estier’s public spaces, essentially rectangular, were precisely ment. As a result, a vertical structure was deemed necessary to
delimited and balanced both directions of planning toward the compensate for the height and mass of the Palace of Justice:
south and the east. To the contrary, Otero and Varela’s scheme “The Monument should be of vertical lines, visible at great dis-
expanded in both directions and the adoption of the semi-cir- tance and with a powerful symbolism in its Plastic expres-
cular geometry widened the spaces to the exaggerated extent sion.”47 The decision to build the palace as an isolated object
that they became barriers rather than connectors. Comparing was inconsistent with the masterplan, whose cohesion was al-
the evolution of the urban design concepts, Forestier’s version ready a topic of debate. During the Fórum sobre la Plaza de la
appeared dramatically more modern than the 1938 proposal, República y el Monumento a Martí (Forum related to the Plaza
which presented all the drawbacks of a modernized Beaux-Arts de la República and the Martí monument), held over multiple
plan, magnified by the inflated requirements of future automo- sessions in May-June 1953, a new model of the Plaza (the new
bile traffic. 46
appellation for the Civic Center) was presented. It made clear
It was only in 1953 under Fulgencio Batista’s dictatorship that the subtle organization of the ground proposed by Foresti-
that construction started on the civic plaza and the monument er and the Otero-­Varela design had been replaced by a struc-
to Martí. Batista’s lack of enthusiasm during his official presi- tureless and almost treeless landscape.48 Forestier’s vision had
dency (1940–1944) for the winning project had already ap- mutated into a large modernist “green space” surrounded by a
peared as a bad omen. Now dictator, he selected to build Laba- series of object-like buildings, each one vying for itself and rang-
tut’s design, a vertical pyramid-shaped monument, 90 meters ing from the classical monumentalism of the National Library, to
tall, in the form of a star on the Cuban flag. The decision was the modernist slab of the Ministry of Transportation, to the plas-
political, but urbanistic and architectural arguments were put tic expressionism of the National Theater. The empty country-
2 The City as Landscape: Forestier, Sert, and the Planning of Havana 113

Jean Labatut (with Raúl Otero

and Enrique Varela). Left: Perspective
sketch from the top of the Monument
to Martí. Right: Plan of the monu-
ment, Plaza Cívica, Havana.

Jean Labatut, Raúl Otero, and Enrique

Varela. Top: Model of the Civic Center or Plaza
Cívica (1938), with the Monument to Martí
(proposal Labatut, Otero, Varela). Bottom:
Model of the Civic Center or Plaza Cívica in the
new configuration after construction of the
Ministry of Justice, as presented at the Fórum
(1953).

Jean Labatut, Raúl Otero, and

Enrique Varela. Left: Sketch of the
Civic Center or Plaza Cívica (1938).
Right: Masterplan of the Civic
Center (1938–1942).
114

side of the Loma de los Catalanes had been urbanized but re- identity, the concept of planning—from region to metropolis to
mained to some extent an urban void. In a caption corresponding town—was effectively inscribed within the new constitution.
to the model, the journal Espacio articulated the global opinion The groundwork for those constitutional advancements had
of the participants about a modernist space that could not be been done during the 1930s, and the professional press such
apprehended nor inhabited: as Arquitectura reflected the evolution of the concepts of ur-
banism and planning advocated by José Maria Bens Arrarte and
A disjointed set of buildings. Negation of Architecture and many others. As signed, the constitution included a series of
Planning. Example of chaos and disharmony. Its scale is not articles that were directly related to the built environment. For
that of the Man but that of the Truck. Useless, uneconomi- example, article 79 assured that the state would develop low-
cal and outdated. A monument to our disorder and lack of cost housing for workers; article 83 gave it authority to regulate
foresight … The pedestrian has no freedom of recreation in the placement of industrial areas; and article 134 gave the leg-
a space fragmented and surrounded by roads of extraordi- islature responsibility for dictating economic programs for na-
nary traffic, where the composition is subjected to the rigid- tional development. More importantly, article 215 required each
ity of a principal axis and man’s psychological need for municipality to establish a planning commission: 51
change and variety is disregarded. 49

In each municipality, there shall be a planning commission,

Planning and the New Constitution which shall have the obligation of devising means of ex-
With the Fall of Gerardo Machado in 1933 and the following tending and embellishing the city, and supervising its exe-
Revolt of the Sergeants, Fulgencio Batista appointed himself cution, taking account of the present and future necessities
chief of the armed forces and effectively controlled the affairs for public transportation, hygiene, beautification, and the
of the state until his official election as president in 1940. In common welfare. The said commission shall be concerned
1936, the Cuban government initiated, with Batista’s sanction, with everything related to the dwellings of workers and
the procedure of legal reform that aimed to replace the consti- shall propose plans for the manufacture of houses for rural
tution of 1901. The political process of establishing the Consti- workers, which may be acquired over a long period through
tutional Assembly was confused and complex, but after six moderate rentals for reimbursing the municipality for the
months of debates, the new constitution was adopted at the capital invested.52
Capitol in Havana and eventually signed on July 1, 1940 in the
small town of Guáimaro, Camagüey. To reflect the collectivist In 1942, this constitutional requirement stimulated the creation
ideas that inspired the revolution of 1933, the constitution en- of the association Patronato Pro-Urbanismo by five important
gineered important and radical ideas, including the right to la- individuals involved in architecture and urbanism: Pedro
bor strikes, land reform, public education, and other social pro- Martínez Inclán, author of La Habana Actual; Eduardo Montou-
grams such as guaranteed health care. Philip Bonsal, a former lieu, son of Enrique Montoulieu and a graduate of the Harvard
US ambassador to Cuba, assessed the outcome as follows: University Graduate School of Design; preservationist Ana Ar-
royo de Hernández; Alfredo Quiles, publisher of the historical
The final product was generally considered enlightened and and cultural periodical Carteles; and Luis de Soto, critic and art
progressive. It reflected a serious consideration of Cuba’s historian at the University of Havana. The group’s manifesto
experience and of Cuba’s problems. It embodied the hopes described planning as ”the greatest social advance of our cen-
and aspirations of many. Some of its clauses may have been, tury” and, on the basis of a dozen articles of the new constitu-
as alleged particularly by conservatives, unworkable. It con- tion, advocated the establishment of a national planning au-
tained a number of provisions requiring implementing legis- thority that would reinvent the relation between planning and
lation from the Congress. That legislation, in matters affect- politics.53 Throughout the 1940s and early 1950s, Montoulieu,
ing the propertied classes and their American allies, was Martínez Inclán, and other intellectuals like Jorge Mañach were
either not forthcoming or was delayed to the very end of the relentless in promoting the institution of national planning. The
twelve years during which the constitution was in force. 50
issue however, did not advance even though it acquired a
growing urgency over the years.
After years of discussion about how modernity was to impact In spite of these political and ideological setbacks, the
the island, its urbanism and architecture, and eventually its 1950s witnessed a major surge in the island’s economy, which
2 The City as Landscape: Forestier, Sert, and the Planning of Havana 115

helped finance a new phase of public infrastructure. Among the In the following months, Sert and his partners in the firm Town
major public works that eventually sustained the initiatives of Planning Associates (TPA) collaborated intensively with archi-
the private sector, one can mention the prolongation of the Ma- tect Nicolás Arroyo, a founding member of ATEC, whose stature
lecón west to the Almendares River (1952–1958), the tunnel in political circles had been rising steadily and who had been
under the Almendares River (1952–1958) connecting to the ex- appointed director of the new regional planning board created
panding suburbs, and the construction of the Ciudad Deportiva to implement one of Batista’s priorities, i.e., the development of
(1957, but the City of Sports was left incomplete). The most Varadero as a primary tourist resort. Together they drafted a
important infrastructure was the tunnel under the entrance proposal for a pilot plan and a masterplan for the metropolitan
channel to the bay, which was completed in 1958 and opened area of Havana and initiated collaboration on the Varadero pro-
the way to the planning and building of La Habana del Este. ject. Architects and urbanists continued to lobby strongly in
A parallel building boom also occurred, and all but followed favor of “the social function of today’s architect,” which could
the pattern of unplanned and speculative development. Yet, only be achieved through “integral planning” and the creation
and in spite of the lack of advanced planning, the grid of the of adequate instruments and institutions.57 On January 27,
city demonstrated its flexibility to adapt and expand, welcom- 1955, the Junta Nacional de Planificación (National Planning
ing a population which increased significantly between 1943 Board or JNP) was officially established. 58 In parallel, Arroyo
and 1953. As Nicolás Quintana wrote, “housing this new popu- was named Minister of Public Works and President of the JNP.
lation and provide housing with complementary public services In that role, he appointed Cuba’s most influential architects to
and facilities was quite an extraordinary task.” Within the ur-
54
key planning positions: Eduardo Montoulieu as Head of the
ban core, the first high-rise condominium buildings appeared in Plan Regulador Nacional, Mario Romañach as Head of the Plan
the cityscape as a result of the Ley de Propiedad Horizontal Regulador de La Habana, Nicolás Quintana as Head of the Pla-
(Law of Horizontal Property) of September 16, 1952, which for nos Reguladores de Varadero y Trinidad, and Jorge Mantilla as
the first time allowed the sales of single apartments in condo- Head of the Plan Regulador de la Isla de Pinos.59
minium-type buildings. More critical was the expansion of the The establishment of the Junta received praise and inter-
high-middle-class subdivisions of Country Club Park, Havana national attention, yet strong criticism was expressed, particu-
Biltmore, and others, which deployed the most unbalanced fea- larly amidst architecture students and their printed voice, the
tures of suburban development and de-urbanization of the city, periodical Espacio. In particular, they denounced the lack of
such as reliance on automobile traffic, absence of public spac- autonomy and independence of the Junta, given that its presi-
es and structures, the coding of low densities, and the segre- dent was also minister of public works, with the risk of seeing
gation of urban uses.55 it function as a parallel political branch of the government. Even
In 1953, the debates about the need for planning intensi- more critical, they pointed out that the Comisión Nacional de
fied under the conjunction of economic and professional inter- Viviendas (National Commission for Housing) and the Organ-
ests. During the Fórum held in Havana in May–June 1953 in re- ización Nacional de Parques (National Organization of National
lation to the Plaza de la República discussed earlier, Eugenio Parks) were left independent from the junta, signaling a dan-
Batista exploited the acknowledged deficiencies of the master- gerous dispersion of prerogatives and responsibilities. As Rob-
plan around the Martí monument to increase the pressure on erto Segre argued, the students’ critical stance suggested “the
the government. Astutely, he managed to receive the support existence of large negotiated, demagogic proposals, foreign
of José Luis Sert, who outlined his position in a long telegram. economic interests, alien to the reality and needs of the coun-
He wrote that “a civic center of this type ought to be part of try.”60 These apprehensions would eventually prove correct in
[the] Plan Regulador or, at the minimum, of a preliminary Plan the development of the Plan Piloto de La Habana (ill. p. 116, 117,
Piloto.” He argued that: 121, 122, 124).

The axial composition created great disadvantages in the The Plan Piloto de La Habana, 1955–1958
modern city and that it notably complicated the problems In 1953, Nicolás Arroyo commissioned Town Planning Associ-
of traffic … Such a civic center, which should be the heart ates (TPA) and its founders José Luis Sert, Paul Lester Wiener
of the city, should be planned in accordance with the most and Paul Schulz to be the primary consultants for the new mas-
advanced technical knowledge, thereby avoiding the repe- terplan of Havana, which was eventually developed from 1955
tition of errors … inexcusable today. 56
to 1957. The Plan Piloto de La Habana, only published in a lim-
116

ited edition of 300 copies in New York in 1959, was one of the
most inclusive publications in the history of twentieth-century
planning and urban design. It was made up of fifty-­four unnum- José Luis Sert, et al. (Town Planning
Associates, Nicolas Arroyo, Mario Ro-
bered pages 62 by 49 centimeters in size, with a combination
mañach). Plan Piloto de La Habana (1959),
of black and white and color illustrations.61 To reflect the com-
plan for the central sections of Havana. Next
prehensive vision of planning inscribed in the constitution and to the frame (bottom center), the last
the statutes of the Junta Nacional de Planificación, the pages proposal for the neighborhood at Quinta
and plates of the Plan Piloto developed sequentially from the Palatino.

analysis of the country as a whole to the metropolis to the

neighborhood. Whereas Martínez Inclán and Forestier’s plans
had concentrated on the central sections of Havana and its
effective municipal limits, Sert and Wiener immediately put up
the question of the expanding limits of the plan in preparation.
There were two main reasons for this. First, metropolitan Ha-
2 The City as Landscape: Forestier, Sert, and the Planning of Havana 117

vana was made up of independent municipalities whose devel- or patio-house; the scale of the neighborhood with small
opment needed to be controlled with new legal instruments squares, and public structures organized around a patio (library,
once their limits had been established. Second, the suburban school, etc.); and the urban scale with the major civic centers
expansion of the city was accelerating and there was no real structured around a large square. The layout was a deliberate
coordination in terms of traffic and public infrastructure. Ac- alternative to the American-based suburban patterns that had
cordingly, TPA set out to divide the metropolis into sectors or been taking root in Cuba and that Sert and Wiener had criticized
repartos which covered both the urbanized areas of the me- in the American press.67 For the Spanish architect, each neigh-
tropolis, but also their potential expansion in response to the borhood was conceived as a set of superblocks and would be
demographic objectives. As Timothy Hyde argued in Constitu-
62
structured around a civic center or neighborhood core:
tional Modernism, in doing so, Sert developed a counter-strat-
egy to Forestier, working from the edges toward the center in [i]n these new nuclei, public buildings of different types will
contrast to the French designer’s approach, which expanded be grouped in harmony of form and space; they will be the
the city along proposed new axes and parks from the center to meeting places of the people, community centers where
the periphery. Moreover, “where Forestier had emphasized the the pedestrians will be given preference over traffic and
network of streets, the architects of the JNP emphasized an business interests. Their measure will be dictated by the
urban fabric as a continuous ground of the city.” That contin-
63
activities that have to develop in them, but walking distanc-
uous ground, structured by a large-scale grid of sectors devel- es, man’s angle of vision, and his well-being will be the out-
oped from the new limits of the periphery toward the center. It standing factor in the determination of their final shape.
consisted fundamentally of the agglomeration of pedestrian-fo- They will be the opposite of what ‘Main Street’ is today,
cused neighborhood units, complete with social services, where business interests have taken the upper hand.68
schools, a civic plaza, and low-scale housing fabric.64 Most in-
teresting was the definition of population targets for each sec- The proposal did not move forward, but it served as a basis for
tor of the city, with a coding that included the area of the dis- another commission, a neighborhood unit on the site of a for-
trict in hectares, the existing population, and the proposed mer agricultural estate, the Quinta Palatino (ill. p. 119), which
target. This methodical approach rendered more visible the was located to the south of the city and immediately adjacent
objectives of density for every existing or future section of the to the Ciudad Deportiva (City of Sports). Logically, Town Plan-
city. The perspective was that of a Greater Havana reaching ning Associates, in collaboration with Nicolás Arroyo and Gabri-
three million residents by 1980. 65
ela Menéndez, used previous projects as examples of new
To support the grid, the Plan Piloto proposed a system of development and inserted a series of variations within the Plan
streets of different capacity and section, reflecting Le Corbusi- Piloto itself. The 1952 project occupied a somewhat rectangular
er’s and TPA’s joint studies for the Plan of Bogotá (1947–1951) figure of 350 by 250 meters, and was based on the concept of
and their proposal to create a classification system for streets “carpet housing” or “mat,” here consisting of an assemblage of
from the regional to the local scale. The wider streets would patio-houses forming a continuous fabric of uneven sized
have entailed the need of expropriation and thus serious dem- blocks.69 On the other hand, the proposal of 1954 for the same
olitions along their edges—for instance Calle 23 in the Vedado, Quinta Palatino showed a completely revised strategy that
Calle Lázaro along the seafront, and the Paseo de Carlos III and eliminated the mat structure in favor of a more traditional grid
its continuation across the historic center all the way to the Bay of blocks. There were programmatic and economic reasons for
of Havana. However, Sert and his partners recognized that the such a change, but there was also, in José Luis Sert’s mind, the
existing network of streets had to be integrated as much as theoretical elaboration of a new form of order based upon the
possible within the overall functionalist plan, and their eventual cuadra, i.e., the traditional Latin American block as it has been
vision retreated from the purely mechanistic proposals of the developing since the conquest along the tenets of the Laws of
consulting engineers. 66
the Indies.70
In 1952, Town Planning Associates had developed a pro- The masterplan, about 800 by 600 meters, incorporated the
posal for a neighborhood of low-cost housing (ill. p. 118), on the historic quinta (country house) and consisted of four residential
solicitation of a group of American investors, to be submitted to quadrants, structured on the sides of two narrow and green
the Cuban National Housing Program. The project relied on the orthogonal axes containing apartment buildings. At the inter-
concept of the patio at multiple scales: the scale of the house section of these two high-density strips, the architects placed
118

José Luis Sert and Paul Lester Wiener

(TPA). Left: site plan for a neighborhood,
Cuban National Housing Program (1952),
published in Plan Piloto de La Habana.
Bottom: Page from the essay “Can Patios
Make Cities?”.

José Luis Sert, et al. (TPA, with Arroyo

and Menéndez). Site plan for the Quinta
Palatino (1954), published in Plan Piloto de
La Habana.
2 The City as Landscape: Forestier, Sert, and the Planning of Havana 119

the large civic center and plaza. Each quadrant was made up of the arch in a systematic way, bringing back memories of the
a grid of mid-density blocks, containing patio-houses placed galerías (covered arcades) of the colonial Cuban house.
back-to-back along their four edges, and with a significant pub- Although the project was not implemented, the critical im-
lic patio in their center. Most of the cuadras were square, again portance of the proposal was that, for the first time, the con-
in connection with the Laws of the Indies, but interestingly their cept of the four-sided block defining traditional streets had re-
very dimensions approximated those of the Barcelona block in surfaced within the practice of CIAM architects. To be sure, they
Cerdá’s Ensanche, measuring about 120 by 120 meters in size. inserted the project within the full publication of the Plan Piloto,
This permitted Sert and his associates to develop a series of but by then a more pragmatic solution had been developed. As
detailed variations on the typological structure of the cuadras seen on the general and detailed plans, the expectations for
and their inner pedestrian connections. By the end of 1954, the urban design of the Quinta Palatino were depreciated and
they designed detailed plans and models for rows of attached eventually reduced to a slightly improved suburban neighbor-
single-family residences, which showed, in addition to a court- hood with a large park section containing a condensed and
yard at their back, an entrance patio screened from the street disengaged civic center.71
by 2.3-meter-high perforated walls and persianas. Likewise, the
apartment buildings were organized in an innovative linear Humanizing or Mutilating Havana?
structure, as a highly plastic composition of blocks alternating In an article of 1953, Sert had mused about the modern city and
on both sides of an open-air circulation spine. Some of the advocated that “cities be conceived organically, as the biologi-
houses displayed a vaulted roof that Sert had used in other cal organisms that they are; where not only the strictly func-
Latin American projects. However, it is in the façades of the tional needs are solved, but the lyrical and poetic part is ful-
apartment buildings that the architects deployed the vault and filled, so that man does not have to flee from the current cities
120

in search of the natural factors that the disordered use of the monuments such as the cathedral should not be protected in
technique and the current civilization have eliminated.” 72
isolation but within their surrounding context of streets and
Accordingly, the Plan Piloto was thus an instrument to control blocks, a concept that Martínez Inclán supported in the Carta
the growth of the city and limit the ongoing destruction of na- de la Habana (Charter of Havana) of 1950. The cathedral and its
ture both within and outside the block structure of the Latin plaza, whose restoration was already under way in the early
American city. In TPA’s ideal vision for Havana, each of the 1930s, became the first historical ensemble to be inscribed in
repartos, or city districts, had its own center, and the system as the national register of national monuments.77
a whole resulted “in a network or constellation of community In the 1950s, the need for parking started to inflict serious
centers, classified from small to large, one main center being damage to the colonial center, as some properties were demol-
the expression of the city or metropolis as a whole, the heart of ished, and a half-buried parking structure destroyed the integ-
the city.” As discussed in the introduction, Sert had initiated
73
rity of one of the historic squares, the Plaza Vieja. Other dan-
internationally the concept of Corazón de la Ciudad (Heart of gerous proposals such as building a parking garage under
the City), and it was thus logical that he would attempt to de- Parque Central and widening the Paseo del Prado by eliminat-
velop it within the new and expected metropolitan condition of ing the promenade signaled that the center was under pres-
the Cuban capital. sure from traffic engineers and tertiary uses, like offices and
At the neighborhood scale, the pilot plan included a series banks. As Diego Toussaint argued in 1955:
of variations on the civic plaza, anchored by school, market,
and other cultural and administrative structures. The plazas In the dawn of 1955, the conditions of life in Havana were
were usually geometric, pedestrian, and connected to the worse; its narrow streets made it increasingly impossible
housing blocks by green spaces and linear parks. At the city for the new motorized vehicles that industry and com-
scale, Havana’s “heart of the city” was bicephalic: the colonial merce had brought to civilization to transit; the absence of
center or Habana Vieja and, at the entrance of the Vedado, La adequate zones for the parking of the same ones was diffi-
Rampa—“el Paseo del Prado de la modernidad”—in the Span- cult to handle; the heat and the increase in the height of
ish tradition of the paseo as a linear square. 74 In spite of twenty new buildings took away much of the breezes that once
years of planning efforts, the new Civic Center (ill. p. 125) at the refreshed the city. The lack of parks and places of recrea-
Loma de los Catalanes was still in construction and, beyond its tion was alarming ... All the economic life of the country,
administrative and cultural functions, the site was essentially the state offices, the shopping centers and industries were
an empty area of undeveloped landscape, quite unable, in light crowded together, asphyxiating in its always tense atmos-
of the dispersed location of the buildings and the absence of phere all those who went about their activities over there.78
shading vegetation, of serving as a real place of encounter.
Sert’s humanizing discourse reflected the European trends In January 1955, Batista signed the Law-Decree on the Rehabil-
that started to divide the CIAM and would lead to its dissolution itación de la Habana Antigua (Rehabilitation of Old Havana),
and the creation of Team X.75 However, confronted with the po- which, in spite of its name, implied that the historic center
litical and economic reality of the island, he along with his asso- could be fundamentally transformed, and in part destroyed, to
ciates—which included the Havana architects Nicolás Arroyo accommodate street widenings, parking, and speculative real
and Mario Romañach—compromised the humanistic goals that estate operations. That being said, the realistic prospect of un-
he had introduced in Latin America. From 1938, and the ap- lawful activities and speculative schemes must have been ob-
pointment of Emilio Roig de Leuchsenring as the first Histori- vious to the architects and planners of the JNP. Yet, no explicit
ador de la Ciudad de La Habana (historian of the City of Ha- concerns were raised “even as quite radical proposals for deal-
vana), the question of the historic center and its value in terms ing with Old Havana developed during the summer of 1955.”79
of national heritage and culture had become a major subject of As it took shape during the years 1955–1956, the Plan Pilo-
debate, eventually inscribed in the constitution of 1940. Indeed, to proposed the widespread demolition of Old Havana, with the
the text conferred to the state “the conservation of the Nation’s exception of the colonial-era ensembles of the Plaza de la Cat-
cultural treasure, its artistic and historical wealth, as well as the edral, Plaza de Armas, Avenida del Puerto, Plaza de San Fran-
protection especially of the national monuments and places cisco, Alameda de Paula, and a series of churches and large
remarkable for their natural beauty or for their recognized artis- monastic structures such as the Convento de Santa Clara. The
tic or historical value.” Leuchsenring advocated that important
76
first sketches (1955–1956) in the archives of Paul Lester Wiener
2 The City as Landscape: Forestier, Sert, and the Planning of Havana 121

José Luis Sert, et al. Plan Piloto de La

Habana (1959), reconstruction plan for
Habana Vieja (Old Havana). In blue: the showed not only the complete destruction of the center and
historic plazas and monuments to be the eastern side of the Paseo del Prado, but their replacement
preserved; in green: the new blocks with
with a series of superblocks made up of detached high-rise
patios; in black at the center: the proposed
financial sector.
buildings separated by widened streets and green spaces. At
the same time, a major survey was realized to better under-
stand the urban typologies of the older districts, albeit with the
foregone conclusion that dilapidated social and architectural
conditions prevailed in most of the center. The results gave
support to the concept of complete urban renewal. However,
from 1957, Sert took a more active role in the project. His in-
volvement resulted in a more nuanced and in some ways more
radical proposal within the framework of CIAM’s doctrine. For
the first time in the design history of the group, Sert proposed
122

José Luis Sert, et al. Plan Piloto de La

Habana (1959), plan of connection
between civic cores. The plan details the
system of parks and avenues proposed to
link the various civic areas of the city.
From left to right: The Civic Center free of
traffic and reorganized as a series of
interconnected plazas leading to the
Príncipe Castle and the university campus;
the green connection from the campus to
the Malecón; the entertainment island; the
parks created by Forestier along the
entrance to the bay; the tunnel; and the
proposed Presidential Palace between the
forts on the east side of the bay.

José Luis Sert, et al. Proposed block for

the reconstruction of Old Havana.
2 The City as Landscape: Forestier, Sert, and the Planning of Havana 123

that the colonial center be reconstructed as a mixed-use resi- maintaining most of the existing fabric along the streets, while
dential, commercial, and administrative center, following the encouraging a radical redesigning of the interior of the blocks.
existing pattern of streets and blocks of the colonial grid, but To be sure, this new morphology, which was to be applied
with the option that every second street was to be widened to to the center and potentially to other sections of Central Ha-
accommodate traffic and access to parking. The additional vana on the western side of the Paseo del Prado, was intended,
width would be compensated by arcades in order to maintain albeit in a very equivocal way, to reposition Old Havana as the
a narrow and compatible street section. Here again, Sert real civic center of the city. As Sert declared in 1953, “the heart
demonstrated his unorthodox approach to the city, in particular of the city is neither the geometric center nor the crossing of
his reference to the arcade tradition of Havana celebrated by roads.”81 In this text he criticized as well the lack of regard for
Alejo Carpentier in La ciudad de las columnas.80 the pedestrian in the modern sections of the city, for instance
In their proposals for the new districts, Sert and Town Plan- at the Plaza del Maine, “a desert of asphalt, where only a pe-
ning Associates designed a new type of grid made up of super-­ destrian passes every three hours fleeing from the implacable
blocks; in the colonial center, they acknowledged the historic sun,”82 Sert reimagined the old colonial center as a pedestrian-­
grid as a preexisting ordering system that could be maintained oriented district that, to some extent, would be made to com-
and/or updated. With the example of Bogotá in the background, pete with the developing commercial districts of El Vedado and
the pilot plan advocated the use of the “modern patio”—the La Rampa. However, these civic intentions had to contend with
creation of a large public courtyard at the center of the recon- the speculative climate of the capital and the public and private
structed blocks, to provide both parking and vegetation. In interests to both develop its touristic capacity (including resi-
some locations, those patios faced each other across the street, dential and commercial uses) while stabilizing and expending
creating a kind of modern functional plaza. At the same time, its tertiary role. To do so, the plan proposed to create a linear
the plan suggested to conserve the existing parcels and the in- financial center between Calle Muralla and Calle Tejadillo
clusion of smaller patio spaces within the reconstructed build- (streets) in the east-west orientation, and Calle Cuba and Calle
ings. In retrospect, the complexity of such a system appears Habana in the north-south one. Here the plan envisioned the
quite unrealistic, but it could be interpreted as a strategy of radical destruction of the existing blocks, to be replaced by a
124

series of mid-rise and courtyard blocks interconnected to­ one of the most important and socially diverse public spaces of
gether by pedestrian patios. Likewise, and in similar fashion to the city. The basis for this project had been established in Janu-
Forestier’s proposal, the plan extended the Paseo del Prado ary 1955, when President Batista had signed the Law-Decree of
toward the interior of the bay, but the train station was elimi- 1942 (revised in 1957 by Law-Decree 3436 that mandated the
nated and replaced by a set of five parallel building slabs. approval of the JNP and the Municipality of Havana), authorizing
This destructive strategy was further proposed along the the company Centro Metropolitano de La Habana, S.A. to ex-
Malecón from the La Punta fortress, in the direction of the Plaza pand and infill the Malecón edge into the sea from the Castillo
del Maine. On the seafront, Sert fell prey to US tourist interests, de la Punta west to the Plaza del Maine. This underwater con-
heavily influenced by the Mafia, as he proposed to demolish all cession allowed the developer and contractor to build the
the arcaded buildings facing the sea between Calle San Lázaro much-needed tourist-oriented hotels and other facilities in
and the Malecón, and thus block off most of the latter from proximity to the historic center and its existing nightlife, while
public use by building large hotels directly facing the water. Even facilitating traffic with a new waterfront avenue. In an article
though the plan indicated the presence of small green spaces dated March 1958, José María Bens Arrarte expressed his
along the sea, the proposal was equivalent to fully privatizing doubts about the feasibility, particularly financial, of the infill op-
2 The City as Landscape: Forestier, Sert, and the Planning of Havana 125

eration. Yet, he ambiguously acknowledged that improvements

to both the existing and new Malecón could potentially “give
more interest to the façade of this part of Havana,” but that strict
regulations would be necessary to generate “an architectural
José Luis Sert, et al. Plan Piloto de La
Habana (1959), proposal for the metropol- composition projected with unity and with magistral hand.” 83
itan system of parks. The Plan Piloto acknowledged this legal situation and gave it an
urban form beyond the aspirations of its promoters, not the
Plaza Cívica under construction least being the American mafia leader Meyer Lansky, who was
(ca. 1958). The Palace of Justice in
appointed in 1952 to oversee the gambling concessions.84
construction is clearly visible, blocking
In a manner similar to Le Corbusier’s proposal for an ad-
the axis to the Monument to Martí.
From left to right of the monument, the ministrative island in the Río de la Plata, facing the heart of
Office of the Comptroller; the Ministry of Buenos Aires, TPA made schematic plans (there are no
Communication; the National Library. three-dimensional versions in the archives) for an artificial is-
land to accommodate hotels, marinas, theaters and casinos.
Connected by three green bridges, the highly-controversial is-
land was to float about 150 meters from the expanded water
edge and blocked the view to the sea for more than 700
meters.
126

Sert, Forestier, and the System of Parks rated the metropolitan system of parks, but expanded it deep
In 1906, Jean Claude Nicolas Forestier, successor of Adolphe into the new periphery and its proposed repartos. A network of
Alphand at the Department of Parks and Gardens of Paris, pub- new linear parks articulated and literally “striated” the metro-
lished Grandes villes et systèmes de parcs (Large cities and politan area. The architects sketched them like green fingers
systems of parks). In this small and polemical book he put forth, that harmonized with the topography and the hydrographic
for the first time in France, Frederick Law Olmsted’s main con- system of the metropolitan territory. They were continuous,
cept for the development of the large city organized along a linking together the neighborhoods and their civic centers, and
system of parks and parkways as a necessary instrument for theoretically allowed any citizen, from the richest and the poor-
the organization and control of urban growth. Jean-Louis Co-
85
est sections of the city, to reach the Caribbean Sea, the bay, and
hen recalls that Le Corbusier much admired the French land- the public heart—the colonial center, the university, the Plaza
scape architect and that his plans for Buenos Aires (1929–1949) de la República, the Vedado—without leaving the natural envi-
fully assimilated the parkway and system of parks designed by ronment. The Emerald Necklace of Boston, which Sert knew
Forestier along the Río de la Plata. In a similar approach, TPA’s
86
intimately like Forestier before him, was certainly an inspiration
Plan Piloto not only integrated most aspects of Forestier’s vision for the concept, but the precedents also included the Bogotá
of Havana as a “city as landscape,” but expanded them to the Pilot Plan (TPA, Le Corbusier, Ritter, 1949–1953), and Chandi-
metropolitan scale beyond the municipal limits. First of all, the garh (Le Corbusier, 1951–1965), where a continuous system of
pilot plan acknowledged the value of the Ring, the Avenida del linear parks separated the districts while responding to the ge-
Puerto, the park at the Castillo de Atarés, the Malecón (in spite ography and the hydrology of the site. Contrary to Forestier’s
of the ambiguity of the proposals), the axis of Avenida Carlos III, plan, the concept was only developed in planimetric format.
the transformation of the Castillo del Príncipe into a public park, Sert and his collaborators did not propose any three-dimen-
and the linear park along the Almendares River, even though sional vision or sketches, leaving in doubt its very practicality
Sert seemed to have abandoned the large-scale Bosque de La and design reality.
Habana. In an implicit acknowledgement of Forestier’s influ- In spite of its inherent importance within the evolution of
ence, the Plan de enlaces de núcleos cívicos (Plan to Link the CIAM and the upcoming Team X, the Plan Piloto was a merciless
Civic Centers, ill. p. 122) was an alternative and ambitious pro- and developmentalist proposal that would have mutilated the
posal to create a landscaped pedestrian connection from the built heritage of Havana, reflecting the ideological transforma-
Plaza de la República to the university, the Malecón, and the tion of the modern movement, from its progressive beginnings
colonial center. Using an innovative comparative system, the in the 1920s to its international corporate style at the service of
plan paralleled these areas of Havana with similar in scale sec- capitalist interests when supported by a dictatorship. The busi-
tions of Washington, Paris, and Bogotá. In doing so, Sert empha- ness community and the bourgeoisie were bound to recuperate
sized the potential of walkability and rich urban experience that the historic center and expel the poor social classes. Functional
this extended vision of the Corazón de la ciudad entailed. His zoning would be made clear and better defined, and the tourist
earlier criticism and opposition to the official plan of the Civic industry could monopolize the most beautiful views and land-
Center at the Loma de los Catalanes convinced him to dramat- scapes. Socially, even though the plan proposed solutions for
ically reimagine the area. Taking note that the axis imagined by low and middle-class super-blocks, there was no clearly ex-
Forestier to link the monument to the University was no longer pressed policy to resolve the ongoing housing crisis. In brief,
possible, he canceled any symmetrical approach to urban and in the words of historian Gabino Ponce Herrero, the Plan
space and proposed to dramatically reduce the size of the Plaza Piloto “proposed the conversion of an old, capacious and com-
Cívica. Hence, he metamorphosed the empty space around the plex capitalist city into an efficient capitalist machine.”88 Having
Monument to Martí and transformed it into a pedestrian-only advocated the creation of the JNP for more than a decade, the
grouping of large and small plazas, articulated on different lev- Cuban architectural community and the periodicals remained
els and animated by the addition of various public buildings. silent in front of the onslaught of TPA’s destructive proposals—
However, the absence of any tri-dimensional studies reduced Mario Romañach and Nicolás Arroyo co-signed the project with
the value and potential of an urban design proposal that reflect- TPA. Espacio stopped publication in 1955 and Arquitectura con-
ed Sert’s serious interest in spaces of community life.87 tinued its important work, concentrating on the modern trans-
To be sure, TPA’s landscape plans both embraced the es- formations of the city, without any comments about the various
sence of Forestier’s vision, but went far beyond. They incorpo- plans in progress in Havana, Varadero, and Trinidad.89
2 The City as Landscape: Forestier, Sert, and the Planning of Havana 127

Going East: La Habana del Este road planned to the south of the Bay of Havana. Similar to a
From its very origins, Havana developed westward as the pres- project by Mario Pani in Mexico City, a published aerial view
ence of the bay and its colonial fortresses were formidable ob- showed it surrounded by a series of vertical slabs for residential
stacles to eastward expansion. A project for a bridge was and office purposes.92
aborted in 1912, and a first version of an underwater tunnel In contrast with the Plan Piloto’s approach based upon the
was studied in 1949, but proved damaging to the integrity of cuadra, the residential areas were here divided into five large
the Paseo del Prado. In 1954, a new project was initiated that
90
cells or supermanzanas (superblocks), structured on the inter-
included two parallel tunnels under the bay, starting with a spi- national modernist scheme of the neighborhood unit. Each
raling roundabout near La Punta fortress. Developed privately neighborhood center contained the public infrastructure for
by the Compañía de Fomento del Túnel de La Habana, S.A. and the surrounding residential area, including schools, clinics,
constructed by the Société des Grands Travaux de Marseilles, sport facilities, firehouses, etc., all theoretically connected by a
the tunnel was promptly approved and eventually opened in pedestrian network of streets and pathways. Between those
May 1958. At the same time, the Batista regime embarked upon low-density residential sections and the Via Monumental, the
a large-scale real estate operation known as La Habana del plan included an extended mixed-use area organized in two
Este (East Havana) that was to open the undeveloped eastern sections, on both sides of a large avenue. Albini’s series of
sections of the city to residential, commercial, and industrial aerial and street perspectives, accompanied a large tri-dimen-
development, with the objective to create an ensemble of dis- sional model, focused on the volumetric assemblage of streets,
tricts capable of housing 200,000 inhabitants. towers, shopping centers, pedestrian plazas, and landscape
Indeed, the growth of metropolitan Havana toward the that were to constitute the active sections of the masterplan:
west had accelerated in an overall chaotic and uncontrolled
manner: by the end of 1958, more than a dozen suburban dis- The area to be urbanized was to extend mainly towards the
tricts had reached 25,000 residents, and Marianao now count- north, between the sea and the large avenue flanked by
ed more than 200,000 residents. Commissioned before the strips of gardens. Different areas were foreseen: on the
hiring of TPA and thus separate from the global scope of the sides of the aforementioned road, tower dwellings spaced
Plan Piloto, the Plan Regulador de La Habana del Este (Regulat- out by green spaces; along the sea, groupings of villas; be-
ing Plan for East Havana, ill. p. 128) was a comprehensive urban tween the two zones, a dense and compact pedestrian
design proposal that covered the entire area east of the bay. shopping area.93
Approved in January 1955, it was developed at the initiative of
developer Pedro Grau and landowner Dionisio Velasco. They An Anti-Urban Revolution
contracted the Chicago architecture firm of Skidmore, Owings On January 1, 1959, Fulgencio Batista fled Havana and a new era
and Merrill, which collaborated with the Cuban architects in Cuban architecture and urbanism began. All planning pro-
Miguel Gastón and Ricardo Porro, the Italian architect Franco jects for Havana, East Havana, Varadero, Trinidad, and the Isle of
Albini, and his partners Franca Helg and Enea Manfredini.91 Pines were abandoned. By the end of the decade, Nicolás Ar-
The backbone of the project was the Via Monumental, a royo, Gabriela Menéndez, Mario Romañach, Nicolás Quintana,
modern automobile-only highway, about 150 meters wide and Felipe Préstamo, and many more had left the island. Town Plan-
7 kilometers long, that connected a series of functionally differ- ning Associates published the Plan Piloto during the year 1959,
entiated zones. It started at the exit of the tunnel under the bay, but their work had already ended, and they did not return to
crossed a proposed governmental zone, and continued east in Cuba. The Plaza Cívica and its gigantic modernist space became
a scenographic and panoramic section overlooking the Spanish the ideal setup for political speeches in front of huge crowds. It
forts and the Caribbean Sea. In its central section, a series of was a site whose symbolism could only be matched by the
small cloverleaves serviced several commercial and residential equally enormous plaza along the Malecón facing the American
neighborhoods to the north near the coast, and various office Embassy. Like in Rome for Mussolini, and Berlin for the German
and industrial areas to the south. It eventually connected to the Socialist Republic, modernist planning had become a tool of
town of Cojímar and continued toward Matanzas and Varadero. propaganda and politics—a space dangerous for the individual,
A giant roundabout, the Plaza de la Cordialidad, planned and a perfect theater for the manipulation of the masses.
completed in the early 1950s by the Secretary of Public Works Post-1950s dictatorships in Latin America—in Argentina,
Manuel Febles Valdes, assured the connection to the new ring Uruguay, Brazil, and Chile—adopted radically different urbanis-
128
2 The City as Landscape: Forestier, Sert, and the Planning of Havana 129

Franco Albini, with Franca Helg and Enea Franco Albini, with Franca Helg and Aerial view of metropolitan
Manfredini. Masterplan for East Havana Enea Manfredini. Masterplan for East Havana, 2015.
(Habana del Este, 1955–1956), general view. Havana (Habana del Este, 1955–1956),
The mixed-use project is divided into two detailed perspective. In the foreground,
typologically defined areas: closer to the beach, the mixed-use and office district; in the
the neighborhood units for housing; between background closer to the sea, the
the neighborhood units and the Avenida neighborhood units (housing).
Monumental, the mixed-use and office district
(in white).

tic visions from previous political periods. The Beaux-Arts-in- structures in the faraway outskirts of the city. Thus, the most
spired monumental concepts that had characterized the first important legacy of socialist Cuban planning was Alamar, a con-
half of the twentieth century—in Cuba, Mexico, Argentina, Bra- glomerate of neighborhood units east of the Cojímar River that
zil—gave way to a more capitalistic and automobile-oriented provided housing for more than 100,000 inhabitants in modern
approach inspired by North American urbanism and ideas. In apartments. It exemplified both the belated and enthusiastic
Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro, or Montevideo, the results involved spirit of the first utopias and the socialist reality of total con-
the opening of major highways that displaced a large number of trol.96 At its origin in the 1970s, Alamar was a gated community
residents, facilitated the tertiary sector, and aimed at improving of sorts, under the control of the Committee for the Defense of
traffic without any monumental expression for the urban fabric. the Revolution (CDR), which enforced both the residential rules
In Cuba, from the initial moment of the revolution, the Castro and the ideological virtues. Alamar aimed to be a community of
regime led, to a large extent, an anti-urban revolution brought model workers, devoted revolutionaries, and altruistic neigh-
from the countryside to the city. This reality would develop into bors. Like everywhere else in the world, in capitalist and social-
an anti-urban conception of planning that resulted in the policy ist political structures, the project adopted the discredited mod-
of urban neglect whose consequences continue to be dramatic ernist tenets of CIAM and eventually failed urbanistically by a
in the twenty-first century. As Roberto Segre wrote, “the egali- lack of genuine public spaces and its isolation from the city. In
tarian orientation that underlies tropical socialism is alien to any doing so, the architects rejected the “accumulation of traditions
monumentalist glorification of power.” The Plan Piloto was for-
94
in architecture and urbanism”—what Nicolás Quintana called
tunately shelved and the consolidated city was left on its own, “the urban metalanguage of Cubanidad.97 Hence, they rejected
with an overall lack of maintenance, but with the positive results the “three Ps” posited by Eugenio Batista, the city as landscape
that no destructive project was eventually completed. in the tropical vision of Jean-Claude Nicolas Forestier, and the
It is only in the suburbs that the government would make very concept of public space that José Luis Sert and others ad-
its mark, with the Escuelas de Arte (Art Schools), located on an vocated in their visions for the neighborhoods of the Plan Piloto
expropriated golf course in the middle of a luxury subdivision, de La Habana. As Álvarez Tabío convincingly argued:
various school projects, and—across the bay—the develop-
ment of La Habana del Este as a demonstration of socialist plan- [t]he urban character that stimulated the American utopia
ning. 95
From the early 1970s, the Russian influence and the in an eminently rural civilization was negated by an anti-­
concept of heavy prefabrication promoted by the Ministry of urban revolution which retreated to ‘phalanstery’-like sim-
Construction dominated the suburban landscape, with the con- plifications: hence the ‘new man’ turned into a version of
struction of tens of thousands of housing units in linear slab the ‘good savage.’98
130
2 The City as Landscape: Forestier, Sert, and the Planning of Havana 131
132

NOTES Urbanizadora de la Playa de Marianao and “El crecimiento de La Habana y su

in the Country Club Park. regularización,” Anales de la Academia de
1 See Joseph R. Hartman, Dictator’s 8 José María Bens Arrarte, “Una carta Ciencias de La Habana (1923), reprinted
Dreamscape: How Architecture and Vision póstuma del Dr. Carlos Miguel de in Cuba: arquitectura y urbanismo, eds.
Built Machado’s Cuba and Invented Modern Céspedes,” Arquitectura XXV, no. 286 (May Felipe J. Préstamo y Hernández and
Havana (Pittsburgh, PA: University of 1957), 256–59. The letter was dated 10 Marcos A. Ramos (Miami: Ediciones
Pittsburgh Press, 2019). Also see May 1955. Universal, 1995), 237–55.
Herminio Portell-Vila, Nueva Historia de la 9 On Forestier’s entire career, see Leclerc, 13 Hartman noted that Martínez Inclán was
República de Cuba (Miami: La Moderna Jean Claude Nicolas Forestier. not invited to join the team, which may
Poesía, 1986), 325. 10 Jean-Claude Nicolas Forestier, Jardins, explain his later criticism of Forestier’s
2 Hartman, Dictator’s Dreamscape, passim; carnet de plans et de croquis (Paris, 1920); projects: “Silent Witnesses,” 297.
see also Joseph R. Hartman, “Silent in English, Gardens: A Note-book of Plans 14 As many authors, I used the wrong
Witnesses: Modernity, Colonialism, and and Sketches (New York: C. Scribner’s spelling Sorugue for the real name Jeanne
Jean-Claude Nicolas Forestier’s Sons, 1928), 187–88. Carlos Sambricio, Surugue in my essays of 1991 and 1996.
Unfinished Plans for Havana,” Journal of “Equipamientos y vivienda en La Habana The error was duly noted by Hartman,
the Society of Architectural Historians 78, 1925–1950” in Arquitectura en la ciudad de Dictator’s Dreamscape (235, note 57) and
no.3 (September 2019): 294. La Habana: primera modernidad, Carlos in his essay “Silent Witnesses.” Surugue
3 See Jean-François Lejeune, “The City as Sambricio and Roberto Segre (Madrid: was the first French woman to graduate
Landscape: Jean Claude Nicolas Forestier Electa España, 2000): in this chapter, from the École des Beaux-Arts, in 1923.
and the Great Urban Works of Havana, Sambricio made two highly contestable After Havana, she completed projects in
1925–1930,” Journal of Decorative and points. First, he praised Martínez Inclán the French colonies of Indochina: see
Propaganda Arts, no. 22 (1996): 151–85; for the modernity of his ideas, while Meredith L. Clausen, “The Ecole des
Roberto Segre, Lectura crítica del entorno diminishing the value of Forestier’s Beaux-Arts: Toward a Gendered History,”
cubano (Havana: Letras Cubanas, 1990), similar strategies; secondly, he argued Journal of the Society of Architectural
91–111; Heriberto Duverger, “El maestro that the actuation of the American Historians 69, no. 2 (2010): 153–61.
francés del urbanismo criollo para La planner and landscape architect John 15 Eugène Beaudouin made plans for Cape
Habana,” in Jean Claude Nicolas Forestier Nolen would have been more appropriate Town, Saigon, Montpellier and Ispahan,
1861–1930: du jardin au paysage urbain, than Forestier’s, as could be understood worked with Marcel Lodz and Jean
ed. Bénédicte Leclerc (Paris: Picard, from Nolen’s work in Miami. Nolen Prouvé, and had a long teaching career.
1994), 221–40; Roberto Segre, “Havana designed many garden suburbs in Florida Jean Labatut was the co-author of the
from Tacón to Forestier” in Planning Latin but was never active in the Miami area, Monument to Marti at the center of the
America’s Capital Cities 1850–1950, including Coral Gables. Beyond that Plaza de la República; later, he became
ed. Arturo Almandoz (Hoboken, NJ: factual mistake, it is obvious that Professor of Architecture at Princeton
Taylor and Francis, 2013), 193–213; bringing Nolen to Havana would have University School of Architecture where
Roberto Segre, “The Pearl of the Antilles: only reinforced the suburbanization of he also served as Dean. Louis Heitzler was
Havana’s Tropical Shadows and Utopias,” high-class housing against the necessary primarily active in the southern region of
in Cruelty and Utopia: Cities and transformations of the city’s central France, and in particular in Nice and its
Landscapes of Latin America, ed. neighborhoods including the Vedado. On hinterland. Théodore Leveau worked in
Jean-François Lejeune John Nolen in Florida, see John Hancock, Ankara, Turkey, where he was involved in
(New York: Princeton Architectural Press, “John Nolen: New Towns in Florida various public buildings and public
2005), 135–44. The chronology of the (1922–1929),” The New City 1 (1991): spaces. In 1943, he was appointed chief
works and studies can be found in Raúl 68–87. urbanist for the Ministry of Reconstruc-
Otero, “Obras de embellecimiento que 11 Two influential books were Charles tion and was responsible for the
proyectara J.C.N. Forestier para La Mulford Robinson, The Improvement of reconstruction plan of the city of
Habana,” Arquitectura, no. 86 (September Towns and Cities (New York and London: Dunkerque.
1940): 208–12. G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1901) and Modern 16 Hartman, Dictator’s Dreamscape, 132–36;
4 Emilio Roig de Leuchsenring, “ ‘El Dorado’ Civic Art (New York and London: G.P. and Adnan Morshed,
de nuestros políticos, a políticos y Putnam’s Sons, 1918). Beyond Forestier in “Le Corbusier and the Aerial Gaze,”
gobernantes,” Social, no. 13 (October Havana and Buenos Aires, other French Thresholds, no. 13 (Fall 1996): 24–29.
1928): 25. See also the two works by architects and urbanists, members of SFU, 17 See Bénédicte Leclerc, “La science du
Joseph R. Hartman, see above note 3. who accepted the invitation to remodel paysage au service de l’art urbain,”
5 For a complex interpretation of the ceiba and plan the expansion of Latin American Pages-Paysages, no. 2, 1989.
tree and its social and racial historical cities, Hébrard in Guayaquil (1910s), 18 Henri Prost, “Hommage à Forestier,”
value, see Hartman, Dictator’s Dreams- Norbert Maillart in Montevideo (1920s), Urbanisme, no. 3–4 (1952): 74–75. On the
capes, 62–65. Donat-Alfred Agache in Rio de Janeiro career of Henri Prost, see André Siegfried,
6 See the Herman Beller Photograph (1930), and Maurice Rotival in Caracas Louis Hautecoeur, Henry Lacoste, et al.,
Collection (1925–1950) at the University (from 1938 to the 1950s). See for L’oeuvre de Henri Prost (Paris: Académie
of Miami Libraries, Cuban Historical instance, David K. Underwood, “Alfred d’Architecture, 1960), and Jean-Louis
Collection, CHC0400. Herman Beller was Agache, French Sociology, and Modern Cohen, “Henri Prost & Casablanca:
a metalwork entrepreneur in Cuba who Urbanism in France and Brazil,” Journal of The Art of Making Successful Cities:
settled in Havana in the 1920s and the Society of Architectural Historians 50 The Career of a French Urbanist
produced many metalworks for public (June 1991): 130–66. (1874–1959),” The New City, no. 3 (1996):
buildings, municipal lamps, bronze 12 Pedro Martínez Inclán, La Habana actual: 106–21.
commemorative plaques, and sculptural estudio de la capital de Cuba desde el punto 19 The recorded dates of Forestier’s three
works throughout installations in Cuba. de vista de la arquitectura de ciudades trips to Havana are December 8, 1925 to
7 Céspedes was, among other ventures, a (Havana: P. Fernández y Cía., 1925), 200. February 28, 1926, August 19 to
major stockholder in the Compañía See Enrique Montoulieu y de la Torre, December 15, 1928, and January 23 to
2 The City as Landscape: Forestier, Sert, and the Planning of Havana 133

March 23, 1930. For the third and last new architecture (Zurich: Editions 35 Duverger, “El maestro francés,” 224.
voyage, Forestier worked with Leveau, Girsberger, 1951), 148. 36 Ignasi de Solà Morales, “The Beaux-Arts
Labatut and the Cuban designers 29 Forestier further developed the proposal Garden,” in The Architecture of Western
Leonardo Morales, Emilio Vasconcelos, during his following voyage of early 1930, Gardens, eds. Monique Mosser and George
Críspulo Goizueta and Juan Manuel studying the connection to the Monu- Teyssot (Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press,
Ortiz. ment to General Gómez and making 1991), 403. This quote refers to The
20 Quoted in Emilio Roig de Leuchsenring, sketches of a canal in the middle of the Chicago Plan by Daniel Burnham and
La Habana de ayer de hoy y de mañana waterfront avenue. Edward Bennett, 1909.
(Havana: Sindicato de Artes Gráficas, 30 The last section of the Malecón, from 37 Théo Leveau, “Los jardines del Capitolio,”
1928), 99. Calle G to the tunnel under the Almen- El Arquitecto IV, no. 38 (May 1929): 398.
21 Here, it is difficult to follow Timothy dares River, was initiated from 1951 38 See Carlos Morales and Mauricio Pinilla,
Hyde’s argument that Forestier’s diagram under the direction of Nicolás Arroyo “Karl Brunner, architect and urbanist,”
was connected to the Laws of the Indies: Marquez. In these garden-city like The New City, (1991): 34–39.
see Timothy Hyde, Constitutional sections, the future Malecón had the 39 From Karl Brunner, Manual de Urbanismo,
Modernism: Architecture and Civil Society in character of a wide beachfront park Vol II (Bogotá, 1938). Quote reprinted in
Cuba, 1933–1959 (Minneapolis: connected to the interior through large Morales and Pinilla, “Karl Brunner,
University of Minnesota, 2013): 117–18. parks and parkways that established architect and urbanist,” 43.
Indeed, contrary to the Roman principles connections to the city-wide park system 40 The competition was international and
of the cardo and decumanus, the axes were and particularly to the Gran Paseo del Río. received forty-seven entries, with the
not fundamental to the Laws, but rather Thirty years were necessary to complete majority from Cuba, some from the US
the establishment of an urban checker- the works, initiated in 1930, all the way and Latin America, including from the
board with the plaza mayor at its center: to the river. In the meantime, the process young Mexican architect Mario Pani. See
see Jean-François Lejeune, “The Ideal and of privatization of the water- Hyde, Constitutional Modernism, 217.
the Real: Urban Codes in the Span- front in the new suburbs had accelerated Likewise, various articles in Arquitectura
ish-American Lettered City,” in Urban and the Malecón could not be continued and elsewhere brought back some of the
Coding and Planning, ed. Stephen Marshall in its public form west of the river. major ideas contained in Forestier’s plan,
(London: Routledge, 2011), 59–82. 31 In 1937, new paintings were added in particular the Bosque de La Habana (see
22 The projects were part of the large-scale representing the new university Chapter 4).
transformation of Florence that disciplines of architecture, pedagogy, 41 See Luis Bay Sevilla, “Concurso para el
accompanied its short-lived status as engineering, etc. The information on the monumento a Martí,” Arquitectura, no. 67
capital of the new Kingdom of Italy construction of the university is very (February 1939): 47–48; and Luis Bay
(1865–1870). Moreover, the design fragmented and excessively ideological. Sevilla, “La segunda etapa del concurso
reminds one of Forestier’s own works for See Ramón de Armas, Historia de la para el monumento a Martí,” Arquitectura,
the new maritime façade of the Montjuich Universidad de La Habana, 1728–1979 nos. 78–79 (January–February 1940):
Hill in Barcelona developed in the early (Havana: Editorial de Ciencias Sociales, 21–34.
1910s. 1984). 42 Consequently, Labatut was invited to
23 Paul Valery, El alma y la danza, Eupalinos; 32 David Watkin and Tilman Mellinghof, speak at the College of Architects in 1941,
o, el arquitecto (Buenos Aires: Editorial German Architecture and the Classical Ideal see “El Professor Jean Labatut en el
Losada, S.A., 1944), 85, quoted in (Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, 1987); Colegio de Arquitectos,” Arquitectura,
Quintana, “Arquitectura y urbanismo en and eds. Lisbet Balslev Jørgensen and no. 98 (September 1941): 303–06.
la República de Cuba (1902–1958). Demetri Porphyrios, “Neoclassical 43 The jury for this final phase was different
Antecedentes, evolución y estructuras de Architecture in Copenhagen & Athens,” from the other rounds. No architects were
apoyo,” (2001): http://lasa.international. Architectural Design Profile, no. 66 officially part of a group where the
pitt.edu/Lasa2001/QuintanaNicolas.pdf. (London, 1987). military dominated. However, two
24 The Malecón or Paseo del Mar was first 33 The discourse of accusing Forestier of intellectuals Emilio Roig de Leuchsenring
proposed by engineer Francisco de Albear urban destruction remains even in the and Jorge Mañach were now full-status
in his plan of 1874. See José María Bens most recent scholarship. Hartman’s members.
Arrarte, “Urbanismo y arquitectura: statement that “Forestier’s plan called for 44 “Un gran centro urbanístico de la futura
La Habana colonial durante el siglo XIX,” gutting the colonial city on a scale Habana: Plan general de la Plaza,
Arquitectura, no. 256 (November 1954): comparable to Baron Georges-Eugène proyectada por los Arq. Labatut, Otero,
486–504; and José María Bens Arrarte, Haussmann’s reformation of Paris in the Varela, Tapia Ruano y Morales,”
“El Malecón de La Habana, su reconstruc- nineteenth century” (Dictator’s Dreams- Arquitectura, no. 104 (March 1942):
ción actual. Datos históricos. El primer cape, 136) is actually contradicted by a 94–97; and José María Bens Arrarte,
proyecto hecho en 1901,” Arquitectura, comparison between Forestier’s plan of “El monumento a nuestro José Martí,”
no. 198 (1950): 34–38 (both reprinted in 1926 and the actual conditions of the city Arquitectura, no. 105 (April 1942):
Préstamo and Ramos, Cuba). as shown in contemporary maps and 120–45.
25 See Lejeune, “The Ideal and the Real,” aerials. Hartman also argues that Forestier 45 Raúl Otero, “La Habana y su futuro
59–82. used aerial photography to support his ensanche y embellecimiento,” Arquitectu-
26 Forestier, Gardens, 187–88. destructive agenda, without any mention ra, nos. 80–81 (March–April 1940):
27 Among those, Hartman has rediscovered of the technique in Le Corbusier’s own 96–105; and Raúl Otero, ”Obras de
a project for a coliseum: “Silent Witness- destructive projects for Paris and other embellecimiento que proyectó Monsieur
es,” 305. cities. Likewise, a comparison with Forestier,” 208–15.
28 “Open-Air Theater in Havana,” Architec- Martínez Inclán shows that the 1919 plan 46 I base my analysis on the available
tural Record (June 1937): 60–62; by the Cuban urbanist was infinitely more documents from Forestier’s plans, and the
Arquitectura, no. 211 (February 1951): destructive than Forestier’s. dimensions of the public spaces in the
94; and Sigfried Giedion, Dix ans 34 Jean-Pierre Le Dantec, “Forestier general and detailed plans of the Civic
d’architecture contemporaine: A decade of d’aujourd’hui,” in Leclerc, Forestier, 243. Center. See also Reinaldo Estévez Curbelo,
134

“El Fórum del Colegio de Arquitectos Freixa, Josep Ll. Sert (Barcelona: Editorial 70 For a full analysis of the evolution of
sobre la Plaza Cívica y Monumento a Gili, 1989); and Eric Mumford, “CIAM and these projects, see Hyde, Constitutional
Martí,” Espacio (May–June 1953): 37. Latin America,” in Sert arquitecto en Nueva Modernism, 161–76. For the Laws of the
47 Hyde, Constitutional Modernism, 235–36, York, eds. Xavier Costa and Guido Hartray Indies, see note 22 in this chapter and
from “Convenio de Indemnización,” in (Barcelona: Museu d’Art Contemporani de note 60 in the introductory chapter.
Jean Labatut’s Archives, Box 28, folder 3, Barcelona, 1997), 48–72. 71 Nicolás Arroyo, Mario Romañach, and
JL, at Princeton University. 62 Havana had 350,000 residents in 1900; Town Planning Associates, Plan Piloto de
48 See “La remodelación de La Habana: el 445,000 in 1919; 600,000 in 1924; La Habana. Directivas generales: diseños
Plan del Ministro de Obras Públicas Arq. 837,670 in 1943; and 1.216,760 in 1953, preliminares, soluciones tipo (New York:
Manuel Febles Valdés,” Arquitectura, no. and 1,528,000 in 1960. Between Forestier Town Planning Associates, 1959), plate
212 (March 1951): 136–38; Reinaldo and the revolution, there was thus an 47.
Estévez Curbelo, “Fórum del Colegio de increase of almost 900,000 residents, 72 Reinaldo Estévez Curbelo and Samuel
Arquitectos sobre la Plaza de la República most of which resulted in unplanned Biniakonski, “Habla José L. Sert,” Espacio
y el Monumento a Martí,” Arquitectura, growth, fed by the private sector, a highly 2, nos. 10–11 (July–October, 1953): 19.
no. 239 (June 1953): 221–236, and speculative urban market, and a huge This article included drawings and
Reinaldo Estévez Curbelo, “El Fórum del suburban expansion. See also Gabino diagrams published in Architectural Forum
Colegio de Arquitectos sobre la Plaza Ponce Herrero, “La Ciudad Moderna en La in 1953 for TPA’s first project for the
Cívica y Monumento a Martí.” Espacio 2, Habana,” Investigaciones geográficas, no.44 Quinta Palatino: see Sert and Lester
no. 9 (May–June 1953): 36–44. (2007): 129–46. Wiener, “Can Patios Make Cities,”
49 Estévez Curbelo, “El Fórum del Colegio de 63 Idem, 142. 124–31.
Arquitectos,” 37 and 39. The monument 64 Even though TPA did not envision a city 73 Sert, “Centers of Community Life,” 7.
was eventually inaugurated in 1958. of unlimited growth, quite the contrary, 74 Quintana, “Arquitectura y Urbanismo,”
50 Philip W. Bonsal, Cuba, Castro, and the the manner in which they gridded the 13.
United States (Pittsburgh: University of existing and future urban landscape 75 See for instance Eric Mumford and
Pittsburgh Press, 1971), 276–78. brought to mind some of the diagrams Hashim Sarkis, Josep Lluís Sert: The
51 See Hyde, Constitutional Modernism, 33. used by Otto Wagner in his plans for the Architect of Urban Design, 1953–1969
52 See http://paxety.com/Site/1940Consti- Viennese Großstadt. (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press,
tution.html 65 The older sections including the historic 2008).
53 “Patronato Pro-Urbanismo,” Arquitectura, center, Havana Centro, El Cerro, and part 76 Article 58 of the Constitution of 1940.
no. 106 (May 1942): 187–89. of the Vedado were to reach from 250 to 77 Ley-Decreto no. 1932 of June 1944,
54 Quintana, “Arquitectura y Urbanismo,” 14. 400 residents/ha through a combination signed by then President Batista, see
55 See for instance “Los Errores Urbanísticos of population reduction (Old Havana and Emetério S. Santovenia, “El destino
de Marianao violan Leyes de Urbanismo,” most of Havana Central, whereas the histórico de la Habana antigua,” in
Arquitectura, no. 234 (January 1953): 35. Vedado and areas surrounding the Loma Préstamo and Ramos, Cuba, 427–35.
56 See Hyde, Constitutional Modernism, 61 de los Catalanes saw extreme increases 78 Quoted in Ponce Herrero, “La Ciudad
and 312, note 50; and Estévez Curbelo, that involved major demolition and Moderna en La Habana,” 132.
“El Fórum del Colegio de Arquitectos,” 44. densification of the existing fabric. At the 79 Hyde, Constitutional Modernism, 188.
Also, see the letter from Eugenio Batista same time, the city was to expand to 80 Lejeune, “The Ideal and the Real,” 59–82.
to José Luis Sert, dated May 28, 1953 reach a potential for three million 81 Estévez Curbelo and Biniakonski,
(Folder C13, CIAM Collection), Special residents with the development of “Habla José L. Sert,” 21.
Collections, Frances Loeb Library, neighborhood units of middle (100 to 200 82 Ibidem.
Graduate School of Design Harvard residents/ha) and low density (under 100 83 Bens Arrarte, “El Malecón será urbaniza-
University. residents/ha). The plan also integrated do y ampliado con terreno ganado al mar.”
57 Eduardo Cañas Abril, “Función social del the low-density expansion of the city on Arquitectura 26, no. 296 (March 1958):
arquitecto,” Arquitectura, no. 249 the other side of the bay toward the east. 124–31. Bens Arrarte also argued that a
(April 1954): 149–54. 66 On the Plan for Bogotá and the large-scale touristic center might be more
58 For the text of the law and commentaries, collaboration between Sert and Le appropriate as an anchor to the proposed
see “Ley sobre Planificación Nacional,” Corbusier, see Josep M. Rovira i Gimeno, Habana del Este, now connected to Old
Arquitectura, no. 260 (May 1955): 97–100. José Luis Sert: 1901–1983 (Milan: Electa, Havana with the tunnel under the bay.
59 Hyde, Constitutional Modernism, 65. 2000); ed. María Cecilia O’Byrne, Le 84 See for instance William H. Arthur,
Hyde also mentions that each director Corbusier en Bogotá, 1947–1951 (Bogotá: “Igor B. Polevitzky and the Habana
was paired with an assistant, respectively: Universidad de Los Andes, Facultad de Riviera Hotel,” https://whaiv.us/
Felipe Préstamo, Pelayo Fraga, Osvaldo de Arquitectura y Diseño, 2010). about-wha-architect-miami.
Tapia-Ruano, and Guillermo Núñez. 67 José Luis Sert and Paul Lester Wiener, 85 Jean Claude Nicolas Forestier, Grandes
According to Hyde, the current monetary “Can Patios Make Cities?” Architectural villes et systèmes de parcs (Paris, 1906).
equivalent of the contract was about one Forum, 99, no. 2 (August 1953): 124–31. See also Jean-François Lejeune, “La ville
million, a very large sum for the time. 68 José Luis Sert, “Centers of Community comme paysage: Influences et projets
60 Roberto Segre, “La Habana de Sert: CIAM, Life,” in CIAM 8. The Heart of the City: américains à La Havane,” in Jean Claude
Ron y cha cha cha,” Documentos de Towards the Humanization of Urban Life, Nicolas Forestier, 173–88; and Jean-
arquitectura nacional y americana: revista ed. Jaqueline Tyrwhitt (New York: François Lejeune, “The City as Landscape,”
de los Departamentos de Historia de la Pellegrini and Cudahy, 1952), 6. 50–68. Forestier was often called the
Arquitectura y Conservación del Patrimonio 69 On the concept of carpet housing or mat, “French Olmsted.”
Arquitectónico, no. 37/38 (1995): 121. see for instance Le Corbusier’s Venice 86 Jean-Louis Cohen, “Buenos Aires: Urban
61 In the extensive bibliography about the Hospital and the Mat Building Revival, Plans, 1929–1949,” in ed. Jean-Louis
Plan Piloto, see in particular Segre, Hashim Sarkis and Pablo Allard Cohen, Le Corbusier: An Atlas of Modern
“La Habana de Sert,” passim; Hyde, (New York: Prestel, 2001). Landscapes (New York: MoMA, 2013),
Consti­tutional Modernism, 139 ff.; Jaume 322–23.
2 The City as Landscape: Forestier, Sert, and the Planning of Havana 135

87 George R. Collins and Christiane El Túnel de La Habana. La solución 93 Franco Albini, Antonio Piva, and Vittorio
Crasemann Collins, Camillo Sitte: The Birth urbanística de la entrada. Otras Prina, Franco Albini, 1905–1977 (Milan:
of Modern City Planning (New York: solucionen de problemas análogos,” Electa, 1998), 321.
Rizzoli, 1986); Charles Bohl and Arquitectura XXIV, no. 271 (February 94 Rafael López Rangel, “La Habana: una
Jean-François Lejeune, Sitte, Hegemann 1956): 67–71. modernidad atemporal,” 2, from http://
and the Metropolis: Modern Civic Art and 91 See María Elena Martín Zequeira, www.rafaellopezrangel.com/nuevoprimer-
International Exchanges (London: “La Habana del Este: A View to the amodernidad.htm. Also see Roberto Segre
Routledge, 2009). Future,” in The Challenge of Change: “Medio siglo de arquitectura cubana
88 Ponce Herrero, “La Ciudad Moderna en La Dealing with the Legacy of the Modern (1953–2003) – Variaciones sobre el tema
Habana,” 136. Movement, eds. Dirk van den Heuvel, del comunismo,” Café de las ciudades V,
89 See Chapter 4. Maarten Mesman and Wido Quist no. 40 (February 2006): n.p.
90 See the first planning concepts in (Amsterdam: IOS Press, 2008), 457–60. 95 See Chapter 3.
Armando Maribona, “La nueva Habana y 92 The roundabout was part of an earlier 96 Mauro D’Agati and Senel Paz, Alamar:
la exposición internacional del cincuente- plan proposed by the Minister of Public Habana, Cuba (Göttingen: Steidl, 2010).
nario de la República – Visión urbanística Works Manuel Febles Valdes: see, “El Plan 97 Quintana, “Arquitectura y Urbanismo,”
del Arq. Manuel Febles Valdes,” Arquitec- de Obras del Ing. y Arq. Manuel Febles 20.
tura XVII, no. 193 (August 1949): 235–38. Valdes, Ministro de Obras Públicas: Visión 98 Emma Álvarez Tabío, Invención de La
For a more complete discussion, see José del futuro – La Habana de 1968,” Arquitec- Habana (Barcelona: Editorial Casiopes,
María Bens Arrarte, “La Habana del Este: tura, no. 200 (March 1950): 82–91. 2000), 376.
 137

CHAPTER 3

The Modern City:

Housing, Civic Infrastructure,
and Representation

Memories archived in the minds of people constitute what we call Tradition. It is

through them that the history of a country is elaborated, and a Nation is created.
When a Nation is created, an identity arises—a way of being—that is marked as a
special and unique Culture. These three elements: Tradition, Nation and Culture
constitute the Homeland that is portable and always accompanies us.
 Nicolás Quintana
138

Mario Romañach. Project for the

Banco Nacional, Central Havana (ca. 1958),
perspective sketch. Rendering Jorge del
Río.

Opening scene from the film Our Man

in Havana, director, Carol Reed (United
Kingdom, 1959).

Cover image of La Rampa. From the

periodical of the Asociación de Comerciantes
de la Calle 23 (Marketing Association of
Avenida 23, December 1956). The building
on the right in the foreground is the
Centro Comercial La Rampa by Rafael de
Cárdenas (1952).

The New American City tion of El Vedado which witnessed the surge of infill and high-
Using the distinction made by Olga Rodríguez-Falcón in her dis- rise apartment buildings, and in the formless subdivisions that
sertation on “Urban Utopias in Havana’s Representations,” were replacing the old fincas suburbanas (suburban country
there were three very different realities within mid-century Ha- houses) on the other side of the Almendares River in favor of
vana: the old city, the slums, and the new American city. The 1
the Cuban version of the North-American Home Sweet Home.
old city was La Habana Vieja, the original and colonial section, “The seventh art—as Wim Wenders argued—was more than
now abandoned by the aristocracy and the bourgeoisie which any other one not only able to capture the essence, the climate
had moved west to the Vedado and further to Miramar and and the trends of its time, but also to reflect its hopes, its fears,
Marianao. As a result, it was deteriorating and heavily congest- and its dreams, articulating them all in a universal language.”3
ed by the increase in tertiary functions, automobile traffic, park- For Havana as well, films were like bystanders to the chaotic
ing, and the subdivision of the old patio-based houses into urban modernization and social revolution that accelerated
overcrowded dwellings. The slums, vigorously denounced in from Fulgencio Batista’s coup d’état in 1952. Shot two months
1933 when Carleton Beals published The Crime of Cuba—a after the revolution, Carol Reed’s Our Man in Havana (1959)
book famously illustrated with photographs by Walker Evans— opened with a short sequence in the pool of the newly opened
were growing on the fringes of the city toward the south, but Hotel Capri, but primarily depicted the liveliness and decadent
were invisible to the daily reality. As for the new American city,
2
beauty of the colonial center, while stressing the latent corrup-
it was taking shape west of the historic center, in the densifica- tion of the government.4 A couple of years later, in the two
3 The Modern City: Housing, Civic Infrastructure, and Representation 139

Martín Domínguez, Emilio del Junco,

and Miguel Gastón. Radiocentro Building,
Vedado (1945–1947), exterior view at the
intersection of Avenida 23 and Calle L.

masterpieces, Yo Soy Cuba (Mikhail Kalatozov, 1963, I am Cuba) attempts to murder the chief of police from the roof of the
and Memorias del subdesarrollo (Tomás Gutiérrez Alea, 1968, Radiocentro Building. The middle-class anti-hero of Memorias
Memories of underdevelopment), it is the new city that fills the del subdesarrollo, Sergio, living on a high floor of the Edificio
screen. The grand stairs of the university—where Kalatozov FOCSA, watches the tanks line up along the seafront in prepa-
staged the students’ demonstration and its violent repression ration for a potential American invasion.6
as a prodigious remake of the Odessa massacre in Eisenstein’s From 1940 onward, Havana’s urban center of gravity moved
Battleship Potemkin (1925). The Malecón, La Rampa, the shop- to the west along the Malecón.7 Over the years, the gateway to
ping arcades, the parking garages, and the apartment towers El Vedado from the sea, Avenida 23, better known as La Rampa,
illustrated the modern way of life and architectural context of and its adjacent grid of streets and avenues became the epi-
the city at the end of Batista’s rule, and the dawn of Castro’s center of the new American city, whose symbolic entrances
regime. High-rises served to observe the city, or spy on it. The
5
were the Hotel Nacional, built by the American architecture firm
student leader—personifying Echeverría in Yo Soy Cuba— of McKim, Mead & White in the early 1930s, and the American
140

Martín Domínguez, Emilio del Junco,

and Miguel Gastón. Radiocentro Building,
Vedado (1945–1947), interior of the
cinema and plan.

Mira and Rosich. López Serrano

Apartments, Vedado (1932), exterior view
and typical floor plan.

Embassy (1950–1952), a stark work of modernism designed by tecture at the University of Madrid in 1924, and had a brilliant
the North-American architects Harrison & Abramovitz, in collab- career in Spain during the 1920s and 1930s until he went into
oration with the local office of Mira and Rosich.8 The emblemat- exile during the Spanish Civil War. Realized in partnership with
ic marker of the “Broadway of Havana,” as La Rampa became Carlos Arniches, his most exemplary work was the Zarzuela
known, was the Edificio Radiocentro, the first modern multipur- Hippodrome in Madrid (1935), whose concrete structure was
pose structure in Cuba, designed to host broadcasting and re- designed in collaboration with the engineer Eduardo Torroja.11
cording studios for the radio and television station CMQ, with To resolve the complex program of the Radiocentro, the archi-
additional offices, shops, and a large cinema theater.9 tects assembled three independent volumes, whose shapes
Built in 1945–1947, the Radiocentro Building (ill. also p. 139) reflected their internal functions. The 1,700-seat cinema, oper-
was the work of the Cuban architects Emilio del Junco and ated by Warner Brothers film studio, occupied the highest sec-
Miguel Gastón, in association with the Spanish Martín tion of the site, projecting slightly at an angle from the grid at
Domínguez. Domínguez graduated from the School of Archi-
10
the intersection of Calle 23 and Calle L. A square block, not
3 The Modern City: Housing, Civic Infrastructure, and Representation 141

visible from the street, contained the studios of the CMQ sta-
tion, and a ten-floor rectangular slab building hosted the rental
offices, while making a distinct modernist feature of the com-
plex. This office block appeared as an autonomous element
floating over the space of La Rampa, at the moment where the
street plunged toward the waterfront. Its rationalist façade of
regular square windows was new in Havana, even though it
had a precedent on the Edificio Miralda, built in 1946 by the
same team of architects. Its design can probably be attributed
to Domínguez, as its geometric regularity referred directly to
his works in Madrid with Secundino Zuazo and Carlos Arniches.
The 5-meter-wide and two-story-high arcade along Calle 23 ne-
gotiated the sloping terrain and connected the three sections
of the project, while providing additional space for cafes, res-
taurants, exhibition spaces, and other uses. At its highest point,
the intersection with Calle L, the arcade merged into the theat-
er lobby.
Built across the Hospital Reina Mercedes, which occupied
the site before its transformation into a public park (with the
Heladería Coppelia built in 1966 in its center), the Radiocentro
became a genuine urban center of movement and activity, at-
tracting a vast public eager to follow the media events that took
place daily within the theater and studios. In the words of Fran-
cisco Gómez Díaz, “the manner of resolving the various levels
with the topography, the clarity of the volumes, the austerity of
the language with its slightly rectangular window holes that
give it an accurate urban scale, and the game of scales with
which it challenges the urban environment, are some of the
keys of this superb building, worthy of a monograph.”12
The Law of Horizontal Property, signed by Batista in Sep-
tember 1952, introduced the American concept of the condo-
minium, and the subsequent Law of Secured Mortgages (signed
in March 1953), transformed the real estate dynamics of the
island. Together, these two new laws opened the Vedado to a
speculative boom, which would considerably alter the skyline
of the city.13 Until then, the highest structures in Havana were
two art-deco buildings completed in the early 1930s, which aes-
thetically followed the iconic setback model of New York sky-
scrapers of that era. Near the Parque Central, the Edificio Bac-
ardi (designed by Esteban Rodríguez Castells, Rafael Fernández
Ruenes, and J. Menéndez Menéndez in 1930) housed the offices
of the firm in an elegant tripartite structure, rich in materials and
chromatic textures, that culminated with a pyramidal top
capped by the company’s emblem, the bat.14 Two years after
the completion of the Bacardi headquarters, the first high-rise
apartment building, the Edificio López Serrano, topped ten
floors, and rose to fifteen for the central tower, at the intersec-
142

Quintana, Rubio, and Pérez Beato.

Retiro Odontólogico Building, Vedado
(1951–1953), exterior view.

Quintana, Rubio, and Pérez Beato.

Seguro Médico Building, Vedado
­(1955–1958), plan at the plinth level
and alternate typical floor plans.

Quintana, Rubio, and Pérez Beato.

Seguro Médico Building, Vedado
(1955–1958), front and back façades.

tion of Calle 13 and Calle L in the Vedado.15 Mira and Rosich consists of a U-shaped, fifteen-story-high structure made up of
were the architects of the steel structure designed, as two in- two towers of offices articulated by a circulation core facing the
verted “E”s with elevated courtyards on each side. The long courtyard. On their southern and western sides, the office
circulation corridor that split the building in two, on the Ameri- floors are covered with a grid of horizontal brise-soleils, where-
can model, was a far cry from the sophisticated open-air circu- as the façades around the courtyard are fully glazed and the
lation systems that would be put in place in the early 1950s. The circulation core appears as a blind wall. The front façade is the
bas-relief “El Tiempo” (Time), located in the lobby, was but one most iconic and reflects the interaction of the public with the
of the magnificent details of art-deco sculpture and decoration street. Above the shops and the garage entrance, the second
that made the building one of the most modern and luxurious floor, used for a cafeteria, offices, and the auditorium, express-
in the city. It was a harbinger of the uniquely Latin American es itself on the street in continuous rows of closely spaced
synthesis of the arts that would embroider the façades and in- concrete louvers whose size contrasts with the grid covering
teriors of most new buildings in the “American” Havana. the towers. On the third floor, the roof of the auditorium func-
tions as an outdoor patio which connects to the front façade
North and South and mutates into a public terrace overlooking the activity of the
The first high-rise building, the Edificio del Retiro Odontólogico street below.17
(1951–1953, Dental Building) resulted from an open competi- In 1955, Antonio Quintana Simonetti and Rubio and Pérez
tion, whose first prize was awarded to the team of architects Beato won another important competition for the headquarters
Antonio Quintana Simonetti, Beale, Rubio and Pérez Beato.16 To of the Cuban Colegio de Médicos and offices of the Seguro
articulate the complex program that included the new head- Médico (National Medical Association and Medical Insurance
quarters of the College of Dentists, an underground garage, Company, ill. also p. 144, 208), one block down from the Radio-
shops, and a 200-person salón de actos (assembly hall), the centro, along 23rd Avenue.18 In light of the elevated cost of the
architects opted to deconstruct the overall project into a series land, the building was to include housing to make the project
of elements which would clearly express their function, from feasible. Built from 1955 to 1958, it consists of two superim-
the most public to the most private. As completed, the building posed volumes. First, a large horizontal box, with five floors of
3 The Modern City: Housing, Civic Infrastructure, and Representation 143
144

height facing La Rampa and six floors on Calle L, established façades on the northern side, including the podium of offices
the relation to the street by respecting the urban alignments. and the apartments above, Quintana and his partners respond-
Second, a thin housing slab, seventeen floors high, seemingly ed on the western façade with a honeycomb of concrete brise-
floats on a set of pilotis at the level of the roof. As discussed
19
soleils, oriented vertically and 1.5 meter deep with a glass wall
in the journal Arquitectura, a comparison with the Lever House behind. On the same façade, the surprising interruption of the
in New York City (1951–1953) is not inappropriate. To be sure, brise-soleils exposes the setback transparent wall of the second
the two buildings occupied a similar urban condition with an floor salón de actos and the terrace-patio that seems to break
interior patio, albeit quite small in the Cuban case. The Lever the limits between interior and exterior. Likewise, the marquise
House accentuated transparency and the diagonal understand- in the form of an airplane wing that cantilevers on both sides of
ing of the street intersection; the Seguro resolved the corner in the glass doors marks the entrance. The elegant proportions of
the urban tradition of the Vedado, but the height of its base the vestibule, accentuated by the spectacular open staircase,
made it more contextual with the overall context. Overall, the make it one of the most Miesian spaces in Havana.
main difference resided in the Seguro’s response to the cli- According to Philip Goodwin, curator and editor of Brazil
mate, in contrast with the closed, all-glass appearance of the Builds: Old and New, an important exhibition held at MoMA in
Lever House. To the south, the architects left the backside of 1943, Brazil’s most original contribution to modern architecture
the housing tower as a mostly blank façade, marked by the was “the control of heat and glare on glass surfaces by means
linear expression of the structure and perforated by concrete of external blinds.”20 The main Brazilian contribution to modern
panels to illuminate the circulation spaces. To the mostly glazed architecture—and its supreme achievement in the Ministry of
3 The Modern City: Housing, Civic Infrastructure, and Representation 145

Quintana, Rubio, and Pérez Beato. Fictive streetscape, pages from the book
Seguro Médico Building, Vedado by Henry-Russell Hitchcock, Latin
(1955–1958), view of the lobby with American Architecture since 1945 (1955).
ceramic-tile mural by Wifredo Lam. The Havana buildings are second and
third from the left.

Education by Lúcio Costa, Oscar Niemeyer, Jorge Moreira, et light—a “decomposed” light which is the result of a “filtered”
al.—was to cover the sun-exposed façade with a grid of hori- transparency. That quality interested Cuban architects who
zontal louvers, thus making tangible what was only a sketch were familiar with vitrales and other tinted-glass elements that
originally drawn by Le Corbusier. As Daniel Barber has argued, tamed, colored, and split the light in a uniquely Caribbean man-
the screens, persianas, and other moucharabieh that the Swiss ner. Ten years later at MoMA again, Henry-Russell Hitchcock
architect encountered in Spain, Northern Africa, and eventually curated the follow-up exhibition Latin American Architecture
in Brazil were the real inspiration :
21
since 1945. As Barry Bergdoll recalls, the catalogue included two
double-pages of “fictive streetscapes,” assembling buildings
The brise-soleil was a “vernacular” object insofar that it fol- from all around Latin America whose façades proudly respond-
lowed on the use of overhangs and other methods of shad- ed to their unique climatic context.23 Two Cuban buildings ap-
ing in folk or so-called primitive architectures—including, peared in the collage: Antonio Quintana’s Retiro Odontoló­gico
significantly, the pre-modern architecture of Brazil… it was and the office building Edificio Misiones (Gustavo Moreno López,
“found” by Le Corbusier in Brazil and in other regions pe- 1951–1952, ill. p.  147), featuring a section of the façade covered
ripheral to the western European discourse as a “native” with a vertical lattice of wood louvers in the center of Old Ha-
response to the twentieth-century problem of building mul- vana. Also in the colonial center, the Banco Pedroso (Víctor Mo-
ti-story concrete structures with glazed façades. 22
rales, 1954, ill. p.  146, 260), similarly exhibited a bold display­of
vertical brise-soleils. Additionally, Hitchcock published the plans
Beyond the functional role of the devices, Le Corbusier might and descriptions of Max Borges’s Cabaret Tropicana (1952) and
have been attracted by a certain quality of Mediterranean Aquiles Capablanca’s Tribunal de Cuentas (1952–1954).24
146

A great deal has been written, and continues to be written,

about the “North Americanization” of Havana and the problem-
atic role of tourism. To be sure, these arguments were irrefuta-
ble, as Cuban political and business spheres were increasingly
willing to embrace North American intervention—for instance
that of the Mafia—and meddling in the affairs of the country.
Urbanistically, the Americanization of Havana was an obvious
reality—with the high-rise buildings and hotels surging along
the wide and gridded streets of the Vedado, as well as the sub-
urban single-family districts that were expanding chaotically on
the city edges. In particular, for many architects and intellectu-
als, the rising attraction of Miami was seen as a dangerous in-
fluence, both architecturally and urbanistically.25 Yet, overall,
the professional press of the period did not exhibit a high level
of disapproval, even though the pressure to embark on serious
planning escalated in the 1950s.26 It is after the revolution that
the disparaging focus on the dominance of North American cul-
ture, architecture, and urbanism became predominant. Histori-
ans from various backgrounds have continued to argue that
Cuban architecture in the 1950s was dominated by North
American models. This vision, unfortunately still current, ig-
nores the influence from the South and, in particular, the evo-
lution of important Latin American cityscapes and streets. In-
deed, modern commercial structures and high-rise buildings
had started to rise in Mexico City, Buenos Aires, Caracas, and
Rio de Janeiro years before they appeared in Havana. In Latin
Víctor Morales. Banco Pedroso, Old Havana
American Architecture since 1945, Hitchcock reflected that (1954), exterior view.
“the quality of current Latin American building exceeds our
own, the appearance there of predominantly ‘modern’ cities Gustavo Moreno López. Edificio Misiones,
gives us the opportunity to observe effects, which we our- Old Havana (1951–1952), exterior view. Note
selves still only anticipate.”27 Tall buildings and public structures that the wooden louvers covering the three
wide bays at the left edge of the building are
by Lúcio Costa, Oscar Niemeyer, Luis Barragán, Henry Klumb,
missing.
Juan O’Gorman, Félix Candela, Mario Pani, and many others
demonstrated the virtues of a modernism strongly mediated,
or “cannibalized,” to reflect their national identities, contexts,
geographies, and climatic conditions. The same was happening
in Havana, and thus we can argue that Havana was being
“South Americanized,” at least in terms of the architectural im-
age projected by the louvers and other persiana devices that
shielded the glazed façades.
Nevertheless, reducing the substance of modern Latin
American—and Cuban—architecture to the clever and archi-
tectonic use of environmental devices would be a reductionist
view. The invention in Latin American architecture, and in Cuba
as well, was also plastic and typological. The plasticity of
concrete will be discussed in Chapter 4, but for housing, Le
Corbusier and European rationalism were the major references,
3 The Modern City: Housing, Civic Infrastructure, and Representation 147
148

Quintana, Rubio and Pérez Beato. Apartment

building for Enriqueta Fernández, Vedado
(1951–1953), exterior view and plans of duplex
apartments. The pilotis are now occupied by
retail stores and other uses.

inducing a typological richness of circulation, apartment distri- tionalist structure, beautifully proportioned, and whose open
bution, and natural ventilation that was basically unknown in ground floor and mezzanine (unfortunately closed with shops
the United States. Hence, if the high-rise expression was un- today) suggests tropical transparencies. Located at the back,
doubtedly American, both the architecture, particularly the the vertical circulation appears as an autonomous tower-like
skin, and the typology were referring exclusively to the expres- volume topped by machinery and a water tank The horizontal
sions of European and Latin American modernism. circulation galleries unveil the surrounding panorama.
Going back to the housing works realized by Antonio Quin- Likewise, the composition of the floor plans of the Seguro
tana Simonetti and his partners allows us to elucidate the typo- building, particularly that of the terrace floor, relied on a rigor-
logical innovation that he led in Cuba along with Martín ous, quasi-Miesian grid of 9.4 by 9.4 meter. On each floor, Quin-
Domínguez, Mario Romañach, and others. Between 1951–1953, tana managed to place three two-bedroom apartments and
Quintana experimented in the Vedado with the apartment another with one bedroom, all cross-ventilated, with their
building for Enriqueta Fernández (1951–1953). The prismatic rooms facing north. The circulation corridors at the back were
structure, containing twelve duplex apartments and a rooftop designed to be open-air, and enclosed by perforated panels,
penthouse, appears as a large box supported by and cantile- but the staircase and elevators open on a vertiginous vertical
vered from four massive piers. The structural grid of concrete courtyard that provides unique views of the building within the
walls frames the duplex apartments and refers back to the con- city. By alternating the disposition of the separation walls, he
cept of the immeuble-villa by Le Corbusier. It is a strict func-
28
obtained the shifting arrangement of the projecting balconies
3 The Modern City: Housing, Civic Infrastructure, and Representation 149

Antonio Santana. Olan Tower, Vedado

(1956), angle façade with the Malecón.

Antonio Santana. Olan Tower, Vedado

(1956), lower level and typical floor plan with
four small apartments.

and recessed terraces that made the main façade particularly the last vertical structural wall on each side extends beyond
iconic. Equally bold was the way the architects cantilevered the the façade to align with the projecting balconies.30 At both ends
edges of the slabs to make the tower seem lighter and the as- of the floor slab, one additional module containing a bedroom
semblage of volumes more fluid. Here again, “without doubt, and a bathroom cantilevers out beyond the last structural wall
Antonio Quintana was able to generate multiple spatial mo- in the same manner as at the Seguro, thus making explicit the
ments that give rise to a multiplicity of systems to solve the non-alignment of architectonic composition and structure. In
formal and climatic demands of the building.” 29
summary, it is this intense relation between structure, form,
For the Edificio Rafael Salas, located at Calle G and Calle 25 and urban condition that characterizes the intellectual quality
(1955–1958), the same team of architects designed a modernist of Antonio Quintana’s works.
vertical slab with eighteen typical floors and one penthouse Built on a triangular lot facing the Malecón and directly ad-
level. Like at the Seguro, the building deploys a modular struc- jacent to the American Embassy, the Olan Tower (1956) by ar-
tural system of four vertical concrete walls, of 9.9 meter—con- chitect Antonio Santana is undoubtedly one of the most iconic
sisting of three-room modules of 3.3 meter each—10.7 meter of Havana’s mid-rise towers. More traditional than many of its
in depth. To increase the plasticity of the otherwise flat volume, peers in terms of composition and distribution, it stands out for
150

Domínguez, Gómez-Sampera, Diaz, Domínguez, Gómez-Sampera, Diaz, Domínguez, Gómez-Sampera, Diaz,

and Bestard. Edificio FOCSA, Vedado and Bestard. Edificio FOCSA, Vedado and Bestard. Edificio FOCSA, Vedado
(1953–1956), view from the back in (1953–1956), view looking up at the front (1953–1956), plan and section.
direction of the bay. façade.

the dynamics of its façade made up of continuous balconies

that bend as pins around the corner. In a powerful response to
the low-rise context, the ten stories of the tower step down to
four to match the existing structures at both of its extremities.31
Ultimately, it is the Edificio FOCSA, designed by Domínguez,
Gómez-Sampera, Mercedes Díaz, and the engineer Bartolomé
Bestard, that most symbolized the transformation of the city.32
The apartment tower, planned for the emerging middle-class of
the 1950s and in particular the employees of the radio and tel-
evision station CMQ, was intended to be located across from
the Radiocentro—on the very site where the Havana Hilton was
eventually built—but delays in vacating the property pushed
the developer to a nearby site closer to the seafront. Built from
1953 to 1956, the building occupies an entire city block and was
conceived as a vertical “city within a city.” The base occupies
the whole block—ranging from two to three floors in height due
to the sloping terrain—and houses collective rooms, shops,
television services, two floors of underground parking, and an
extent roof terrace with community rooms, playgrounds, and
swimming pools. At ground level, the building plinth aligned
scrupulously with the street edges, thus maintaining the conti-
nuity and the commercial attractiveness of the area. The
3 The Modern City: Housing, Civic Infrastructure, and Representation 151
152

Y-shaped structure, often described as a libro abierto (open

book), not only provided views of the Bay of Havana and the
Malecón, but was also permeable to the sea breezes, while
offering maximum resistance to the vortex winds of hurricanes.
Its thirty-nine floors hosted thirteen two- and three-bedroom
apartments per floor, and a restaurant at the top of the central
tower. Here again, from a typological point of view, the FOCSA
was not a North American building, but rather a South Ameri-
can one, whose main inspiration came from Le Corbusier and
modern buildings in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo.
Whereas the front façade, facing the sea, was relatively
monotonous by Havana standards—all floors having the same
balconies and the same height—it was the back façade that
revealed the system of distribution and provided for its modern
plasticity. The horizontal slabs extend through the back walls of
the apartments to form the support of the corridors—or galler-
ies—on the exterior. Those circulation galleries are grouped
three by three and separated by one horizontal void. The corri-
dors are detached vertically by 70 centimeters to provide a
continuous space for apartment ventilation and views to the
west. Each group of galleries consists of two private corridors
separated by a service one for staff and deliveries. All units are
accessed from the galleries—from each apartment, the exit
stair goes up to the tenant corridor and down to the service
corridor—in a clever typological strategy that reinforces the
impression that the apartments were conceived as attached
villas in the sky.
In his 1969 book Diez años de arquitectura en Cuba revolu-
cionaria, Roberto Segre discussed the housing and hotel tow-
ers that had broken up the traditionally horizontal skyline of the
city and, to some extent, had replaced the traditional public
space de la calle (of the street) with internalized spaces. As he
wrote:

The FOCSA was the first example in Havana of the ‘city

within the city’, an island of bourgeois habitat, self-suffi-
cient and equipped with all the social services. The isolation
of the subject in the big mansions of the twenties morphed
into a collective isolation which avoids the urban grid as the
frame of everyday life: the antagonist contradictions were
about to explode and the bourgeoisie found refuge in its
own habitat.33

Tropical Infills and Lot-Based Modernity

In spite of the new high-rise buildings that rose out of the urban
fabric and increasingly privatized its skyline, Havana remained
first and foremost a horizontal city. The dominant reality of the
3 The Modern City: Housing, Civic Infrastructure, and Representation 153

city fabric—the Vedado included—consisted of small-scale

buildings on narrow lots, often mixed-use, and with shops at
most street corners. These gave to Havana its unique skyline, its
human scale, and the dynamic rhythm of its urban texture. In
Manuel Copado. Solimar apartment contrast with the most spectacular structures that occupied
building, Central Havana (1944), street
assembled parcels and sometimes entire blocks (see the Ha-
view.
vana Hilton and the FOCSA as major examples), modernity pen-
etrated deeper and more discreetly across the entire urban
Emilio de Soto. Santeiro apartment
building, Vedado (1937), interior court. fabric, from Central Havana to the Vedado and the more casual
environment of Miramar and Playa. A large number of high-qual-

Emilio de Soto. Santeiro apartment ity infill apartment buildings were built in the 1940s and 1950s
building, Vedado (1937), street view. that contributed to developing the city’s unique modern identi-
To the right is Antonio Quintana ty, increasing its density while maintaining the continuity of its
Simonetti’s Edificio Salas (1955–1958).
streets and urban fabric. Various expressions of concrete con-
struction appeared in the urban landscape, from the rigorously
rational designs of Mario Romañach to the more baroque vision
of Max Borges Recio. All of them responded to the climate with
various devices such as louvers, persianas, and cantilevered
154
3 The Modern City: Housing, Civic Infrastructure, and Representation 155

balconies. Likewise, they were all respectful of the street activ-

ity. Even when they needed to integrate parking, they did so in
a manner that did not impede the continuity of urban life.
The first modern apartment buildings to appear in Havana
were the Edificio Santeiro and the Solimar. Facing the Avenida
de los Presidentes in El Vedado and now adjacent to Quintana’s
Max Borges Recio. Anter apartment Edificio Rafael Salas, the Santeiro (Emilio de Soto, 1937, ill. p. 152,
building, Vedado (1954), street view.
153) was organized around a large courtyard—a relatively rare
type in modern Havana—which gave access to five staircases
Max Borges Recio. Anter apartment
and ten generous cross-ventilated apartments per floor.34 Com-
building, Vedado (1954), ground floor
bining rationalism and the streamline moderne style, the build-
entrance.
ing is unique for its deep recessed balconies and its solid hori-

Arroyo and Menéndez. Apartment zontality. The entrance to the courtyard is treated like a canyon.
building for Berta García, Central Havana The dramatic cut in the façade reveals the vertical accents of
(1944), street view. the staircase that terminates the entrance axis. Built along Calle
Soledad between San Lázaro and Ánimas, amidst the dense
and eclectic fabric of Central Havana, the Solimar (Manuel Co-
pado, 1944, ill. p. 152) deployed its sinuous sequence of curved
and deep balconies, that provide outdoor access to the apart-
156

Max Borges Recio. Partagás

building, Vedado (1954), view at the
street section. The neo-classical cigar
factory is visible to the left and
continues as the lower floors of the
Partagás.

Max Borges Recio. Apartment building

for Ildefonsa Someillán, Central Havana
(1950), street view.
ments on each floor.35 The “waving” image of the balconies that
dynamically link the two street intersections was undoubtedly Mario Romañach. Bienes & Bonos
apartments, Vedado (1956–1958),
iconic, but urbanistically insensitive as it interrupted the com-
street view.
mercial street front along San Lázaro. In contrast, an example of
early modernist housing structures that enriched the urban grid
were Arroyo and Menéndez’s apartment buildings for Berta
García (ill. p. 154) in Central Havana (1944) and for Enrique
Menéndez in the Vedado (1950). The Berta García’s structure
consists of two parallel bars, perpendicular to the street, each
3 The Modern City: Housing, Civic Infrastructure, and Representation 157
158

Mario Romañach and Silverio Bosch.

Apartment building of Oswaldo Pardo,
Querejeta (1954), main façade and section
through the staircase.

Mario Romañach. Apartment building

for Evangelina Aristigueta de Vidaña,
Miramar (1956), angle view.

Mario Romañach. Apartment building

for Evangelina Aristigueta de Vidaña,
Miramar (1956), perspective view of the
back façade and floor plan.

one stacking three duplex apartments. Seen from the street, On a similarly narrow lot in the Vedado, Borges designed
they appear as small towers. They are connected by a court- the Edificio Anter (ill. p. 154, 155) in 1954. There again he used
yard and by a screen-like assemblage of columns and beams deep balconies to create an abstract and beautifully propor-
that open onto the interior garden. tioned composition of walls and projected voids. The Someillán
The unquestionable master of the “baroque concrete” aes- had a simple shop on the ground floor; at the Anter, a dou-
thetics was Max Borges Recio. The graduate from Georgia Tech ble-height exterior corridor brought the residents and visitors to
and Harvard University designed a series of spectacular apart- the middle of the lot, along pilotis on one side and a long stone
ment buildings that dismantled the modernist concept of the wall on the other, with the glazed enclosures of a workshop also
flat façade into a dynamic and idiosyncratic game of blind accessible from half a floor down from the street. With his
planes, voids, and shadows. Inserted into the tight fabric of San brother Enrique, Max Borges also designed the Partagás apart-
Lázaro, the Edificio for Ildefonsa Someillán (1950, ill. p. 156) pro- ments (1954, ill. p. 156) on a flat-iron-shaped site in the Vedado,
jects its deep trapezoidal balconies, flanking two apartments next to the cemetery. The lower levels of the mixed-use building
per floor, which alternate diagonally on every floor and are sep- connected to the adjacent cigar factory and replaced a former
arated by wooden persianas that seem to float as curtains in warehouse. On top, the Borges brothers developed an ingen-
front of the façade. ious assemblage of apartments, with dramatically projecting
3 The Modern City: Housing, Civic Infrastructure, and Representation 159
160

Mario Romañach. Apartment building Mario Romañach. Apartment Building Mario Romañach. Apartment building
for Evangelina Aristigueta de Vidaña, for Evangelina Aristigueta de Vidaña, for Evangelina Aristigueta de Vidaña,
Miramar (1956), perspective view. Miramar (1956), entrance to an apartment, Miramar (1956), central stairwell.
with screens toward the main staircase.

balconies and wooden louvers that create a powerful expres-

sion of tropical modernism.36
Mario Romañach’s multi-family buildings were other land-
marks of Cuban modernism. The Bienes & Bonos Apartments
(ill. p. 157) occupies a deep and narrow lot on the edge of the
Vedado, at the back of the Castillo del Príncipe. Like Borges,
Romañach designed a very plastic front façade, but here quite
opaque to the western sun. It is an elaborate composition de-
veloped on two parallel planes: the first is recessed and con-
tains both small vertical windows and long horizontal ones
placed at the level of the ceiling above the closet-like bow-win-
dows that cantilever out; the second one is formed by the ver-
tical alignment of the projecting bow-windows and frames. The
entrance takes place in the middle of the alleyway, to the right
of the ramp that leads to the semi-underground garage. The
staircase services three split-level floors, each with two apart-
ments placed back-to-back and organized on a regular post
and beam concrete structure. Behind the front façade, the
apartments are spatially inventive, using recessed sections,
cantilevered rooms and closets, jalousies, and perforated ce-
ramic blocks to create complex spaces, enhanced by sophisti-
cated lighting and natural ventilation.
3 The Modern City: Housing, Civic Infrastructure, and Representation 161

Frank Martínez Justíz. Apartment building Frank Martínez Justíz. Apartment

for Indalecio Pertierra, Miramar (1952), building for Indalecio Pertierra, Miramar
ground floor and typical floor plan. (1952), street view.
162
3 The Modern City: Housing, Civic Infrastructure, and Representation 163

Humberto Alonso. Reynaldo Cué

building, Querejeta (1958), street view.

Humberto Alonso. Reynaldo Cué

building, Querejeta (1958), open stairwell.

Humberto Alonso. Reynaldo Cué

building, Querejeta (1958), interior.
164

Emilio Fernández. Estrada Palma

apartment building, El Cerro (late 1950s),
street view and plan.

Two years earlier, with his partner Bosch, Romañach con- The four-story Edificio for Evangelina Aristigueta de Vidaña
ceived another spatially rich and compact two-apartment (ill. p. 159, 160, 276) in Miramar (1956) was probably the most
structure for Oswaldo Pardo (ill. p. 158) and his family.37 Located accomplished and personal of Romañach’s oeuvre, here work-
on a small parcel in Querejeta, the red-brick building, with its ing without Bosch. Contrary to most apartment buildings of the
cedar wood and concrete structure expressively exposed con- period, the Edificio Vidaña is totally introverted and does not
sists of two volumes interconnected by two small patios. Locat- display any open balconies or terraces. Here, the tropical meets
ed between the patios, a double stair system—one public stair- the Mediterranean. In each of the two apartments per floor,
case for both apartments accessed through the covered garage, separated by the north-south circulation axis, Romañach un-
and one private—gives access to both split-level apartments. veils his mastery of the “modern poché,” both in the functional
The lower unit connects to the garden and patio, with its bed- organization of the interior, but even more so in the materiali-
rooms on top of the garage. The top unit is inverted in section, ty—both structure and skin—of the moucharabieh that acti-
with the bedrooms half a level lower than the living room, itself vate the four façades.38 As a result, their very composition is an
connected to a spectacular roof terrace. Here, Romañach con- absolute tour de force that requires a precise and patient anal-
nects the levels visually in an open plan manner that owes a lot ysis. On all façades but the northern one, Romañach plays a
to Adolf Loos, realizing a series of transparency effects that are game with the thickness of the horizontal bands of concrete,
all but accentuated by the dematerialization of the wooden the lightness of the wooden moucharabieh—those are made
staircase that seems to float within a covered garden. of wooden lattice within which he sometimes puts a small win-
3 The Modern City: Housing, Civic Infrastructure, and Representation 165

Emilio Fernández. González apartment

building, Güira de Melena (late 1950s),
side view.

Emilio Fernández, González apartment

building, Güira de Melena (late 1950s), dow—, the large perforated ceramic planes that ventilate the
detail of interior screens and brick walls. service areas, and the hybrid concrete balconies that combine
windows and louvers. Moreover, he shifts the position of all
devices on the second floor. The northern façade—which also
includes an apartment on the ground floor—is plastically differ-
ent as he pushes the brick walls out and frames them by can-
tilevering the concrete slabs, here reduced to the expression of
their exact thickness.39 Like Le Corbusier, it is this metaphysical
interpretation of the Mediterranean concept of intimate light
that Romañach expresses beautifully here, a strategy that re-
minds us of Lúcio Costa’s apartments around the Parque Guin-
le in Rio de Janeiro (1948–1956).40 The building does not have a
courtyard, but the spectacular staircase functions as one. In a
nod to Adolf Loos and the open plan, the apartments open to
the staircase with a screened interior bay-window that not only
permits discreet control of the building’s circulation, but also
creates a spatially powerful cross-axis between the two apart-
ments.
Other interesting apartment buildings were built in the
same area. Frank Martínez Justíz displayed his rationalist mas-
tery with the Edificio for Indalecio Pertierra (Miramar, 1952, ill. p.
161), also known as the Casa de los ocho hermanos (House of
166
3 The Modern City: Housing, Civic Infrastructure, and Representation 167

the eight siblings).41 The eight apartments are organized as a which recalls Carlo Scarpa’s combination of planes and mate-
tri-dimensional U-shaped complex around a pool and a garden. rials at the Olivetti store in Venice.43
Occupying the first two floors are a long wing along the street Aesthetically different but of great interest are a pair of
with a ten-car garage (now transformed), and a long apartment two-story buildings designed by Emilio Fernández. The first
on top. To the left is one two-story duplex, and to the right one, on Estrada Palma (ill. p. 164), was a bold structuralist inser-
Martínez superimposed two apartments, square in plan around tion within the old neighborhood of Jesús del Monte in the area
a central patio. On the third and fourth floors, these two struc- known as El Cerro.44 The design was based on a regular pris-
tures become long arms containing the four other apartments, matic module placed at forty-five degrees, thus creating polyg-
with a third-floor terrace on top of the street wing. In doing so, onal rooms with windows located in the angles “to integrate
the architect created a powerful intersection and assemblage of interior and exterior” in what the architect called “the integral
volumes and breezeways that unite all the families together. Al- space.”45 On the upper floor, each exterior bay was finished
though he also used louvers and screening devices, Martínez’s with polyhedron-shaped eaves, looking for light and producing
language was closer to international modernism with long hori- shade on the windows while protecting them from the inclem-
zontal windows, wide cantilevered balconies, and galleries. As ency of the weather. The front of the building contains the stair-
Gómez Díaz emphasized, the functional and tri-dimensional case and an open terrace, hiding behind a large-scale screen,
complexity was articulated with galleries, terraces, and other here structural, made of red bricks and concrete blocks. In con-
visual transparencies that guaranteed cross-ventilation and trast, the Güira de Melena apartment building (ill. p. 165) was a
plenty of shaded areas: simpler structure entirely screened by perforated brick panels,
wooden louvers, and panes of glass under the eaves. It is con-
The wide eaves, the carpentry of louvers, floor to ceiling tained behind a grid of concrete columns that support a series
with a runner system that allows their practical conceal- of slightly inclined and inverted roofs.46
ment—making the already delimited space even more fluid, In 1953, Carlos Artaud also produced a novel design for an
the continuous visual relations between the exterior and apartment building in the Vedado, on 17th Street and the corner
the interior patio through the discontinuities of the open of 2nd Avenue, his only project to be published in Arquitectura. 47
spaces, finally, the clarity of the volumes that form the Conceived as a courtyard building in the shape of a great “U,”
building, all speak of the mastery of an architect who, al- the building contains separate elevators and stairwells dividing
ready from the beginning of his professional career, han- the whole into two volumes. The apartments are notable in that
dled with ease the springs of the modern movement. 42
they contain double-height units at the corners, giving the inte-
rior living spaces unusual height and breadth. Additionally, both
deep-set and projecting balconies, light wells, and a plant-filled
open terrace on the ground floor make the complex seem ex-
Antonio Boada. Edificio Almar, Alturas
de Miramar (1953), street view. tremely transparent and modern.
Last but not least, Antonio Boada designed the Edificio Al-
mar (1953) on a site facing the Almendares River, in the lush
and exclusive area of Alturas de Miramar. Boada took his inspi-
Humberto Alonso manifested his structuralist talents in the de- ration from the old houses of Varadero, traditionally surround-
sign of the Edificio Reynaldo Cué (1958, Querejeta, ill. p. 162, ed by porticoes on all sides. He emulated the concept in devel-
163). With its shifted concrete balconies jutting out randomly, oping the six floors of apartments as stacked tropical houses,
wooden louvers and infill panels, the narrow structure partially two per floor, with deep porch-like terraces on all sides. The
elevated on pilotis resembles some of Borges’s buildings, but it building caught the attention of Bens Arrarte, who praised it
deploys idiosyncratic elements that personalize it. Alonso plays and quoted an essay of April 1935 for Social in which he had
a virtuoso—and admittedly somewhat gratuitous—game with earlier discussed the concept of the modern Cuban house and
the concrete hyperbolic paraboloids that lean over the façades the future densification of the city:
on the roof, the horizontal concrete beams in the front façades
that transform into horizontal ceiling windows on the sides, the How should the house of today be? Simple, according to
proud displays of the colored vitrales on the front, and the land- the means and resources, horizontal with terraces and bal-
ing of the open-air stairs in the middle of the ground floor, conies, prodigal in porticos and large windows … The future
168

Pedro Martínez Inclán, Antonio

Quintana Simonetti, Mario Romañach and
Jorge Mantilla. Barrio Obrero de Luyanó,
Aranguren (1944–1948), aerial view.

Pedro Martínez Inclán, Antonio

Quintana Simonetti, Mario Romañach and
Jorge Mantilla. Barrio Obrero de Luyanó,
Aranguren (1944–1948), apartment block.

will make houses on lots of other proportions and the de casas baratas (Law of affordable houses). No legislation fol-
courtyards will be transformed into large collective gardens lowed, but in 1928 President Machado sponsored the construc-
inside the blocks … Maybe one day, Havana will become a tion of the Barrio Lutgardita along the Rancho Boyeros Avenue,
huge tropical garden.48 built as a gridiron district of one hundred houses in connection
with small industries and generously equipped with an industri-
The Tortuous Path to Social Housing al school (Escuela Técnica Industrial General Alemán), a church,
In his publication La Habana Actual of 1925, Martínez Inclán de- and an exotic, Mayan-inspired theater.51
voted a critical chapter to the issue of housing, and in particular During the 1930s, articles, debates, conferences, and vari-
to the lack of economically affordable dwellings. According to ous public commissions continued to study the issue of af-
his calculation, about 35,000 new housing units—some in gar- fordable housing under the leadership of Inclán, Bay Sevilla, the
den-city like settings, and others in small-scale apartment Colegio de Arquitectos, and others.52 These activists increas-
buildings inserted within the urban grids—were necessary at ingly studied foreign experiences to support their theses and in
that time.49 In fact, the first experiment in affordable housing that context, Karl Brunner’s Manual de urbanismo, published in
emerged in Cuba early in the twentieth century, with the Bogotá in 1939 was a critical instrument of information and
1,000-house working-class district of Pogolotti (1910–1913), discussion.53 A first text for a Ley de casas baratas (Law of af-
promoted by the streetcar entrepreneur Dino Pogolotti but built fordable houses) was proposed by Bay Sevilla in 1939, but it is
with the direct support of the state under President Miguel only in November 1947 that a law—unsatisfactory for many—
Gómez.50 However, due to the low quality of construction, the was passed. Meanwhile, during the moderately progressive
absence of infrastructure, and the unscrupulous use of public presidencies of Grau San Martín and Carlos Prío, the economic
financing, it was considered a failure not to be repeated. In con- boom induced by World War II financed the most ambitious pro-
trast, Inclán advocated the potential of private or mixed coop- gram of public works since Machado, but social housing was
eratives to be supported by the state within the context of a Ley not really on the agenda. Notwithstanding, the government
3 The Modern City: Housing, Civic Infrastructure, and Representation 169
170

Ernesto Gómez-Sampera and Martín

Domínguez. Workers’ district of the
Commercial Employees’ Pension Fund,
Guanabacoa (completed in 1959),
aerial view.

Fernando Salinas, Mario González,

Hugo D’Acosta, Mercedes Álvarez,
Reinaldo Estévez, et al. Unidad Vecinal
(Neighborhood Unit), East Havana (1960),
group of social-housing buildings and
model (INAV, National Institute of Savings
and Housing).

promoted the construction, from 1944 to 1948, of the Barrio Cuba, contrary to Brazil, Argentina, or Mexico, never put in
Obrero de Luyanó (Luyanó Workers’ Residential Neighborhood, place any significant program of socially oriented collective
ill. p. 168, 169), located in the Aranguren district to the south of housing such as those that were implemented by Mario Pani in
the bay. Architects Pedro Martínez Inclán, Antonio Quintana Mexico City, Affonso Reidy in Rio de Janeiro, and Carlos Raúl
Simonetti, Mario Romañach, and Jorge Mantilla worked togeth- Villanueva in Caracas.56 As in the United States, the overall be-
er to create an image of modernity, both in planning and in lief was that housing was the responsibility of the private sec-
housing. The masterplan, based upon the concept of the neigh- tor, which could be enticed to produce suburban low-cost
borhood unit, consisted of 1,500 modest single-family houses, houses to insert within the existing fabric of the city and its
eight blocks of four-story parallel slabs of apartments placed as suburbs. In 1947, the Colegio de Arquitectos held a competi-
buffers along the heavily-trafficked Via Blanca, and civic func- tion—Concurso para casas económicas—which resulted in
tions such as a market, schools, athletic compounds, and an two winning entries from the partnerships of Luis Echeverría
elderly center. 54
The urban design combined elements of the and Ernesto Gómez-Sampera, and Antonio Quintana and
garden city with modernist solutions dear to the Charter of Ath- Alberto­ Beale.57
ens, thus creating a hybrid yet overall inconsistent form. The From 1957 to 1959 under Batista, a vast single-family hous-
houses were suburban white boxes, without any outdoor spac- ing project for the Fondo de Pensiones de Empleados de Com-
es or screening devices, even though they were adequately ercio (Commercial Employees’ Pension Fund)—the last low-in-
ventilated. They were built along wide and not very well-de- come housing project carried out before the revolution—was
fined streets. Most significant were the concrete slab buildings built in the district of Guanabacoa, under the direction of
that resembled the architecture of the early modern move- Gómez-Sampera and Martín Domínguez. As early as 1954, in
ment, both formally and stylistically. The blinds, deep circula- order to lower costs and make new houses more affordable to
tion galleries, and towers of vertical circulation gave them a the working classes, the architects had experimented with the
unique baroque-expressionist appearance. 55
The slabs were full prefabrication of walls and roofs.58 Here, they abandoned
isolated and disengaged from the plan, but all public structures the concept of industrialization and settled for standardized in-
were located in small parks, where the growth of the landscape fill elements such as doors and window frames. The cubic hous-
corrected the impression of emptiness over time. es were made of basic prefabricated elements, conceived to
3 The Modern City: Housing, Civic Infrastructure, and Representation 171
172
3 The Modern City: Housing, Civic Infrastructure, and Representation 173

Domínguez, Gómez-Sampera and

Seinuk. Apartment building of the
Barbers’ Union Pension Fund (1958–
1959), entrance façade and floor plan.

Domínguez, Gómez-Sampera and

Seinuk. Social housing project El Pontón,
at the junction of Central Havana and El
Cerro (INAV, 1959), plans and model.

accommodate ease of construction and respond to emergency ing construction industry. The first decision was to initiate plan-
conditions. Standard modular elements played a fundamental ning and construction of a “pilot” Unidad Vecinal (neighborhood
role in the formal concept of the dwellings, whose flexibility al- unit) in East Havana, with the goal of “converting the city of
lowed for future extensions and optimization in response to the privilege into the city for all.”59 It was clear that the architects
owners’ changing family needs. To be fully permeable to the were intent on developing a strong policy of social housing, and
breezes, the houses included covered porches, grill works (or that they were ready to embrace modernist concepts. As Rein-
rejas), and other sun-protecting strategies such as small patios aldo Estévez Curbelo wrote:
defined by jalousie walls. In the end, Luyanó, the rehabilitation
of the Pogolotti district, and the Guanabacoa project were the The previous project for East Havana, although it had an
only examples of public social housing planning in Havana be- urban physical level superior to the rest of the city, was the
fore the revolution of 1959. genuine expression of urban speculation alien to human
effort. All the potential wealth to the East of Havana devel-
Housing After the Revolution oped during the centuries by the community and that be-
On February 16, 1959, Fidel Castro visited the Colegio de Arqui- longs to the million and a half of Havana residents was go-
tectos. There he announced the suppression of the national ing to be taken advantage of by a few who had monopolized
lottery and its transformation into the Instituto Nacional de all the lands.60
Ahorro y Vivienda or INAV (National Institute of Savings and
Housing). The college mandated a group of architects to ur- The team of architects made up of Fernando Salinas, Mario
gently organize the new institute and reignite the already slow- González, Hugo D’Acosta, Mercedes Álvarez, Reinaldo Estévez,
174

and others, adopted the modernist principles of the neighbor- library, a health center, and a theater space, among others
hood unit established by Albini in the masterplan designed sev- functions. Typologically and functionally, the Unidad Vecinal dis-
eral years earlier.61 The proposed Unidad Vecinal (ill. p. 171) was avowed the technocratic and rigid tenets of CIAM housing, but
isolated from the major arteries and from the beach itself by a stayed away from the concept of the cuadra as José Luis Sert
ring of perimeter avenues. Conceived as a super-block, it used and Mario Romañach had proposed in the Plan Piloto. It reject-
the cul-de-sac streets to separate pedestrian and automobile ed the housing bars, and promoted a more humane type of
traffic. However, there were major changes. Albini’s plan relied urbanism with winding streets, changing perspectives, and a
on low-rise buildings and on single-family houses to make up vernacular approach to materials. The landscape permeated
the residential neighborhoods. At the same time, it advocated the entire project, and attempted to establish specifically de-
a denser central core with high-rise residential and office build- signed public areas in contrast with the importance given to
ings, structured along a type of modernist main street. To the genuine plazas in Sert’s proposals. Here, the team of Cuban
contrary, the Unidad was designed for about 1,000 apartment architects adopted a more organic approach, analogous to the
units divided into four sectors, each organized around a chil- type of urban development that Bruno Zevi was promoting in
dren’s park and a daycare center. The apartment blocks ranged Italy for the new postwar democratic era, and was being imple-
from four to eleven floors, and were paradoxically—as can be mented in the plans of the INA-CASA institute, created after
seen in the early renderings—based upon the middle-class 1945 in Italy to provide social housing within the program of
housing units typically constructed in El Vedado. Each sector postwar reconstruction.62
had its own shops in addition to a commercial core located on Under the mandate of the INAV, low-cost housing projects
the neighborhood square which housed social services like a were developed within the city as well. For the pension fund of
3 The Modern City: Housing, Civic Infrastructure, and Representation 175

Domínguez, Gómez Sampera, and

Seinuk. Competition entry for Libertad
Building, Alamar, Habana del Este (INAV, the Barbers’ Union (ill. p. 173), Domínguez, Gómez-Sampera
1959), model. and the young engineer Ysrael Seinuk built a series of four-sto-
ry cross-ventilated apartment blocks, with deep terraces and
Domínguez, Gómez Sampera, and
tall projecting staircases supporting water towers of great
Seinuk. Competition entry for Libertad
visual impact.63 At the same time, they clearly marked the trop-
Building, Alamar, Habana del Este (INAV,
1959), plans and interior perspective. ical character of the works with perforated grill panels screen-
ing the service patios. Later the same year, Domínguez, Gómez-
Sampera, and Seinuk developed their most ambitious housing
project for the INAV. Designed for a four-block site at the junc-
176

tion of Centro Habana and El Cerro, the unbuilt development

known as El Pontón (ill. p. 173) marked a radical departure in
the potential image of social housing in the city.64 It was con-
ceived as an abstract super-block occupied by four twelve-sto-
ry slabs on pilotis, organized with limited relation to the streets
in a pinwheel plan that pivoted around a central vertical core.
From the core, three galleries, supported by stairs giving ac-
cess to the dwellings, serviced the apartments. Separated from
the façades, these galleries—or pontones—appeared like long
horizontal floating bridges or elevated streets that connected
with the staircase towers. In a bold adaptation of Le Corbusier’s
Unité d’habitation of Marseilles to the tropical site, they func-
tioned as large-scale brise-soleils, while improving the cross
ventilation of the units and protecting the privacy of the living
rooms. This distribution arrangement was an adaptation to so-
cial housing of the system developed at the FOCSA complex. A
market, a small commercial center, a laundry and workshop
structure, and an elementary school—where each classroom
had its own garden—were aligned along the street edges and
completed the program of a full-fledged neighborhood unit.
Nine months into the new regime and somewhat unex-
pectedly in light of its political objectives and the development
of the Unidad Vecinal, the INAV organized a competition for a
monumental fifty-story structure near the beach in Alamar, Ha-
bana del Este, destined to be a symbol of the technological
capacity of the revolutionary government. Domínguez, Gómez-
Sampera, and Ysrael Seinuk won the second prize (the first was
not attributed) with an innovative H-shaped scheme, named
Edificio Libertad (ill. p. 174, 175), that integrated the typological
circulation devices experimented with at FOCSA and El
Pontón.65 The race to unexplored heights was certainly prob-
lematic in terms of city vision, but the project was remarkably
clever in plan, section, and elevation. Domínguez may have
been at the root of the central circulation system, which was
pioneered in Madrid for the Casa de las Flores, designed in
1931 by Secundino Zuazo. By splitting the 200-unit structure Antonio Quintana Simonetti and
Alberto Rodríguez. Edificio Girón, Vedado
into two parallel sections, separated by a nucleus of circulation,
(1967), street view.
the project formed a highly plastic structure where every apart-
ment had two or three sides to provide natural ventilation.
Emilio de Soto. Hospital de Maternidad
From the elevator core, an ingenious system of galleries, one Obrera, Marianao (1943), street view.
on each side on every other floor, gave access to the two par-
allel towers. Detached from the façades to maintain privacy, the Manuel de Tapia-Ruano. Veterinary
galleries connected to three staircases and four apartments School, University of Havana (1943).
per floor, thus personalizing every unit within the high-rise. The
circulation core also reinforced the structural quality of the pro-
ject and its resistance to hurricane winds. Some floors consist-
ed of three-bedroom apartments, others of four and five by the
3 The Modern City: Housing, Civic Infrastructure, and Representation 177
178
3 The Modern City: Housing, Civic Infrastructure, and Representation 179

Max Borges Recio. Project for a Surgical Arroyo and Menéndez. Clinic Hogar Cristo
Medical Center (1946). Elevation, ground de Limpias, Marianao (1957), courtyard.
floor and typical floor plans.

addition of a small bedroom on the narrow sides or by shifting tectural culture. At the same time, the slums on the outskirts of
the living room to the ends of the structure. By alternating six- the city, such as the infamous Las Yaguas, were demolished
floor stacks of three-bedroom units with six floors of four-to- and their residents transferred to the new socialist housing de-
five-bedroom units, the architects created a dynamic structure, velopments. In 1963, in response to Hurricane Flora, which dev-
enlivened by volumetric setbacks and projections which helped astated the oriental provinces of the island, the Soviet Union
diminish the height and mass of the towers, while creating ef- donated a factory for heavy prefabrication which was erected
fects of light and shadows of great attraction. Rising on top of in Santiago de Cuba, and was capable of producing 1,700 hous-
9-meter-high pilotis, the fifty-floor tower rose from an organic, ing units per year. The first of the prefabricated slab-based
Niemeyer-like treatment of its ground spaces. Volumes for neighborhoods in Havana was the District José Martí, which
commercial and social uses took place under a long concrete would hold 72,000 inhabitants. Later in the early 1970s, the dis-
structure that seemed to be floating over the landscape. trict of Alamar was completed to the east of the Cojímar River,
In its twenty-seven months of action, the institute complet- for about 100,000 residents. The only concession to the tropical
ed 8,533 dwelling units, with another 1,594 in process through- setting was the design, by a team of architects led by Fernando
out the country. By the time the housing production of INAV Salinas, of a new type of semi-transparent prefabricated panels
ceased in June 1962, the projects left in development were that permitted cross ventilation within dwellings.
transferred to a new centralized agency in the Ministerio de la As intuited in Habana del Este, the anti-urban model and
Construcción, or MICONS. From that moment onward, MICONS policies followed by the regime from the mid-1960s onward,
had full control of construction on the island, replacing a long allied with the rigid norms imposed by the Ministry of Construc-
tradition of good quasi-artisanal work in favor of rigid norms, tion, was a deliberate political and ideological strategy “that
industrial monopolies, and the impoverishment of Cuba’s archi- failed, due to the lack of a connective tissue that would spatially
180
3 The Modern City: Housing, Civic Infrastructure, and Representation 181

integrate the different functions and allow a social vitality sim- formally played with the notion of the schematic grid, and the
ilar to that existing in the historic center,” as Roberto Segre ar- plastic expression of the distribution system with stairs and el-
gued.66 Needless to say, similar problems plagued many cities evated passages. Yet, as Alfredo Rivera has argued, behind
and countries around the world, but the specific Cuban situa- those signs of continuity, there was a radically different
tion and the harshness of the tropical climate accentuated the potency:
negative impact of a failed vision of modernity.67
The last high-rise building in Havana was eventually built in Rather than being a sign of tropical leisure and foreign in-
1967 on a prominent site along the Malecón, a few blocks east vestment, it is a sign of a concrete utopia, an expression of
of the Riviera Hotel, a symbol of the American-driven tourist the revolutionary ambitions to provide housing for the
market of the 1950s. The brutalist Edificio Girón (ill. p. 176), by masses. The Edificio Girón also expressed the means by
architects Antonio Quintana Simonetti and Alberto Rodríguez, which technologies of construction contributed to new ar-
consisted of two seventeen-story residential towers rising chitecture. Featuring a method of sliding molds developed
above concrete pilotis and floating over an exterior plaza. Re- on the island, the concrete panels used in the building were
petitive patterns, from the vertical concrete slabs defining the constructed in situ. The unconventional form of the build-
stairwells to the grid of concrete blocks embellishing the side ing, quite harrowing in its urban setting, shows how Cuba
façades, “help elevate the concrete behemoth to the level of was developing its own technologies of pre‑fabricated ar-
sculpture.”68 In many ways, the Edificio Girón recalled Quin- chitecture while also adopting models from a diverse set of
tana’s own high-rise buildings of the preceding decade as it nations.69

Emilio Fernández. Anti-Blindness

League, Marianao (1956–1960), exterior
view of the pilotis and screens.

   Emilio Fernández. Anti-Blindness

League, Marianao (1956–1960), site plan
and exterior view.
182

Health and Social Spaces asymmetrical structure on the upper floors, where terraces and
As mentioned earlier, the economic boom of the early 1940s cantilevered sections responded to specialized functions while
spurred the approval of a program of public works to match expressing a strong degree of plastic liberty.73
that of Machado’s regime. Propelled by the continuous advoca- Developed from 1956 to 1960 in Marianao, the Anti-Blind-
cy of Martínez Inclán, the Plan of Obras Públicas (Plan of Public ness League’s complex (ill. p. 180, 181), by Emilio Fernández,
Works) put in place during the presidency of Grau San Martín was certainly the boldest and most eccentric project of all
encompassed new roads, schools, hospitals, markets, and oth- health-related projects in Cuba.74 With his apartment buildings,
er industrial infrastructure, such as warehouses and port facil- Fernández had already shown interest in three-dimensional
ities. Among the most successful realizations, the hospitals and materiality, which he further exploited here. Located obliquely
clinics were the first to project, for the people at large and not to the street to accommodate an auditorium which was never
for remote residential locations, the modern image of architec- built, the five-story hospital slab had an entrance of X-shaped
tural clarity, functionality, and hygiene. 70 Art-deco moderne, concrete pilotis, playing a construction game of brick panels
which was popular for apartment buildings during the 1930s with a bone-like suspended structure. Construction was inter-
and 1940s, became the aesthetic of choice for small and large- rupted with the revolution, and the building never received the
scale health facilities and professional schools, both private, full sunscreens that were to be inserted between the post-ten-
religious, or public. The Escuela Veterinaria (Veterinary School, sion elements. The second building, the outpatient wing, was in
ill. p. 177) by Manuel de Tapia-Ruano in 1943, and the Escuela fact built first. A thin wave-shaped awning supported by light
Normal de Kindergarten (Kindergarden School) by José Pérez metallic tubes leads to the glass wall entrance, which connects
Benitoa in 1944 were outstanding examples of classical-mod- to an extravagant concrete ramp that runs between the pilotis
ern deco, here, spectacularly enhanced by their great porti- of the hospital slab before joining the second floor of the dis-
coes. Likewise, the Hospital Infantil Municipal (Municipal Chil- pensary. The interior combines brick work, decorative screen
dren’s Hospital), a work of Govantes and Cabarrocas in 1941, panels, and glass partitions, whose assemblage was a demon-
was an impressive and monumental structure with Mayan and stration of the architect’s concept of “integral ornamentation.”
American reminiscences. It featured two L-shaped wings con- In the end, everything was a bit excessive, perhaps baroque or
nected by a majestic central core and entrance portico, as a even rather mannerist, as Fernández described it in the pro-
direct inspiration from the great generation of North American ject’s report:
art-deco hospitals. 71

Other structures displayed a more streamline moderne— With the ‘Integral Ornamentation,’ the interior spaces of our
at times asymmetrical—version of art-deco tainted by Bauhaus early contemporary architecture are now humanized in
or Expressionist inspirations, as witnessed in the Hospital In- that it complies with one of the first psychological and cul-
fantil Antituberculoso (Children’s Anti-Tuberculosis Hospital) by tural necessities of the human being: ‘the ornamentation of
Luis Dauval in 1944 with the half-rotundas that terminate the the interior spaces.’ This was true even in the earliest and
rectangular structure, the Unidad Quirúrgica del Centro Gallego most primitive civilizations of the world.75
(Surgery wing of the Centro Gallego), designed the same year
by José A. Vila, the Clínica Miramar (Rafael de Cárdenas with In 1956, Raúl Álvarez and Henry Gutiérrez designed the Clínica
Víctor Morales, 1946), and particularly the Hospital de Materni- Antonetti in the Vedado, for which they received the Gold Med-
dad Obrera (Workers’ Maternity Hospital, ill. p. 177) in Marianao al from the College of Architects in 1960.76 Described in the
by Emilio de Soto in 1943.72 With its long, symmetrical, and con- journal Arquitectura as the most advanced design of its type to
vex façade facing a carefully laid out park, the maternity hospi- date, the building was not only efficient, but also elegant, with
tal is one of the most remarkable examples of art-deco archi- its stunning open lobby competing in design with those found
tecture in the city. It is articulated in five sections, of which the in Havana’s most celebrated hotels. Last but not least, Arroyo
most notable is the tall and abstract entrance portico sur- and Menéndez completed, in 1957, the rehabilitation facility
mounted by a female representation of motherhood. Likewise, known as Hogar Cristo de Limpias (ill. p. 179) in Marianao. They
in one of his first works, the Centro Médico Quirúrgico S.A. devised it as a long two-story bar-shaped building, almost en-
(1946, ill. p. 178), Max Borges Recio realized an architectural tirely on pilotis and complemented by perforated façade panels
tour de force by transforming the symmetrical first floors, bare- for maximum ventilation.
ly articulated by a blind volume with corner balconies, into an
3 The Modern City: Housing, Civic Infrastructure, and Representation 183

Fernando de Zárraga and Mario Luis Bonich. Cinema Rex, Central Saturnino Parajón. Teatro Fausto,
Esquiróz. Colegio Nacional de Arquitectos Havana (1938). Paseo del Prado, Havana (1938).
de Cuba, Vedado (1944–1947), street view.
184

Fernando de Zárraga and Mario

Esquiróz. Colegio Nacional de Arquitectos
de Cuba, Vedado (1944–1947), interior
lobby and ground floor plan.

Aquiles Capablanca, Hebrew Community

Building and Synagogue, Vedado (1953),
perspective view.
3 The Modern City: Housing, Civic Infrastructure, and Representation 185

On the cultural side, the Teatro Fausto (Saturnino Parajón, with a bar and salon, and two floors that house offices, a library,
1938, ill. p. 183) on the Paseo del Prado, and the Cinema Rex recreation rooms, and an auditorium. At the angled intersec-
(Luis Bonich, 1938, ill. p. 183) on Calle San Rafael were two clas- tion of Calle Humboldt and Calle Infanta, Fernando de Zárraga
sic art-deco structures whose front façades bore the weight of and Mario Esquiróz used green marble and a deep cantilevered
the design concept. 77
In 1944, the Colegio de Arquitectos (ill. slab to mark the entrance hall, the rear of which features a
also p. 183) organized a competition to redesign their Vedado large spiral staircase illuminated by natural light from glass
headquarters, a neo-classical structure built in 1926 by archi- blocks, making a fluid transition with the short wing and its
tect César Guerra.78 Inaugurated in 1947, the new college takes stacked terraces.
shape as an asymmetrical streamline moderne composition Designed by Aquiles Capablanca in the Vedado, the He-
with façades of coral stone and marble, undoubtedly one of the brew Community Building and Synagogue (1953) reads like a
most skillful buildings in the architectural history of modern collage of tri-dimensional screens that represent the different
Havana. The rectangular section consists of a semi-basement sections of the program. A ramp and deep terraces connect the
186

auditorium to the exterior; a façade made up of concrete jalou-

sies—which borrows directly from the Tribunal de Cuentas (Of-
fice of the Comptroller) that the same architect designed in the
Civic Center—shields the offices; and a freestanding pointed
arch signals the recessed entrance to the temple itself.

A Modern Corporate Image

Custom designed office buildings for architects were not com-
mon in early twentieth-century Cuba. Aside from Moenck and
Quintana who designed a Spanish Mediterranean office tower
in Old Havana in 1926, most architects practiced out of their
homes or in rental buildings. In 1950, Arroyo and Menéndez de-
signed a free-standing studio (estudio taller, ill. p. 18, 19) behind
their new house on 5th Avenue and 84th Street in Miramar.79 The
studio workshop retained the simple rectilinear proportions of
their earlier houses, but here the brick and stucco cube was
clad in concrete sun-shading louvers across the upper two
floors. A stair tower provided access to the flat roof terrace,
where the office regularly held parties and receptions for visit-
ing architects like Sert.80 The interior lobby of the building had
the aura of modern corporate design with mid-century furni-
ture. The project received a Silver Medal at the VII Pan-Ameri-
can Congress of Architects in Havana in 1950.81
Shortly thereafter, the Pujals family designed and built a
multi-purpose building on 3rd Avenue in Miramar that housed
their architecture, engineering, and construction company, and
included two rental apartments above.82 Elevated on concrete
stilts, the open ground floor contained parking spaces, a small
caretaker apartment, and a double-height staircase leading to
the office floor above. A separate flight of stairs at the back
serviced the two private apartments. The office level, clad in a
deep screen of louvers, conveyed the image of a modern, open
workspace, whereas the two upper-level residences projected
the impressions of chic and contemporary apartments with
open terraces, balconies, and overhanging eaves.
In the early 1950s, Humberto Alonso established the group
Arquitectos Unidos (United Architects), which included Osvaldo
de Tapia-Ruano, Enrique Gutiérrez, Hugo Consuegra, and oth-
ers, to debate current issues in architecture, arts, and politics.
In 1953, the group developed a speculative office building for
the College of Architects, a structure adjacent to its new head-
quarters, that blended concrete frame construction with plate-
glass windows and whose deliberate absence of sun-protec-
tion devices contrasted with the careful arrangement of the
college’s terraces and setbacks.83
Amidst the infill commercial structures of the period, the
Eusebio Viera building by Manuel and Osvaldo de Tapia-Ruano
3 The Modern City: Housing, Civic Infrastructure, and Representation 187

Pujals and Co. Multi-purpose

building, Miramar (mid-1950s),
exterior.

Manuel and Osvaldo de Tapia-

Ruano. Eusebio Viera Multi-purpose
building, Central Havana (1954).

Arquitectos Unidos. College of

Architects Office Rental Building,
Vedado (1953), exterior.
188

Mario Romañach and Silverio Bosch. Mies van der Rohe. Bacardi Headquar- Mies van der Rohe. Bacardi Headquar-
Peletería California, Central Havana ters, Santiago de Cuba (1957), interior ters, Santiago de Cuba (1957), plan.
(1951). perspective.
3 The Modern City: Housing, Civic Infrastructure, and Representation 189

(1954) mixed retail stores and apartments, clearly identifiable

behind the recessed double-height glass front and a series of
balcony-like upper floors. The Peletería California (California
shoe store), a work of 1951 by Mario Romañach with Silverio
Bosch, also located in Centro Habana on Calle Galiano, was
undoubtedly iconic.84 Behind the glass façade, the particular
significance of the peletería was the dynamic shopping experi-
ence organized as a rich architectural promenade, from front to
back and from the underground floor to the mezzanine.
From 1930, the Havana headquarters of the rum company
Bacardi, which featured its iconic bat emblem, occupied a
spectacular site within the ring of the demolished colonial
walls. The building’s art-deco architecture and ornamentation
established an early image of corporate identity in line with the
190

José Gelabert and Rosa Navia. Instituto

Cultural Cubano-Norteamericano, Havana.
The first phase consisted of a L-shaped
structure surrounding a neo-classical villa
(1956–1957).

José Gelabert and Rosa Navia. Instituto

Cultural Cubano-Norteamericano, Havana.
The first phase is the last bay to the right.
The project was completed by demolishing
the villa and adding two floors to the first
phase (1959–1960).

transition to modernism.85 It was, as Allan Shulman argued, “a young architects Raúl Álvarez and Enrique Gutiérrez to join the
symbolic shell” of a building, as the company only really re- engineering firm Sáenz-Cancio-Martín to create SACMAG, a
quired a bar and exhibition hall, both of which would be heavily corporate firm the likes of which only existed in the US.87 From
targeted toward American tourists. With the ascension to pow- that moment onward, SACMAG became the architects of re-
er of José Mario “Pepin” Bosch as Bacardi’s new chief, a posi- cord for all of Bacardi’s building initiatives including those of
tion he would hold for three decades through its international the great architects Mies van der Rohe and Félix Candela.
transformation beyond the shores of Cuba, Bacardi embarked In 1956, Bosch commissioned Mies van der Rohe to design
on a major expansion. For the first time on the island, the com- the new headquarters building (ill. p. 189) on a suburban site in
pany used architecture to reinforce the corporate identity that Santiago.88 For the chairman, the ideal office would be “one
it was striving to build on the American model. where there are no partitions, where everybody, both officers
In the 1940s in Santiago de Cuba, the birthplace and heart and employees, see each other.”89 Bosch had visited Crown
of the company, architect Enrique Luis Varela built new mod- Hall in Chicago, a structure that instantly responded to his vi-
ernist laboratories, while in the following decade, Ermina sion of a democratic corporate business, where transparency,
Odoardo and Ricardo Eguilior designed an addition to the Mat- proximity, and an apparent lack of hierarchy would help build
adero Street plant within that building’s courtyard. The façade
86
the collective spirit of energy, efficiency, and responsibility of its
was conceived as a grid-like concrete screen that carefully personnel. Mies’s project was a transparent box, whose 45.7
pulled back in order to reveal the company’s iconic tree, El meter square roof was supported by eight massive cruciform
Coco. At the same time, Bosch was instrumental in inspiring the columns in concrete, the whole sitting on top of a plinth which
3 The Modern City: Housing, Civic Infrastructure, and Representation 191

José Gelabert and Rosa Navia. Instituto

Cubano Norteamericano, Havana
(1956–1957), ground floor plan and
axonometric drawing.

contained an underground service floor. In order to control the School of Philosophy and Letters at the University of Havana
solar exposure, the glass walls were set back a truly impressive (1952), built by the construction firm of Max Borges, was a ra-
7 meters from the edge of the post-tensioned concrete roof, tionalist four-story trapezoidal structure with a pronounced
whose four corners were cantilevered outward. The whole de- south-facing façade, consisting of a deep screen with balconies
sign was Mies’s “most emphatic expression” of the materiality and entry.91 In Santiago de Cuba, Eduardo Cañas Abril and
of concrete. Unfortunately, the onset of the revolution canceled ­Nujim Nepomechie designed the Rectorado (Vice-Chancellor’s
the project, but it remains an important case study “of corpo- Office) at the Universidad de Oriente in 1956, a long rectangular
rate patronage of modern architecture in Latin America, mark- structure set on a small hill with a full-height open entry porch
ing a moment when both the image and organization of Mies’s containing ramps and walkways that connected the two sides.92
architecture helped build a reliable, mainstream international The main façade, set on pilotis, also contained large continuous
brand.” 90
window panes in horizontal bands, and metal brise-soleils.
In 1959–1960, Gelabert and Navia built the new head­
Modernizing Educational Spaces quarters of the Instituto Cultural Cubano-Norteamericano, an
Modern architecture was slow in reaching universities and ac- American institute established in Havana in 1943, which held a
ademic structures in Cuba, as they had a long-established tra- library and a series of classrooms for teaching English lan-
dition of being housed in monasteries and other monumental guage. Half raised on pilotis and organized around a central
buildings. However, by the early 1950s several new structures courtyard, the seven-floor building formed a quasi-perfect
would significantly alter that perception. Víctor Morales’s cube that, with its four different façades, brought back distant
192

Manuel Gutiérrez. Universidad Católica Manuel Gutiérrez. Universidad Católica

de Santo Tomás de Villanueva, Miramar de Santo Tomás de Villanueva, Miramar
(1959), entrance façade (detail). (1959), interior stair hall.

memories of Giuseppe Terragni’s Casa del Fascio in Como above. These in turn support the beams that brace the building,
(1933–1936). and on which the floors rest. The rhomboidal pieces of this pro-
It was on the campus of the private Universidad Católica de jecting façade protect the inner façade, 1 meter behind, against
Santo Tomás de Villanueva in Miramar, that M
­ anuel Gutiérrez rain or other atmospheric conditions. In the lobby the structure
pioneered the concept of prefabrication, which would spread is interrupted, so that the quite vertiginous space soars the
widely and ideologically after January 1959. Programmatically, entire height of the building, from the basement to the roof. The
the new electrical and engineering workshops for the universi- beams that should cross the building are literally cut, and sup-
ty necessitated large and column-free spaces. To provide am- ported by a system of braces between them and a correspond-
ple space for students to work, he decided to stack the work- ing roof-top beam. As for the staircase, it is suspended as well
shops vertically, on four floors, and create a new image for the from the upper beams.94
Mediterranean campus on a site facing the Quinta Avenida. With the advent of the revolutionary regime, the priorities
Completed in 1959, it was the first entirely prefabricated build- changed. Castro launched the project of a new university in
ing in the city.93 The system of construction was quite simple; 1960 (discussed later in this chapter) and the Villanueva Univer-
almost as simple as assembling a kit of parts. On both longitu- sity was expropriated in 1961, to be reopened later as a tech-
dinal façades, Gutiérrez placed lines of pillars on the ground nical institute. Fighting illiteracy among the poor, particularly in
level, whose pyramidal shapes support structural rhomboids the countryside, was a less glamorous task, but one that gen-
3 The Modern City: Housing, Civic Infrastructure, and Representation 193

José Gelabert and Rosa Navia. Top: El Golfo Country

Club (1956–1957). Top middle: Boomerang restaurant,
Havana (1955). This project will become the type for new
schools and markets after 1959. Bottom middle: Daycare
center (1959–1960). This type of facility will be built in
various locations after 1959. Bottom: Cultural center
(1959–1960).

José Gelabert and Rosa Navia. Daycare center

(1959–1960), model.

erated quite a lot of architectural ideas and images. In the first

months of 1959, the periodical Arquitectura set a new tone and
opened its columns to projects of rural schools such as the
assemblage of wood- and brick-constructed hexagonal class-
rooms by Matilde Ponce and Alberto Robaina.95 In the early
1960s, before their precipitous departure from the island, Ge-
labert and Navia designed a daycare center prototype, which
was eventually built in various locations outside Havana. The
entrance to the U-shaped building was an open breezeway
flanked by the kitchen and serving as an eating area with an
194
3 The Modern City: Housing, Civic Infrastructure, and Representation 195

open patio. To one side were the pre-school and play areas, primary and older sources. As the architects Bens Arrarte and
partially open-air but covered by four parallel concrete vaults; Rayneri would confirm: “[t]he profile [of St. Peter] and the vigor-
the other side contained offices and work spaces, under an ous projecting ribs of its dome have also served as inspira-
extensive flat concrete roof reinforced by long beams project- tion.”97 In the preliminary project of the architects Govantes,
ing above the slab. Another example was the Escuela Primaria Cabarrocas, Otero, and Bens Arrarte, the facets of the dome
y Círculo Infantil, built in 1963 in the Vedado by architect Rafael would have received a metallic covering of large stylized palm
Mirabal, which consisted of a series of circular classrooms as- fronds. Sadly, this idea, and foremost expression of cubanidad,
sembled around a circular theater-like plaza.96 was not implemented.98
In 1959–1960, Frank Martínez designed the prototype of a As discussed earlier, after twenty years of debates, the
circular market to be inserted into the new communities that grand Civic Center to be articulated around the Monument to
were being developed on the periphery of Havana and other Martí ended in a disappointingly large and formless green
cities. The market’s solid circular façade was punctuated by a space, entirely dedicated to automobile traffic.99 Even though
projecting entrance and service porticoes that opened in differ- the resulting urban space was inadequate, the public buildings
ent directions and were framed by sections of lattice screens that were built on its edges represented a major accomplish-
for light and ventilation. The roof was a vaulted concrete slab ment in the modernization of the administrative, cultural, and
whose undulations allowed air to circulate and which had a judicial representation of the state and its new constitution.
large cantilever toward the outside that made it very visible. Likewise, they became a prime stage set for a uniquely Latin
The association of concrete with circular forms as well as vault- American understanding of the role and integration of the arts
ed structures had been a highlight of the sophisticated leisure in modern architecture.
architecture of Max Borges and others. As can be seen in the The only structure to be located on axis with the monu-
educational works by Martínez and Gelabert and Navia, the ment, the Palacio de Justicia (Palace of Justice) dominates the
early years of the revolution embraced a simplified version of Civic Center as the horizontal counterpoint to the verticality of
this technology and architectural language to carry a social Labatut’s work. Designed by José Pérez Benitoa & Sons, it was
agenda that would provide the lower classes with new social not only the most monumental structure of the new center, but
amenities in the city and in the countryside. Rather than ex- also the point at which the wide and horizontal axial arrange-
pressing the flamboyance of upper-class leisure, the circular ment, very much like the Axe historique in Paris, derailed the
forms associated with concrete became a short-lived expres- original intentions of the urban project and established a pat-
sion of a social utopia. tern in Cuba of the urban object isolated within green spaces
and unrelated to the traditional concept of city blocks. Stylisti-
cally, the classical-modern image of the palace was a Cuban
Govantes and Cabarrocas. Biblioteca reference to the international movement of “return to order”
Nacional (José Martí National Library), Plaza that, following the disenchantment with modernism, was now
Cívica (1955–1957), street view.
applied everywhere in the 1930s under opposed political re-
gimes, from France (see the Palais de Chaillot) and Fascist Italy
(E42 exhibition and the works of Marcello Piacentini), to the
Representing the State United States (see the works of Paul Cret in Washington D.C.).100
By the end of Machado’s dictatorship in 1933, the program of Its architectural order borrowed from those examples, while
new public buildings had established an updated representation projecting an abstracted and modernized reference to the Cap-
of the Cuban state, under the growing influence of American itol itself, namely its façades divided into a lower band of win-
politics and interests. The colonial image and its Spanish region- dows acting as a plinth for a monumental colonnade on both
alist expressions, such as the Centro Gallego and the Centro sides, and the giant fifteen-bay portico at the top of the grand
Asturiano, both on the Parque Central, had been replaced by the staircase.
Beaux-Arts influences coming both from both France and the The office of Govantes and Cabarrocas was responsible for
United States. Often seen as a primary example of North Amer- the country’s national library, officially known as Biblioteca Na-
ican symbolic colonization, El Capitolio, the national capitol cional (José Martí National Library), constructed in 1955–1957.
building in Havana, did indeed follow the neo-classical example Located on the right side of the Monument to Martí, it also
of Washington, but the design of its cupola returned to some adopted the classical-modern style, with a solid three-bay en-
196

Arroyo and Menéndez with Raúl

Álvarez. Teatro Nacional, Plaza Cívica
(1954–1960), perspective rendering and
photograph under construction.

trance portico. In the 1938 competition for the Monument to Aquiles Capablanca. Tribunal de Cuentas
Martí, the same architectural duo had actually proposed to in- (Office of the Comptroller), Plaza Cívica
tegrate the national library and the Martí monument within a (1952–1954), night view with Amelia
Peláez mural, and plaza view.
single building to be located on the Civic Center axis. In its final
configuration however, the library was organized in three sec-
tors. In the front, past the portico, a large rotunda flanked by
two large rooms formed the most public section of the building,
covered by a spectacular stained-glass cupola. In the center, a
monumentally tall stone-clad slab of a structure contains the
stacks and other library services. In the back, the reading rooms
are organized as a “U,” and lit by tall colonnade-like windows
3 The Modern City: Housing, Civic Infrastructure, and Representation 197

Domínguez, Gómez-Sampera and Díaz.

Ministry of Communication, Plaza Cívica
(1952–1954), street view.

on top of a plinth, in an arrangement similar to what can be Among Havana’s new public buildings, the Tribunal de
seen at the Palace of Justice. Cuentas (Office of the Comptroller, 1952–1954) by architect
In contrast with these two examples of classical modern- ­Aquiles Capablanca was the most recognized, and it was se-
ism, the other buildings of the Civic Center reflected a strong lected by Henry-Russell Hitchcock to be included in the 1955
modernist influence, particularly from Oscar Niemeyer, Lúcio exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York on Latin
Costa, and their mentor Le Corbusier. On the opposite side of American Architecture since 1945.101 The L-shaped structure
the National Library, across the large lawn, Arroyo and Menén- was made up of a seven-story vertical slab intersecting a low
dez designed the Teatro Nacional (National Theater, 1954–1960) wing. Together, the structure and its assembled parts—the
as an assemblage of two theaters that were placed back-to- deep brise-soleils on the southern façade and the glass curtain
back, sharing the same stage tower, which projected up to wall on the opposite side, the pilotis, the ramps, and the long
seemingly provide a visual response to the stacks of the library. mural by Amelia Peláez—evoked the Ministry of Education in
Following the functionalist principles of postwar theater and Rio de Janeiro (Lúcio Costa, et al. 1937–1943).102 Even though
assembly rooms—see for instance Le Corbusier’s pioneering the Tribunal building lacked a genuine urban context, a fact that
entry for the Palace of the Soviets competition (1931) and its made its overall design less relevant than its Brazilian prece-
first application in Havana with the Radiocentro Building—the dent, it exhibited a series of architectural elements that made
exterior volumes in exposed concrete reflected the trapezoidal it at once unique and part of Havana’s brand of modernism. The
form of the theaters. The most important façade, slightly detached circulation tower, here concavely bent and clad in
curved, faced the plaza and displayed a spectacular cantile- limestone, was, as we have seen earlier, a feature of the Edificio
vered upstairs lobby, whereas the rear façade contained a mu- Seguro, the apartments Enriqueta Fernández, and other build-
ral by the Cuban artist René Portocarrero. ings of the 1950s. The clever use of the pilotis on the Tribunal
198

José Gelabert and Rosa Navia. Ministry

of Transportation, Plaza Cívica (1961),
ground floor plan and axonometric
drawing.
building and, in particular, the “dis-alignment” of the columns
of the shorter section, created interesting volumetric effects José Gelabert and Rosa Navia. Ministry
of Transportation, Plaza Cívica (1961),
that reinforced the special character of the building. Notewor-
street view.
thy as well was the complex design of the northern façade,
with its recessed balconies above the roof of the low volume,
and the open loggia on the top floor.
The Ministry of Communication (ill. p. 197), built in 1952–
1954 next to the Tribunal de Cuentas, marked the beginning of
Domínguez’s fruitful collaboration with Ernesto Gómez-
Sampera and Mercedes Díaz. Here as well, the building concept
not only suffered from the Civic Center’s weak definition, but it
also rejected a dialogue its neighbor. Whereas the latter was
placed parallel to the street, the seven-story office slab of the
Ministry of Communication was sited obliquely, with its end
section bent at forty-five degrees in order to connect to the
two-story horizontal structure parallel to the Avenida de la In-
dependencia. In doing so, the architects created a functional
semi-enclosed plaza, but one that cannot eschew its suburban
and car-oriented character. The low, horizontal box is most in-
teresting. Its second floor is entirely protected by a vertical
screen, whereas the ground level deploys a long horizontal
cantilever.
For their second building in the area, Govantes and Cabar-
rocas now embraced a Brazilian-inspired modernism: the
twenty-one-story Municipal Building (1958–1960) seems to be
floating on top of a high plinth marked by deep cantilevering
terraces. All façades, including those of the annex, were
3 The Modern City: Housing, Civic Infrastructure, and Representation 199

Mario Romañach. Banco Nacional,

Central Havana (ca. 1958), perspective.
Rendering Jorge del Río.

Nicolás Quintana. Banco Nacional,

Malecón, Central Havana (ca. 1958),
perspective.
200

Harrison & Abramovitz, Mira and

Rosich. American Embassy, Malecón,
Vedado (1953).

Sert, Romañach, Arroyo and Menéndez,

and Sasaki and Walker Associates, Project
for a presidential palace, Plan Piloto de La
Habana, Habana del Este (1958), general
plan.

Sert, Romañach, Arroyo and Menéndez,

and Sasaki and Walker Associates, Project
for a presidential palace, Plan Piloto de La
Habana, Habana del Este (1958), model.

screened with concrete louvers. Likewise, the Ministry of Trans- Benitoa, an intimate of Fulgencio Batista’s circle.106 Little is
portation (ill. p.  198), completed in 1961 by Gelabert and Navia, known of exactly what followed. The archives of Mario Ro-
paid its own homage to Rio’s Ministry of Education, but once mañach contain perspectives of two different high-quality pro-
more the automobile inspired and altered the scheme.103 The jects for the same site, rendered from the city toward the sea.
Ministry building consists of two structures placed perpendic- The first one shows a tall and square tower anchored to the
ular to each other: a ten-floor slab and a two-story box that ground by its core and the slender structural columns that de-
slides under it and contains the meeting rooms. Here, pilotis scend along the façades to form a four-story high loggia at the
that reveal the overlap of the two volumes are not meant for base. There, Romañach inserted two volumes that projected
pedestrians, but instead make space for the curved driveway out of the tower perimeter. The structural grid was clearly dis-
to pass through the structure. The screens on the sun-exposed played on the façades, and a system of louvers was even sug-
side are strikingly similar to Lúcio Costa’s building in Rio, but gested in the designs. The second project was radically differ-
overall the design balances the vertical slab with strongly em- ent, both in terms of mass, structure, and skin. Romañach
phasized horizontal divisions. A curtain wall closes the opposite designed two interconnected buildings of five and four stories,
façade. Nearby, the headquarters of the National Lottery each supported by imposing columns at their four corners. A
(Lorenzo Gómez Fantoli, 1958), a curved four-story slab with a grid supporting movable louvers and screens extended along
dramatically arched porte-cochère, also brings to mind the the façades, to accommodate the local climactic conditions.107
Brazilian­influence of Oscar Niemeyer and Affonso Reidy. 104
Eventually, the last president of the National Bank before
Planned on the Malecón, in front of the 1916 monument to the revolution, Felipe Pazos, commissioned the office of Nicolás
Antonio Maceo, the Banco Nacional (ill. p. 136, 199) had a tortu- Quintana to design and construct the final project.108 Quin-
ous history, both in terms of design and politics.105 In August tana’s design for the National Bank was a rectangular high-rise,
1958, Arquitectura published the results of the competition for flanked by two lower structures, with its main façade facing the
the Banco Núñez, which was to be built at the same location. sea. The modern and somewhat brutalist skyscraper was or-
The winning entry, by Raúl Fumagalli, was not pursued. The site ganized in three sections, starting with an imposing arcade on
was eventually selected for the National Bank, whose commis- the ground, the nine-bay shaft marked by ten prominent col-
sion was granted to the classically oriented architect Pérez umns, and a massive attic floor at the top. Che Guevara, who
3 The Modern City: Housing, Civic Infrastructure, and Representation 201
202

was nominated president of the National Bank by Castro in straddles a ground floor plinth which contains the most public
November 1959, halted the high-rise in construction and rooms, while the only architectonic response to the tropical
threatened the architect who immediately left the country. The context is the building’s long loggia of the ambassador’s floor
building was later modified to accommodate medical functions at the top of the structure.
and was only completed two decades later as the Hospital President and dictator Fulgencio Batista’s politics fully sup-
Clínico Quirúrgico Hermanos Ameijeiras, named after the ported the American stronghold on the island. Notwithstand-
brothers who were killed fighting against Batista.109 Ultimately, ing, the project for a new presidential palace (ill. also p. 201) and
the careful handling of the landscape and public space de- the adjoining civic complex (1955–1958) that he requested to
signed by Quintana, that was meant to extend the Plaza de be incorporated in Town Planning Associates’ Plan Piloto, was
Maceo, was not realized, thus isolating the tower away from its a genuinely Spanish-American and tropical response to the
urban context rather than merging and integrating with it. program, climate, and context.111 On the other side of the bay,
As we have argued, it was the Latin American influence between the colonial Spanish fortresses of El Morro and La
that most characterized the new American city that arose in Cabaña, the site, accessible by the new automobile tunnel com-
the 1950s. Yet, one cannot ignore how the American Embassy pleted in 1958, was undoubtedly controversial. Yet, the compre-
(ill. p. 200), designed by American architects Harrison & Abram- hensive project, the only full-fledged architectural proposal in-
ovitz in collaboration with the Cuban firm Mira and Rosich cluded within the Plan Piloto designed by Sert with Romañach,
(1953) and located in a prominent setting on the Malecón, em- Nicolás Arroyo, Gabriela Menéndez, and landscape architects
bodied the United States’ pretension at dominating the island Sasaki and Walker Associates, was a fascinating proposal. The
economically and politically.110 With its corporate modern and royal palm dominated the conceptual and formal composition
austere design, clad in travertine, the embassy continues to of both palace and gardens. As described in the architects’
stand as a political billboard of sorts. The seven-story slab report:
3 The Modern City: Housing, Civic Infrastructure, and Representation 203

tured the entire site and connected the palace to two squares,
the museums within the historic fortresses, and the proposed
museum of oceanography at the edge of the bay.
Sert, Romañach, Arroyo and Menéndez,
and Sasaki and Walker Associates, Project
for a presidential palace, Plan Piloto de La Education as Utopia
Habana, Habana del Este (1958), On January 1, 1959, revolutionary troops entered the city and
elevations.
Batista fled in exile to Miami. In light of the anti-urban and
pro-rural policies developed by the revolutionary regime, the
representation of the new state was left to instances of propa-
ganda through radio, television, hours-long live speeches on
the Plaza de la República, and the installation of gigantic bill-
In order to give to those gardens a monumental and local boards representing Che Guevara and other inspirational lead-
character, the royal palm trees are used as means of con- ers of the revolution. On the ground, the only “monument” of
nection and continuation of the constructions. From here representation became the former golf course in the Country
comes the name [Palace of the Palms]. This symbol of Cuba Club neighborhood in the western suburb of Cubanacán,
echoes as well in the architecture of the reinforced con- where the National Schools of Art—Ballet, Dramatic Arts, Mod-
crete umbrella roof that was to give a larger scale and mon- ern Dance, Plastic Arts, and Music—were designed by the Cu-
umentality to the Palace.112 ban Ricardo Porro and two Italian architects, Roberto Gottardi
and Vittorio Garatti.116 Their complex and contradictory story is
The umbrella roof—whose concrete columns and funnels were well known. Representation was first of all a provocative man-
designed by Spanish engineer and architect Félix Candela to date of social and cultural reform. As Castro noted in his speech
match the scale and proportions of the royal palm—united the to the intellectuals:
diverse constructions that it covered; that is, the presidential
offices, the reception areas, the presidential residence, and Cuba is going to have the most beautiful Academy of Art in
other rooms.113 In fact, matching the royal palm with the col- the entire world. Why? Because that Academy is going to
umns tied into the concept of cubanidad that Martí himself had be located in one of the most beautiful residential districts
alluded to in a series of sketches dealing with an “architecture of the world, where the most luxury-loving bourgeoisie of
purely American,” and the concept of “an American order” of Cuba used to live, in the best district of the most ostenta-
columns: 114
tious and most luxury-loving and most uncultured bour-
geoisie who now belong in the past.117
I imagine this order for America—columns like palms, in
almost absolute representation of the palms of nature, and Less often emphasized than the free-flowing organic composi-
of its plume, instead of making capitals, making arches; tion and the “African” origin of the five independent school
thus, two united palms, of which one gives a middle arch, complexes, is the construction method adopted by the archi-
can make the most elegant arch; or a portico, whose beau- tects. Whereas the thin concrete shells of Max Borges had be-
ty would have no rival. 115
come synonymous for a pleasure-oriented architecture in the
1950s (the iconic arches of the Tropicana night club come read-
A large patio, open to the sea and planted with palms, occupied ily to mind), Porro, Gottardi, and Garatti turned to a more tradi-
the heart of the U-shaped palace, whose generic typology re- tional—but equally audacious—technique to cover their vaults
called the royal palaces of Madrid, Stockholm, London, and and domes. This was the famed Guastavino tile-vaulting sys-
other cities, albeit with major architectonic differences and in- tem, which had encountered phenomenal commercial suc-
novations. Under the roof, the architects used the free-plan cess, first along the Mediterranean in Catalonia, Spain, and
composition to design and locate a series of tropical-modern then in the Americas from the late 1800s, becoming a signature
structures and rooms, some of which would be naturally lit by architectural element of the Beaux-Arts style.118 According to
colored stained-glass windows, as in many houses of the old John Ochsendorf, a Catalan mason in Cuba knew the Guastav-
center. Gardens designed with long axes of royal palms struc- ino technique and thus trained other workers to use it:
204

The resulting plastic forms are among the most impressive … The National Art Schools, for their paradisiacal site and
collection of tile vaulting in the world. Here a city of vaults their relation to the maritime clubs—a fabulous monetary
and domes rivals some of the longest spans by the Guastav- investment, dedicated to popular use—will without a doubt
ino Company, with the dome of the School of Ballet span- be the nucleus of a grand recreational lung for Havana, and
ning more than 30 meters.119 its function as an intellectual center will be much more
than a series of classrooms.121
As soon as construction started, the architecture and urban
design of the National Schools of Art fell under constant criti- In September 1960, Fidel Castro publicly announced the deci-
cism by architect Antonio Quintana, historian and critic Roberto sion to build the new campus of the Ciudad Universitaria José
Segre, and others. The project was halted, and two of the Antonio Echeverría (also known as CUJAE), named after the
schools remain incomplete to this day. Ricardo Porro subse- fallen student martyr José Antonio Echeverría, in an area bor-
quently left the island, and so did Garatti in the mid-1970s.120 dering agricultural fields and industrial complexes approxi-
The most lucid observer of the political debate about the image mately 12 kilometers from the center of Havana.122 The univer-
of revolutionary architecture was undoubtedly the architect sity campus housed the Faculty of Technology, which included
and artist Hugo Consuegra, who wrote in 1965: the School of Basic Science, the School of Architecture, and the
School of Geophysics, as well as the Schools of Mechani-
I am optimistic in respect to the future of these works. Re- cal, Civil, Electrical, and Industrial Engineering. Residential and
ality—as hard as it can be now—and hope—as fantastic as athletic facilities, as well as cultural and social services com-
it might seem—are converging, always more vertiginously pleted the program. The campus had initially been planned by
in revolutionary Cuba. Abundance will unfailingly come. The Humberto Alonso on a different site as early as 1952, and he
‘disproportion’ of the schools of arts will diminish with time was put in charge of the preliminary plans for the new site as
3 The Modern City: Housing, Civic Infrastructure, and Representation 205

Humberto Alonso. Proposal for a new

University of Havana campus, Rancho Boyeros
(1952).

Humberto Alonso, Fernando Salinas, Manuel

Rubio, José Fernández, Josefina Montalván, et
al. Ciudad Universitaria José Antonio
Echeverría (City University or CUJAE), Rancho
Boyeros (1960–1964), aerial perspective.

Humberto Alonso, Fernando Salinas, Manuel

Rubio, José Fernández, Josefina Montalván, et
al. Ciudad Universitaria José Antonio Echever-
ría (City University or CUJAE), Rancho Boyeros
(1960–1964), interior patio.
206

well, with a team of university students that included Carlos

Osorio, Santiago Caballero, and Carlos Deupi.123 Alonso eventu-
ally fled the island himself in 1961, and construction on the
project continued for a decade under the direction of Fernando
Salinas, Manuel Rubio, José Fernández, Josefina Montalván, and
others.124 Urbanistically and architecturally, the new university
did not have the ambition of rivaling the great Latin American
universities in Mexico City, Caracas, Bogotá, or even San Juan,
but it pursued to some extent the concept of the university
campus as an urban utopia and “the stage of civil society.”125
The contrast with the University of Havana in the Vedado dis-
trict could not be greater, yet the new campus maintained the
compact character of its predecessor in contrast with the first
proposal of 1952, which was radically modernist. The design
was unique, but reflected clear influences from the University
of Villanueva’s campus, and from the emerging ideas of Team
X. With its courtyards, its deep overhanging roofs shading pub-
lic spaces, its multi-level bridges, and almost everything built
on pilotis, the campus was an organic and innovative response
to the climate and program that anticipated later projects such
as Le Corbusier’s hospital in Venice, or the Freie Universität in
Berlin. Dormitories were also included, and the linear central
core, containing cultural facilities, functioned as a place of en-
counter between housing and teaching. Unlike the highly craft-
ed Art Schools, but designed in the footsteps of Manuel Gutiér-
rez’s experiment of prefabrication at Villanueva University,
the Ciudad Universitaria was built using simple lift-slab con-
struction and prefabricated modular units, including columns,
brise-soleils, and panels. Undoubtedly, the campus was the
most important complex of the early revolutionary years, and it
was perhaps the most successful example of the new mandate
for socialist planning and architecture, as it represented the
latest scientific and technical advances and was accomplished
with a scarcity of material resources. Arguably, those new ge-
ometric models of prefabrication could be interpreted as a rev-
olutionary architectural expression—the opposite extreme of
the Art Schools—intended to put forward a new notion of re-
gional identity, and even of sensuality, through the repetition of
forms.126 Salinas summarized the issue later in the 1970s:

Construction for the new man born after the revolution, a

human being conscious of his social responsibilities, educat-
ed in freedom, profoundly humane, needs the full develop-
ment of the principle of diversity in unity, that is to achieve
through the ingenious combination of repeated elements,
different results in relation to the specific characteristics of
the individual or of the human group that uses them.127
3 The Modern City: Housing, Civic Infrastructure, and Representation 207

Vittorio Garatti. School of Ballet,    Quintana, Rubio, and Pérez Beato.

Escuelas Nacionales de Arte (National Art Seguro Médico Building (1958). Detail of
Schools), Cubanacán (1961–1965), model. the brise-soleils.
208
3 The Modern City: Housing, Civic Infrastructure, and Representation 209

NOTES 10 Joaquín E. Weiss, Arquitectura cubana 21 The moucharabieh is a type of projecting

contemporánea: colección de fotografías de oriel window enclosed with wooden
1 See Olga Rodríguez-Falcón, “Urban los más recientes y característicos edificios latticework located on the second story of
Utopias in Havana’s Representations: An erigidos en Cuba (Havana: Cultural, 1947), a building or higher, and sometimes in
Interdisciplinary Analysis,” Ph.D. diss. 44–45; Sigfried Giedion, Dix Ans d’Architec­- the interior courtyard. It is an element of
(London: Middlesex University, 2008). ture Contemporaine: A Decade of New traditional Arabic architecture used since
2 Carleton Beals, The Crime of Cuba Architecture (Zurich: Editions Girsberger, the Middle Ages up to the mid-twentieth
(Philadelphia/London: J.B. Lippincott 1951), 124; and “Radio Centro. Arqts. century which can also be found in Spain.
Company, 1933). Junco Gastón y Domínguez.” Arquitectura, 22 Daniel A. Barber, “Le Corbusier, the
3 Paolo F. Colusso, Wim Wenders, Paesaggi, no. 226 (May 1952): n.p. Brise-Soleil, and the Socio-Climatic
luoghi, città (Turin: Testo & Immagine, 11 On Domínguez, see Juan Daniel Fullaondo, Project of Modern Architecture,
1998), 39 [authors’ translation]. “Recuerdo de Martín Domínguez,” Nueva 1929–1963,” Threshold, no. 40 (2012): 23.
4 Our Man in Havana, directed by Carol Forma, no. 64 (May 1971): 2–22; 23 Barry Bergdoll, “Learning from Latin
Reed (1959, United Kingdom), film, 111 Francisco Gómez Díaz, “Arquitectura del America: Public Space, Housing, and
minutes, based upon the novel by Graham exilio [español] en Cuba,” in Arquitectura Landscape,” Latin America in Construction,
Greene, Our Man in Havana, 1958. It is española del exilio, eds. Juan José Martín eds. Barry Bergdoll, Carlos Eduardo
said that Fidel Castro gave permission for Frechilla and Carlos Sambricio (Madrid: Comas, Jorge Francisco Liernur, and
filming and that he visited the sets. He Lampreave, 2014), 154–68; Pablo Rabasco Patricio del Real (New York: MoMA,
complained however that the film did not and Martín Domínguez Ruz, Martín 2015), 20.
truly reflect the brutality of the regime: Domínguez Esteban (Ithaca: Cornell AAP 24 See later in this chapter and in Chapter 4.
see Graham Greene, Ways of Escape: An Publications, 2015), 16ff and 80–84; and 25 See for instance Armando Maribona, “No
Autobiography (New York: Simon & Pablo Rabasco and Martín Domínguez debe convertirse La Habana en sucursal
Schuster, 1980). Ruz, Arniches y Domínguez (Madrid: Akal, arquitectónica de Miami. Lo que opina el
5 Yo Soy Cuba (I Am Cuba), directed by 2017). arquitecto Emilio del Junco,” Arquitectura,
Mikhail Kalatozov (1964, USSR), film, 12 Gómez Díaz, De Forestier a Sert, 284. no. 278 (September 1956).
140 minutes; and Memorias del Subdesar- 13 See Dania González Couret and Alex 26 See Chapter 2.
rollo (Memories of Underdevelopment), Leandro Pérez Pérez, “El edificio de 27 Henry-Russell Hitchcock, Latin American
directed by Tomás Gutiérrez Alea (1968, apartamentos del movimiento moderno Architecture since 1945 (New York: MoMA,
Cuba), film, 97 minutes. en La Habana,” Traza, no. 4 (July– 1956), 9.
6 For a thorough discussion of these two December 2011): 22–37. 28 “Apartamentos en el Vedado,” Espacio 2,
films in relation to the social and physical 14 Allan T. Shulman, Building Bacardi: Archi- no. 9 (May–June 1953): 13–21.
transformations of Havana, see Rodríguez- tecture, Art & Identity (New York: Rizzoli 29 Petkov Ivanov, “Edificio para el Seguro
Falcón, “Urban Utopias in Havana’s International Publications, 2016), 29 ff. Médico,” 46.
Representations,” passim. 15 Weiss, Arquitectura cubana contemporánea, 30 Arquitectura, no. 300 (July 1958), front
7 Joseph L. Scarpacci, Roberto Segre, and 49–51. cover.
Mario Coyula, Havana: Two Faces of the 16 “Proyecto del arquitecto Antonio Quintana 31 “Una obra de Antonio Santana,”
Antillean Metropolis (Chapel Hill: Simonetti que obtuvo el Primer Premio,” Arquitectura, no. 284 (March 1957):
University of North Carolina Press, 2002), Arquitectura, no. 226 (May 1952): 176–97; 122–30.
127–28. “Edificio de oficinas: Retiro Odontológico,” 32 FOCSA is the acronym for Fomento de
8 Several authors have recently assessed the Espacio I, no. 5 (September–October 1952): Obras y Construcciones S.A. “El Edificio
modern architecture of Cuba, and their 36–37; “Edificio del Retiro Odontológico,” FOCSA: Una obra del arquitecto Ernesto
publication efforts have been fundamental Espacio II, no. 9 (May–June 1953): 8; and Gómez-Sampera,” Arquitectura, no. 275
to our research. These include: Eduardo “El Premio Medalla de Oro del Colegio de (June 1956): 242–51; and Rabasco and
Luis Rodríguez, La Habana, arquitectura Arquitectos, de 1956: El edificio del Retiro Domínguez Ruz, Martín Domínguez
del siglo XX (Barcelona: Blume, 1998); Odontológico por el Arq. Antonio Quintana Esteban,18 ff., and 91–93.
Eduardo Luis Rodríguez, The Havana Simonetti,” Arquitectura, no. 282 (January 33 Roberto Segre, La vivienda en Cuba en el
Guide: Modern Architecture 1925–1965 1957): 22–33. siglo XX. República y Revolución (Mexico:
(New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 17 The two penthouses were not built, and Editorial Concepto, 1980), 22–23.
2000); Eduardo Luis Rodríguez, La the structure increased from nine to 34 Weiss, Arquitectura cubana contemporánea,
arquitectura del movimiento moderno: twelve floors. 62–65.
Selección de obras del Registro Nacional 18 “El concurso para la construcción del 35 Idem, 52–54.
(Havana: Ediciones Unión, 2011); Carlos edificio del Seguro del Médico. Primer 36 Most of the collaboration between the
Sambricio and Roberto Segre, Arquitectura premio otorgado al arquitecto Antonio brothers concentrated on public
en la ciudad de La Habana: primera Quintana Simonetti de la razón social structures like the Tropicana, the Clubs,
modernidad (Madrid: Electa España, Quintana, Rubio y Pérez Beato, Arqs.,” etc. See Chapter 4.
2000); and Francisco Gómez Díaz, De Arquitectura, no. 269 (December 1955): 37 “A Two-Family Dwelling by Mario
Forestier a Sert: ciudad y arquitectura en La 546–72. Romañach architect,” Arts & Architecture
Habana (1925–1960) (Madrid: Abada, 19 See the detailed study by Ivan Petkov (November 1955): 28–29, 34 (note that it
2008). To avoid lengthy repetition, we Ivanov, “Edificio para el Seguro Médico: is erroneously indicated as built in
have decided not to provide continuous Antonio Quintana Simonetti, La Habana, California).
page references for these sources, unless Cuba, 1955,” at https://www.scribd.com/ 38 See note 22.
of course necessary. Instead, we will document/33914344/Antonio-Quintana- 39 This ground floor apartment was Martín
provide original source material and Edificio-Seguro-Medico-en-La-Habana Rodríguez’s last residence before leaving
lesser-known references throughout. (last accessed May 2020). Cuba. See Gómez Díaz, De Forestier a Sert,
9 La Rampa: Publicación de la Asociación de 20 Philip Goodwin, Brazil Builds, Architecture 544–58.
Comerciantes de la Calle 23 I, no. 1 New and Old, 1652–1942 (New York: 40 Guilherme Wisnik, Lúcio Costa (São Paulo:
(December 1956). MoMA, 1943), 84. Cosac Naify, 2001), 87–95.
210

41 “Apartamentos en Miramar,” Espacio 1, 56 See Bergdoll, et al., Latin America in 177–81; and Alonso, Contreras, and
no. 4 (July–August 1952): 10–15. Construction, passim. Fagiuoli, Havana Deco, 57–58.
42 Gómez Díaz, De Forestier a Sert, 325. 57 “Concurso para casas económicas,” 78 “Nuestro nuevo edificio social,” Arquitec-
43 See for instance, Robert McCarter, Carlo Arquitectura, no. 170 (September 1947): tura, no. 145 (August 1945): 260–64;
Scarpa (London: Phaidon Press, 2013). 276–78. Also see Chapter 1 and the Vidal “Inauguración del nuevo edificio del
44 “Edificio de apartamentos, Cuba,” Artaud Family Collection, Miami. Colegio Provincial de Arquitectos de La
Informes de la construcción XIV, no. 132 58 Rabasco and Domínguez Ruz, Martín Habana,” Arquitectura, no. 174 (January
(June–July 1961): 122 ff. Domínguez Esteban, 26. 1948): 2–12; and Weiss, Arquitectura
45 Ibidem. 59 Estévez Curbelo, “Arquitectos, reforma cubana contemporánea, 42–43.
46 “Two Apartments in Cuba by Emilio urbana y vivienda,” Arquitectura, nos. 79 Giedion, Dix Ans d’Architecture Contempo-
Fernández, Architect,” Arts & Architecture 309–310 (April–May 1959): 151. raine, 76.
(February 1960): 29. 60 Ibidem. 80 Nicolás Arroyo and Gabriela Menéndez
47 “Apartamentos en el Vedado,” 30–33; and 61 Belmont Freeman, “Housing the Papers, University of Miami Libraries,
“Una Obra de los Arquitectos Artaud y Revolution: Cuba 1959–1969,” Caribbean Coral Gables, FL, Cuban Heritage
Gutiérrez,” Arquitectura, no. 248 (March Modernist Architecture: Archivos de Collection, CHC5489.
1954): 117–21. See also the advertise- Arquitectura Antillana, no. 34 (2009): 81 “Relación de premios otorgados en la
ment, “La Habana se embellece,” Diario de 18–23. Also see Chapter 2. Exposición del VII Congreso Panamerica-
la Marina 120, no. 195 (August 15, 1952): 62 See for instance, Stephanie Zeier Pilat, no de Arquitectos,” Arquitectura, no. 203
supplement 4. Reconstructing Italy: The Ina-Casa (June 1950): 245.
48 José María Bens Arrarte, “Una obra del Neighborhoods of the Postwar Era (London: 82 See the Alicia Pujals Mederos Collection,
arquitecto Antonio Boada. Edificio Junto Routledge, 2014). University of Miami Libraries, Coral
al Río. Ensayo sobre la casa cubana (April 63 Rabasco and Domínguez Ruz, Arniches y Gables, FL, Cuban Heritage Collection,
1935),” Arquitectura, no. 245 (December Domínguez, 20–22. CHC5544.
1953): 530. 64 Idem, 22–23. 83 See the Humberto Alonso Papers,
49 Pedro Martínez Inclán, La Habana actual: 65 Idem, 24–26. University of Miami Libraries, Coral
estudio de la capital de Cuba desde el punto 66 Roberto Segre, “Medio siglo de arquitec- Gables, FL, Cuban Heritage Collection,
de vista de la arquitectura de ciudades tura cubana (1953–2003)—Variaciones CHC5476
(Havana: P. Fernández y Cía., 1925). sobre el tema del comunismo,” Café de las 84 “Una obra del Arq. Manuel de Tapia-
50 Luis Bay Sevilla, “La barriada obrera de ciudades V, no. 40 (February 2006): n.p. Ruano,” Arquitectura, no. 273 (April
Pogolotti,” Arquitectura, no. 73 (August 67 Roger Diener, Marcel Meili, Christian 1956): 172–73; “Edificio comercial:
1939): 315–18. Schmidt, et al., Public Housing in Havana Peletería California,” Espacio I, no. 5
51 The architect Luis Echeverría was – History of Ideas (Basel: ETH Studio (September–October 1952): 40–41; “Una
responsible for the houses. The theater Basel, 2007). Obra de los Arquitectos Silverio Bosch y
was the work of Govantes and Cabarrocas, 68 Alfredo Rivera, “Revolutionizing Mario Romañach: La Peletería ‘Califor-
see Alejandro G. Alonso, Pedro Contreras, Modernities: Visualizing Utopia in 1960s nia’,” Arquitectura, no. 245 (December
Martino Fagiuoli, Havana Deco (New York: Cuba,” Ph.D. diss. (Durham, NC: Duke 1953): 520; and “Four-Level Shoe Store
Norton & Co., 2007), 54–56. University, 2015), 243. [Havana, Cuba],” Architectural Forum 98
52 Luis Bay Sevilla, founder of El arquitecto 69 Idem, 243–244. (January 1953): 137. See also Modelo 3d
(1926) and editor of Arquitectura 70 See in particular, Alonso, Contreras, and y edición de imágenes Salvador Polanco
(1937–1948), published La vivienda del Fagiuoli, Havana Deco, passim. at https://catalogosdearquitectura.
pobre: sus peligros en el orden moral y de la 71 Weiss, Arquitectura cubana contemporánea, wordpress.com/2018/05/20/
salud; estudio de cuanto se ha realizado en el 11–13, and 29–31. romanach-mario-1951-peleteria-califor-
mundo para mejorar la, haciendo a cada cual 72 “Luis Dauval, Premio Medalla de Oro nia/.
propietario de la casa que habita (Havana: 1944,” Arquitectura, no. 144 (July 1945): 85 For Bacardi in Cuba and the projects
Imp. Montalvo, Cárdenas y Cía., 1924), 226–30; “Unidad Quirúrgica del Centro following 1959, see Shulman, Building
that detailed the Proyecto de Ley de casas Gallego,” Arquitectura, no. 144 (July Bacardi, 57 ff.; and Kathryn E. O’Rourke,
baratas (Project for the Law of inexpensive 1945): 226–30; “La nueva ‘Clínica “Mies and Bacardi,” Journal of Architectur-
houses), inspired by contemporary models Miramar’,” Arquitectura, no. 164 (March al Education 66, no. 1 (2012): 57–71.
in North America, Europe, and Latin 1947): 99–105; and Weiss, Arquitectura 86 Arquímedes Rodríguez and Marcos
America. see Carlos Sambricio, Un siglo de cubana contemporánea, 3–10, and 36–37. Muñiz, Santiago de Cuba (Santiago de
viviendas sociales: 1903–2003 (Madrid: 73 “El Premio Medalla de Oro de 1948. El Cuba: Unión Gráfica, 1950–59), n.p.; and
Nerea, 2003). On Bay Sevilla, see Enrique Centro Médico Quirúrgico, S.A. por el Heriberto Duverger Salfrán and Nicolás
Luis Varela, “Luis Bay Sevilla,” Arquitectu- Arq. Max Borges Recio,” Arquitectura, no. Ramírez, Oriente De Cuba: Guía de
ra, no. 186 (February 1948): 34–38; and 186 (January 1949): 4–8. Arquitectura = An Architectural Guide:
“Deceso del Arquitecto Luis Bay Sevilla,” 74 See the Emilio Fernández Collection, Santiago De Cuba, Guantánamo, Holguín,
Revista de la Sociedad Cubana de Ingenieros Cincinnati, OH. Las Tunas, Granma (Seville: Junta de
XLVI, no. 2 (February 1948): 113–14. 75 Notes presented to authors, February 4, Andalucía, Consejería de Obras Públicas y
53 See Karl Brunner, Manual de Urbanismo 2019. Transportes, 2002), 126–27.
(Bogotá: Imprenta Municipal, 1939). 76 “El Premio Medalla de Oro del Colegio de 87 Notes presented to authors by Raúl
54 Scarpacci, Segre, and Coyula, Havana: Two Arquitectos de 1960, y los Premios Alvarez, March 3, 2016. In fact, Hector
Faces, 76. Nacionales de 1960,” Arquitectura, nos. Tate of Welton Becket Associates in Los
55 Pedro Martínez Inclán, “Urbanismo,” 325–326 (August–September 1960): Angeles helped SACMAG structure itself
Arquitectura XVI, no. 190 (May 1949): 360–69. as the largest architectural office in Cuba
133–40. Also see the Memoria del plan de 77 “El nuevo Teatro Fausto,” Arquitectura, no. providing the full repertoire of architec-
obras del gobierno del Dr. Ramón Grau San 59 (June 1938): 189; “Una obra del tural and design services. See Shulman,
Martín (Havana: Ministerio de Obras arquitecto Luis Bonich: El Cine Rex,” Building Bacardi, 57–59. The partners
Públicas, 1947). Arquitectura, no. 191 (June 1949):
3 The Modern City: Housing, Civic Infrastructure, and Representation 211

Luis P. Sáenz, Edilberto Cancio, and M. Maruri,” Arquitectura, no. 282 1933–1959 (Minneapolis: University of
Ignacio Martín created the firm in 1948. (January 1957): n.p. Minnesota Press, 2013), 253–287.
88 “Mies’s One-Office Office Building,” 99 Gonzalo de Quesada y Miranda, “El 112 Nicolas Arroyo, Mario Romañach, and
Architectural Forum 110 (February 1959): monumento a Martí,” Arquitectura, no. Town Planning Associates (TPA), Plan
94–97. 123 (October 1943): 386–90. Piloto de La Habana. Directivas generales:
89 Idem, 95. 100 See Jean-François Lejeune, “A Short diseños preliminares, soluciones tipo (New
90 O’Rourke, “Mies and Bacardi,” 57. History,” in Call to Order, ed. Carie York: Town Planning Associates, 1959),
91 See the Crane advertisement for the Penabad (New York: Oscar Riera Ojeda, 36.
“Escuela de Filosofía y Letras de la 2017), 16–29. The parentheses indicate 113 On the connection between Candela and
Universidad de La Habana,” Arquitectura, well-known examples of the internation- Cuba, see Chapter 4.
no. 229 (August 1952): n.p.; and the al movement. 114 Quesada y Miranda, “El monumento a
“School of Philosophy and Letters of the 101 “Edificio público: Tribunal de Cuentas,” Martí,” 386–390.
University of Havana, Cuba,” in the Espacio 1, no. 5 (September–October 115 Idem, 387.
Guillermo “Willy” González Collection, 1952): 34–35; “Tribunal de Cuentas,” 116 Loomis, Revolution of Forms, passim; and
University of Miami Libraries, Coral Espacio 2, no. 6 (November–December Claudio Machetti, Gianluca Mengozzi,
Gables, FL, Cuban Heritage Collection, 1953): 11–18; and “El Premio Medalla de and Luca Spitoni, Cuba Scuole Nazionali
CHC01700001340001001. Oro de 1954: El edificio del Tribunal de d’Arte (Milano: Skira, 2011).
92 Duverger and Ramírez, Santiago de Cuba, Cuentas,” Arquitectura, no. 258 (January 117 Lee Baxandall, Radical Perspectives in the
163–64. 1955): 7–13. Also see Hitchcock, Latin Arts (Harmondsworth: Penguin Books,
93 “El tema, la solución y la crítica: edificio American Architecture, 72–73. 1973), 293–94.
para laboratorios y talleres de la 102 On the Ministry, see Roberto Segre, 118 John Ochsendorf, Guastavino Vaulting:
Universidad de Villanueva. Arq. Manuel Ministerio da Educação e Saúde: ícono The Art of Structural Tile (New York:
Gutiérrez,” Arquitectura, nos. 309–310 urbana da modernidade brasileira, Princeton Architectural Press, 2010).
(April–May 1959): 160–161. The 1935–1945 (Sao Paulo: Romano Guerra, The Boston Public Library (1881–1892)
university was closed and confiscated in 2013). was one of the first buildings to use the
1961. 103 See the Gelabert-Navia Arquitectos technique in the US.
94 See the excellent analysis at https:// Records, University of Miami Libraries, 119 Idem, 221.
proyectos4etsa.wordpress.com/ Coral Gables, FL, Cuban Heritage 120 In 1962 Garatti realized the Escuela
2012/01/15/talleres-y-laboratorios- Collection, CHC5488 Andre Voisin in Guines, while in
de-la-facultad-de-ingenieria-electri- 104 On Brazilian modernism, see for 1966–1967, with Sergio Baroni and
ca-y-mecanica-de-villanueva-la-haba- instance, Bergdoll, et al., Latin America Hugo d’Acosta, he designed the Cuban
na-cuba-manuel-r-gutierrez-1956/. in Construction, 124 ff.; and ed. Lauro pavilion at the Expo 1967 in Montreal.
95 “Escuela rural de aula única. Ministerio de Cavalcanti, Quando o Brasil era Moderno: As a result of a changed cultural and
Obras Públicas. Arq. Matilde Ponce, Guia de Arquitetura 1928–1960 (Rio de ideological climate, Vittorio Garatti
Alberto Robaina,” Arquitectura, nos. Janeiro: Aeroplano editora, 2001). ended up being viewed with suspicion
309–310 (April–May 1959), 158–59. 105 Nicolás Quintana Papers, University of and was under arrest for twenty days in
96 See http://www.arquitecturacuba. Miami Libraries, Coral Gables, FL, June 1974 on charges of spying. In that
com/2010/08/escuela-primaria-y-circu- Cuban Heritage Collection, CHC5314. same year he was forced to leave the
lo-infantil-en.html. (last accessed May 106 “Concurso para el Banco Núñez,” country.
2020). Arquitectura, no. 301 (August 1958): 121 Hugo Consuegra, “Las Escuelas
97 Enrique Luis Varela, “El Capitolio visto 338–51. Nacionales de Arte,” Arquitectura Cuba,
por un arquitecto,” El arquitecto 4, no. 33 107 Mario J. Romañach Collection, The no. 334 (1965): 19.
(May 1929): 352–92; and Carlos Miguel Architectural Archives, University of 122 Roberto Segre, “Arquitectura cubana,”
Céspedes, República de Cuba: Capitolio Pennsylvania, No. 48. Both renderings Cuadernos Summa: Nueva Visión: Enciclo-
(Havana: P. Fernández y Compañía, were signed by architect Jorge del Río, pedia de la arquitectura de hoy. Vol. 46–47
1933), 113. Also see Styliane Philippou, who went into exile in Puerto Rico where (Buenos Aires, 1970): 25 ff.; “Ciudad
“Un modernismo vanidoso: Espacios de he produced many noteworthy houses Universitaria ‘José Antonio Echeverría,’
ocio turísticos durante los años cincuenta and buildings. La Habana,” Arquitectura Cuba, no. 339
en Miami y La Habana = Vanity Modern: 108 Rafael Fornés, “El gran burgués: (1971): 46–53; and James Lynch,
Tourist Playgrounds in Miami and Havana Entrevista con Nicolás Quintana,” “Cuban Architecture since the Revolu-
of the 1950s.” Arquitectura y Urbanismo Revista encuentro de la cultura cubana, no. tion,” Art Journal 39, no. 2 (1979): 103.
36, no. 1 (2015): 62–85. 18 (Fall 2000): 26. 123 Notes presented to authors by Carlos
98 Interestingly, the apparent incongruity of 109 Arturo Deprit, “Hospital Hermanos Deupi on May 13, 2019.
the Capitol’s mass in relation to the Amejeiras. La mayor obra de la Revolu- 124 Marella Santangelo, “La CUJAE, Ciudad
existing fabric and the absence of a ción para la salud del pueblo,” Arquitectura Universitaria José Antonio Echeverría,”
frontal perspective made the structure Cuba, no. 34 (February-March 1984): Area, no. 150 (2017): 74–79.
particularly fascinating in the interna- 36–38; and Scarpaci, Segre, and Coyula, 125 Bergdoll, “Learning from Latin America,”
tional context of Beaux-Arts planning. Havana: Two Faces, 279–81. 23.
Both Forestier and Sert included the 110 On the American Embassy: see 126 Rivera, “Revolutionizing Modernities,”
opening of a straight street that would Hitchcock, Latin American Architecture, 194 ff.
connect the Capitol to the bay and vice 74–75; and Styliane Philippou and Ron 127 Fernando Salinas, “La Arquitectura
versa, thus creating a direct perspective to T. Robin, Enclaves of America: The revolucionaria del Tercer Mundo,”
and from the inner city. The project was Rhetoric of American Political Architecture Revista Arquitectura 4, no. 2 (1979),
even re-discussed in the 1950s when it Abroad, 1900–1965 (Princeton: quoted in Santangelo, “La CUJAE,” 78.
was included in “La Habana de 1956: Princeton University Press, 1992).
Estudio presentado al Congreso de 111 Timothy Hyde, Constitutional Modern-
Planificación por el Ing. Civil y Arq. Carlos ism: Architecture and Civil Society in Cuba,
 213

CHAPTER 4

Tropicality, Tourism,
and Leisure

The Tropicana marked the symbolic end of the ‘Havana of the flâneur’… Cabrera
Infante’s realist chronicles of the period are full of white and shiny, duck-tailed
convertible Cadillacs or black Oldsmobiles hurtling at high speed on the new avenues
and highways. The urban ritual of the paseo under the leafy trees has become a
thing of the past, it has been substituted by frivolous evenings in dark nightclubs, …
or the distant and exclusive beachside clubs, or by the beginning of the consumerist
fever in air-conditioned stores.
 Roberto Segre
214

Igor B. Polevitzky. Riviera Hotel,

Havana (1957).

Max Borges Recio. Geometric metal

sculpture at the Tropicana cabaret,
Marianao (1953).

Curves of Attraction: The Arcos de Cristal trends, suggesting a polemical relationship between interna-
In his famous “Visit Cuba’’ advertising campaign (ca. 1950), il- tional modernism and projections of cubanidad, or more spe-
lustrator and editor Conrado Massaguer provided a colorful cifically the idea of tradition in architecture.1 Architects were to
portrayal of a rumbera—or Cuban cabaret dancer—as the consider both climatic and cultural conditions, and would often
symbolic image of the nation. The woman floats at the center apply notions of tradition or tropicality to modern architecture
of the image, her arms with exaggerated red and white striped and planning.2
sleeves, while holding up two maracas (or rumba shakers). She The republican era marked significant changes for Cuba
appears jovial and liberated, her shirt open to the waist. During politically, economically, and demographically. The Spanish-­
Cuba’s republican era (1901–1958), the infrastructure of tour- American War gave Cuba independence from Spain; and the
ism became prevalent throughout the island, a visual sign of early twentieth century featured a significant wave of immigra-
the nation’s political, economic, and cultural ties to the United tion from its former colonizer. During a brief three-year occupa-
States. This became evident in its modern architecture, prefig- tion (1898–1901), the United States invested heavily in Havana’s
ured as spaces of pleasure, much like the iconic image of the infrastructure, including water distribution systems, street pav-
rumbera. Examples of tourist architecture were emblematic of ing, and initial work on the city’s great seafront avenue, the Ma-
broader trends and influenced architectural production lecón. In 1901, the American occupation ended, and the Platt
throughout the island. In his analysis of Cuban architecture be- Amendment was passed, giving to the United States the right to
ginning in the 1930s, Eduardo Luis Rodríguez identified two intervene in Cuban affairs and to lease the fort at Guantanamo.
4 Tropicality, Tourism, and Leisure 215

Max Borges Recio. Tropicana cabaret,

Marianao (1952), plan.

Max Borges Recio. Arcos de Cristal

(Cristal Arches), Tropicana cabaret,
Marianao (1952), interior view.

It was during this period that Cuba’s tourism industry began to ranean Revival styles, the tourist infrastructure following the
develop a significant North American market. Havana’s boom- 1930s began to employ a more modern and plastic architectur-
ing public sector, as well expanding real estate market, were al vocabulary.3 Tradition, cubanidad, and tropicality would no
increasingly connected to North American financial interests longer be invoked by decorative and sculptural references to
and to the growing allure of Cuba as a destination for vice and the past, but rather by more abstract and formal concepts, uti-
relaxation into the late republican era. Architects within Cuba lizing both traditional and new construction techniques. The
negotiated between the expectations of their clients, and the undulating and curved forms in recreational and entertainment
desire to present Cuba’s inherent tropicality through formal and spaces, the role of the modernist high-rise and its tri-dimen-
visual invocations. sional composition, and the planning of the modern resort city
While earlier hotel examples such as the Hotel Inglaterra in Havana, Varadero, and Trinidad: those were some of the in-
(1856, rebuilt in 1891–1915) and the Hotel Sevilla Biltmore novations that eventually defined Cuban modernism and mo-
(Schultze & Weaver, 1928) would invoke classical and Mediter- dernity. Tropicality here represented more than the ruse of de-
216

sire reflected in the “Visit Cuba’’ advertisements. It was was on the island and how fast ideas and techniques were able
emblematic of the pervasive role of tourism in not only defining to spread after 1945. Best known as the Arcos de Cristal at the
the nation and its modernity, but as a catalyst for architectural Tropicana nightclub (ill. p. 213, 214, 215, 216) in Marianao, it was
innovation and eccentricity. 4
an extraordinary synthesis of technology, architecture, and
While a tropical version of European and Latin American landscape.9 The project consisted of the construction of a new
modernism dominated the new architecture of housing, busi- air-conditioned salón to increase the comfort and capacity of
ness, and public architecture in 1950s Cuba, a major trend the existing nightclub. Borges imagined five circular concrete
emerged that increasingly embodied the iconic image of the vaults, 7 centimeters thick, each of different diameters, placed
architecture of tourism and leisure in the Cuban capital: the de- eccentrically to each other. Their width decreased from 26 to 12
ployment of a plastic expression of thin-shell concrete forms. meters and their height from 5 to 10 meters above the stage,
First developed in Germany in 1922, the new technique spread thus achieving a powerful telescopic effect. The open seg-
rapidly, especially in Southern Europe and later in Latin America, ments created at the intersection of the vaults were filled with
where architects like the Italian Pier Luigi Nervi, the Spaniard large panes of glass—thus the name Arcos de Cristal—which
Eduardo Torroja, and the Venezuelan Carlos Raúl Villanueva—to opened the structure to the sky and the dense tropical vegeta-
mention the most important practitioners—built a series of tion of the site.10 The following year, Borges added the open-air
highly visible commercial, religious, and sport facilities which lounge Bajo las estrellas (Under the stars), covering the band-
exploited the plastic and structural qualities of poured-in-place stand with a spectacular sculpture that represented the math-
concrete shells, to great visual and functional effects. All of
5
ematical and geometrical process of designing thin-shells. As
these buildings were part of a heroic period in the development Rosa Lowinger notes:
of a Latin-Mediterranean approach, and an emerging plastic un-
derstanding of concrete, which contrasted with the rationalist Parabolic concrete arches and glass walls were the perfect
canons of the International Style. Pier Luigi Nervi’s affirmation complement for this garden setting, the perfect marriage of
that every concrete structure constitutes “an organism within form and function—the credo of contemporary modernism.
which all internal constraints are propagated and transmitted It was also a completely Cuban adaption of the style, a
from a nervure to another” highlighted how it paralleled the space designed for the luxuriance of the tropics.11
structure of the human body.6 Many of the structures mentioned
above were indeed characterized by long-span cantilevered The arches were most useful in creating a massive, cavernous
roofs whose expression of internal forces cannot be dissociated interior space broken up with light, where the exterior pene-
from the athlete’s and the dancer’s muscles in tension. trates the interior. Imagined for tourists seeking to experience
The Spanish roots of the thin-shell were planted in Madrid the rumba and dancers, the curved arches came to present the
by Torroja, who built the Hippodrome of the Zarzuela (1932– tropicality of the building—irregular, spacious, and sensual,
1933) in collaboration with Martín Domínguez, and the Frontón amid tropical foliage. Historian Erica Morawski suggested that
Recoletos with Secundino Zuazo (1935).7 Both buildings demon- the cabaret Tropicana expressed paradoxically a “cosmopolitan
strated the technical and plastic qualities of the new technique. Cubanidad” in both its references to more universal design and
Following the civil war, Torroja remained in Spain, whereas the its adaptation to particular local conditions.12 Indeed, the build-
younger Félix Candela, who had abandoned his plans to study ing’s inventive, playful form made it an icon of tropical moder-
concrete technology in Germany, left Spain and went into exile nity. In Latin American Architecture since 1945, Henry-Russell
in Mexico. In 1950 he created his own experimental concrete Hitchcock wrote:
company in Mexico City, Cubiertas Ala, and one year later com-
pleted his first major structure at the Ciudad Universitaria Not uncharacteristically, the most striking new edifice here
(UNAM). The Pabellón de rayos cósmicos (Pavilion of cosmic is a nightclub, named La Tropicana. One would hardly guess
radiation), conceived with the architect Jorge González Reyna, that this virtuoso exercise in shell vaulting is by an architect
was the starting point of Candela’s prodigious international trained at Georgia Institute of Technology and Harvard. Aq-
career. 8
uiles Capablanca’s Tribunal de Cuentas is perhaps the most
That the first thin-shell concrete structure built in Cuba was satisfactory of the many government office buildings of the
built the very same year in 1951, on the design of Max Borges last few years erected or in the process of being erected in
Recio, demonstrated how developed the culture of architecture various Latin American capitals. But it is hard to find a com-
4 Tropicality, Tourism, and Leisure 217

mon Cuban denominator between its matter-of-factness Concrete for Leisure and Sport
and the fantasy of La Tropicana. 13
Similar in its use of expansive and sensuous forms was the
Club Náutico in Playa (1953), a beach club where Borges
Here, Hitchcock compared the “fantasy” of the Tropicana to the demonstrated once again his mastery of concrete. Next to the
rationalism of the Tribunal de Cuentas, with the nightclub repre- existing club’s 1920s buildings, he designed a series of
senting a more cogent and compelling expression of cubani- low-vaulted shells that repeated the telescopic effect achieved
dad. This resonated with the use of the space, which would host at the Tropicana, while their parallel arrangement on the sea-
performers ranging from Carmen Miranda and Josephine Baker side suggests the movement of the waves and makes the build-
to Celia Cruz and Olga Guillot. As a result, this architecture of
14
ing appear to float and soar. Likewise, the fenestration along the
playful forms and transparent surfaces, of vast and open curv- vivid blue arches recalls the waves, as does the use of blue and
ing spaces summoning the sounds and dance of the rumba, white throughout the building.15 In 1954, Max Borges was invit-
made the club’s visitors equal participants in the spectacle. ed to design with his brother the restaurant-cabaret Jacaranda

Max Borges Recio. Club Náutico,

Playa (1953), interior view.
218

in the likeness of the Tropicana, to be built in the garden of a

nineteenth-century mansion in Mexico City. There he first met
with Félix Candela, and the two masters initiated a collabora-
tion that lasted until 1959.16 Borges brought back home some
improvement to the technique, particularly in the lightening of
the shells and the design of the paraguas, a type of inverted
umbrella made up of tree-like columns blossoming into hyper-
bolic paraboloids, or “hypars.” Borges would use the latter with
great effect at the Flores Antilla flower shop (1956, El Vedado)
and at the Banco Núñez (1957, Queretajo, Playa). Likewise, ar-
chitect Hector Carrillo used similar concrete umbrellas for the
outdoor gallery at the entrance of the old mansion which was
a part of the Tropicana, the Villa Mina. In both cases, the con-
crete elements stood behind a full glass façade, making them
appear almost as a continuation of the public space. In 1957,
the brothers Borges along with Félix Candela, designed the
tomb and chapel for the Núñez Gálvez family in the Colón cem-
etery.17 In the image of a tent, the tomb consisted of two hyper-
Max Borges Recio and Enrique Borges.
bolic paraboloid reinforced concrete thin-shells, connected at Flores Antilla (Flower shop), Vedado
the crest. The sepulcher volume that stands at the back of the (1956).

Igor B. Polevitzky. Biltmore Club,

Havana (unbuilt).
4 Tropicality, Tourism, and Leisure 219

vaults, clad in white marble, and the gilded ceramics that cover tourists. To the credit of the Cuban government, a series of larg-
the shells, could not but contrast more boldly with the expres- er facilities, particularly dedicated to professional athletes and
sion of the new architectural technology. teams, were built during the same period. The first, a baseball
The freedom of design and the full interpenetration of the stadium known as the Gran Stadium del Cerro (Large Stadium
inside/outside possibilities allowed by the shells made them of the Cerro district), was designed in 1946 by Max Borges as a
extremely popular for the many suburban Centros de Recreo simple steel and concrete structure capable of housing 30,000
(recreation centers) that were established during the 1950s, spectators.18 Planned in the mid-1950s near the Rancho Boy-
such as Benito Gómez-Sampera’s Miramar Yacht Club (1952), eros highway to the airport, the Ciudad Deportiva (City of
Igor B. Polevitzky’s flowing structures for the Havana Biltmore Sports) was one of the most ambitious public ventures of the
(unbuilt), and those which he later designed to cover the recre- Batista regime.19 The masterplan included a large Olympic sta-
ational structures attached to the Riviera Hotel. dium, a swimming pool complex, tennis courts, youth sports
Cuba’s social clubs were private venues—often dedicated fields, and an indoor sports palace (ill. also p. 220). Only the
to sport—that were usually reserved for the upper classes and latter, known as the Coliseo, was built under the direction of

Nicolás Arroyo and Gabriela Menéndez.

Ciudad Deportiva (City of Sports), Havana
(February 26, 1958), inauguration
brochure.

Nicolás Arroyo and Gabriela Menéndez.

Palacio de los Deportes (Sports Palace),
Havana (1955–1957), aerial view.
220

Nicolás Arroyo and Gabriela Menéndez.

Palacio de los Deportes (Sports Palace),
Havana (1955–1957), interior perspective.

Nicolás Arroyo and Gabriela Menéndez.

Palacio de los Deportes (Sports Palace),
Havana (1955–1957), detail of exterior
ramp.

Octavio Buigas de la Cruz. Parque José

Martí, Vedado (1959–1960), exterior view.

Octavio Buigas de la Cruz. Parque José

Martí, Vedado (1959–1960), interior.

architects Nicolás Arroyo and Gabriela Menéndez from 1955 to materialize the cupola. A series of spiraling exterior ramps not
1957. Planned for about 15,000 spectators, it is an imposing only permitted the Coliseo to rapidly fill and empty out, but also
reinforced concrete structure, in the shape of a pure circle, 133 provided additional plasticity to the overall architecture of the
meters in diameter, a modern and covered adaptation of the building.
plaza de toros. The flat cupola roof was supported by for- Completed after the Revolution in 1960, another sports
ty-eight columns, distributed in two concentric rings. The complex—the Parque José Martí—was built on the Malecón for
88-meter thin-shell roof covered spectators and athletes, and the younger generation of Cubans. Designed by Octavio Buigas
offered an unimpeded view from any section of the arena. Most de la Cruz, the park contained a stadium and a gymnasium,
interesting were the forty-four skylights, each 2 meters in diam- both built using the most advanced concrete techniques. Here
eter, that provided natural light and aesthetically seem to de- in particular, the impressive and slender cantilevered sections
4 Tropicality, Tourism, and Leisure 221
222

buttressed the seating sections, as Carlos Raúl Villanueva had friends and clients in the area, most of whom were employees
used at the Universidad Central in Caracas. 20
of the Bacardi company.22 Located at the center of Vista Alegre,
In Santiago de Cuba, Ermina Odoardo and Ricardo Eguilior opposite the Parque Público Heredia, the clubhouse is a curi-
were busy designing social and leisure clubs throughout the ous display of tropical and modernist sensibilities and details.
city in the 1950s.21 These included the outdoor pool and sur- In the form of a two-story “C,” the front façade contains an at-
rounding social spaces of the Ciudamar Yacht Club near the tached curvilinear concrete porch, with large sections of glaz-
entry to the bay of Santiago, the Playa Siboney clubhouse and ing clad in brise-soleils and wooden louvers, whereas the
pool on the southern coast of the island, and the Vista Alegre courtyard around the pool is limited to trabeated columns and
tennis club and pool in the fashionable residential district of the beams with open terraces on both levels. The front section is
same name. The tennis club in particular was of great impor- also capped by an inverted butterfly roof—a reference to the
tance to the husband and wife architectural duo, as they built late work of Mario Romañach, who was coincidentally married
their own house nearby and designed several other houses for to Ermina’s younger sister, Josefina Odoardo Jackel.

Igor B. Polevitzky. Riviera Hotel, Igor B. Polevitzky. Riviera Hotel,

Vedado (1957), model. Vedado (1957), exterior and pool terrace.
4 Tropicality, Tourism, and Leisure 223

Grand Hotels era 2074, or Hotel Law 2074, was passed by Batista in 1955 to
The 1950s was a period of hyper-development throughout Ha- help subsidize the creation of hotels and nightclubs in Havana,
vana. The establishment of various government agencies by largely through tax exemptions and government financing via
Fulgencio Batista attempted to legitimize economic investment bonds through BANDES. 26 The new law contributed to the
by foreign investors, including the American mafia. The Banco
23
1956–1958 building boom, particularly as Havana competed
de Desarrollo Económico y Social (Bank for Economic and with Las Vegas in the international casino market.27 The Hotel
Social Development, BANDES), created in 1955, financed the Capri (1957, ill. p. 224), the Riviera (1957), and the Havana Hilton
14 million dollar Hotel Riviera (1957, ill. also p. 212) and held the (1958) embodied Havana’s ascendancy to a capital of leisure in
mortgage for the Havana Hilton, investing over 13 million dol- the mid-twentieth century. Architecturally, the trilogy echoed
lars in the new hotel. Enrique Cirules suggests that ties be- and tropicalized the new resort aesthetics that was surging in
tween the state, the mafia and U.S. interests created an “empire Miami, but it also exhibited the role of the visual arts and design
of Havana.” He writes specifically about the creation of “state-
24
in modern architecture, incorporating the work of local artists
run or quasi-state-run banking and financial institutions,” and designers to provide a stunning tropical flair. At the same
meant to provide an air of legitimacy for tourist enterprises time, those three landmarks were notorious markers and sym-
largely controlled by the mafia. One such law, the Ley Hotel-
25
bols of U.S. investment in Havana. The Capri, by Havana archi-
224

José Canavés Ugalde. Hotel Capri,

Vedado (1957), partial exterior view.

Welton Becket and Associates, with

Arroyo and Menéndez. Early rendering for
the Havana Hilton, Vedado (1958).
4 Tropicality, Tourism, and Leisure 225

tect José Canavés Ugalde, and the Havana Riviera by Miami- ble hotels and tropical houses in Miami Beach.30 He worked in
based Igor B. Polevitzky marked the growing influence of Meyer conjunction with Verner Johnson and Associates, and the Cu-
Lansky on the island. ban architects Manuel Carrerá Machado and Miguel Gastón.
On the other hand, the Havana Hilton, a joint venture by Located on the Malecón, the sixteen-story tower rises in solitary
Los Angeles-based architect Welton Becket and the Cuban firm fashion along an undeveloped section of the seafront. Polevitz-
of Arroyo and Menéndez, was an example of a unique financing ky distributed the guest rooms within Y-shaped floors, serviced
collaboration. Largely owned by the Caja del Retiro de los Tra- by an elevator tower, giving the building its idiosyncratic form in
bajadores Gastronómicos (Gastronomical and Catering Work- the urban landscape.31 Originally, as can be seen on the model,
ers Union) pension fund and operated by the Hilton corpora- the fully air-conditioned building did not have conventional out-
tion, the tallest hotel in Latin America became a model of door balconies, but rather its façades were protected by deep
mutually beneficial capitalism and international solidarity at the projecting floor slabs acting as continuous eyebrows and a se-
height of the Cold War, even as the fear of revolution was em- ries of screen panels, alternately joined or separate. In its real-
anating from the east end of the island. 28
ized form, the width of the eyebrows was reduced, the panels
Directly commissioned by Lansky, the Hotel Riviera was in- were eliminated, and curved balconies appeared at the three
augurated in 1957 and became an instant icon on the Havana narrow terminations of the building’s wings. At ground level, a
social, tourist, and architectural landscapes. Philip Johnson had long rectangle structure—containing the lobby, restaurants, sa-
designed an initial version of the project on another site, but lons, and lounges—was slipped under the pilotis that support
resigned facing his client’s requests. 29
Lansky then gave the the tower. Next to the lobby entrance, the egg-shaped and gold-
commission to Igor B. Polevitzky, who designed some remarka- leafed casino structure completed the plastic assemblage of
226

Welton Becket and Associates, with

Arroyo and Menéndez. Havana Hilton,
Vedado (1958), rendering of the exterior.

Welton Becket and Associates, with

Arroyo and Menéndez. Havana Hilton,
Vedado (1958), exterior view with original
mural by Amelia Peláez.

Welton Becket and Associates, with

Arroyo and Menéndez. Havana Hilton,
Vedado (1958), interior lobby.

volumes. As explored in Chapter 5, the Riviera became a show- on top of a double-height lobby whose glass walls were
case for the integration of the arts within architecture, with screened by concrete brise-soleils. However, it was the rooftop
artists like Florencio Gelabert, Rolando López Dirube, Cundo swimming pool and bar that made the reputation of the hotel,
Bermúdez, and others leaving their marks both inside and out- and it was spectacularly displayed in the films Yo Soy Cuba
side the building. Particularly effective was the relief work by (Mikhail Kalatozov) and Our Man in Havana (Carol Reed).32
the Cuban-Romanian artist Sandú Darié, which humanized the Last of the grand hotels of the 1950s, the Havana Hilton
long blind walls that enclose the quadrangular complex. (ill. also p. 225) bears a striking resemblance to its Caribbean
Designed by architect José Canavés Ugalde and completed predecessor, the 1949 Caribe Hilton in San Juan, Puerto Rico, a
in 1957, the same year as the Hotel Riviera, the Hotel Capri was work of the local architects Toro and Ferrer.33 At the edge of old
another landmark of American-based tourist iconicity. Located San Juan, overlooking the bay toward the Americanized Conda-
in the Vedado, on a tight site at the intersection of Calle 21 and do neighborhood, the Caribe Hilton featured a grid of balconies
Calle N, one block from the Hotel Nacional, the Hotel Capri and expanses of glass that made its interior space transparent,
lacked the ample public spaces of the Riviera and the Hilton, but also played a conscious, albeit limited response to the trop-
under construction nearby. The twelve floors of guest rooms lay ical climate and the need for sun protection. Referring to the
4 Tropicality, Tourism, and Leisure 227

innovative grid of balconies, Annabel Wharton commented that innovative distribution system adopted at the Edificio Seguro
the Caribe Hilton “was the first major modern hotel constructed Médico and the FOCSA, the interior circulation was entirely en-
with this external sign of the repetitive luxury of the hotel’s in- closed and artificially lit.
terior space.” This exteriorization of private leisure space was
34
The Havana Hilton’s vertical display of privacy was con-
heightened at the Havana Hilton, both literally and figuratively.35 trasted with the generous public spaces contained throughout
Above the multi-level plinth, the rooms occupy twenty-one the hotel, from the plinth to the very top floor. Central to the
identical floors, each one identified by the deep balconies that hotel’s entrance is a roundabout that leads to a spiraling ramp
protect its glass walls. At both ends of the vertical slab, the liv- for cars to park in the basement below. The concept of inter-
ing rooms of the hotel’s suites are boldly cantilevered from the secting itineraries, internationally glorified at Grand Central Ter-
frame that establishes its edges. The broad façade is broken minal in New York, was here made more dynamic both in re-
symmetrically by a wide, vertical recessed section that masks sponse to automobile-centric aesthetics and to Caribbean
the vertical circulation and visually appears to be a skeletal dance movements, as can be seen in the first rendering of the
structure that supports the massive grid. In contrast with the hotel’s entry sequence. While taxis dropped off hotel clientele
228

directly in front of the lobby, through a U-shaped entry drive American modernity while assimilating to their given foreign
that circulated around the perimeter of the descending spiral context. Managing that balancing act, the Havana Hilton was of
ramp, those with rental cars could park below and enter the particular importance in the context of the Cold War and the
hotel from the elevator corridor. The lobby of the Havana Hilton incipient Cuban revolution. For its grand opening, officials en-
floated above the garage, providing a recessed two-story glass deavored to put forth an image of stability amid spectacle. At
façade at the southwest entrance, facing Calle L. It created a the same time, the high-rise hotel hinted at a revolutionary mi-
sense of openness, extending toward the northwest to Calle 23, rage of reform amid impending political revolution.
also known as La Rampa, as well as southwest to Calle 25. The Outside of Havana, the Motel Jagua in Cienfuegos by Edu-
interior of the lobby itself recalled a colonial courtyard in outer ardo Cañas Abril and Nujim Nepomechie (1956–1959) is worth
space, both through its spatial forms—the aggrandized square- mentioning. It was built on the site of the eclectic Palacio de
shaped lobby with second story overlook—and the flat cupola Valle, a neo-arabesque villa on the Punta Gorda peninsula of
pierced by circular skylights that almost make the roof disap- the city. A rationalist structure that was a striking contrast to
pear, a solution that Arroyo and Menéndez had also implement- the sumptuous villa, the hotel consisted of clean volumes and
ed at the Coliseo arena. The central staircase goes up to the lines in the form of two slightly inflected wings around a vertical
second-floor lobby, recalling the Spanish colonial courtyard on circulation core. The south-facing side of the structure con-
a modern scale. The lobby is an open, plaza-like space, the ur- tained running outdoor corridors, while the northern side had
ban expression of cubanidad. While the Havana Hilton provided private recessed balconies with alternating solid parapet walls
three entry points that emphasized its openness and the and metal railings, creating a playful grid-like mosaic. The whole
semi-public nature of the space, the main entrance was domi- structure was elevated on stilts, allowing for open-ground floor
nated by a massive mural by Cuban artist Amelia Peláez. The activities.
impressive blue and white tiled mosaic mural provided a hori-
zontal axis countering the building’s dramatic verticality, as well Vernacular Modernity at Varadero
as an axis perpendicular to the grand boulevard of La Rampa.
The mural also broke the hard-edged forms of the building, pro- The great beaches of Varadero, Figueroa and Francés have
viding a banner of fluid abstract shapes. Furthermore, Pelaéz’s fine, white or slightly yellowish sand that cover almost all
mural and the hotel’s other works of art, by René Portocarrero the territory from North to South, except for the narrow
and Cundo Bermúdez, were rich with decorative elements that swampy strip along the South coast … Its proximity to Ha-
drew influence from Cuban modern art, the Moorish mosaics of vana and Florida will make them the summer destination of
Cuba’s nineteenth and early twentieth-century creole architec- the Cubans and the winter season of the Americans.38
ture, and the colonial era vitrales, or stained-glass windows. 36

The furniture and landscaping of the building likewise re- Located on a thin strip of peninsula extending out toward the
flected this visual appropriation. The U.S.-based interior design- ocean on the north coast of the Matanzas Province, 240 kilo­
er James McQuaid coordinated with Welton Becket and Arroyo meters east of Havana, the city of Varadero is today known as
and Menéndez on the decoration of the Havana Hilton, using the Cancún of Cuba. Lined with major resorts appealing to local
art and furnishing to convey the “old and new” Havana. Much
37
habaneros and tourists, the town of Varadero had much more
as the mural art in the hotel reflected both a sense of cubani- humble beginnings. Founded in 1887 as a small vacation town
dad, the furniture in both the hotel’s public space and private on a grid of square blocks centered on a plaza and a market,
rooms reflected the tropicality of Cuban modernity. Ranging Varadero became ripe for tourism by the late republican era.
from colonial and primitivist to avant-garde and hyper-modern, The early Victorian houses of wood and ironwork, usually ele-
the visual and decorative arts within the hotel expressed a con- vated and with deep encircling verandas, were progressively
temporary modernism that was attached to cubanidad. Such replaced by small and large Mediterranean-style houses, with
design choices also related to the architecture of the Havana the best ones designed by architects like Govantes and Cabar-
Hilton at large, which balanced the corporate modernism of rocas, and Emilio de Soto, who also built the little church of
Welton Becket with the more organic architecture of Nicolás Santa Elvira. In the 1920s, the first mansions were built, like the
Arroyo and Gabriela Menéndez. Further, it epitomized the poli- house for John Fitzgerald and the 1929 Mansión Xanadú,
tics of hotel design in general, as seen in several examples in a splendid Mediterranean Revival-style house designed by
which Hilton hotels attempted to express a familiar, North Govantes and Cabarrocas for Irénée DuPont de Nemours, for-
4 Tropicality, Tourism, and Leisure 229

Leopoldo Abreu. Vernacular beach

house, Varadero Beach (1921).

mer chairman of the DuPont chemical company.39 It was Plan for Varadero (ill. p. 230, 231), and, as we shall see later, for
around this time that Varadero became known as a getaway for Trinidad.41 Quintana and Sert met at the CIAM IX conference in
the wealthy and a site that the DuPonts were interested in turn- Aix-en-Provence in 1953, and had traveled together to Spain
ing into an upscale resort beach town, a process that was facil- and Barcelona at the Catalan Sert’s invitation. The consolida-
itated by the hurricane of 1933 which wiped out most of the tion of those planning efforts was aimed at developing a com-
historic wooden houses.40 The 1950s witnessed a significant prehensive approach with tourism as an economic and urban-
shift toward single-family, one-story homes and the construc- istic priority for the metropolitan region.42
tion of the first modern hotel, Hotel Varadero Internacional (ill. Tourism in the Plan Piloto was primarily oriented to night-
p. 230), by Ricardo Galbis and Vicente Llarena of Mira and life, casinos, and aspects of the city’s historic heritage, like the
Rosich, opening in December of 1950. colonial fortresses. The plan for Varadero was to provide a more
Proposals for transforming Veradero into a more robust idyllic and less urban context for tourist pleasure than would be
and planned resort city appeared as early as 1939, partially found in Havana, and thus complement the offerings with a fo-
thanks to the investments made by the wealthy DuPont family, cus on the sun and the beach. Little material exists about the
and the construction of the Residencial Surf Club, a neighbor- details of the plan that he directed until 1956, but Quintana’s
hood designed by de Soto along the lines of the garden city archives contain a large-scale colored masterplan that illus-
movement. By the early 1950s, President Batista solidified the trates the future development of the thin peninsula over a span
pre-existing plans. In January 1955, the JNP was established of about 16 kilometers in length and 800 meters in width,
under the direction of Nicolás Arroyo. Soon after, Sert and Town wedged between the Straits of Florida on one side and the Bay
Planning Associates received the commission for the Plan Pilo- of Cárdenas on the other. The plan was divided into various
to of Havana while Nicolás Quintana was put in charge of the zones that ranged from full nature conservation areas to
230

Ricardo Galbis and Vicente Llarena Nicolás Quintana, et al. Plan Regulador
(Mira and Rosich). Hotel Varadero del Centro Turístico de Varadero (Master-
Internacional, Varadero (1950), postcard. plan for the touristic center of Varadero
(1958), general plan.
4 Tropicality, Tourism, and Leisure 231

mid-density beach development in the form of modernist su- based on tradition—the invariants of Cuban architecture pro-
perblocks and single-family residential islands. Public structures moted by Eugenio Batista—while integrating many aspects of
and civic centers, often located within green areas, articulated international modernity, a method that he summarized as “ex-
the fully functional concept of the plan. The masterplan privi- tracting the richness out of tradition and converting it to
leged automobile access and included the construction of the modernism.”46
Autopista del Sur, the high-speed highway that was built along Moenck and Quintana had built many houses in the 1930s,
the southern water edge of the Varadero peninsula. Overall, the including an eclectic series of structures at the Kawama Beach
plan for Varadero bore much resemblance to the masterplan for Club (ill. p. 232, 233) on the western section of Varadero Beach.
a Ciutat de Repòs i de Vacances (City of Rest and Vacation), Now having replaced his father at the head of the firm, Nicolás
which Sert and his partners from the Group of Catalan Archi- Quintana was asked to expand the club with a new clubhouse
tects and Technicians for the Progress of Contemporary Archi- and residential pavilions, a work realized between 1954 and
tecture, or GATCPAC, had proposed in 1932 for the extensive 1956. The parti of the project—which he called organización
Catalan beaches south of Barcelona, heading toward Castell- verde (green system)—was that no building should be higher
defells. 43
However, the lack of details and the absence of any than the pine trees, an idea that he also inserted in the regula-
renderings make the plan for Varadero difficult to interpret and tions of the Plan Piloto for the control of the most historic and
evaluate. 44
sensitive sections of the peninsula.47 The aerial sketch and the
In parallel with his involvement in the planning of the beach model showed the beauty of a site positioned between the sea
town, Nicolás Quintana received multiple architectural commis- and the bay. Beside the road, the architects placed small park-
sions that solidified his growing reputation within the tight circle ing areas, exquisitely covered by a thin undulating concrete
of Cuban modern architects. Trained under Pedro Martínez In- roof that rose from the ground, and an open-air club structure
clán and influenced by colleagues like Mario Romañach and on top of the parking. Here, Quintana deployed the arsenal of
Eugenio Batista, Quintana quickly became one of the foremost his tropical language: persianas, wood railings and large-scale
modernists of the 1950s era, representing Cuba at the Interna- rejas (grill works), contrasting with round concrete columns,
tional Congress of Modern Architecture twice (CIAM IX in Aix- and walls and piers of visible ashlar blocks. The contrast be-
en-Provence and CIAM X in Dubrovnik) from 1952–1960. 45
tween the materials was powerful, but it is in the design of the
These influences and the developing ideas of Team X which he two-story cabañas, which were made of two vertically stacked
shared were critical in shaping his architecture. His oeuvre was units per cabin, and dispersed within the pines that Quintana
232
4 Tropicality, Tourism, and Leisure 233

Nicolás Quintana. Kawama Beach

Club, Varadero (1954–1956), model.

Nicolás Quintana. Kawama Beach

Club, Varadero (1954–1956),
perspective rendering.

Nicolás Quintana. Cottage at the

Kawama Beach Club, Varadero
(1954–1956).

Nicolás Quintana. Kawama Beach

Club, Varadero (1954–1956), screened
loggia.
234
4 Tropicality, Tourism, and Leisure 235

Nicolás Quintana. Condominium

Residential Yacht Club (Cabañas del Sol),
Varadero (1955), entrance gate.
achieved a unique balance between the vernacular and
modernity.
Nicolás Quintana. Condominium
Residential Yacht Club (Cabañas del Sol), For almost twenty years, Cuban architects had been rein-
Varadero (1955), interior pedestrian venting the house along the principles of the three “Ps” dear to
street. the architect Eugenio Batista (namely, the patio, the persiana,
and the portico), and adapting these urban elements to the
Nicolás Quintana. Condominium
suburban context of houses. In Varadero and in the country-
Residential Yacht Club (Cabañas del Sol),
side, buildings, small and large, were usually freestanding, built
Varadero (1955), clubhouse building.
with wood, and adapted to the natural and beachside setting.
Quintana acknowledged this rural vernacular and designed the
first modernist adaptation on the island. Responding to the
views, the winds, and the sun, the cabins materialized as ele-
gant plastic volumes whose façades appeared as two L-shaped
sections attached to each other. The sides facing the sea were
light and open, comprising a combination of glass, wood lou-
236

vers, and blocks. They terminated in the form of a terrace

downstairs and veranda above, ideal for a Campeche chair, and
their structures combined ashlar, concrete, and wood columns.
The other sides were almost windowless and built in stone.
Most notable was the large sculptural outdoor staircase that
provided access to the unit on the second floor. The jaunty, sin-
gle-sloped wood roofs were not surprising for the mid-1950s.
Originally called the Residencial Yacht Club, the Cabañas
del Sol (completed in 1955, ill. p. 8, 234, 235) consisted of doz-
ens of seaside bungalows on a parcel of land between the
DuPont­estate and the Hotel Internacional.48 The first striking
section of the complex is the entrance, which Quintana cov-
ered with two inclined concrete elements rising from a central
pillar, with, on each side, a symmetrical set of undulating vaults.
The sheer power of this composition was lauded by Ricardo
Porro, who later in his life wrote:

The central wings are an element of tension between the

interior and the exterior that break the classical notion of
finite, limited space. The effect of tension, of mobility that
is produced creates a limited space. But you can go further
to look at the roots of this entrance. Nicolás, a deeply Cu- Street scene, Trinidad (n.d.).

ban man, seems to have literally ‘eaten up’ the side façade
of the Convent of San Francisco, in Old Havana. And this
reference, probably unconsciously, arose in this project. At
the convent, the sinuous vaults are located on a high wall
of stone, and it is a rhythm of dancing hips that seems to be
superimposed to the hardness of the wall. Nicolás sensual-
ized his entrance to the essence of ‘cuban-ness.’49
A Cultural Vision for Trinidad
Past this portico-wall, the houses were arranged in four stag- During times of important changes in urban and architectural
gered rows, perpendicular to the beach and to the main high- language, the colonial town of Trinidad was never out of sight.
way. Between the rows, a central automobile axis provided The journal Arquitectura kept publishing articles about the city
parking spaces, while the two parallel axes, landscaped with and, in 1943, it was the focus of the exhibition organized by the
pedestrian walkways, connected the houses to each other and ATEC group under the title Trinidad; lo que fue, es y será (Trini-
to the beach. The bungalows, built of ashlar limestone blocks, dad; what was, is and will be).50 The architectural press stressed
had flat or butterfly roofs that cantilevered off the eaves to pro- the importance of the exhibition and the uniqueness of the city
vide the needed shade. Floor-to-ceiling alternating panels of structure and fabric:
glass and hardwood filled the voids left between the walls of
stone. At the end of the axis, the adult clubhouse faced the If an exhibition has the main purpose of showing objects,
beach. A series of seven thin roof shells, supported by concrete presenting work or spreading ideas, it seems to me that we
columns, covered the open-air loggia spaces as well as some are dealing here with a milestone of uncommon excellence
interior rooms screened with louvers. The clubhouse was a … this exhibition about Trinidad is launched to conquer the
building as close as can be imagined to a modern Caribbean opinion of the public—in support of the noblest cause that
stoa. On its side, Quintana designed a smaller club for children, it defends—with arms and means of the highest aesthetic
using the same concrete vaults to create a transparent loggia quality and the most powerful effectiveness that is given to
that expressed pure pleasure and happiness. imagine.51
4 Tropicality, Tourism, and Leisure 237

Nicolás Quintana. Plan Regulador de

Trinidad (ca. 1958), aerial perspective of
the proposed theater district next to
the beach. Trinidad is in the distance,
at the center.

In early 1955, Nicolás Quintana, who was one of the founding it is the sum of all its elements considered together that
members of ATEC and had participated in the exhibition, be- produces an incredible effect, rarely achieved elsewhere.52
came the director of the Plan Regulador de Trinidad along with
the just discussed plan for Varadero. Very little has been written Unsurprisingly, in light of Fulgencio Batista’s overall ambition for
on this planning project, but the Cuban Heritage Collection at the development of the country and the declining agricultural
the University of Miami contains typewritten documents that economy of the region, the objectives of the Junta Nacional de
shed light on the ambitions of the plan for an isolated, slow Planificación regarding Trinidad were twofold. First was the
paced, and somewhat backward colonial jewel. Paradoxically, it preservation and restoration of its unique built heritage, and
was that very isolation that had protected the city and thus second, a comprehensive vision for its tourist development. Ac-
opened specific strategies of intervention: cording to Quintana’s Informe (report) of January 1959, the ar-
chitects embarked on a historic survey of the city, its streets, its
[Trinidad], founded in 1514 by Don Diego Velázquez, has re- monuments, and its exceptional fabric of patio houses. A first
mained at the present time, due to the isolation, the only set of emergency ordinances were drafted to control future in-
genuine and complete exponent of a Cuban colonial urban terventions in the urban fabric, serving as a preliminary step for
complex … The urban fabric of Trinidad de Cuba constitutes a complete study of Trinidad’s urban and architectonic typolo-
a visual phenomenon that determines an environment. Yet, gies and proportions. Trinidad’s advantageous position between
it is not an ensemble of high-quality buildings. Like Venice, sea and mountain made it ideal for tourism, but the authors of
238

the Plan Regulador, in collaboration with artist and ethnogra- to the report, Quintana decided to give his immediate resigna-
pher Lydia Cabrera, pursued the even more ambitious goal of tion.54 The ambitious plan to parallel the restoration of Trinidad
making Trinidad an important cultural center. with the international performing arts festival did not go further,
A document titled Propuesta para constitución de Fun- and all contacts were interrupted. The only drawing document-
dación Trinidad / Festivales de Trinidad (Proposal for the estab- ing the ambitious concept of a cultural capital is a suggestive
lishment of the Foundation Trinidad/Festivals of Trinidad), dated perspective that Quintana carried with him to Puerto Rico and
August 8, 1958, described the project of establishing a public/ later to the United States. The drawing shows a proposal for a
private Fundación Trinidad whose objectives were the restora- low-rise complex of buildings, sprawling, and quite organic in
tion of the city and the launching of an important festival, with its insertion within the landscape, between the sea, the Bay of
the hoped-for support of the Rockefeller Foundation and other Alcón, the city, and the mountains in the background. Clearly
international investors. Apparently, important contacts with visible are the proposed theaters and an adjacent group of res-
cultural leaders such as Gian Carlo Menotti, founder and direc- idences and offices.
tor of the Festival dei Due Mondi, based in Spoleto, Italy, and
later in Charleston, S.C., were made to establish an internation- Socializing Leisure, Tourism, and Daily Life
al Latin-American festival of music and theater that would po- In 1959, the Cuban government passed a law that declared the
sition Cuba and Trinidad on the international circuit.53 entire coastline of the island open for public use. In the follow-
Eventually, the revolution interrupted the work in progress ing years, the architecture of social leisure involved the con-
and, following a meeting in January 1959 with the newly ap- struction of resort-like facilities along a series of virgin beaches.
pointed head of the JNP—Nicolás Arroyo remained in Washing- Interestingly, the model for many projects was Nicolás Quin-
ton D.C. when the revolution started—and his “absurd reaction” tana’s works in Varadero—pavilion-like units inserted in nature
4 Tropicality, Tourism, and Leisure 239

Frank Martínez. National Aquarium,

Havana (1959), plan.

Frank Martínez. National Aquarium,

Havana (1959), model.

Frank Martínez. National Aquarium,

Havana (1959), sections of two tanks.
240
4 Tropicality, Tourism, and Leisure 241

and built with a combination of wood and concrete, and in

some cases, the use of vaults and thin-shells. Most remarkable
were Juan Campos’s Santa Lucía resort in Camagüey (1959), the
concrete cabanas in Playa Popular El Salado in Caimito (1959–
Mario Girona. Heladería Coppelia 1960), and the Centro Turístico Soroa in Candelaría (1960) by
(ice-cream café), Vedado (1966), exterior.
Emilio Fernández and associated architects.55 Likewise, among
those architects who did not take the path of exile, Antonio
Mario Girona. Heladería Coppelia
Quintana Simonetti designed various resort groupings, includ-
(ice-cream café), Vedado (1966), ground
ing a series of cabanas in Jibacoa notable for their hull-like con-
floor and helicoidal staircase.
crete cells.56
Paralleling the new interest in a modern architecture that
would reimagine the traditional vernacular of the countryside,
the emergence of the circular form used in a variety of smaller
buildings erected beginning in 1959—to conclude with the in-
tellectual apotheosis and political demise of the Escuelas de
Arte in the following decade—remains somewhat unexplained.
242

To be sure, Ricardo Porro wrote his well-known “El Sentido de not leave Cuba immediately after the revolution. He joined the
la Tradición” in 1957. In his text, he advocated an extension of
57
Ministry of Public Works, where a new office was set up to
the concept of tradition, “the expression of a reciprocal action channel the new priorities of the government. Located to the
between man and the place in which he develops, the sum of east of Havana in the Rincón de Sibarimar, Guanabo, the unbuilt
his experiences, the expression of the spiritual characteristics aquarium project, designed in early 1959, consisted of eight
common to a people.” His reference to “the indigenous races
58
concrete cylinders, 20 meters in diameter and 6 meters deep,
[that] were exterminated at the beginning of the [Spanish] col- that contained the exhibition fish tanks. It was around these
onization” opened the door to primitive architectural forms on tanks, connected by free-flowing circulation areas, that the
the island and across the Caribbean, which were often round public circulated. A larger display cylinder and a handful of ac-
like the huts of the Taino batey (informal village).59 cessory circular units contained educational areas, laborato-
Undoubtedly, it is Francisco “Frank” Martínez Justíz who ries, and other services that completed the organic arrange-
was among the first to deploy the curved and circular forms in ment of the very large structure. Interestingly, the roofs were
modern Cuban architecture for the design of the National designed as ribbed inverted umbrellas, almost a negative im-
Aquarium (ill. p. 238, 239). Frank Martínez was one of the few
60
age of the Escuelas de Arte, whose construction Porro would
great masters of Cuban architecture in private practice who did coordinate a few years later. The typical section of the exhibi-
4 Tropicality, Tourism, and Leisure 243

tion cylinders was particularly clever. It allowed the spectators

to watch the fish in transparent tanks whose tops were open to
allow service personnel to feed the animals. A lower-level cir-
culation system permitted the movement of vehicles from tank
Mario Girona. Heladería Coppelia to tank.
(ice-cream café), Vedado (1966), second-
One of the most iconic of these circular concrete struc-
floor interior view.
tures was the Coppelia ice-cream café (ill. also p. 240, 241) and
salon. Located in a new park directly in front of the Radiocentro
Flower arrangement by Elena Suárez.
Lyceum and Lawn Tennis Club, Vedado Building and diagonally opposite to the Hotel Havana Libre (the
(1956). post-revolution Havana Hilton), the 1966 structure appears as a
cathedral of ice cream, named after Léo Delibes’s famous bal-
let. Designed by architect Mario Girona, it features five white
granite discs annexed to one great helicoidal staircase, all un-
244

der one big circular roof supported by twelve reinforced con-

crete, arachnid-like columns. The rounded forms and ramps
provide a sense of playfulness much like that of the National
Arts Schools. Amidst the trees, the saucer-shaped gathering
spot appears to have concrete tentacles reaching outwards, as
if the modern structure were a pitched tent. Stained-glass win-
dows and wood-finished ramps provide a more traditional feel-
ing, recalling the vitrales, or stained-glass windows, of Cuban
colonial architecture. Its rounded form further recalls the Taino
bohío (rustic hut) mentioned earlier, arguably a reference to a
Cuban heimat (or homeland). Nonetheless, the building is una-
bashedly modern, its central staircase appearing like the eye of
a hurricane, its forms unequivocally geometric and aspirational.
It recalls the tropicality of the concrete avant-garde in its em-
ployment of playful forms within a seemingly syncopated
space. At the same time, its space-age form defies its cubani-
dad, as a utopia of pleasure amid the prefabricated and high-
rise wonderment of the city.61 Here, populist ideology helped
shape the design and use of the public space. The park area
surrounding the building features lush ground cover and a can-
opy of towering banyan trees, which provide shade for open-air
dining areas. Curvilinear paths lead to an elevated circular pa-
vilion, inside of which the only indoor seating is located.

Tropical Landscape in the City

In the wake of the great planning and landscape schemes of
Forestier, Labatut, and Martínez Inclán in the early decades of
the twentieth century, in 1932 Eugenio Batista proposed a mod-
est design for the central plaza in the town of Bejucal, an eight-
Antonio Quintana Simonettti. Zoological
eenth-century municipality on the southern outskirts of Ha- garden, Nuevo Vedado (1944), partial view
vana. 62 The rectangular plaza—originally the Plaza de of the entrance.
Armas—was designed with an octagonal ring of trees around
a central monument to justice that faced toward the church,
with more trees clustered around small fountains on the four
corners of the square. The plaza was completed according to
Batista’s design and still stands today though its dedication is
now to the Generals Antonio Maceo and Máximo Gómez.
On a vastly different scale, a proposal for the Bosque de La
Habana (Forest of Havana) along the Almendares River was re-
vived in 1935 by Dr. Luis Machado, Secretary of the Obras Pú-
blicas (Minister of Public Works).63 In his 1925 book, La Habana
Actual, Pedro Martínez Inclán had suggested that a paseo line
the river, and in 1926, Forestier had argued for gardens along
its banks, culminating in a system of parks with a Gran Parque
Nacional (Great National Park) between the existing pleasure
gardens of La Tropical and La Polar. The architect Aquiles Maza
was tasked with realizing the initial phase of the project. He
4 Tropicality, Tourism, and Leisure 245

published several essays on the bosque in 1937 and 1938, chitects should pay more attention to trees, plants, and flowers;
bringing to light the project’s design intention and generating in particular their color, rhythm, beauty, and texture.67 Noting
further interest in landscape architecture in general. The bos- how increasingly there was a separation between interior and
que, however, would not be a landscape of recognizable hu- exterior in architecture, her plea for a greater integration of ar-
man artifice, but rather a place of natural beauty that respected chitecture and landscape was aimed at improving cities, build-
the peculiar characteristics of the existing environment with its ings, and private residences, however modest or small. To that
wild canes and scattered flamboyán (Royal Poinciana) trees, as end, she insisted that the Lyceum’s annual exhibition was a
well as the rich vegetation of the Isla Josefina (a small island in fertile ground for inspiration.
the middle of the Almendares River). Interspersed among the By far the most important landscape project in Cuba in the
natural elements were recreational fields and athletic facilities 1950s was the garden that the Brazilian landscape architect
to promote physical activity in addition to leisure. The park Roberto Burle Marx designed for the Swiss banker Alfred de
opened to the public in 1937, generating a tremendous interest Schulthess at his private residence in the Country Club district
in landscape architecture and the necessity for greater aware- of Havana.68 A painter, sculptor, and designer, as well as a land-
ness, and attention to, the natural environment. scape architect, Burle Marx was profoundly aware of the rich
In April 1938, the journal Arquitectura published an anony- palette of tropical plants, rocks, light, and colors that permeated
mous article titled “Jardines” (Gardens), that discussed Arab, the Latin American landscape. He married aspects of modernist
Oriental, and European gardens throughout history.64 In the fol- design, such as form, geometry, and rhythm, with tropical colors
lowing months the journal published more articles on land- and variably changing topography, light, and climatic conditions.
scape design.65 Whether the authors were exalting historical Invited to Cuba in 1954 by the University of Havana School of
examples and varieties of gardens, or praising the benefits of Architecture, Burle Marx met with students and lectured at both
health, leisure, tranquility, and well-being, landscape architec- the school and the College of Architects.69 At the Schulthess
ture had entered the repertoire of issues that the modern ar- residence, Burle Marx worked in tandem with Richard Neutra
chitect needed to consider and be able to represent. In Cuba and the local architect Raúl Álvarez. Together they achieved a
they were intimately connected to extraordinary color, hard novel mixture of formal plant and flower beds around the pool,
light, and the varying topographical and climatic conditions of as an extension of the rational structure of the house, and an
the island. To that end, the young architect Antonio Quintana undulating perimeter of loosely planted trees, with a serpentine
was commissioned in 1944 to design the entry pavilion for the pathway providing views back to the house from a variety of
Parque Zoológico de La Habana (Zoo of Havana) in the Nuevo different positions. In total, Burle Marx specified some six-
Vedado district. Placed nearby Rita Longa’s famous sculpture of ty-eight different kinds of plants and trees, almost all of which
a family group of deer ascending a mount, the pavilion was were brought in from elsewhere and already quite large.70
conceived as a modern asymmetrical propylon gateway, with While working on the Schulthess residence, Álvarez also
rectangular piers separating pedestrians from automobiles en- developed an experimental garden (ill. p. 247) outside of Ha-
tering the park. The structure also contained a large tower on vana near Rancho Boyeros, in collaboration with the Brazilian
its left side and a low wall with a three-dimensional rendering who advised him on plant selections.71 The garden was not only
of the word “Zoológico” to the right. Similarly, Pedro Pablo Man- a place of refuge for Álvarez, but also a farm where he could
tilla designed a bird pavilion for the zoo in the form of a run- raise a variety of colorful plants with little or no maintenance or
ning, semi-circular portico around an elevated pool, with metal irrigation. Built incrementally, the garden had no overall plan
trellises and dense foliage. but was conceived as a kind of abstract painting with random
The Lyceum and Lawn Tennis Club in the Vedado had, since streaks of color, very much in the manner of Burle Marx’s draw-
the early 1940s, organized an annual spring floral exhibition that ings and paintings. Though the garden no longer exists, the ar-
featured novel arrangements of plants and flowers, converting chitectural photographer Rudi Rada, who was an avid admirer
the institution into a wonderful garden. By 1960, the Lyceum
66
of mid-century architecture, produced several beautiful images
had organized many exhibitions, bringing to light the country’s of Álvarez posing in the garden.
great diversity of flora, rich in color, texture, and form, as well as After the revolution, in 1960, Eugenio Batista was given an
rare and exotic foreign specimens. The exhibitions had become even more impressive park to embellish, the Parque Central,
so popular that the architect Lilliam Mederos published an arti- the rectangular square surrounded by some of the city’s most
cle in Arquitectura championing them and suggesting that ar- important civic and commercial buildings, created in 1877 on
246

the edge of Old Havana at a short distance from the Capitol.72 many university students who lost their lives in their fight for
He maintained the effigy sculpture of José Martí by José Vilalta freedom between 1871 and 1959. The winning scheme by the
de Saavedra (1904) at the center of the square, giving it a new team of Mario Coyula, Emilio Escobar, Sonia Domínguez, and
marble platform, and surrounding it with twenty-eight palm Armando Hernández consisted of a perimeter enclosure of
trees that serendipitously represented the day that Cuba’s na- trees with a central space surrounded by a second screen of
tional hero was born (January 28, 1853). He also planted large large curvilinear concrete walls and henge-like sculptural
canopies of trees on either end of the park, protecting a series forms. The inscriptions and shallow reliefs depict the struggles
of fountains and seating areas. Batista kept the colonial-era that university students undertook for the sake of liberation.
street lamps around the park, and replaced the pavement, in- With the surrounding buildings forming an urban edge, the
stalling pink and cream terrazzo throughout. In doing so, Batista monument felt more like a plaza than a park, and the loosely
had thus transformed the great plaza into a dignified garden for placed concrete walls and volumes resulted in a kind of an-
Havana’s citizenry. ti-monument that fit in well with the theme of resistance.
In 1965, the Junta de Coordinación, Ejecución e Inspección The last great work of landscape design in Havana was the
de la Municipal de La Habana (The Municipality of Havana Parque Lenin, an ambitious 670-hectare landscape project ini-
Board of Coordination, Execution, and Inspection, or JUCEI) tiated in 1969 about 12 kilometers to the south of the Capitol
asked the College of Architects to organize a competition to building.74 Designed by Antonio Quintana Simonetti, the park
design a Parque-Monumento a los Mártires Universitarios was built in a rugged area, with poor soil quality and without its
(Monumental Park for the University Martyrs) on a trapezoidal own existing flora. New soil had to be brought in to assure that
block in Central Havana, not far from the university.73 The the transplanted vegetation from various parts of the country—
park-monument was aimed at symbolically celebrating the more than 80,000 trees in all—would successfully grow.
4 Tropicality, Tourism, and Leisure 247

Mario Coyula, Emilio Escobar, Sonia

Domínguez, and Armando Hernández.
Parque-Monumento a los Mártires
Equipped with large swimming pools, restaurants, and amuse-
Universitarios (Monumental Park for the
University Martyrs), Central Havana ment infrastructure, the park forms a major part of the city’s
(1965). green belt and is considered the largest green lung in the cap-
ital. Roberto Segre wrote:
Raúl Álvarez in his Jardín Experimental,
Havana (1959).
The influence exerted [on Quintana] by the subtle and com-
plex Japanese landscape design and the Latin American
plasticity developed by Burle Marx in Brazil accompany the
roots of the synthesis achieved in Lenin Park … Where na-
ture becomes architecture and architecture blends with
the landscape in a constant dialectical integration between
prefabricated and natural materials of the region.75
248

NOTES Arq. Max Borges Recio,” Arquitectura, no 246 (Havana: Instituto Cubano del Turismo, 1954).
(January 1954): 12–19; and Henry-Russell 24 Enrique Cirules, The Mafia in Havana: A
1 Eduardo Luis Rodríguez, “Theory and practice Hitchcock, Latin American Architecture since Caribbean Mob Story (Melbourne, New York:
of modern regionalism in Cuba,” Docomomo-­ 1945 (New York: MoMa, 1956), 108–09. Ocean Press, 2004), 109 and 153.
Cuba, no. 33 (2005): 14. 10 Educated in the United States at Georgia Tech 25 Idem, 104–105.
2 Krista Thompson, An Eye for the Tropics: and Harvard University, Max Borges Recio 26 T.J. English, Havana Nocturne: How the Mob
Tourism, Photography and Framing the Caribbean was the son of Max Borges del Junco, engineer Owned Cuba ... and Then Lost It to the Revolution
Picturesque (Durham, NC: Duke University and architect, who on the side of his architec- (New York: HarperCollins, 2008), 132; and
Press, 2006), 5. In her book, art historian tural practice founded the construction Moruzzi, Havana Before Castro, 176.
Thompson theorizes tropicality as “the complex company Construcciones Max Borges, later to 27 Las Vegas passed a law in April 1958 prohibit-
visual systems through which the islands were become Max Borges e Hijos. ing casino vendors from also working as
imaged for tourist consumption and the social 11 Rosa Lowinger and Ofelia Fox, Tropicana Nights: vendors in Cuba, in an attempt to squash
and political implications of these representa- The Life and Times of the Legendary Cuban competition with Havana. Batista was aware of
tions on actual physical space on the islands Nightclub (Orlando, FL: Harcourt, 2006), 105. Havana’s strong competition with Vegas and
and their inhabitants.” Although the context of 12 Erica Morawski, “The Tropicana Cabaret: was invested in helping Havana become the
the English Caribbean is very different from the Designing Cosmopolitan Cubanidad in the casino capital of the world. From Robert Lacey,
Cuban one, her methodology and interrogation 1950s,” Journal of Design History 32, no. 1 Little Man: Meyer Lansky and the Gangster Life
of historical images through the theory of (February 2019): 52–68. (Boston: Little, Brown, 1991), 256–57.
tropicality provide a means to analyze the 13 Hitchcock, Latin American Architecture, 56. 28 Alfredo Rivera, “Revolutionizing Modernities:
development of architectural modernity in the 14 Peter Moruzzi, Havana Before Castro: When Visualizing Utopia in 1960s Cuba,” Ph.D. diss.
Caribbean as a whole with Cuba at its center. Cuba Was a Tropical Playground (Salt Lake City, (Duke University, 2015), 143.
3 José Gelabert-Navia, “American Architects in UT: Gibbs Smith, 2008), 116. 29 See “Hotel Monaco,” Philip Johnson Box 6
Cuba: 1900–1930,” The Journal of Decorative and 15 Rodríguez, “Theory and practice of modern Monaco Hotel, Havana, Cuba (never construct-
Propaganda Arts 22, (1996): 132–49. regionalism in Cuba,” 19. ed, 1956), Four photographs, one negative
4 Several authors have recently assessed the 16 Ángel Manuel Álvarez Gómez, “Los cabarets (Getty: Philip Johnson Papers).
modern architecture of Cuba, and their de Max Borges y Félix Candela: estructuras 30 On Igor B. Polevitzky, see Allan Shulman, ­
publication efforts have been fundamental to laminares compartidas,” Arquitectura y “Igor Polevitzky’s Architectural Vision for a
our research. These include: Eduardo Luis Urbanismo XXXVII, no. 3 (September–October Modern Miami,” The Journal of Decorative and
Rodríguez, La Habana, arquitectura del siglo XX 2016): 130–38. Max Borges del Junco and his Propaganda Arts 23 (1998): 335–59. Also see
(Barcelona: Blume, 1998); Eduardo Luis sons Max Borges Recio and Enrique Borges William H. Arthur IV, “Igor B. Polevitzky and
Rodríguez, The Havana Guide: Modern collaborated with Candela for many projects in the Habana Riviera Hotel,” https://whaiv.us/
Architecture 1925–1965 (New York: Princeton and outside Cuba. Borges Recio was the polevitzky-and-the-habana-riviera. This is an
Architectural Press, 2000); Eduardo Luis exclusive representative of Cubiertas Ala in article whose writing is based on testimonies
Rodríguez, La arquitectura del movimiento Cuba. One of the works designed together was from the author’s father who was employed by
moderno: Selección de obras del Registro the cabaret Tropicoro at the Hotel San Juan Polevitzky and worked on the Riviera Hotel.
Nacional (Havana: Ediciones Unión, 2011); Intercontinental in Puerto Rico 31 Styliane Philippou, “Un Modernismo Vanidoso:
Carlos Sambricio and Roberto Segre, Arquitectu- (in 1958 but destroyed in the 1970s). Espacios de ocio turísticos durante los años
ra en la ciudad de La Habana: primera modernidad 17 See “Creativity in Cuban Thin Shell Structures,” cincuenta en Miami y La Habana = Vanity
(Madrid: Electa España, 2000); and Francisco https://cubanshells.princeton.edu/projects/ Modern: Tourist Playgrounds in Miami and
Gómez Díaz, De Forestier a Sert: ciudad y nunez-galvez-town/. Havana of the 1950s.” Arquitectura y Urbanismo
arquitectura en La Habana (1925–1960) 18 “El Stadium de la Habana,” Arquitectura, 36, no. 1 (2015): 62–85. This is an interesting
(Madrid: Abada, 2008). To avoid lengthy no. 204 (July 1950): 320–21. essay which is, unfortunately, also excessively
repetition, we have decided not to provide 19 “Una obra del arquitecto Nicolás Arroyo driven by a clichéd interpretation of the
continuous page references for these sources, Marquéz, Ministro de Obras Públicas: El nuevo postwar resort architecture in Miami and
unless of course necessary. Instead, we will Palacio de los Deportes/La Ciudad Deportiva,” consequently in Havana.
provide original source material and lesser-­ Arquitectura, no. 284 (March 1957): 115–20. 32 Our Man in Havana, directed by Carol Reed
known references throughout. 20 “Creativity in Cuban Thin Shell Structures,” (1959, United Kingdom), film, 111 minutes;
5 See for instance, Carlo Olmo and Cristiana at https://cubanshells.princeton.edu/projects/ and Yo Soy Cuba (I Am Cuba), directed by
Chiorino, Pier Luigi Nervi: Architecture as parque-jose-marti-stadium/. Mikhail Kalatozov (1964, USSR), film,
Challenge (Milan/Brussels: Silvana Editoriale/ 21 Arquímedes Rodriguez and Marcos Muñiz, 140 minutes.
CIVA, 2010); Eduardo Torroja Miret, The Santiago De Cuba (Santiago de Cuba: Unión 33 Erica N. Morawski, “Designing Destinations:
Structures of Eduardo Torroja: An Autobiography Gráfica, 1950–1959); and the Odoardo and Hotel Architecture, Urbanism, and American
of Engineering Accomplishment (New York: Equilior Architectural Records, University of Tourism in Puerto Rico and Cuba,” Ph.D. diss.
Dodge Corp., 1958); Sibyl Moholy-Nagy, Miami Libraries, Coral Gables, FL, Cuban (University of Illinois at Chicago, 2014).
Carlos Raul Villanueva and the Architecture of Heritage Collection, CHC5498. 34 Annabel Wharton, Building the Cold War:
Venezuela (New York: Praeger, 1964). 22 Morcate and Soto attribute the Vista Alegre Hilton International Hotels and Modern
6 Pier Luigi Nervi, Structures (New York: Tennis Club (1959) to Celestino Sarille in Architecture (Chicago: University of Chicago
F.W. Dodge Corporation, 1956), 101. Eduardo Luis Rodríguez, La arquitectura del Press, 2001), 188.
7 See Pablo Rabasco and Martín Domínguez Ruz, movimiento moderno: Selección de obras del 35 “Hilton plus Statler: A big hotel client gets
Arniches y Domínguez (Madrid: Akal, 2017). Registro Nacional (Havana: Ediciones Unión, bigger,” Architectural Record (October 1954):
8 Maria E.M. Garlock, David P. Billington, and 2011), 235; though personal letters and 154–155; Agustín Sorhegui Vázquez, “Hotel
Nola Burger, Félix Candela: Engineer, Builder, photographs from the Odoardo and Equilior Habana-Hilton: Edificio en construcción,”
Structural Artist (New Haven, CT: Yale Architectural Records, CHC5498, confirm that Arquitectura, no. 275 (June 1956): 269–71; and
University Press, 2009). the design was indeed theirs and dated 1953. Michael M. Lefever, and Cathleen D. Huck,
9 “Edificio para un Cabaret,” Espacio 1, no. 5 23 See for instance Doctrina, proyecciones, y “The Expropriation of the Habana Hilton:
(September–October 1952): 48–49; “El Premio actividades del Instituto Cubano del Turismo: A Timely Reminder,” International Journal of
Medalla de Oro 1953: El Cabaret Tropicana por 20 de febrero, 1953 – 20 de febrero, 1954 Hospitality Management, no. 9 (1990): 14–20.
4 Tropicality, Tourism, and Leisure 249

36 For further discussion of the integration of the 51 Idem, 195 (Martín Domínguez quoted by ra, no. 72 (July 1939): 248; Rodolfo Arango,
arts, see Chapter 5. Nicolás Arroyo). “El jardín como complemento de la obra del
37 Press release by Hilton Corporation, March 22, 52 See the typewritten manuscript by Nicolás arquitecto,” Arquitectura, no. 85 (August 1940):
1963, Bruce Becket and Associates archives, Quintana, “Informe sobre Trinidad: January 184–85; Sidney Horniblow, “El jardín más
Los Angeles, see Rivera, “Revolutionizing 10, 1959 to Osmundo Machado, Presidente de valioso del mundo,” Arquitectura, nos. 136–37
Modernities,” 143. la JNP,” 3, Nicolás Quintana Papers, CHC5314. (November–December 1944): 416–18; María
38 Leonardo García Chávez, Historia de la Also see Rafael Fornés, “El gran burgués”—­ M. Alberti, “La casa conquista al jardín: el jardín
jurisdicción de Cárdenas (Havana: Cultural, Entrevista con Nicolás Quintana,” Revista conquista a la casa,” Arquitectura, no. 139
1930). encuentro de la cultura cubana, no. 18 (Fall (February 1945): 66–68; and F. Duprat,
39 Rosalie Schwartz, Pleasure Island: Tourism & 2000): 32–43. “Los jardines y la moda,” Arquitectura, no. 239
Temptation in Cuba (Lincoln: University of 53 Ibidem. Among other documents, see the (June 1953): 238–40. See also, Oscar Fisher,
Nebraska Press, 1997), 128–29. report “Trinidad” by Tom Josselin, dated 8 of “The Architecture of Leisure,” Architectural
40 Dennis Merrill, Negotiating Paradise: U.S. August 1958. On the Plan Regulador, also see Record, no. 86 (June 1937): 116–19.
Tourism and Empire in Twentieth-Century Latin Nicolás Quintana, “Trinidad de Cuba y el Valle 66 Rosario Rexach, “El Lyceum de la Habana como
America (Chapel Hill: University of North de los Ingenios,” Herencia 3, no. 2 (October institución cultural,” Actas del IX Congreso de la
Carolina Press, 2009), 109. 1997): 13–16. Asociación Internacional de Hispanistas, ed.
41 Timothy Hyde, Constitutional Modernism: 54 Quintana, “Trinidad de Cuba,” 13. Sebastian Neumeister (Frankfurt am Main:
Architecture and Civil Society in Cuba, 1933– 55 Eduardo Luis Rodríguez, “Cuba,” in Latin Vervuert, 1989), 688; and see the brochure
1959 (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota America in Construction, 197. “Lyceum and Lawn Tennis Club Collection,
Press, 2013), 63–64. 56 http://www.arquitecturacuba.com/2011/06/ 1929–1986,” University of Miami Libraries,
42 Idem, 131. la-naturaleza-en-antonio-quintana.html. Coral Gables, FL, Cuban Heritage Collection,
43 Josep M. Rovira i Gimeno, José Luis Sert: 57 Ricardo Porro, ”El Sentido de la Tradición,” CHC0124000012.
1901–1983 (Milan: Electa, 2000); and Nuestro Tiempo 16 (1957); abridged reprint in 67 Lilliam Mederos de Baralt, “Así florece Cuba:
“La ciudad de reposo que necesita Barcelona,” John A. Loomis, Revolution of Forms: Cuba’s la exposición anual de arreglos florales, flores
A.C., no.7 (1932): 24–31. Unfortunately, Forgotten Art Schools (New York: Princeton y plantas en el Lyceum de La Habana,”
material related to the Varadero plan is very Architectural Press, 2011), 163–64. Arquitectura, no. 322 (May 1960): 251–55.
scarce both in Quintana’s archives at the 58 Ibidem. 68 Eduardo Luis Rodríguez, Modernidad Tropical:
University of Miami and Sert’s archives at 59 Ibidem. For more on the Art Schools and the Neutra, Burle Marx y Cuba: La Casa de Schulthess
Harvard University. circular form, see Chapter 3. (Havana: Embajada de Suiza en Cuba, 2007),
44 For a short but complete history of Varadero, 60 Original blueprint drawings can be found in the 12 ff.
see Recondo Pérez, Ramón Félix, “Varadero, Rafael Fornés Collection, Miami. See also 69 José María Bens Arrarte, “La visita del
ayer y hoy,” Revista de arquitectura e ingeniería 4, “Aquario nacional Sibarimar,” Arquitectura, paisajista Roberto Burle Marx,” Arquitectura,
no. 3 (December 2010): n.p. no. 319 (February 1960): 94–99. Martínez also no. 255 (October 1954): 442; and “Burle Marx
45 “Interview with Nicolás Quintana,” https:// used the circular form for his suburban and en La Habana,” Espacio, no. 15 (September–­
merrick.library.miami.edu/cdm/ref/collection/ countryside markets, as discussed in Chapter 3. October 1954): 59.
chc5212/id/775. 61 Rivera, “Revolutionizing Modernities,” 70 See the “Schulthess Landscape Plan and
46 Ibidem. 245–246. Specifications,” Raúl Álvarez Papers, University
47 Josef Asteinza, “Cuba’s Vanishing Modernity: 62 See “Bejucal, Habana, Cuba, Feb. 5, 1932,” of Miami Libraries, Coral Gables, FL, Cuban
The Architecture of Nicolas Quintana in the Eugenio Batista Collection, University of Heritage Collection, CHC5484. Burle Marx later
(1925–2011),’’ DOCOMOMO-US (November Miami Libraries, Coral Gables, FL, Cuban signed the copy of the plan in 1989 as a favor to
2015): 1–4. Quintana included the regulation Heritage Collection, CHC0331. Álvarez.
in the Plan Piloto de Varadero. 63 Aquiles Maza Santos, “El Bosque de La 71 Raúl Álvarez Papers, CHC5484.
48 “Club Náutico de Varadero: concurso para la Habana,” Revista Lyceum II, no. 7 (September 72 “Proyecto del Parque Central de la Habana,”
construcción del Edificio Social,” Arquitectura, 1937): 7–18; Aquiles Maza Santos, “La Habana Arquitectura Cuba, Nos. 323–24 (June–July
no. 298 (May 1958): 194–98. In 1957, y el Bosque: El sentido actual de los espacios 1960): 344–47.
Quintana won the competition for the Varadero abiertos en las grandes ciudades,” Arquitectura, 73 “Concurso para un parque monumento a los
Club Náutico but the project did not see the no. 59 (June 1938): 221–26, and under the Mártires Universitarios,” Arquitectura Cuba,
light of day. See also the Nicolás Quintana same title, Arquitectura, no. 60 (July 1938): no. 335 (1965): 6–11 ff.
papers, University of Miami Libraries, 259–65; Luis Bay Sevilla, “El Bosque de La 74 See Maria Elena Martín Zequeira, “El Parque
Coral Gables, FL, Cuban Heritage Collection, Habana,” Arquitectura, no. 54 (January 1938): Lenin: cuatro décadas después,” Arquitectura y
CHC5314. More information regarding his n.p.; and Heman Adolf Van Hermann, “Ideas Urbanismo, XXXIV, no. 1 (2013): 98–110.
biography and his work is available at the convenientes para la siembra y conservación del 75 Roberto Segre, “En busca de una arquitectura
website Havana Modern: The Architecture of Bosque de la Habana,” Arquitectura, no. 61 con vocación estética: La trayectoria de Antonio
Nícolás Quintana, https://www.quintanaproject. (August 1938): 299–302. Quintana,” Casa de las Américas, no. 149 (1985):
com, gathering architecture sources for a 64 “Jardines,” Arquitectura no. 57 (April 1938): 63–64.
documentary. 151–59.
49 Ricardo Porro, “Nicolás y la Trinidad,” 65 See Rafael Marquina, “Meditación jardinera,”
Revista encuentro de la cultura cubana, no. 18 Arquitectura, no. 58 (May 1938): 172–78;
(Fall 2000): 51. Herbert Hare, “Parques, jardines públicos
50 Nicolás Arroyo, “La A.T.E.C. y la última y arbolado,” Arquitectura, no. 64 (November
exposición de Trinidad,” Arquitectura XI, 1938): 436–41; Pedro A. Díaz Záenz, “Influen-
no. 118 (May 1943): 190–95. cia psíquica y moral de los árboles,” Arquitectu-
 251

CHAPTER 5

The Synthesis of the Arts

The 1940s marked the classical phase of Cuban modernism, when a new generation
of artists, along with some of the preceding ones, moved toward a more intimate
expression of the Cuban ethos.
 Juan A. Martínez
252

Eugenio Batista. Eutimio Falla Bonet Florencio Gelabert. La sirena y el pez

residence, Miramar (1938), bar mural. (Mermaid and swordfish), Hotel Riviera,
Vedado (1957).

Domingo Ravenet. Prometeo Encadenado,

Edificio de la Biblioteca, University of
Havana, Vedado (1945).

Architecture and the Plastic Arts With the advent of the modern movement in architecture,
Architecture in Cuba had always been intimately linked with Cuban architects continued to look to Europe, though not al-
the plastic arts.1 The colonial-era architects and builders of Ha- ways with an eye to the past. The functionalist aesthetic that
vana were largely concerned with creating a predictable past, took hold in Cuba initially tended to exclude the synthesis of art
a city of recognizable, familiar, and memorable places trans- and architecture. Think, for instance, of the early streamlined
formed by the punishing tropical sun and mild Caribbean wa- residences of Rafael de Cárdenas, or Pedro Martínez Inclán’s
ters. Important streets and public squares were lined with col- apartment building for Justo Carrillo in the Vedado (1931),
onnaded porticos (portales) and contained ornate fountains which was hailed for its machine aesthetic. Nevertheless, the
and monumental statuary. Public buildings were adorned with integration of the arts and architecture had been a persistent
highly carved decorative entryways, churches had elaborately theme of all the artistic vanguard movements in Europe since
sculpted altarpieces (retablos), and their interior walls were the end of the World War I, and it found great support in Latin
painted with religious-themed murals. The courtyard houses American countries such as Brazil, Venezuela, and Mexico. It
were filled with iron gates and railings (cancelas and rejas), would not take long for that influence to reach Cuba.
wooden louvers (persianas), stained-glass windows (vitrales), As early as 1932, Eugenio Batista had designed a chapel
and sumptuous wooden ceilings of Moorish artistry (alfarjes). dedicated to San Laureano on the grounds of the Central Ade-
This intense synthesis of the arts—both artistic and decora- laida sugar mill in the village of Falla, in the province of Cama-
tive— continued throughout the nineteenth and early twenti- güey (now Ciego de Avila). It was built in memory of the mill’s
eth centuries, with the latest trends in neo-classicism, founder and owner, Laureano Falla Gutiérrez, the father of Eu-
neo-Gothic romanticism, art nouveau, Catalan Modernisme, timio Falla Bonet.4 The modest chapel, with a single nave and
and art deco.2 Applied surface ornament, idiosyncratic embel- portico atrium out front, contained a massive wooden His-
lishments, decorative arts and crafts furniture, and novel build- pano-Islamic mudéjar ceiling inside, and six stained-glass win-
ing products prevailed. The architectural character of Havana dows designed by Batista and executed by the Italian glass
contributed to making the city of columns—as coined by Alejo artisan Gino Ciolli. The six glass windows symbolically repre-
Carpentier—the monumental anteroom of the New World. 3
sented the themes of infancy, work, enterprise, charity, honor,
5 The Synthesis of the Arts 253

and family, all of which were associated with the Fallas in gen- The 1939 New York World’s Fair introduced the United
eral and the patriarch specifically. The chapel was described in States for the first time to modern Cuban painters, as part of the
the journal Arquitectura y artes decorativas as a magnificent Exposición Panamericana.12 Held at the Riverside Museum, the
example of a colonial-era structure adapted to the modern focus was less on the individual artists and more on the promo-
needs and uses of the time.5 It comes as no surprise then that tion of Cuban art abroad. A year later, the University of Havana
in 1938, Batista painted the tropical landscape mural on the held an exhibition in collaboration with the Instituto Nacional de
walls of the bar inside the new Falla Bonet residence in Havana, Artes Plásticas (National Institute of Fine Arts) and the Corpo-
highlighting the rustic origins of the family and the structure. ración Nacional del Turismo (National Tourism Corporation) ti-
These two examples may have been considered exceptional at tled 300 años de Arte en Cuba (300 years of Art in Cuba).13 This
the time, but they set a precedent of collaboration between exhibition not only offered the first survey of Cuban art, but also
architect and artist (in this case Batista himself) that going for- brought to light the separation that had emerged between ar-
ward would only become more robust. chitecture, painting, and sculpture in modern Cuba.14 These two
In the 1930s, modern art in Cuba became more political, exhibitions and the many smaller individual shows that oc-
reflecting opposition to the dictatorial regime of Gerardo curred in places such as the Lyceum and Lawn Tennis Club, also
Machado and the American neo-colonial presence on the is- in Havana, brought Cuban art to the forefront of debates on
land. Inspired by the Mexican mural movement, many Cuban
6
Latin American art in general, putting the Caribbean island on
vanguard painters sought to push for more socially conscious par with the powerhouses of Brazil, Venezuela, and Mexico.
public art. In general, they were seeking a genuinely Cuban
7
In New York, the Museum of Modern Art had already start-
mode of expression that responded to immediate social issues, ed collecting Latin American art in 1935, under the direction of
the complex workings of mainstream culture, popular dis- Alfred H. Barr and through the patronage of Abby Aldrich
course, and vernacular origins. Among the prominent qualities Rocke­feller.15 MoMA had its first exhibition of Cuban art in the
and themes of this movement, many of which were by no spring of 1944 (March 15–April 30), focusing on modern Cuban
means new to Cuban art, were the intense use of color and painters.16 The exhibition was coordinated by Barr and the not-
light, the sensuality of the figure, a profound exploration of the ed Cuban art critic José Gómez Sicre, and coincided with the
Cuban city and landscape, and a tendency toward allegory, publication of Gómez Sicre’s Pintura cubana de hoy (Cuban
symbol, imagination and abstraction.8 Víctor Manuel, Antonio Painting of Today, 1944), a book that critically legitimized con-
Gattorno, Eduardo Abela, Fidelio Ponce de León, Carlos temporary Cuban painting, and served as the catalog for the
­Enríquez, Domingo Ravenet, Marcelo Pogolotti, Amelia Peláez, exhibition.17 The quality of the exhibition and the work of the
and Wifredo Lam were just a few of the many vanguard artists Cuban vanguard (twelve artists including Amelia Peláez, Carlos
who shaped the emerging modern Cuban identity. By the late Enríquez, Mario Carreño, and Cundo Bermúdez) came across
1930s, these artists were not only well-known in Cuba, but as a rallying cry for a new generation of artists, and inspired
were also gaining an international reputation among museums, architects and patrons of architecture to incorporate works of
galleries and collectors. art more regularly into their buildings and projects.
Municipal schools proved to be the early testing ground for The first known example of the modern integration of the
vanguard artists to gain support for mural painting from nation- plastic arts in Cuba preceded the MoMA exhibition and was
al and local authorities. 9 In 1937, the General José Miguel found in the garden of the residence of Dr. Piedad Maza (ill.
Gómez Municipal School in Havana commissioned works such p. 254), a professor of psychology at the University of Havana,
as Amelia Peláez’s probable self-portrait as an artist and seam- a progressive feminist, and a member of the Board of Directors
stress; Carlos Enríquez’s Invasion, a horseback scene depicting of the Lyceum and Lawn Tennis Club.18 The house was designed
the mambises (Cuban guerilla soldiers) combating the Spanish by her younger brother Aquiles Maza in 1940, with a mural by
forces in the War of Independence; and Víctor Manuel’s El Domingo Ravenet, and a sculpture group by Rita Longa.19 The
­Parque, an idyllic public garden scene with adults and chil- mural, titled Sueños de adolescencia (Dreams of adolescence),
dren.10 In Santa Clara, Domingo Ravenet organized a project for was placed on a curved wall which surrounded an artificial
a series of mural paintings at the Escuela Normal, by Abela, pond, in which the statuary group rests on a rock outcropping.
Peláez, and others.11 Though this was a brief chapter in the The water, a symbol of yearning, reinforced the mural’s theme
1930s, the mural movement would only grow in Cuba, flourish- as well as the owner’s profession as an adolescent psycholo-
ing in particular in the 1950s. gist. A regular contributor to newspapers and journals in Cuba,
254

Aquiles Maza, Domingo Ravenet, and

Rita Longa. Garden of Dr. Piedad Maza,
Miramar (1940).

Víctor Morales, Church of Santa Rita,

Miramar (1943), interior.

and the editor of the Revista Lyceum (Lyceum Magazine), Pie- the latter visited Cuba as part of his Latin American tour.25
dad Maza singled out Rita Longa in her influential 1936 essay Siqueiros gave over ten lectures and presentations during his
“Evolución de la mujer” (Evolution of women) in the journal stay, on topics such as art and war, the need to humanize con-
Carteles, praising the sculptor for her sober and original work. 20 temporary art, and the Mexican muralist movement, at venues
Ravenet continued to paint murals in private houses and such as the Lyceum, the San Alejandro Academy, and the Cole-
public buildings, including the 1940s Capilla de los Mártires gio de Belén. His visit coincided with the most intense debates
(Chapel of the Martyrs), also known as the Capilla de la Cuba- on muralist art that the country had witnessed. By the end of
nidad (Chapel of Cubanness), in the Nueva Cárcel (New Prison) the year, Siqueiros completed a mural titled Alegoría de la igual-
of Havana, opposite the Castillo de San Salvador de la Punta at dad y confraternidad de las razas blanca y negra en Cuba (Alle-
the northern tip of Old Havana, where so many Cubans died for gory of the equality and confraternity of the black and white
the freedom and independence of their country.21 Regrettably, races in Cuba) in the house of Mario Carreño and his wife, the
the project was never completed, though his two lunette mu- heiress and art collector María Luisa Gómez-Mena.26 Carreño
rals for the library of the University of Havana (1945), designed assisted Siqueiros on the mural, and then moved to New York
by Joaquín E. Weiss in 1937, were realized and painted in situ, in 1944 to attend the MoMA opening and to teach at the New
depicting Prometheus bound (ill. p. 252) and venturesome, School for Social Research, where he remained until 1948.
stealing fire from the gods. Meanwhile, two murals he painted
22

for the Ministry of Agriculture on La Rampa in 1946 depicted La Architecture under the Sun
Ganadería (Livestock) and El Tabaco (Tobacco), both of which The Seventh Pan-American Congress of Architects was held in
were agricultural and industrial activities profoundly associated Havana from April 10–16, 1950.27 One of the central tenets of
with Cuban identity.23 the conference was that the plastic arts should be integrated
Among the Cuban artists whose work was shown at the into architecture, an idea which at the time was very much au
1944 exhibition at MoMA (which was entitled simply “Modern courant in European architectural circles and which had been
Cuban Painters”), Mario Carreño was a pioneering painter of in discussion in Cuba for at least a decade. In the wake of the
modernist murals. He had traveled to Mexico in 1936, where he conference, the Cuban government issued a decree in 1952
met Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco, David Alfaro Siquei- that all new public buildings would dedicate six percent of the
ros, Rufino Tamayo, and Frida Kahlo. Inspired by the Mexican
24
project’s budget, and certain private structures such as cine-
muralist movement, Carreño developed an interest in surrealist mas and hospitals would commit three percent, to integrating
themes and a growing preoccupation with geometric structure. works of art by Cuban artists.28 That same year, the Cuban art-
Several years later in 1943, he met Siqueiros in Havana when ists Sandú Darié, Luis Martínez Pedro, and Mario Carreño
5 The Synthesis of the Arts 255

founded the journal Noticias de Arte, in which they advocated civic, religious and institutional buildings, office and commercial
for a union of architects and artists in generating more integrat- structures, private residences, and sports and entertainment
ed projects. In 1955, Nicolás Arroyo was invited to give a lecture buildings. Yet, it would be in major public structures that the
at the Fortieth Convention of Florida Architects in West Palm integration of the arts would achieve its purpose most effec-
Beach. He noted in his presentation, Arquitectura bajo el sol tively. An excellent early example is Rita Longa’s statue of her
(Architecture under the sun), which was perhaps named after patron saint for the high altar of the church of Santa Rita in
the 1952 oil painting by Mario Carreño that was installed in the Miramar (1943), commissioned by Víctor Morales, who designed
recently opened Sala Permanente of the Palacio de Bellas Ar- the church in 1941.30 Within its stunning interior space made of
tes, that he and his firm strove to achieve a better collabora- vaulted parabolic arches supporting a wooden ceiling, Longa’s
tion—a more complete unity—between painting, sculpture, lithe statue of the saint provided a figurative complement to the
craftsmen and architects. In doing so he argued that they could curves of the building. Another important religious commission
produce a more dynamic architecture, a truly wonderful “archi- was at the Baracoa Beach chapel by Eugenio Batista (1950),
tecture under the sun.” 29
where Alfredo Lozano’s sculpture of Christ is situated above the
Throughout the 1950s, Cuba witnessed a surge in artistic high altar and René Portocarrero’s mosaic mural of the Virgen
production connected with all types of architecture, including de la Caridad del Cobre (Virgin of charity, 1956), is on an adja-
256
5 The Synthesis of the Arts 257

Alfonso Rodríguez Pichardo. Museo Rita Longa. Forma, espacio, luz (Form,
de Bellas Artes, Murallas district, space, light) (1950).
Havana (1954), courtyard.

cent wall.31 In addition to the mural, Portocarrero also produced the entrance rests Mateo Torriente Bécquer’s cement abstract
fourteen sketches of the Vía Crucis, or Stations of the Cross, in composition, inspired by Afro-Cuban musical instruments. The
tempera on board which were never translated into ceramic— four corners of the building’s two lateral façades also contain
as originally planned—or installed inside the church. 32
sculpture groups by Juan José Sicre, Teodoro Ramos Blanco,
In 1954, Alfonso Rodríguez Pichardo’s Palacio de Bellas Ar- Alfredo Lozano, and Ernesto González, depicting fundamental
tes (Museum of Fine Arts)—located on the site of the nine- aspects of the fine arts such as rhythm and perspective. Within
teenth-century Colón market in the Murallas neighborhood the building, the patio has a running frieze of abstract relief pan-
adjacent to Old Havana—finally opened.33 The enormous mod- els by Ernesto Navarro, and the entrance vestibule contains a
ern palace, with a large patio and adjacent porticos, occupied magnificent ceramic mosaic (ill. p. 258) by Enrique Caravía that
an entire block and incorporated works by some of Cuba’s most depicts, in a Byzantine manner, the plastic arts in both ancient
respected contemporary artists. Rita Longa’s marble sculpture and contemporary variants. Finally, the museum included a
Forma, espacio, luz (Form, space, light) was conceived in 1950 permanent gallery for the exhibition of the plastic arts in Cuba,
and carved on site at eye-level in front of the building, to the including painting, sculpture, prints, and other works on
right of the main entrance. On a projecting balcony high above
34
paper.35
258

Enrique Caravía, Artes clásicas y las

contemporáneas (The classical arts and the
contemporary), Museo de Bellas Artes
Another major public structure that integrated works of (1954), mosaic.

fine art was the Tribunal de Cuentas building by Aquiles Ca-

pablanca (1953), with a geometric ceramic-tile mural by Amelia
Peláez appropriately titled Abstracción (Abstraction), and a
large copper and bronze sculpture by Domingo Ravenet titled
Integridad (Integrity), a reference to the judges who worked in-
side.36 The building received the Gold Prize from the College of
Architects in 1954 and was included in the MoMA exhibition,
Latin American Architecture since 1945, curated by Henry-Rus-
sell Hitchcock. Hitchcock noted in the exhibition press release
that among the main characteristics of Latin American archi-
tecture, there was “[m]ore use of color, either painted stucco,
or mosaic, etc., than anywhere else in the world.”37 To that end,
his account of the Tribunal de Cuentas described the Amelia
Peláez mural as “bold,” and hinted that it improved the quality
of the building by adding interest to its predominantly utilitarian
design.38
5 The Synthesis of the Arts 259

The College of Architects had been an integral part of the contained within its circular gallery, eight sports-themed mu-
architectural community of Cuba since its formation in 1933, rals by López Dirube, that depicted judo, fencing, equestrian-
and regularly held small exhibitions of architecture and fine art, ism, gymnastics, acrobatics, basketball, boxing, and track and
and competitions for interdisciplinary projects. In 1956, Agustín field.41 The murals, all completed in 1958, measured 3.5 by 7
Fernández, a member of the progressive group “Los Once,” meters. Both abstract, in a cubist sense, and figurative to con-
won a competition to produce a large indoor-outdoor, ceram- vey the various sports, they achieved a dynamism that perfect-
ic-tile mural (ill. p. 261) on the lower floor of the college’s head- ly complements the many harried visitors who race around the
quarters in the Vedado.39 Completed the following year, the concourse in search of their seats.
mural contains abstract figures and floral shapes in bright Finally, theaters proved to be fertile ground for the synthe-
blues, reds and greens, and stretches across the continuous sis of the arts. Eugenio Batista included sculptures from his
wall of the cafeteria and the outdoor patio. Also, in 1957, Rolan- cousin, Rita Longa, in the renovation of the Teatro Payret in the
do López Dirube painted a 5 by 15 meters vinyl chloride mural Parque Central of the Murallas district, that he carried out in
for the college that included a series of cubist figures, both collaboration with Adolfo Arellano, in 1951.42 Longa had previ-
human and animal, geometric shapes, and various architectur- ously worked with Batista on an apartment building (ill. p. 260)
al symbols.40 on 9th Street in the Vedado (1946), where she designed a series
The Palacio de los Deportes (Sports Palace) in the Ciudad of wave-like stone balcony railings.43 The works at the Teatro
Deportiva (City of Sports) by Arroyo and Menéndez (1955–1957) Payret included a bronze statue of “Illusion” in the entry vesti-
260

Víctor Morales. Banco Pedroso, Havana Eugenio Batista and Rita Longa. Agustín Fernández. Indoor/outdoor
(1954), interior view with mural by Apartment building, Vedado (1946). ceramic-tile mural, Colegio Nacional de
Hipólito Hidalgo de Caviedes depicting the Arquitectos de Cuba, Vedado (1956).
Plaza de San Juan de Dios in 1824.

bule, and high-relief sculptures of the “Muses” inside the theat- the murals represented the most solemn themes of theater,
er, on the walls adjacent to the stage. 44
from primitive ancient rites to the great tragedies of Western
The Teatro Nacional (National Theater), by Arroyo and literature.47
Menéndez with assistance from Raúl Álvarez (built from In commercial structures, hotels, and residential buildings,
1954–1960) contained many works of art both inside and out. 45
architects and artists continued to collaborate throughout the
Here, the program called for several free-standing sculptures 1950s, often indulging the perception of Havana as a tropical
situated in the surrounding gardens by Roberto Estopiñan, Rita paradise and playground.48 Among the earliest commercial
Longa, Alfredo Lozano, Tomás Oliva, and Eugenio Rodríguez. buildings of the decade to receive significant works of art were
Murals by Raúl Martínez, and René Portocarrero completed the Bosch and Romañach’s Peletería California (1951) in Central
architecture and landscaping. In particular, Portocarrero’s ba- Havana, that had an abstract mural by the Cuban artist Roberto
roque Figuras de teatro (Theater figures, 1960, ill. p. 262), locat- Diago (1920–1955) which was visible from all three floors of the
ed on a long wall in the rear entrance of the theater, provided shop. Likewise, Víctor Morales’s modernist Banco Pedroso
visitors with a carnival-like masquerade that was entirely in (1954) in Old Havana contained a double-height mural by the
keeping with the festive atmosphere of the complex. Painted
46
Spanish artist Hipólito Hidalgo de Caviedes (1902–1994), depict-
in five sections of concrete, between structural elements, ing the Plaza de San Juan de Dios in 1824.49 The mural focused
5 The Synthesis of the Arts 261

on the seventeenth-century Hospital de San Juan de Dios, vana and had deep roots in the old city. Hidalgo de Caviedes
which was demolished in 1879 to make way for an enlarged also produced a lobby mural for the Hotel Varadero Internac-
plaza of the same name, later renamed Plaza Cervantes. It also ional by Mira and Rosich that opened in December of 1950.50
alluded to the late-nineteenth century Policlínico Dr. Tomás Ro- Here the scene was rural, with farm workers putting up nets to
may, the replacement hospital that stands across the street protect plants from insects and birds; a reference most likely to
from the new bank. The colonial-era scene not only reinforced the Matanzas countryside. Like the mural in the Banco Pedroso,
the history of the location, but also the fact that the Pedroso the contrast between the old and new, the city and landscape,
family was one of the oldest merchant trading families of Ha- and the rustic and modern was central.
262

René Portocarrero. Figuras de teatro

(Theater figures), National Theater (1960),
section of the continuous fresco in the
lobby of the small theater.

Mariano Rodríguez. El dolor humano

(Human suffering), lobby of the Retiro
Odontológico Building, Vedado (1953),
detail.

Rolando López Dirube. Abstracción,

Hotel Riviera, Vedado (1957).
5 The Synthesis of the Arts 263

The Standard Oil Company (Esso) built a new flagship build- phy, the classical elements, and other masonic traditions.54 The
ing on La Rampa in the Vedado by Amadeo López Castro (1951) building’s residential entrance had a colorful ceramic tile mural
that contained seven works—five murals and two large paint- by Mariano Rodríguez titled Boomerang (1956) that represent-
ings—by the historical vanguard artists Wifredo Lam, Amelia ed the exact opposite of the human suffering he depicted at
Peláez, René Portocarrero, and Carlos Enríquez, and the more the Retiro Odontológico, celebrating game-playing, fun, and
academic artists Jorge Rigol, Carmelo González and Enrique festivity instead.55
Moret.51 Though seemingly anachronistic on the walls of a U.S
oil company, the lyrical murals—especially Wifredo Lam’s large- Escape into Leisure and Art
scale composition titled Fresque (Fresco, 1951)—fulfilled the Between 1952 and 1959, hotels and other entertainment ven-
role of complementing the architecture and adding to the qual- ues proved to be particularly strategic locations for the integra-
ity of the two-dimensional space of the walls of the vestibules.52 tion of the plastic arts, given their importance for the tourist
The Retiro Odontológico Building, designed by Antonio Quin- industry and the increased presence of foreign capital, however
tana Simonetti (1953), contained a fresco mural in the lobby by dubious. The Tropicana Cabaret by Max Borges Recio (1952) had
Mariano Rodríguez titled El dolor humano (Human suffering), a sculpture by Rita Longa titled Ballerina at the entrance to the
which focused on the essence of being Cuban. 53
The Seguro club.56 Another sculpture group, the Fountain of the Muses by
Médico building nearby, also by Antonio Quintana Simonetti the Italian sculptor Aldo Gamba (1920), consisting of several
(1956–1958), contained a black-and-white ceramic tile mural in nude dancing figures, had been brought to the cabaret from its
the office lobby by Wifredo Lam (1955), with diamond, rhom- original location at the Gran Casino Nacional. Borges himself
boid, and star-shaped figures against a white background, sym- designed a geometric three-dimensional metal sculpture for
bolizing a combination of West and Central African iconogra- the stage of the Tropicana’s open-air “Under the Stars” salon,
264

Rolando López Dirube. Suspended Cundo Bermúdez. Los músicos (The Sandú Darié. Geometric Mural, Hotel
sculpture, Hotel Riviera, Vedado (1957). musicians), Hotel Riviera, Vedado (1957). Riviera, Vedado (1957).
5 The Synthesis of the Arts 265

that dancers and other artists could utilize for their performanc- in steel, wrought iron, and bronze that was suspended in the
es.57 In 1957, the Miramar Yacht Club commissioned Rolando hotel’s vestibule.60 Cundo Bermúdez’s mural Los músicos (The
López Dirube to produce a mural for the main salon of their new Musicians)—produced on Masonite panels with brilliant colors
building, immediately behind the bar, as well as a cast concrete in the bar next to the casino—consists of geometric figures
sculpture of abstract figural shapes for the club’s garden.58 with musical instruments that provide a dynamic rhythmic
From the start, the creation of the Riviera Hotel (1957) quality to the otherwise tranquil space.61 Completing the hotel’s
called for a vast collection of contemporary Cuban art to ap- iconographic program were Caviedes’s folkloric street figures
peal to wealthy leisure seekers, including works by Cundo Ber- in the main Salón L´Aiglon, and finally, an expansive geometric
múdez, Florencio Gelabert, Hipólito Hidalgo de Caviedes, and mural by the Romanian-Cuban artist Sandú Darié, with intricate
Rolando López Dirube. Florencio Gelabert’s white marble sculp- relief work that covers the entire stone wall of the hotel’s exte-
ture La sirena y el pez (Mermaid and swordfish, ill. p. 251) is an rior along 1st Street. The mural continues, wrapping around the
intertwined dance spell at the porte-cochère entrance to the front of the building, underlining part of the entrance and lobby,
Riviera, seducing arriving visitors with the hotel’s marine at- and eventually re-appearing in the pool deck at the back.
mosphere and décor. In the lobby, Gelabert’s bronze Ritmo Cu- The Miami photographer Rudi Rada, who specialized in ar-
bano (Cuban Rhythm) continues the playful theme of music chitectural photography, especially home interiors, photo-
and dancing. Just off the lobby, in a vestibule, is a large graphed the Riviera Hotel and the many artworks within it, as
mixed-media collage mural by Rolando López Dirube, titled Ab- he had worked closely with the hotel’s architect, Igor B. Polev-
stracción (Abstraction, ill. p. 263), depicting symbols of Abakuá itzky, in the past. Rada had previously traveled to Cuba in 1951
rituals, and other nautical themes.59 Executed in concrete with his wife Annette, also a photographer.62 His photographs
high-relief, with colored glass set into the existing concrete of the historic and modern monuments of Havana, such as the
wall, and elements of bronze, glass mosaic, and ethyl silicate, cathedral, the Hotel Nacional, and the zoological park, made
the enormous baroque labyrinth measures 3.5 by 10 meters. him a regular contributor to Miami newspapers and magazines
López Dirube also created an 11-meter-high abstract sculpture such as House and Garden and The American Home.63 His pho-
266
5 The Synthesis of the Arts 267

Amelia Peláez. Las frutas cubanas (The

Cuban fruits), mural restored and partially
modified, Havana Hilton, Vedado (1958). tographs of the Hotel Riviera sealed his reputation as the “Julius
The original mural can be seen on page 226. Shulman” of South Florida and the Caribbean.
The Havana Hilton contained what is undoubtedly the most
René Portocarrero. History of the famous ceramic mural of the city, Amelia Peláez’s colossal Las
Antilles, Havana Hilton, Vedado (1957), frutas cubanas (The Cuban fruits), a work that spans some
series of panels.
60 meters in length and 10 meters in height across the entry
façade of the hotel, welcoming visitors with its blue and white
colors and geometric abstraction.64 Florid and lyrical, Peláez’s
mural achieved what Abigail McEwen describes as the “apoth-
eosis of modern Cuban art,” deconstructing the hibiscus “with-
in a rhythmic pattern of thick lines and kinetic color, rendering
an overall effect of color set in continuous motion… transform-
ing the stained-glass vitrales of colonial-era Havana into a mod-
ernist mirage.”65 Cundo Bermúdez also produced a large and
impressive outdoor ceramic mural titled Flores y peces mari-
nos (Flowers and marine fish) for the 23rd Street side eleva-
tion.66 Finally, inside the hotel, René Portocarrero produced a
large ceramic mural entitled History of the Antilles (1957) that
268

extended across an entire wall of the second-floor bar, which

overlooked the pool.67 The history of the Antilles—at least since
the arrival of the Spanish—was a history of travelers and immi-
grants, and a very poetic theme for a large resort hotel catering
to international travelers. In fact, it is one of the enduring as-
pects of Cuba, that the most outstanding consequence of all
that immigration was the rich ethnic mosaic that came to char-
acterize modern Havana. Seen in tandem, the Peláez, Bermú-
dez, and Portocarrero murals complement one another and
bring to light the island’s natural beauty, its people, and the
prospect of a tropical utopia. Yet the mural program for the
hotel was not entirely figurative, as the rooftop Azúcar Lounge
contained an abstract geometric mural by Mario Carreño that
stretched across the entire back wall and also over several
round columns, giving the lounge a rhythmic quality that per-
fectly suited its function as an entertainment space.68 The mu-
ral no longer exists, but the Belgian-born French film director
and photographer Agnès Varda captured the Cuban singer and
songwriter Benny Moré dancing there in 1963 just before he
died, preserving the mural for posterity as the final backdrop
for the legendary musician.69

Private Patronage and Exhibitions

As we have already seen, several private residences built in
Cuba in the 1930s and 1940s contained specifically designed
murals either by the architects themselves or in collaboration
with Cuban artists. In the 1950s, private homes offered even
more new opportunities for works of art and artistic patron-
age.70 Though the architect Miguel Gastón did not integrate the
plastic arts into the design of his spectacular seaside home in
Miramar, in May and June of 1953 he hosted an exhibition of the
work of Luis Martínez Pedro, a “concrete” painter.71 A review of
the exhibition from Noticias de Arte pointed out that the house Domingo Ravenet. Grafología (Grapho­
logy), sketch of the mural at the house of
served as a frame for his works of art, and they in turn contin-
Dr. Carlos Ramírez Corría in Alturas de la
ued the spatial design of the structure, extending a sense of
Coronela (1950s).
geometric abstraction across the open plan and pool, over the
sea and the Straits of Florida, into infinity.72 As noted by Abigail
Mario Carreño. Ceramic-tile mural,
McEwen, the installation marked “the first explicit identification Eugenio Leal residence, Miramar (1957).
of abstract painting and modern architecture on the island.”73
The exhibition at the Gastón residence was followed with a
show at the gallery La Rampa for which Martínez Pedro invited
the great architect Walter Gropius to write a short preface to
the catalog on the correspondence between the structures of
music and abstract art.74 The exhibition contained paintings
whose titles suggested musical rhythms, underlining the age-
old adage that art, architecture, and music shared a common
understanding in musical harmonies, a point that Gropius rec-
5 The Synthesis of the Arts 269
270

ognized in his preface as well. However, Gropius concluded that was visible from the main entrance, the mural could be
that “the abstract painter of our time” needed to “establish a seen by all who entered the house. The Bermúdez triptych at
new counterpoint of space—a new vision.”75 This opinion was Emilio del Junco’s house consisted of two abstract geometric
echoed by Manuel de Tapia-Ruano, who delivered a talk on “La women holding musical instruments on either side of a similar-
Vivienda y su integración con las Artes Plásticas y los Espacios ly abstract geometric man with a flute.81 The three additional
Libres” (Housing and its integration with the Fine Arts and Open framed paintings were of abstract flowers and vases. The trip-
Spaces) at the Ninth Pan-American Congress of Architects held tych and accompanying paintings were all situated together on
in Caracas in September of 1955.76 He noted that, “the architect a wall in the living room, giving the impression of a large com-
of today, when developing his projects, must do so with an in- posite mural. The Peláez mural at the Leal residence has regret-
tegration of all the human elements that are necessary for the tably been covered over, but Carreño’s work is still visible and
creation and achievement of a pleasant surrounding environ- is exceptionally integrated into the architecture, with its ab-
ment using the forms of architecture, open spaces, sculpture, stract geometric shapes echoing the slender columns and sin-
painting, music, sports, etc.” 77
uous curving canopy above, and the colors reflecting the trop-
Already, Rolando López Dirube’s reinforced concrete sculp- ical vegetation of the lush garden and pool.82
ture on the ground floor terrace of the Alfredo García Mallo
house, designed by the architecture firm of Sabater, Salmán & Bars, Chairs, and Trains
Sánchez in the Santos Suárez neighborhood of Havana (1950), Interior design, graphic design, and the decorative arts were of
had set a new standard. 78
Spaced between a series of pilotis, equal interest to mid-century Cuban architects at home and
the biomorphic shapes created a screen of modernist caryat- abroad.83 From early on, Arquitectura published images of res-
id-like figures that playfully contrasted with the flat roof and idential interiors alongside plans, elevations, and perspective
taut glass, brick, and louvered façade of the raised upper floor. views of building exteriors. Published articles specifically dedi-
López Dirube worked in many private residences in collabora- cated to the decorative arts and interior design started appear-
tion with several Cuban and North American architects, many ing in the late 1930s and throughout the 1940s, covering topics
of whom were young or relatively unknown, eventually exhibit- such as the differences between the fine arts and the decora-
ing “30 Works of Fine Art in Contemporary Cuban Architecture” tive arts, the appropriate location and character of the cocktail
at the Galería de Arte de Editorial Lex, in Old Havana in 1956.79 bar (a necessity in a modern Cuban house), or the relevance of
The exhibition was curated by Rafael Marquina, who noted in the traditional dining room for contemporary lifestyles.84 The VII
the catalog introduction, titled Integración plástica (Plastic Inte- Pan-American Congress of Architects in Havana, in 1950, gave
gration), that the synthesis of art and architecture in Cuba was several awards to interior designers and decorators, and there-
in full swing and that the artist Rolando López Dirube was at the after, both Arquitectura and Espacio published articles on com-
forefront of this exciting new initiative. mercial and residential interiors on a much more regular ba-
Among the most impressive examples of the integration of sis.85 Herman Miller, Knoll, and other major international
the arts and architecture in private residences are the house of furniture manufacturers regularly advertised in the two
Dr. Carlos Ramírez Corría, designed by Nicolás Quintana in the journals.
Alturas de la Coronela neighborhood and where Domingo Among the first Cuban architects in the 1950s to receive
Ravenet’s mural, Grafología (Graphology, or the study of hand- attention for their interior designs were Aníbal Flores Jenkins
writing, ill. p. 268) occupies a wall of the entrance patio; the and Vidal Vila Morales, who had several of their residential in-
house of Emilio del Junco, which contained a triptych and paint- teriors featured in the August 1950 edition of Arquitectura. 86
ings by Cundo Bermúdez; and the Eugenio Leal residence in More important was the contribution and somewhat unusual
Miramar, where Amelia Peláez’s bar mural in the game room trajectory of architect Emilio del Junco, who left Cuba in 1948
was juxtaposed with Mario Carreño’s geometric ceramic tile for Stockholm, where he discovered the Scandinavian School,
mural (ill. p. 269) on the curved outer surface of the same wall. and in particular the works of Gunnar Asplund and Sigurd Lew-
While Ravenet’s mural is clearly a work of geometric and figu- erentz. There, he resided in an apartment that he designed and
rative abstraction, the three figures resemble letters of the al- furnished with his own furniture and art work. The interiors
phabet, with the middle one clearly an “R,” quite possibly in were featured in Arquitectura in 1951, as an affordable and
reference to Ravenet or more likely Ramírez, who was a life- worthwhile example of the marriage between Scandinavian
long intellectual. Located on the wall of an interior courtyard
80
and Cuban design.87 The Scandinavian sofa, chairs, book-
5 The Synthesis of the Arts 271

shelves, and tables were accompanied by artworks such as

paintings by Amelia Peláez and Luis Martínez Pedro, and an
African mask. When he returned to Cuba in 1957, his architec-
Emilio Fernández. House of Avelino ture changed radically as witnessed in his own residence,
González, Güira de Melena, Province of where prefabricated elements such as the roof cohabitated
Havana (1955), interior with furniture
with stylistically diverse objects and furniture that suggested a
and abstract mural.
baroque vision of colonial interiors. The most remarkable ele-
ments were the original stained-glass windows that he rescued
from colonial homes.88
Also of note were some interiors by the architect Reinaldo
Díaz Álvarez for the Radiocentro Building.89 These included the
top-floor bar and restaurant, as well as a ground floor barber
272

Nicolás Arroyo and Gabriela

Menéndez. Ruston Academy, Reparto
Biltmore (1955), interior lobby.

shop and retail store within the same complex. While the bar topical theme at the time.91 Consuegra’s design paralleled
and restaurant were streamlined and curvilinear, the barber Menéndez’s and included abstract floral patterns and Eames
shop and retail store were rational and minimalist. The Austri- molded plywood lounge chairs. In the same article, Sergio A.
an-American designer Maria Bergson, who maintained offices in González, another member of the Arquitectos Unidos, pro-
New York and Los Angeles, collaborated with the Cuban archi- duced a design for a Miesian glass box living room with the
tect Emilio de Soto on the design of the Modelo brewery head- classic Barcelona suite of furniture, including chair, couch, otto-
quarters in Cotorro (ca. 1952). Employing modular workstations, man, and glass table.92 Like Gabriela Menéndez, Rosa Navia of
and comfortable furniture for both the indoor and outdoor res- Gelabert-Navia Arquitectos carried the design process through
taurants and lounge, the Modelo office building was among the to the interiors of many of their firm’s residential, commercial,
earliest examples of modern workplace efficiency in Cuba. and civic projects, including their own house and studio (1956)
Gabriela Menéndez, of Arroyo and Menéndez Architects, in the Reparto Biltmore, the Instituto Cultural Cubano-Norteam-
contributed significantly to the interior designs of the firm’s ericano (1956–1957) in the Vedado, and the Ministry of Trans-
buildings. Her many designs included suspended stairs, built-in portation building (1961) near the Plaza Cívica.93 Finally, Emilio
bars, contemporary as well as wicker furniture, and tropical Fernández’s House of Avelino González (ill. p. 83, 271) included
wallpaper that gave the firm’s many projects a sense of being the full repertoire or design criteria, including architecture,
both modern and regional. The firm produced a brochure for its interiors, furniture design, and mural painting, blending
new office building in Miramar, showcasing the lobby and its the interior and exterior in a perfect semblance of “organic
mid-century Scandinavian furniture, built-ins, and checkered ornamentation.”
window treatments. Gabriela Menéndez continued to work on Although many Cuban publications would continue to fea-
interiors throughout the 1950s, and her influence can be seen ture new works of architecture and their interiors throughout
most clearly in the furniture and color palette of projects such the 1950s, rarely was furniture design highlighted.94 A break-
as the Ruston Academy lobby.90 In 1952, Espacio published a through came in the April–May 1959 edition of Arquitectura,
student design by Hugo Consuegra, a member of the Arquitec- when the architects Fernando Salinas and Raúl González Rome-
tos Unidos, of a Bar en un Hotel (Bar in a Hotel), a particularly ro had several works of original furniture featured, including
5 The Synthesis of the Arts 273

Clara Porset. Child’s chair for the rural

school Camilo Cienfuegos (1961).

Myrtha Merlo Vega. Armchair (1958).

Ricardo Porro, Cane recliner (ca. 1956).

274

wood and glass tables, chairs, and a wooden screen.95 The arti- to the tropical), delivered at the Havana Auditorium on May 22,
cle noted that for a long time, Cuban architects had been con- and published in Cuba that year.98 She also distinguished be-
cerned with furniture design in general and in relation to the tween interior decoration and interior design, arguing that the
spaces that they served, and that going forward, the journal latter was much more in line with the thinking behind contem-
would pay greater attention to the entire range of design porary architecture. Nevertheless, Porset left Cuba for political
criteria. reasons in 1935, settling first in New York, then in Mexico,
Two Cuban women in particular, Clara Porset and Myrtha where she became friends with Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo,
Merlo Vega, led the design of mid-century modern furniture in and married Xavier Guerrero, a Mexican muralist. Together, they
Cuba. Porset was a friend of Gropius and Hannes Mayer, having produced a series of low-cost “rural furniture” for a 1941 MoMA
studied and traveled in North America and Europe in the late competition on “Organic Design for Home Furnishing.”99 Made
1920s. Piedad Maza credited her as a pioneer in architectural
96
of pine with a webbing of ixtle—a plant fiber from Mexico—the
interiors for adapting the new decorative techniques of Euro- furniture was conceived to furnish a housing project for farm
pean rationalism to the natural conditions of Cuba. As early
97
families in Coyoacán, a municipality of Mexico City. In 1948 she
as 1931, Porset had been advocating the same three “P”s that participated in another MoMA competition titled “Prize Design
Eugenio Batista subsequently made famous, in her pivotal es- in Modern Furniture,” for which she produced muebles de bajo
say “La decoración interior contemporánea. Su adaptación al costo (low-cost furniture), which basically consisted of an iron
trópico” (The contemporary interior decoration. Its adaptation frame chair with a wicker seat.100 Her work was regularly fea-

Cuban Pavilion, Third Annual United

States World Trade Fair, New York
Coliseum (May 1959).
5 The Synthesis of the Arts 275

tured in Mexican architecture and design journals, as well as transportation under Castro.104 The project was conceived as
the North American journal Arts & Architecture and the Los both a patriotic and practical display of industrially produced
Angeles Times Home Magazine. Porset returned to Cuba in items, to show off their compatibility with the new agricultural
1959 after the Cuban Revolution to design and build the furni- reform law, and was aimed at quelling the idea that Cuba need-
ture for many institutions such as the Ciudad Escolar Camilo ed to turn to foreign markets for greater diversity. Merlo Vega
Cienfuegos, the University of Havana, and the Cuban National was called to work on the design and construction of the exhi-
Art Schools by Porro, Garatti and Gottardi. 101
The Ciudad Escolar bition, with Teresita Álvarez and a team of local architecture
Camilo Cienfuegos (ill. p. 273) was planned in 1959 as an exten- students from the university that included Teresita Santaballa,
sive educational complex—including rural classrooms, housing Barbarita Sáez, and Bruno Emilio Rea, among others.105 The ex-
for professors, and a zoo—built in the mountains of the Sierra hibition included 557 exhibitors, a full 100 of which were newly
Maestra, in the south of the island. Porset designed all the fur- created companies, representing a wide selection of products,
niture—made entirely of low-cost and local materials—for the including beverages and alcohol, textiles, fashion, beauty prod-
classrooms, teachers’ houses, and collective dining rooms. ucts, foods, household goods, and other building materials.106
Disillusioned by the aftermath of the revolution, Porset re- Hecho en Cuba (Made in Cuba) became a standard catch-
turned to Mexico in 1963 and settled there permanently. Her phrase in massive advertisements throughout the island and in
designs continued to marry Caribbean indigenous forms (the popular magazines. The exhibition spanned four floors of the
Campeche chair, also known as the plantation chair, for in- building, and each exhibit was displayed in 3 by 3 meter cubi-
stance), and Spanish colonial influences with modern function- cles made of donated black conduit tubing, with electrical box-
al needs. These influences led to the development of her widely es joining them together. The exhibition was visited by more
popular butaques (small armchairs), among other works, which than 600,000 residents of the capital. Fidel Castro, who attend-
upon catching the interests of many of the best architects of ed both the opening and closing, declared to the designers that
the time, established her as one of the most influential artists “[t]his exhibition has to be mounted on a train and travel
in the development of contemporary Mexican furniture design. throughout the republic so that the people see all the indus-
Interestingly, the architect Ricardo Porro—who was also a tries of Cuba.”107
painter, sculptor and furniture designer—designed a suite of The Operación Industria Cubana was deemed so success-
cane-backed recliners (ill. p. 273) for his wife’s cousin Margarita ful that the following month a new interactive exhibition was
Cano.102 Like Porset, he based the suite on the traditional produced for the Third Annual United States World Trade Fair, at
Campeche chair, giving his clever variation a streamlined and the New York Coliseum in Columbus Circle, where it stood as
very functional appeal. the fair’s Cuban Pavilion from May 8–19.108 Twenty years earlier
Myrtha Merlo Vega worked in the office of Arroyo and in 1939, Cuba had been represented at the New York World’s
Menéndez, and then with Mario Romañach in the Havana City Fair in Flushing Meadows, Queens, with exhibits on sugar, to-
Planning Commission. 103
Myrtha started her private practice in bacco, and coffee, as well as fashion, food, and drink.109 How-
1957, designing wooden furniture for her lawyer friends Bertha ever, for the 1959 event, the emphasis was solely on sugar, to-
Forest and Jorge Freyre. Specifically, she designed a sofa with a bacco, and coffee, which were the three main industries of
set of matching dining, coffee, and side tables, all in a Scandi- Cuba at the time. The exhibition consisted of three U-shaped
navian arts and crafts manner. The following year, she produced platforms around a central court that resembled the patio of a
a suite of wooden furniture for her friends Lourdes Díaz Auñon colonial-era Cuban house. Each platform featured one of the
and Remigio Antúnez. The pieces included a bed set, a white three industries. The tobacco section was covered by a net
leather chair (ill. p. 273), and a chest of drawers that were de- used to protect plants in the fields from insects and birds and
signed ex­clusively for their home in the Vedado and never ex- had a live tabaquero (tobacconist) rolling cigars throughout the
hibited publicly. duration of the fair. Dr. Rufo López Fresquet, Castro’s first min-
In early 1959, shortly after the revolution, the new govern- ister of the treasury, flew to New York with Fernández Cañizares
ment decided to organize a major exhibition on Cuban industry to attend the opening, and on May 14, they met President
called the Operación Industria Cubana (Operation Cuban Indus- Eisenhower and the Mayor of New York, Robert Wagner, in the
try) which was held at the University of Havana’s Medical Cuban Pavilion. 110
School from April 5–17, under the supervision of Dr. Omar As expected, the Operación Industria Cubana traveled
Fernández Cañizares, who also became the first minister of throughout Cuba on a freight train from December 1959 to May
276

Mario Romañach. Apartment Building for

Evangelina Aristigueta de Vidaña, Miramar (1956),
room with vitrales on the ground floor. Art
installation by Studio 7 y 60.

1960, as the Primera Exposición de Productos Cubanos en la sections: an arrival and information area at the front, seating
Acción Ferrocarril (The First Exhibition of Cuban Products by and offices in the mezzanine, and a showroom for visual arts at
Way of Rail), which enabled Cubans everywhere on the island the back, all of which included several built-in pieces that she
to see the spectacle.111 The freight cars were painted white and had specifically made for the project. A patterned wood and
given decals designed by Cuban artists such as Amelia Peláez, acoustical ceiling with glass lamps in white, amber, and orange
René Portocarrero, Raúl Milián, and Rolando López Dirube, was located at the front and rear of the space. Combining
identifying the products they contained. The train stopped at wood, brick, and concrete, the design had a Scandinavian arts
ninety locations and more than three quarters of a million Cu- and crafts sensibility that was perfectly in keeping with the fur-
bans visited the exhibition. niture pieces that she also designed for the offices. However,
In the wake of these exhibitions, Merlo Vega was commis- like so many others, despite being at the forefront of interior
sioned in 1959 to design the information center for the Cuban and furniture design in Cuba, Merlo Vega ultimately became
Tourist Commission in the Centro Comercial La Rampa in the disillusioned with the revolution and left for the United States
Vedado. 112
A long and narrow space, she divided it into three in 1961.
5 The Synthesis of the Arts 277

NOTES Enríquez, René Portocarrero, and Rita Longa. 24 Jesús Fernández Torna, Mario Carreño: Selected
See Ramón Guirao, “El arte cubano en la feria Works 1936–1957 (Miami: Torna & Prado Fine
mundial de New York,” Arquitectura, no. 68 Art Collection, 2012), 268.
1 Eduardo Luis Rodríguez, La Habana, arquitectu-
(March 1939): 98–100. 25 Olga María Rodríguez Bolufé, Relaciones
ra del siglo XX (Barcelona: Blume, 1998),
13 Instituto Nacional de Artes Plásticas y artísticas entre Cuba y México 1920–1950:
292–305; and Francisco Gómez Díaz, De
Pictóricas, Exposición de arte en la Universidad de momentos claves de una historia (Mexico:
Forestier a Sert: Ciudad y arquitectura en La
La Habana: 300 años de arte en Cuba (Havana: Universidad Iberoamericana, 2011), 342–60.
Habana 1925–1960 (Madrid: Abada, 2008),
Imprenta “La Verónica,” 1940); Luis Bay Sevilla, 26 Alejandro Anreus, Leonard Folgarait, and Robin
307–15.
“Tres siglos de arte en Cuba,” Arquitectura, nos. Adèle Greeley, Mexican Muralism: A Critical
2 See for instance the mural by the Spanish artist
80–81 (March–April 1940): 59–67; Walter H. History (Berkeley: University of California
Hipólito Hidalgo de Caviedes of the Holy Family
Perl, “300 Years of Art in Cuba Exhibited at the Press, 2012), 297.
among the founders of the Jesuit order and the
University,” The Havana Post (April 21, 1940): 27 “El VII Congreso Panamericano de Arquitectos,”
discoverers of Cuba, at the chapel of the Belén
n.p.; and José Veigas, Adolfo V. Nodal and Arquitectura, no. 201 (April 1950); and no. 202
College by Morales & Company in Luis de Soto,
Cristina Vives, Memoria: Cuban art of the 20th (May 1950). See also Anatole A. Solow, “Pan
“Pintura mural de Hidalgo de Caviedes,”
century (Los Angeles: California/International American Congress of Architects,” Journal of the
Arquitectura, no. 51 (October 1937): 3–5.
Arts Foundation, 2002), 383–84. American Institute of Planners 16, no. 2 (1950):
3 Alejo Carpentier, La ciudad de las columnas
14 Admittedly, Luis Bay Sevilla had been 81–82; and Ramón Gutiérrez, Jorge Tartarini,
(Barcelona: Editorial Lumen, 1970), n.p.
promoting Cuban art prior to the exhibition, and Rubens Stagno, Congresos Panamericanos de
4 The project was designed and built while Batista
see “Pintura retrospectiva cubana,” Arquitectu- arquitectos, 1920–2000: aportes para su historia
was pursuing his graduate degree at Princeton,
ra, nos. 78–79 (January–February 1940): 6–20. (Buenos Aires: CEDODAL, 2007), 22–24, and
see “La Capilla de San Laureano, en Falla
15 Félix Angel, “The Latin American Presence,” in 71–74.
Provincia de Camagüey,” Arquitectura y artes
The Latin American Spirit: Art and Artists in the 28 Alejandro G. Alonso and Pedro Contreras, “La
decorativas 16, no. 4 (July 1932): 16–23.
United States, 1920–1970: Essays, ed. Luis R. integración arquitectura-artes plásticas en La
5 Idem, 16
Cancel (New York: Bronx Museum of the Arts Habana de los años cincuenta,” Revolución
6 Luz Merino Acosta, Arte en Cuba: 1902–1958
in association with Harry N. Abrams, 1988), cultural, no. 2 (March–April 2007): 23–29.
(Havana: Universidad de La Habana, 1983);
232–33. 29 Nicolás Arroyo, “La arquitectura bajo el sol,”
Nathalie Bondil, Cuba: Art and History From
16 José Gómez Sicre, “Modern Painting in Cuba,” Arquitectura, no. 259 (February 1955): 53–59.
1868 to Today (Montreal: Montreal Museum of
Magazine of Art 37, no. 2 (February 1944): On the Sala Permanente, see Museo Nacional de
Fine Arts, 2009); and Segundo J. Fernández,
51–55; Alfred H. Barr Jr., “Modern Cuban Bellas Artes, Sala Permanente de Artes Plásticas
Juan A. Martínez, and Paul B. Niell, Cuban Art
Painters,” The Bulletin of the Museum of Modern en Cuba, (Havana: Ministerio de Educación,
in the 20th Century: Cultural Identity and the
Art 11, no. 5 (April 1944): 2–14; and Veigas, Instituto Nacional de Cultura, 1950); and
International Avant Garde (Tallahassee: Florida
Nodal, and Vives, Memoria, 387–89. Rafael Marquina, “La Sala permanente de las
State University, 2016); and Juan A. Martínez,
17 José Gómez Sicre, Pintura cubana de hoy artes plásticas de Cuba,” Información (August 7,
Cuban Art and National Identity: The Vanguardia
(Havana: María Luisa Gómez Mena, 1944). 1955): 16. On the Carreño painting, see “La
Painters, 1927-1950 (Gainesville, FL: University
18 See in particular her essay, Piedad Maza de Habana crece y se moderniza,” Revista del
Press of Florida, 1994) passim.
Fernández, “Evolución de la mujer,” Carteles Instituto Nacional de Cultura 1, nos. 3–4
7 See for instance, Diego Rivera, “Pintura mural y
XXVI, no. 21 (May 24, 1936): 52 ff. On her (June–September 1956): 29.
arquitectura,” Arquitectura, no. 74 (September
involvement with the Lyceum, see María Luisa 30 Luis Bay Sevilla, “El arte de Rita Longa,”
1939): 345–46.
Guerrero “El Lyceum de La Habana: 1929– Arquitectura, no. 129 (April 1944): 141; Isabel
8 Adelaida de Juan, Pintura cubana: temas y
1968,” Revista Cubana 1, no. 2 (July–December María Pérez Pérez and Emma Álvarez-Tabío
variaciones (Havana: Unión de Escritores y
1968): 467–68; and “Board of Directors, Albo, Rita Longa (Cuba: Arte Cubano Ediciones,
Artistas de Cuba, 1978), 9–23.
Lyceum and Lawn Tennis Club, Havana,” ca. 2013), 40–41. On the church, “Iglesia Santa
9 See in particular Martínez, Cuban Art and
1950s. University of Miami Libraries, Coral Rita,” see Weiss, Arquitectura cubana contem-
National Identity, 19–20; Juan A. Martínez,
Gables, FL, Cuban Heritage Collection, poránea, n.p.
“Social and Political Commentary in Cuban
CHC0124000156. 31 Ángel Gaztelu, “La pintura religiosa en Cuba,”
Modernist Painting of the 1930s,” in The Social
19 Luis Bay Sevilla, “Arquitectos, pintores y Artes Plásticas, 2 (1960): n.p.
and the Real: Political Art of the 1930s in the
escultores,” Arquitectura, no. 93 (April 1941): 32 On Portocarrero’s sketches and mural, see
Western Hemisphere, eds. Alejandro Anreus,
128–29; and Ravenet Ramírez and Padial, Ramón Vázquez Díaz, Portocarrero (Madrid:
Diana L. Linden, and Jonathan Weinberg
Ravenet, 115–16. Fundación Arte Cubano, 2015), 323–29, and
(University Park: Pennsylvania State University
20 Maza de Fernández, “Evolución de la mujer,” 526.
Press, 2006), 21–41; and Abigail McEwen,
53. 33 Enrique Caravía, “El Museo Nacional,”
Revolutionary Horizons: Art and Polemics in
21 Pérez Cisneros, “La obra del pintor Ravenet,” Arquitectura, no. 214 (May 1951): 231–34;
1950s Cuba (New Haven, CT: Yale University
56; Ravenet Ramírez and Padial, Ravenet, Enrique Caravía, “El Museo Nacional,”
Press, 2016), 109 ff.
117–22. On the Havana prison, see Emilio Roig Arquitectura, no. 254 (September 1954):
10 Juan A. Martínez, Carlos Enríquez: The Painter
de Leuchsenring, La Habana: Apuntes Históricos 403–08; Corina Matamorros Tuma, “Apuntes
of Cuban Ballads (Coral Gables, FL: Cernuda
(Havana: Consejo Nacional de Cultura, 1963), históricos del Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes,”
Arte, 2010), 63 and 160; and Ramón Vázquez
68–69; and Joaquín E. Weiss, La arquitectura in Guía Arte Cubano, eds. Roberto Cobas Amate
Díaz, Víctor Manuel (Madrid: Fundación Arte
colonial cubana siglos XVI al XIX (Havana: Letras and Antonio Eligio Fernández, (Havana: Museo
Cubano, 2010), 176.
Cubanas, 2002), 392–94. Nacional de Bellas Artes, 2002), 9–15; José
11 Guy Pérez Cisneros, “La obra del pintor
22 Ravenet Ramírez and Padial, Ravenet, 128–33. Linares Ferrer, El Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes:
Ravenet,” Arquitectura, no. 132 (July 1944):
On the library, see Joaquín E. Weiss, Arquitectu- Historia de un proyecto (Havana: Oficina de
255–57; Martínez, Cuban Art and National
ra cubana contemporánea: colección de fotografías Publicaciones del Consejo de Estado, 2003),
Identity, 163–64; and Mariana Ravenet Ramírez
de los más recientes y característicos edificios 44–53. On the Colón market, see Weiss, La
and Carlos Padial, Ravenet (Madrid: Fundación
erigidos en Cuba (Havana: Cultural, 1947), arquitectura colonial cubana, 398–99.
Arte Cubano, 2015), 50–53, and 114.
32–35. 34 Pérez Pérez and Álvarez-Tabío, Rita Longa, 62.
12 The list of Cuban artists included Víctor
23 Ravenet Ramírez and Padial, Ravenet, 123–27. 35 Mario Carreño, “Inauguración de la Sala de
Manuel, Fidelio Ponce de León, Carlos
artes plásticas del Instituto Nacional de
278

Cultura,” Carteles (August 7, 1955): 124–25; “La edificio ‘Esso’,” Diario de la Marina (February 69 Clément Chéroux, Karolina Ziebinska-Le-
Sala Permanente de Artes Plásticas de Cuba,” 11, 1951): 50; Jorge Mañach, “Los Muralles de wandowska, and Damarice Amao, Varda—Cuba
Revista del Instituto Nacional de Cultura 1, no. 1 la Esso,” Bohemia, no. 16 (April 1951): 106–07; (Paris: Centre Georges Pompidou, 2015),
(December 1955): 3–16; Marquina, “La Sala and McEwen, Revolutionary Horizons, 110–12. 62–75.
permanente,” 3–16; and Carmelo González, 52 On Portocarrero’s mural, see Vázquez Díaz, 70 Manuel de Tapia-Ruano, “La vivienda y su
“Sala permanente sin cañonazos,” Germinal, no. Portocarrero, 514–15. On Lam’s mural see integración con las artes plásticas y los espacios
73 (September 1955): 3–4. Lowery Stokes Sims, Wifredo Lam and the libres,” Arquitectura, no. 267 (October 1955):
36 On the building’s works of art, see Amelia International Avant-Garde, 1923–1982 (Austin: 486.
Peláez, 1896–1968: A Retrospective = Una University of Texas Press, 2002), 128–30. 71 Exposición de óleos de Luis Martínez Pedro
Retrospectiva (Miami: Cuban Museum of Arts 53 Dannys Montes de Oca and José Veigas (Havana: Residencia del Arq. Miguel Gastón,
and Culture, 1988), 53; María E. Jubrías, Zamora, Mariano (1912–1990): tema, discurso y 1953); and McEwen, Revolutionary Horizons,
Amelia Peláez: Cerámica (Madrid: Fundación humanidad (Seville: Escandón Impresores, 147–49.
Arte Cubano, 2008), 68–69; and Ravenet 2014), 144–45 and 150–51. 72 “Unos cuadros y una casa junto al mar,” Noticias
Ramírez and Padial, Ravenet, 150–51. 54 Lowery Stokes Sims, Wifredo Lam and the de Arte 1, no. 9 (June–July 1953): 8–9.
37 For Release, Latin American Architecture since International Avant-Garde, 1923–1982 (Austin: 73 McEwen, Revolutionary Horizons, 148.
1945, The Museum of Modern Art, Wednesday, University of Texas Press, 2002), 131–33; and 74 Luis Martínez Pedro and Walter Gropius,
November 23, 1955, 1. https://www.moma.org/ McEwen, Revolutionary Horizons, 112. Exposición de óleos de Luis Martínez Pedro
calendar/exhibitions/2436. 55 Montes de Oca and Veigas Zamora, Mariano (Havana: Tip. Ponciano, 1953).
38 Henry-Russell Hitchcock, Latin American (1912–1990), 172–73 and 182–83. 75 McEwen, Revolutionary Horizons, 149.
Architecture since 1945 (New York: Museum of 56 Pérez Pérez and Álvarez-Tabío, Rita Longa, 76 Manuel de Tapia-Ruano, “La Vivienda y su
Modern Art, 1956), 72–73; and Patricio del 57–59. integración con las Artes Plásticas y los
Real, “Building a Continent: MoMA’s Latin 57 “El Premio Medalla de Oro de 1953: Cabaret Espacios Libres,”Arquitectura, no. 267 (October
American Architecture since 1945 Exhibition,” Tropicana.” Arquitectura, no. 246 (January 1955): 486.
Journal of Latin American Cultural Studies 16, 1954): 13–20; “Cuba Cabaret ‘Tropicana’ à La 77 Ibidem.
no. 1 (2007): 95–110. The exhibition traveled Havane,” Techniques et Architecture 14, no. 9 78 Pau-Llosa, Dirube, 180–83; and McEwen,
from New York to several other cities including (March 1955): 104–105; and Rosa Lowinger Revolutionary Horizons, 115. See also, http://
Havana, where it was exhibited at the Palacio and Ofelia Fox, Tropicana Nights: The Life and www.arquitecturacuba.com/2018/05/
de Bellas Artes in March of 1958, see Times of the Legendary Cuban Nightclub vivienda-en-santos-suarez.html
“Exposición de Arquitectura Latinoamericana (Orlando: Harcourt, 2006), 193–94. 79 Exposición de Rolando López Dirube (Havana:
en el Palacio de Bellas Artes,” Arquitectura, no. 58 Pau-Llosa, Dirube, 180–83. The new wing of the Galería de Arte de Editorial Lex, 1956).
296 (March 1958): 112–15. Yacht Club was designed by Eduardo Montou- Rolando López Dirube Papers, University of
39 Alonso and Contreras, “La integración lieu, Ernesto Gómez-Sampera, Mercedes Díaz, Miami Libraries, Coral Gables, FL, Cuban
arquitectura-artes plásticas,” 28; and McEwen, and Alberto Beale and completed in 1952. See Heritage Collection, CHC5214; and Pau-Llosa,
Revolutionary Horizons, 114–15. “Edificio para un Club,” Espacio I, no. 5 Dirube, 180–83.
40 Ricardo Pau-Llosa, Dirube, (Madrid: Editorial (September–October, 1952): 50–51; Sigfried 80 Notes presented to authors by the artist’s
Playor, 1979), 194–96. Giedion, Dix ans d’architecture contemporaine: A daughter, Mariana Ravenet, on March 5, 2019.
41 Idem, 196–204. Decade of New Architecture (Zurich: Editions Also see Ravenet Ramírez and Padial, Ravenet,
42 “El Nuevo Teatro Payret,” Arquitectura, no. 220 Girsberger, 1951), 152; and Pau-Llosa, Dirube, 202; A Tribute to Ravenet, the Ramírez-Corría
(November 1951): 494–98, and no. 221 196–97, and 200. Collection = Homenaje a Ravenet, Colección
(December 1951), 522–28. 59 Pau-Llosa, Dirube, 186–94. Ramírez-Corría (Miami: Arte al Día Ediciones,
43 Pérez Pérez and Álvarez-Tabío, Rita Longa, 42. 60 Idem, 162–63, and 174. 2005), 8, 28; and McEwen, Revolutionary
44 Ibidem, 60–61. 61 Cundo Bermúdez and Vicente Báez, Cundo Horizons, 19–20.
45 The project was completed by the Ministry of Bermúdez (Miami: Cuban-American Endow- 81 Bermúdez and Báez, Cundo Bermúdez, 115 and
Public Works after the original architects fled ment for the Arts, Inc, 2000), 116. 130–31.
the country, see Hugo Consuegra, Elapso 62 Rebecca Smith, “The Visual Record: Travel 82 Alonso and Contreras note that the Peláez
Tempore (Miami: Ediciones Universal, 2001), Aboard the Queen of the Caribbean,” South mural has been covered over: see “La inte-
190–94. Florida History Magazine 23, no. 1 (Winter gración arquitectura-artes plásticas,” 27. A view
46 Vázquez Díaz, Portocarrero, 338–41. 1995): 14–18. of the mural can be seen in “Una obra de los
47 The exhibition Maquetas y bocetos was held at 63 Rosamund Frost, “Cuba, an old island with a arquitectos Eduardo Cañas Abril y Nujim
the Teatro Nacional, September 25 to October new tourist-awareness offers tradition, beach Nepomechie,“ Arquitectura, no. 304 (November
13, 1959: see Raúl Álvarez Papers, University of life, and good modern architecture,” House and 1958): 499.
Miami Libraries, Coral Gables, FL, Cuban Garden (May 1955): 153 ff; also see the 83 See Adrián Fernández Márquez, and Omara
Heritage Collection, CHC5484. “Annette and Rudi Rada photographs, Isabel Ruiz Urquiola, “Diseño interior en los
48 Styliane Philippou, “Un modernismo vanidoso: 1946–1974” and the “Igor B. Polevitzky cincuenta: los paraísos perdidos,” Revista de la
Espacios de ocio turísticos durante los años Collection,” HistoryMiami Museum, Miami. Universidad Cubana de Diseño, no. 8 (2018):
cincuenta en Miami y La Habana = Vanity 64 The original mural had to be destroyed as it was 101–13.
Modern: Tourist Playgrounds in Miami and not fixed adequately. The current mural is based 84 See for instance, Francis Jourdain, “Arquitectu-
Havana of the 1950s,” Arquitectura y Urbanismo on sketches of a similar work retained by the ra y arte decorativa,” Arquitectura, no. 52
36, no. 1 (2015): 62–85. family. See María E. Jubrías, Amelia Peláez: (November 1937): n.p.; Pura Rodríguez
49 On the artist, see Joaquín Puente, Hidalgo de cerámica (Madrid: Fundación Arte Cubano, Castells, “Qué es la decoración,” Arquitectura,
Caviedes: cien años de Pintura (Jaén: Instituto de 2008), 124–29. no. 143 (June 1945): 202–04; and R.C.P.R.,
Estudios Giennenses, 1980). 65 McEwen, Revolutionary Horizons, 113–14. “Decoración interior,” Arquitectura, no. 145
50 On the Plaza de San Juan de Dios, see Weiss, La 66 Like the Peláez mural, the Bermúdez mural was (August 1945): 281–83; no. 146 (September
arquitectura colonial cubana, 152–53. destroyed after the revolution: see Bermúdez 1945): 315–16; no. 147 (October 1945):
51 The art critic Gastón Baquero praised the work and Báez, Cundo Bermúdez, 116–19. 351–53; no. 151 (February 1946): 60–62; no.
of Lam, Peláez, and Portocarrero, but was 67 Vázquez Díaz, Portocarrero, 528–29. 152 (March 1946): 85–86; and no. 153 (April
rather critical of the rest. See “Los murales del 68 “La integración arquitectura-artes plásticas,” 26. 1946): 121–22.
5 The Synthesis of the Arts 279

85 “Relación de premios otorgados en la Ana Elena Mallet, and Alejandro Hernández 1959): C-1–C-8; “Operación Industria Cubana
Exposición del VII Congreso Panamericano de Gálvez, El diseño de Clara Porset: Inventando un anuncia 100 nuevas industrias,” Bohemia (May
Arquitectos.” Arquitectura, no. 203 (June 1950): México moderno = Clara Porset’s Design: 1959): 52–54 ff.; and Michael J. Bustamante,
246. Creating a Modern Mexico (Madrid: Turner, and Jennifer L. Lambe, The Revolution from
86 “Pequeñas residencias. Arquitectos Aníbal 2006); Nancy Alonso and Mirta Yáñez, Damas Within: Cuba, 1959–1980 (Durham, NC: Duke
Flores y Vidal Vila,” Arquitectura, no. 205 de Social: Intelectuales cubanas en la revista University Press, 2019), 101. On Fernández
(August 1950): n.p. Social (Havana: Ediciones Boloña, 2014), Cañizares, see Omar Fernández Cañizares, Un
87 “Decorado interior. Por el Arq. Emilio del 117–21; and Randal Sheppard, “Clara Porset viaje histórico con El Che (Havana: Editorial de
Junco,” Arquitectura, no. 212 (March 1951): and the Politics of Design,” in In a Cloud, in a Ciencias Sociales, 2008).
130–32. Wall, in a Chair: Six Modernists in Mexico at 105 Other participants included María Eugenia
88 Ricardo Porro, “Emilio del Junco,” Architecture Midcentury, ed. Zoë Ryan (Chicago: Art Fuentes, Manuel González, Fabio García, and
d’aujourd’hui, no. 350 (January–February Institute of Chicago, 2019), 77–89. Teodoro Chantzu. Notes presented to authors
2004): 72–75. 97 Piedad Maza de Fernández, “Evolución de la by Teresita Santaballa Vignale, on April 21,
89 “Decorado interior por el Arq. Reineldo Díaz mujer,” Carteles 26, no. 21 (May 24, 1936): 2019 and June 18, 2019.
Álvarez,” Arquitectura, no. 216 (July 1951): 52–53. 106 Another one hundred or so exhibitors were
302–03. 98 Reprinted in Bermúdez, Clara Porset, 68 ff. late to submit and therefore could not
90 See also “Decoración interior por los Arquitec- 99 Bermúdez, Clara Porset, 14–15; Salinas, participate.
tos Nicolás Arroyo y Gabriela Menéndez,” Mallet, and Hernández, El diseño de Clara 107 Notes presented to authors by Myrtha Merlo
Arquitectura, no. 219 (October 1951): n.p. Porset, 74–76; and https://www.moma.org/ Vega, on May 31, 2019. See also “Clausurada
91 “Arquitectura de interiores,” Espacio I, no. 5 collection/works/122178 de la I Exposición de Productos Cubanos,”
(September–October 1952): 58. 100 Bermúdez, Clara Porset, 15; Salinas, Mallet, Información (April 19, 1959): E–7.
92 Notes presented to authors by Sergio A. and Hernández, El diseño de Clara Porset, 108 “Cuba en la Feria de Comercio de Nueva York,”
González, August 21, 2019. Consuegra and 77–78; and https://www.moma.org/ Información (April 29, 1959): C–8; Nineteen
González remained close friends and colleagues collection/works/126277 Fifty-Nine: United States World Trade Fair, May
working together in New York at Welton Becket 101 Bermúdez, Clara Porset, 18–19. 8–19 (New York: U.S. World Trade Fair, 1959);
and Associates and later as principals at 102 His designs for Margarita Cano can be found “Noticiero – miscelánea,” Arquitectura, nos.
Brennan Beer Gorman Associates. See at the Pablo and Margarita Cano Collection, 311–17 (June–December 1959): 230; and
Consuegra, Elapso Tempore, 407. Miami. “Embarcó hacia New York el Dr. López
93 Nick Miroff, “In Cuba, a long-forgotten 103 Notes presented to authors by Myrtha Merlo Fresquet,” Diario de la Marina (May 9, 1959): 1.
landmark of U.S. culture,” The Washington Post Vega, on April 9, 2019, continuous references 109 “All Aboard! American Republics at the New
(February 24, 2015). will not be given. York World’s Fair,” Bulletin of the Pan American
94 Furniture design was more commonly discussed 104 On the Operación Industria Cubana, see Eli Union 73 (January–December 1939): 394–97.
in the weekend section of popular newspapers. Montoto, “No estamos dispuestos a tolerar el 110 “Eisenhower visitó la Exposición de Cuba en
See for instance, Teresa V. Brent, “Primitivismo desorden,” Prensa Libre (April 7, 1959): 15; Nueva York,” Diario de la Marina (May 15,
moderno,” Magazine semanal ilustrado de El “Operación Industria Cubana,” Arquitectu- 1959): 1-A–2-A.
Mundo (April 12, 1953): 9. ra, nos. 309–310 (April–May 1959): 181–182; 111 “Operación Industria Cubana anuncia 100
95 “Decoración interior mobilario,” Arquitectura, “Exposición de Productos Cubanos,” nuevas industrias,” Bohemia (May 1959):
nos. 309–310 (April–May 1959): 174–75. Información (April 7, 1959): C-1–C-2; “La passim.
96 On Porset’s life and work, see Jorge R. Exposición Industrial Cubana,” Diario de la 112 Notes presented to authors by Myrtha Merlo
Bermúdez, Clara Porset: diseño y cultura Marina (April 8, 1959): 4; “Operación Vega, on April 9, 2019.
(Havana: Letras Cubanas, 2005); Oscar Salinas, Industria Cubana,” Información (April 18,
 281

CHAPTER 6

Exile and Heritage

The prototypical city that we Cubans must reimagine will create a historical continu-
um between the best of what existed and what exists today. These images constitute,
precisely, the cultural platform, from which to interpret the future city that lies
dormant in the imagination and in the national intelligence. It will be the creative
product of the symbiosis of the internal experience—of the Cuban in Cuba, with the
external experience—of the Cuban in the diaspora … brothers both.
 Rafael Fornés
282

Hilario Candela and Peter Spillis

(Pancoast, Ferendino, Grafton). Miami
Dade College North Campus, Miami
(ca. 1965).

Mario Romañach. University of

Rochester masterplan, Rochester, NY
(unbuilt).

Engaging Education and the Urban Realm as successful academics at important North American univer-
The generation of modern Cuban architects who left the island sities while simultaneously practicing on the side, with varying
after 1960 faced several struggles to survive and prosper, not results. Through their teaching, they were eventually the most
the least of which was finding work.1 The ability to use the op- influential Cubans abroad. Likewise, Ricardo Porro taught in
portunities offered by the United States and other countries like various French schools before developing his architectural and
Venezuela—and benefit professionally—was not available to all artistic career in Europe. Others, like Hilario Candela, Osvaldo
who left Cuba after the revolution. Those in the world of con- de Tapia-Ruano, and Henry Gutiérrez developed their private
struction had the best prospects, as education and practice in practices in Miami, Madrid, and Puerto Rico respectively. Single
Cuba was overall more technical than theoretical. As noted by practitioners, like Frank Martínez, Manuel Gutiérrez, and María
Miami architect Raúl Rodriguez, the modernist generation of Elena Cabarrocas focused on private residential work, and a
architects in Cuba fled “an island society with a rich centu- handful like Max Borges Recio and Humberto Alonso got in-
ries-old tradition of architectural high design and exceptional volved in speculative development.
quality construction. Left behind were established professional When the revolution erupted, Mario Romañach left Cuba in
practices with clients who functioned more like patrons who September 1959 to be a visiting critic at the Harvard University
built to keep rather than speculate. Left behind, inaccessible to Graduate School of Design. Not knowing what consequences
them even to photograph, were their buildings, their lives the Cuban Revolution would have on the architectural profes-
work.” Ahead lay demanding climate conditions, design meth-
2
sion, he finally accepted the invitation Walter Gropius had made
ods, and speculative practices that were new to them. The need many years before during one of the German’s stays in Ha-
to intern, license, and practice in a language that was not their vana.3 Romañach never returned, and in 1960 started to teach
native tongue provided new challenges and new beginnings. at Cornell University. There he met his former colleague Martín
The trajectories of architects in the diaspora were as di- Domínguez and stayed until 1962. While teaching at Cornell,
verse as their pre-1959 careers. Eugenio Batista was sixty when Romañach developed a masterplan for the University of Roch-
he left and Martín Domínguez, sixty-three. Mario Romañach, ester (ill. p. 281). The project featured a new main street across
Max Borges, Nicolás Arroyo and Gabriela Menéndez, were all in the campus, punctuated by two thin, almost needle-like, towers
their early forties. Nicolás Quintana, Henry Gutiérrez, Humberto and connected to the other side of the river by a plaza-like
Alonso, José Gelabert and Rosa Navia were basically in their bridge. The buildings were dramatically shaped with asymmet-
mid-thirties. One of the youngest, Raul Álvarez, was barely thir- rical tri-dimensional compositions, large-scale recessed sec-
ty. The leading figures, like Mario Romañach, Martín Domínguez, tions and terraces, and complex distribution systems using
Nicolás Quintana, and Eugenio Batista established themselves exterior galleries and stairs.4 The year after, he joined the Grad-
6 Exile and Heritage 283

Mario Romañach. Perspective of Litho

City, New York, NY (unbuilt).

uate School of Fine Arts at the University of Pennsylvania In 1963, the same year he joined Penn, Romañach started to
where he would eventually serve as Chair of the Department of work as design director for the New York firm of Kelly & Gruzen.
Architecture from 1971 to 1974. In his book about Louis Kahn,
5
In New York he was one of three designers in charge of the
Charles Dagit, a student of Romañach at Penn, wrote about his ambitious Litho City, a residential complex proposed by the
teacher and critic: Amalgamated Lithographers of America for a platform above
the Penn-Central railroad yards that extended along the Hud-
Mario was one of a kind and was frequently a refreshing son, behind Lincoln Center.7 The massive project for 25,000
contrast to the rest of the faculty in those days ... Most residents consisted of nine towers placed perpendicular to the
faculty members were practicing architects, but Mario river in correspondence with the street grid and partially con-
seemed unable to accustom himself to practice here in nected by low-rise structures along the highway. In this project,
America. It was that difficulty that, in my view, robbed the architecture of the towers and slabs was quite distinct from
America of a great architect. He did, however, thanks to his contemporary designs in the U.S. Their honeycomb-like struc-
exceptional teaching skills, rise to chairman of the depart- ture and irregular compositional grid created strong tri-dimen-
ment ... And he was extremely popular as a critic. He was sional façades, reinforced by detached vertical circulation
the gentlest of all the critics, never offering a sarcastic barb cores that reminded one of the high-rises and other apartment
about the work that he reviewed. He never criticized in a structures erected in Havana during the 1950s by Antonio
negative way, hence he stood in contrast to some of the Quintana and Romañach himself. The only equivalents in the
others who could destroy a student with a single remark. 6
U.S. were the married students residences by José Luis Sert for
284

Mario Romañach. Competition Martín Domínguez and Peter

entry for a government administra- Cohen. Project for the Public School
tion building, Caracas, Venezuela #28, School Board of Rochester,
(1976), perspective. Rochester, NY (1966).

Harvard University (1962–1964). Similarities with the towers the project’s low-rise townhouse-like structures were able to
proposed for the unrealized Rochester campus masterplan maintain some sense of community and scale.10
suggest that Romañach’s hand was responsible for their At Cornell, Romañach taught a young Venezuelan, Alberto
uniquely expressive architecture. Likewise, the Chatham Tow- Tucker Mellior, who later became his associate for the design of
ers, designed and built in the early 1960s in New York by a team single-family houses in Venezuela —including a house for Tuck-
from Kelly & Gruzen that included Romañach, displayed a plas- er’s mother Margot (ill. p. 302) in 1976 that was never built.
tic and three-dimensional quality different from the prevailing When Tucker was chosen to develop the curriculum for the
and flat image of subsidized housing. In Philadelphia, he later
8
new School of Architecture at Universidad Simón Bolívar in Ca-
partnered with the Chair of the University of Pennsylvania racas, he invited his teacher and partner to work with him on
School of Architecture, G. Holmes Perkins, to design the Rodin the project. Romañach then went on to teach at the new
College, a much-maligned super-block which “failed on both school, leaving a strong impression on his students in design
aesthetic and functional grounds.” The flat and unimaginative
9
studios and theory seminars.11 In 1976, he participated in the
towers could not redeem the harsh urbanistic parti, and only competition for the administrative offices of the Venezuelan
6 Exile and Heritage 285

Congress in Caracas, a significant project of urban renewal that [a] product of the liberal yet austere Residencia de Estudi-
implied the creation of a new central plaza one block away antes of his student years in Madrid, and was rigorous in his
from the Plaza Mayor.12 Even though few of the urban and ar- approach to architectural education. Unassuming and dis-
chitectural projects that he developed or collaborated on away ciplined, with a sharp wit and self-deprecating sense of hu-
from Cuba ever became a reality, one can assert that Ro- mor, he was allergic to all forms of obscurantism and gratu-
mañach was among the most successful Cuban architects in itous brilliance, constantly striving for clarity as an ethical
the diaspora and the one who was most able to maintain his attitude toward teaching: the personal style of a man al-
uncompromising relation to modernism. ways accessible to and respectful of his students.14
Spanish architect Martín Domínguez arrived in Havana in
January 1937, fleeing the Civil War in his homeland. Twen- Domínguez became intimate with architectural historian Colin
ty-three years later, he and his family embarked on a second Rowe and reconnected as well with Félix Candela, whom he
exile to the United States, where he was hired as a professor of was able to invite to Cornell as a visiting professor and lecturer.
architecture at Cornell University. His arrival coincided with Ro- However, he was unable to maintain a professional practice in
mañach’s presence, and a manifest regain of interest in Latin the U.S., with the exception of rare and promising projects. With
American architecture and urbanism, likely spurred on by the Professor Peter Cohen, he designed a public school in Roches-
exhibitions at MoMA and the highly promoted inauguration of ter, NY (1966), as a tight and urban composition organized
Brasilia.13 He quickly became a popular teacher, giving courses around two large planted courtyards. The unbuilt project reinter-
on theory, leading design studios, and immersing himself fully preted elements from two Madrid buildings he designed with
in the educational realm until his abrupt death in 1970. In the Carlos Arniches in the early 1930s and displayed interesting
words of Pablo Rabasco, he was: influences from the industrial architecture of the region. The
286

Nicolás Quintana. Masterplan for the

resort district of Marina del Sur, Peñuelas
Puerto Rico (1971–1974), general
perspective.

Nicolás Quintana. Model of high-rise

building using the Nava-Quin “space tree”
prefabrication system (1960s).
Lennox House in Pittsford, NY (1967–1970) was his swansong.
The suburban house was articulated as two parallel wings and
one angled volume—a composition he had adopted in Havana
for the Sánchez House of 1950 with del Junco and Gastón. Here
in the United States, the brick and wood construction showed
influences from Louis Kahn, Frank Lloyd Wright, and Alvar Aalto,
whom Domínguez admired and often referred to.15
Following Che Guevara’s threats during the design of the
Banco Nacional, Nicolás Quintana left Cuba in 1960. He moved
to Venezuela, where he co-authored the masterplan for the sat-
ellite city of Caricuao, and then later settled in Puerto Rico.
Whereas in Cuba he and his partner Moenck had designed a
series of exquisite houses and resort pavilions, abroad, Quin-
tana focused mostly on a large number of commercial build-
ings, resorts, and high-rise residential projects.16 One of his
most representative ventures was the development of a series
of residential towers on the outskirts of San Juan, within the
hilly area known as Altos de Guaynabo. The Condominio Altavis-
ta project involved the construction of high-rise luxury towers
6 Exile and Heritage 287

Nicolás Quintana. Altavista Condomini-

um, San Juan, Puerto Rico (1973).
288

Nicolás Quintana. Model for the

Dorothy Marx house, Great Exuma,
The Bahamas (1967–1970).

where, thanks to an astute floor-to-floor rotation of the plans, he cluding single sloping roofs, projecting covered terraces, ex-
achieved a plastic architecture that showed influence from José pansive persianas, and a central salon (instead of a patio), re-
Luis Sert, Team X, and the best residential practice in Cuba. In calling a similar arrangement by Louis Kahn at his famous
the same spirit, he embraced the Nava-Quin prefabrication Trenton Bath House of 1955.17 His prefabricated houses for
technique (ill. p. 286) and the concept of the “space-tree” to Santo Domingo were even more spartan, with simple rectangu-
imagine flexible vertical structures suspended from a trunk-like lar cubes or shifting boxes sitting on flat concrete slabs, prefab-
core. His renderings for the ambitious, but never completed, ricated walls, sloped roofs, and louvered metal windows. His
Marina del Sur (ill. p. 286) in Peñuelas, Puerto Rico, showed how only public building, in collaboration with Pedro Miranda & As-
the unrealized resort complex was designed as a forest of sociates, was the 9,000-seat Roberto Clemente Coliseum, a
space-trees, organically planted in park-like settings along the brutalist structure inaugurated in San Juan in 1973.18
water. In the mid-1990s, Quintana moved to Miami where he
Quintana was further involved in the development of a pre- started to work as Visiting Professor at the University of Miami
fabricated system for workers, single-family residential projects School of Architecture (1995–1996) and reconnected with his
throughout the Caribbean. His Dorothy Marx house in Great former colleague Felipe Préstamo, who like him had been
Exuma, in the Bahamas (1967–1970), was a simple one-story deeply involved in the works of the Junta Nacional de Planifi-
prefabricated house in the form of a Greek cross. The system cación as assistant to Eduardo Montoulieu for the Plan Regu-
allowed for the house to have some architectural variety, in- lador Nacional. In 1996, Quintana transferred to Florida Interna-
6 Exile and Heritage 289

tional University, where he inspired hundreds of young paraboloid shell units (also known as hypar units); each hypar
students, many of them Cuban-American, and developed re- shell unit is comprised of four smaller hypar shells, and sup-
search about the colonial and modern heritage of the island. ported by three dramatically inclined columns connected at the
base, two at the back and one in the interior. Working with Can-
The Miami Experiment dela, Jack Meyer engineered each of the eight shapes as
Even though Hilario Candela completed his education as an 20.2-meter-long cantilevered, and 12.4-meter-wide beams of
architect at the Georgia Institute of Technology, as a student he varying depth, which have a back span of 10.5 meter. Their for-
spent his summers in Cuba working at the office of Max Borges mal complexity was such that Meyer eventually calculated the
Recio in Havana, whom in turn had invited the Spanish-Mexican roof as a hybrid between a folded plate structure and a hyper-
architect Félix Candela to collaborate on some of his projects bolic paraboloid.23
on the island. 19
During his years at Georgia Tech, he had the Seen from the nearby causeway, the eight folds suggest
opportunity to attend the lectures given by the elder Candela, “the romance of the water,” and express the movement of
but also by Pier Luigi Nervi, and Eduardo Torroja, all experts in waves gently bathing the stadium’s shoreline.24 Together, the
experimenting with poured-in-place concrete structures. These straight and inverted triangles of the structure create a compo-
influential encounters sparked Hilario’s own curiosity and fu- sition that alludes to the complex geometry of marine life. On
ture explorations on the expressive possibilities of concrete, in the waterside, the waving roof thins out gradually and morphs
contrast to the rationalist canon of the International Style. After into a single structural line at the edge of the water. Seen
graduating in 1957, Hilario Candela returned to Cuba and joined obliquely from the sides of the stadium, the roofline combines
the multi-disciplinary office of Sáenz, Cancio, Martín, Álvarez & with the straight line of the theater seating, completing a bold
Gutiérrez (SACMAG), the firm that at the time served as the figure which strongly suggests the open claw of the crustacean
construction architects for Mies van der Rohe’s Bacardi office creatures common to Biscayne Bay. From under the roof on the
building planned for Santiago de Cuba, a project that regretta- spectators’ side, the structure forms a large-scale horizontal
bly remains unbuilt. SACMAG was also collaborating with Fé-
20
visor, shading the view of the changing city skyline above the
lix Candela on the Bacardi campus (1959–1961) in Tultitlán, line of mangroves surrounding the water circus. Inscribed
Mexico, and it was during this short-lived collaboration that the along the stadium as a brilliant piece of man-made landscape,
two Candelas renewed contact, rekindling Hilario’s profound Hilario Candela’s and Andrew Ferendino’s grandstand epito-
interest in the plastic capacity of concrete. mizes further promises of a modern tropical urbanism and ar-
Hilario Candela left Cuba in 1960 and settled in Miami, chitecture that, using local techniques, materials, landscape,
where he joined the historic firm of Pancoast, Ferendino, and vastness of space, extolls Miami’s regional culture, climate
Grafton, Skeels & Burnham. 21
He was asked to work on the and natural environment.
city’s new marine stadium grandstand (ill. p. 290, 312), in collab- The grandstand was the opening act for an intense period
oration with Andrew Ferendino. Rejecting the city’s plans to of creativity for Pancoast, Ferendino, Grafton, Skeels & Burn-
build a functional steel-frame structure, the architects succeed- ham, and in the 1960s their achievements culminated with the
ed, with the collaboration of engineer Jack Meyer (of Norman fast-paced planning and construction of the North and South
Dignum Associates Engineers), in demonstrating the prowess of Dade campuses of the Dade Junior College (1962–1968, ill.
concrete construction. Their work resulted in the design of a p. 280, 291). Both campuses were planned quite far from the
magnificent cast-in-place concrete structure, an impressive city limits, the northern one on a former military airfield, and the
piece of architecture and engineering that embodies all the southern one amidst a vanishing agricultural landscape con-
qualities of the explorations carried out by Cuban architects. It nected to the city by a new expressway. Hilario Candela and his
is the only structure in the United States to rival Pier Luigi Ner- primary partner Peter Spillis were charged to develop and con-
vi’s thin-shell work in Europe and the Americas. 22
cretize the ambitious urban and architectural program. On both
The Miami Marine Stadium consists of a 6,566-seat grand- campuses, but more evidently on the southern one, all struc-
stand built at the edge of a Circus-Maximus-like water stadium tures were connected through a continuous grid of outdoor
originally used for motorboat racing and various types of spaces and covered walkways, suggesting both a “mat-build-
events on a floating stage, designed to face the stands. The ing” strategy as defined by the architects of Team X, and a rein-
most iconic element of the building is the dramatically cantile- terpretation of traditional Cuban and Latin American plazas.25
vered folded-plate concrete roof, made up of eight hyperbolic The buildings consist of poured in place concrete structures,
290
6 Exile and Heritage 291

Hilario Candela (Pancoast, Ferendino,

Grafton, Skeels & Burnham).
Perspective drawing of the Marine
Stadium grandstand, Miami (1962).

Hilario Candela (Pancoast, Ferendino,

Grafton, Skeels & Burnham).
Axonometric drawing of the Marine
Stadium grandstand, Miami (1962).

Hilario Candela and Peter Spillis

(Pancoast, Ferendino, Grafton).
Miami Dade College South Campus,
Miami (ca. 1967), interior courtyard.

clad with prefabricated gravel-washed concrete and ceramic dynamics created by the interpenetration of planes and vol-
panels, and protected from rain and sun with a variety of con- umes, in the succession of courtyards and squares, open and
crete brise-soleils. Here, Candela and his colleagues produced covered, joined together by channels of circulation that devel-
a tropical modern and brutalist architecture, whose Cuban and op on different levels.”28 Interestingly, those same words are
Latin American inspiration was highly discernible. According to appropriate to characterize the two Miami campuses. Court-
Candela, the campus buildings merged the “postwar modern yards, open-air public spaces and circulation areas, natural
building regionalist trends ... the work of Mies [Van der Rohe], ventilation, passive solar protection, and the general use of
and the expressive ‘concrete’ architecture widely popular concrete and prefabrication were for the architects “a question
throughout Latin-America and Brazil.”26 To be sure, Candela of civic and cultural responsibility.”29 Paradoxically, as Gray
was familiar with the planning concept of Havana’s new univer- Read wrote, “their model for an idealized tropical urban exist-
sity campus (CUJAE) designed by Humberto Alonso and oth- ence was built on the American Dream of de-centered subur-
ers. 27
Roberto Segre emphasized “the reference element of ban mobility.”30
292

Henry Gutiérrez, a founding member of Arquitectos Uni-

dos, had along with his cousin Raúl Álvarez joined the engi-
neering firm of Sáenz, Cancio, and Martín in 1958 to form SAC-
MAG.31 As mentioned earlier, the firm collaborated with Mies
van der Rohe on the aborted Bacardi project in Santiago de Henry Gutiérrez (SACMAG of Puerto
Rico Inc). Perspective rendering of the
Cuba. Following the revolution, Bacardi left the island and in
32

Bacardi Building, Miami (1962).

1959 Mies was commissioned to design the administration
building for the company’s new headquarters in Mexico City.
Henry Gutiérrez (SACMAG of Puerto
Several members of SACMAG, including Gutiérrez, who relocat- Rico Inc). The Bacardi Building, Miami
ed to Puerto Rico, continued as the architects of record for both (1962), view from the street with one of
Mies and Félix Candela. The administration building was com- the azulejo murals by Brazilian artist
Francisco Brennand.
pleted, as well as the sprawling group of concrete structures
that Candela designed for the Bacardi bottling plant in
Tultitlán.
In 1963, Bacardi Imports moved from New York to Miami
and commissioned Gutiérrez of SACMAG in Puerto Rico to de-
sign the new headquarters along the city’s emblematic Bis-
cayne Boulevard. Along with the Marine Stadium grandstand,
6 Exile and Heritage 293

the eight-story open plan tower became the best concrete ex- made visible on the façades. An outdoor staircase on each side
ample of Cuban heritage in exile. As Shulman noted, the build- of the glass box lobby provided safe egress for the emergency
ing boldly rendered: staircases of the tower, and the entire building is placed on a
plinth whose horizontality contrasts with the verticality of the
[t]he angst confronting Miami’s Cuban community into a building. Like its Havana predecessor, the vertical circulation
cutting edge yet playful landmark. The tower combined and services, including bathrooms, were located in an attached
technical virtuosity, artistic brio, and touches of irony and tower connected by glass bridges, a typology that was used
parody, to pitch a powerful counter-narrative for the com- repeatedly for high-rise buildings in Havana.34 The curtain wall
pany in exile.33 had tinted sheets of glass on the east and west façades. On the
blank north and south flanks, the company commissioned Bra-
in the early 1950s engineer Luis Sáenz worked with Antonio zilian artist Francisco Brennand to design seven-floor high blue
Quintana to design the apartment building for Enriqueta and white hand-painted ceramic murals of tropical flowers on
Fernández in Havana. To make the building appear lighter and ceramic tiles. Unique in Miami, the building represents one of
seemingly floating above the ground, he designed a three-story the best examples in the United States of the Cuban muralist
box cantilevered on four piers at the center. Sáenz and Gutiér- tradition, even if the artwork was in fact by a Brazilian artist.
rez used the same strategy for the Bacardi Building, but here The 1973 addition, located behind the original building on the
they literally suspended the floors from roof-level concrete plaza atop the plinth, was designed by Cuban architect Ignacio
trusses, supported by four central piers clad in marble and Carrera-Justiz. The two-story square volume was raised one
294

story above the plinth by a pedestal, with each floor cantile-

vered 8.5 meters from the core. Instead of windows, the trans-
parent glass mosaic walls illustrate the story of the fabrication
of rum, on the basis of a painting by the German artist Johannes
Dietz.
Humberto Alonso. Cobian’s Plaza
Eventually, Miami became but one location within an ex- multi-use building, San Juan,
panding international network of fabrication, storage, distribu- Puerto Rico, n.d.
tion, and administration centers for Bacardi that included Ber-
muda, Venezuela, Ontario, Martinique, Spain, and Panama. Hugo Consuegra. Collage drawing
related to Humberto Alonso’s Cobian’s
Pepe Bosch remained president until 1967, yet his role in as-
Plaza multi-use building, San Juan,
serting and controlling the architectural image of the firm con-
Puerto Rico, n.d.
tinued way into the 1970s. Relocated from Santiago de Cuba to
Miami after the revolution, the Cuban architects Ermina Odoar-
do and Ricardo Eguillor were eventually put in charge of a pro-
gram that “had to be continuously remixed to balance Cuban
traditions with contemporary needs and diverse national iden-
tities.”35 Their most lasting contribution occurred in Hamilton,
Bermuda. There, the unbuilt project by Mies for Santiago de
Cuba became a major source of inspiration, “a high point of
representation for a global corporation.”36 Completed in 1972,
Bacardi’s Hamilton headquarters were built as a glass square
on a plinth, supported by eight cruciform columns. The free
plan disappeared in favor of a more compartmentalized ar-
rangement of rooms behind a lobby that functioned as an inte-
rior entrance portico. Here, the transparent walls did not dema-
terialize the interior but served to display, by day and by night,
artifacts of Caribbean art and culture.

Exporting the Integration of the Arts

Hugo Consuegra first studied fine art at San Alejandro from
1943–1947 and then architecture at the University of Havana,
graduating in 1955.37 Inspired by Josef Albers’s visit to the Uni-
versity of Havana’s School of Architecture in 1952, he became
a member of the progressive art group Los Once (The Eleven),
known for their promotion of North American abstract expres-
sionism, as well as a member of the Arquitectos Unidos (United
Architects), a group of architecture students also known as Los
espaciales (The spatials) and led by Humberto Alonso.38 From
1953–1954, Consuegra published a series of articles in the
School of Architecture’s journal Espacio, in which he advocated
for modern abstraction as the expression of emotion through
the plastic arts, an argument that he traced back from the
French Revolution to the present.39 He also designed the front
cover of the journal for the 1953 November–December edition,
which was a composition of abstract shapes and lines in the
manner of Paul Klee’s drawings and watercolors from his time
at the Bauhaus.40
6 Exile and Heritage 295

Consuegra remained active within Arquitectos Unidos until Rolando López Dirube left Cuba after the revolution and
1961 when the group disbanded, taking a position as a profes- settled in Puerto Rico in 1961. His first sculptural work on the
sor of architecture at the University of Havana where he re- island was a structural concrete statue with pieces of bullet-
mained until 1965. He left Cuba in 1967, first settling in Spain, wood called El Pajaro (The bird) that was placed in the garden
and then from 1970 until his death he resided in New York City of the Ashford Medical Center (ill. p. 296) in San Juan.44 In 1962,
where he practiced architecture with Welton Becket and Asso- he produced a series of interior and exterior murals for the
ciates from 1970 to 1983, and then Brennan Beer Gorman from building, which had been designed by Orval Sifontes.45 The
1985–1995. Outside of Cuba, he produced a design proposal for 9.15-meter-high exterior murals wrap the entire upper section
a large mural as part of Humberto Alonso’s proposal for the of the building, which rests on a ground floor gallery. Made of
Cobian’s Plaza multi-purpose building in the San Juan neighbor- high-relief concrete with pieces of bulletwood, the murals (now
hood of Santurce, a structure that was completed in 1974. He41
painted red), gave the façade an arresting plastic agility. Inside
also participated in the “Art en Route” project in New York City, the building, López Dirube produced a series of nine abstract
designing several ceramic murals for the Utica Avenue metro pyroxylin murals for the lobby and other areas. Unlike the con-
station in Brooklyn. In 1990, Consuegra produced a remarka-
42
crete exterior murals, these were characterized by their auda-
ble geometric marble mural for the lobby of the Time & Life cious sense of color and rhythmic sequence.
building at Rockefeller Center in New York City, picking up on Cundo Bermúdez produced two fifteen-story colorful mo-
the colors of the building’s marble walls and Josef Albers’s mu- saic murals titled Las Antillas and La Flora for the Edificio Caribe
ral in the same space. It brought to a fitting end a lifelong ded- in San Juan, also designed by Henry Gutiérrez in 1969.46 They
ication to abstraction.43 pay tribute to the islands of Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Hispaniola,
296

Henry Gutiérrez, Humberto Alonso, and

Fraga Associates. First Federal One
Biscayne Tower, Miami (1972).

Rolando López Dirube. Abstract mural,

Ashford Medical Center, San Juan (1962).

Zilia Sánchez and her abstract mural

on the façade of the Laguna Gardens apart-
ments, San Juan, Puerto Rico (1970),
Henry Gutiérrez architect. The mural
consists of subtle protusions that stretch
the full height of the building.
6 Exile and Heritage 297

as well their abundance of flowers and natural beauty. To resist

the deterioration from wind and salt, they were made of small
25 by 25 millimeter tesserae of multiple primary colors, like a
Byzantine mosaic. Though many pieces were lost or damaged
during the shipping from Italy, the murals were unveiled in
1970, giving the tall apartment building two stunning blue, red,
and yellow compositions of the people and flowers of the
Greater Antilles. In 1970, Gutiérrez designed the Laguna Gar-
Henry Gutiérrez, Raúl Álvarez, and dens (ill. p. 298) apartment complex in the Carolina district of
Rolando López Dirube. Timeless Cylinder,
San Juan, a series of fourteen-story residential towers that con-
installation in the lobby of One Biscayne
tained a number of vertically extruded murals by Rolando
Tower building, Miami (1972).
López Dirube, and the former artist, and member of the Los
Once group, Zilia Sánchez. Those murals were made of modular
reinforced concrete and consist of projecting lines and small
298

conical forms that create vertical landscapes that, combined, such as a cornucopia or the horn of a rhinoceros have also
cover an area of 3,000 square meters. 47
Moreover, Sánchez’s been suggested.50 They were installed on the walls of the circu-
1971 three-dimensional abstract Mural in Cement consisted of lar lobby, framing a Raúl Álvarez-designed suspended cylinder
modular white concrete surfaces with multiple geometric pro- covered in a mirrored surface that reflected light and texture on
jections that resemble the erogenous zones of the female anat- both sides of the drum and on everyone who walked under-
omy.48 Stretching nearly the full height of the building, the erotic neath it.51
murals provide a corporal contrast to the linear, rationalist
structure of the building, with its repetitive balconies and uni- The Cuban House Abroad
form grid of windows. Now in exile, Cuban architects in cities throughout North Amer-
Finally, in 1972, Henry Gutiérrez, Raúl Álvarez, and Rolando ica and the Caribbean continued to experiment with various
López Dirube collaborated on the Timeless Cylinder (ill. p. 297) scaled projects in the housing field. Eugenio Batista, for in-
for the entry lobby of the thirty-eight-story One Biscayne Tower stance, worked as a professor of design at various schools in
(ill. p. 296) building in Miami that Gutiérrez designed in collabo- the U.S., including the University of Oregon (1962–1971) where
ration with Humberto Alonso, Pelayo Fraga Associates, and he built a house for his family in 1963.52 His strong regionalist
Sergio A. González. With large open-floor plates, the building
49
sensibility can be seen in the split-level wood and con-
was the first modern curtain-wall skyscraper in Miami. Dirube crete-block house that sets itself into the wooded hillside in the
produced a textured wall surface of small upturned roof-tile tradition of West-Coast bungalows. At the center of the house
concrete panels with projecting elements and cavities that re- is of course the hearth, which replaces the patio as a North
semble male and female genitalia, though other references American equivalent.

Eugenio Batista. Eugenio Batista

residence, Eugene, Oregon (1963), section.
6 Exile and Heritage 299

Mario Romañach. Residence for Mr. and Mario Romañach. Residence for Mr. and
Mrs. Romañach, Gladwyne, Lower Merion Mrs. Romañach, Gladwyne, Lower Merion
Township, Montgomery County, Pennsyl- Township, Montgomery County, Pennsyl-
vania (1972, unbuilt), perspective. vania (1972, unbuilt), section.
300
6 Exile and Heritage 301

It was only at the end of the 1960s that Mario Romañach

started to plan single-family residences again. The family house
(ill. p. 290) he designed for himself in the late 1970s for a remote
Mario Romañach. David and Josephine
Alger house, Pottersville, New Jersey site outside of Philadelphia with his daughter María, who joined
(1976–1979), perspective. him in 1975 to form the Romañach Partnership, could very well
have been one of the most important modern houses built in
Mario Romañach. David and Josephine the United States.53 The drawings show a house situated mid-
Alger house, Pottersville, New Jersey
way up a gentle slope and surrounded by trees, made up of a
(1976–1979), section.
masonry core with cantilevered terraces and a prominent
one-sided, sloped roof that opened to the landscape as an
open mouth. Pilotis, syncopated retaining walls that define the
rectangular footprint, terraces, skylights, and bridges extended
the house into the landscape.
302

Mario Romañach. Margot Tucker house, Mario Romañach. Margot Tucker house, Mario Romañach. Courtyard house in
Caracas, Venezuela (1976, unbuilt), Caracas, Venezuela (1976, unbuilt), Puerto Rico (1970s, unbuilt), perspective.
perspective. section.
6 Exile and Heritage 303

That house was unfortunately not constructed, but from the house also contained a central courtyard in the Cuban tra-
1976 to 1979, Romañach was successfully able to build the Da- dition. More than any other architect of his generation, Mario
vid and Josephine Alger house (ill. p. 300, 301) in Pottersville, Romañach was able to carry the spirit of the modern Cuban
New Jersey, which showed the influence of Paul Rudolph. Like
54
house outside of the island.
the house Romañach designed for his family, but smaller, the Max Borges Recio settled in Falls Church, Virginia, and es-
Alger residence consisted of a rectangular block with an invert- tablished a practice with his sons. Like Eugenio Batista, Borges
ed butterfly roof and an open two-story living room. The house built a family residence (ill. p. 304) in 1962 as a variant of the
is entered from the upper level and a bold circular stair de- American bungalow, with an open carport out front, and a hov-
scends into the main space. A double-height glass wall allows ering timber roof. A split-level unit, the rectangular brick house
the interior to extend out to the garden and recreational pool sits gently into the sloping corner lot. The entrance is along the
area at the side. Around the same time in 1976, Romañach de- short side and the dining and living rooms open onto terraces
signed the Margot Tucker house in Caracas, Venezuela.55 The that face the side garden. There are traces of Cuban elements,
unbuilt house was designed in collaboration with Alberto Tuck- such as the screened carport, large sliding glass doors, and
er Mellior, Romañach’s former student at Cornell University. exposed timber beams inside. As noted by the Cuban architect
Like the Font and Alvarez houses in Havana, the Margot Tucker Belmont Freeman in Borges’s obituary for The Architects News-
residence contained a series of split-level trays, including one paper, “Borges [left] behind the beautiful house that he built for
on the roof, which resulted in a series of semi-enclosed patio himself and his family in the Lake Barcroft section of Falls
spaces. Finally, Romañach designed a house in Puerto Rico that Church in 1962. Meticulously detailed in stone, wood, and
would have been a Caribbean version of Philip Johnson’s glass glass, and filled with plants, it would not be out of place in Mar-
house in New Canaan. Elevated on stilts , cantilevered, and sur- ianao or Playa. It is the only work of true Cuban architecture
rounded by glass walls that open to the garden in all directions, that he built in the United States.”56
304

José Gelabert and Rosa Navia fled to Puerto Rico in 1961.57 project had features that were not standard at the time, like
There they renewed their practice, being responsible for over communal recreational areas, underground utilities and trash
one hundred works in the following seventeen years, including containers, gardens designed by the Cuban landscape archi-
schools, apartment buildings, commercial centers, and tect Gabriel Berriz, and large cast concrete sculptures by Rolan-
free-standing modern houses such as the Ramón Ruiz-Sánchez do López Dirube.61
Residence (ca. 1967–1968) in the Garden Hills district of Guay- One of the most successful Cuban exiles in Puerto Rico
nabo, on the outskirts of San Juan. They also worked on large-
58
was Jorge del Río, an architect who produced a large body of
scale, low-income housing projects such as the Americas Court work in residential, commercial, educational, religious and so-
in Hato Rey (1963), and the Montecarlo and Berwind estates in cial service buildings throughout the island.62 By the time he
the Puerto Rican municipality of Carolina (1963–1974).59 Typi- left Cuba in 1961, he had already built several houses in Ha-
cally, the houses were one story in plan with a carport and vana, all in a structuralist approach that was inspired by his
portico out front, also containing louvered windows and doors, lifelong friend and mentor, Mario Romañach.63 He continued
screened walls, and large overhanging roofs. this trend in several residences in Puerto Rico, and especially in
The same year, Manuel Gutiérrez also settled in Puerto his own house in the University Gardens neighborhood of San
Rico, where he developed several urban projects with over Juan. Del Rio was also a professor of architecture at the School
1,000 residences. His work was recognized with many awards,
60
of Architecture at the University of Puerto Rico from 1967–1969,
such as the 1964 Federal Housing Administration Award for and then again from 1984–1985.64 The house has the signature
Residential Design for his Floral Park project, built by Monterrey butterfly roof, like those often employed by Romañach, and is
Homes in Hato Rey. The project consisted of a row of two-story composed of stark surfaces of brick and concrete.65
minimalist townhouses, with louvered windows, balconies, Other notable Cuban architects who produced residential
overhanging eaves, and recessed entries. That same year, works in Puerto Rico after the revolution include Evelio Pina,
Gutiérrez received the Good Housekeeping Award for the resi- Alberto Hernández Dupuy, and Joaquín Cristófol. Evelio Pina
dential development La Arboleda in Guaynabo. La Arboleda had graduated from Rensselaer Polytechnic in 1951 and then from
a mix of single-family homes, duplexes, and townhouses. The the School of Architecture at the University of Havana in 1953.
6 Exile and Heritage 305

He practiced in Havana from 1954 until 1960, producing a wide closed patios, and wooden louvers throughout ensured that the
range of designs, including houses, apartments, churches, and project retained a certain Caribbean sensibility.
interiors.66 In Puerto Rico, he worked at several firms before Ermina Odoardo and Ricardo Eguilior also designed several
partnering with Armando Vargas Villafañe from 1968–1973 with residential projects throughout the Caribbean. 70 Their project
whom he built residential and commercial structures such as for a garden shelter for the residence of Francisco Blanco (ill.
the Mayagüez Condominium near the university in San Juan. A 67
p. 306) in Cable Beach, Nassau, is a classical folly with attenu-
concrete structure with balconies and an expressive exposure ated Corinthian metal colonnettes supporting a yellow-striped
of its functions, such as stairs and elevators, the entire building canopy roof, the kind one would typically find in Cuban beach
is capped with a projecting steel truss roof. Among the project’s resorts or on Victorian structures anywhere in the Caribbean.
design team was Lydia Rubio, a Cuban architect and artist who, An alternate version contained wooden louvered doors at the
though born in Cuba, was trained in the United States. Alberto corners. Finally, their renovations to the residence of Mr. and
Hernández Dupuy and Joaquín Cristófol had a partnership in Mrs. José M. Bosch in Lyford Cay, New Providence, in the Baha-
Cuba from 1951–1959 after graduating from the School of Archi- mas, included a new vestibule, an entry porch supported by
tecture at the University of Havana, producing designs for sev- two nearly canonical Corinthian columns, and several classiciz-
eral residences throughout the capital.68 After stints at various ing metal screens for the exteriors. These last two projects, in
offices in New York, Madrid, and Puerto Rico (including the office particular, reveal not only how the two architects had adapted
of Henry Klumb), they reconnected in 1976 to continue their to a more Pan-Caribbean approach, but also how the emerging
practice in San Juan, designing residential projects such as the changes to modern architecture were beginning to influence
Mabok Apartments on Ocean Park Beach in San Juan.69 The pro- Cuban architects much more directly.71
ject consisted of five townhouses elevated on pilotis, with park- Elsewhere, Myrtha Merlo Vega practiced interior design in
ing underneath, and two penthouse units above. Terraces, en- Atlanta, with Stevens & Wilkinson, then Carlsten & Associates,

Max Borges Recio. House of Max Borges

Recio, Falls Church, Virginia (1963),
elevations.

Gelabert-Navia Arquitectos. Viviendas

económicas, Montecarlo, San Juan, Puerto
Rico (1960s).
306

and finally Perkins & Will, designing commercial office spaces Armas, the cathedral, and the adjacent palaces around the Pla-
and hospital interiors, including projects for Emory University, za de la Catedral.75 In 1944, the Office of the Historian declared
and the Crawford Long Hospital. Teresita Santaballa and Carlos the area within the walls of Old Havana a “Protected Zone.”
Deupi, who had worked for Víctor Morales and Humberto Alon- Conservation and restoration work began on other major sites
so respectively, settled in Washington D.C. in 1961.72 In 1973, like the remains of the colonial-era walls and the nineteenth-
Carlos Deupi joined Santaballa to form Deupi & Associates, a century Palacio Aldama overlooking the Parque de la Fraterni-
design firm that collaborated with several Cuban architects and dad just outside of the old city—two projects that were fol-
engineers in the Washington D.C. area, including Max Borges lowed by José María Bens Arrarte and Gustavo Dubois in 1948.76
Recio on a residential project in the Watergate complex. The Similarly, the Ministry of Public Works engaged in preservation
young Cuban architect, Hervin Romney, worked for Deupi & As- projects outside of Old Havana, such as the 1947 restoration of
sociates briefly before heading off to graduate school at Yale the Church of Santa María del Rosario, originally built in 1766 in
University, where he would meet Andres Duany and Elizabeth the town of the same name on the outskirts of the city. 77 The
Plater-Zyberk. The three, along with Bernardo Fort-Brescia and Office of the Historian, located in the Palacio Municipal (the
Laurinda Spear, formed the hugely influential firm of Arquitec- former Palacio de los Capitanes Generales, or Palace of the
tonica in Miami in 1977. Captains General) was also responsible for establishing a mu-
nicipal archive and library, and organizing conferences, exhibi-
Heritage and Historic Preservation: tions, and commemorations, as well as publishing material on
The Conscience of Batista historical matters. In April 1950, for instance, the office organ-
Memory has always been an integral part of the act of preser- ized an exhibition of colonial architecture in the main salon of
vation, and in twentieth-century Cuba it was no less apparent the Palacio Municipal to coincide with the VII Congreso Pan-
than in other countries where architectural heritage played an americano de Arquitectos, which took place in Havana that
important role in defining identity and planning for the future. 73
year.78 According to reports at the time, the exhibition included
Preservation efforts in mid-century Havana began in 1938 with beautiful drawings of colonial architecture by Aquiles Maza and
the establishment of the Office of the Historian of the City, un- the artist Agustín Rodríguez Gómez, who had been producing
der the direction of the journalist and historian Dr. Emilio Roig watercolor renderings of colonial-era buildings since 1930.79
de Leuchsenring, who had already been appointed the city’s With the death of Emilio Roig de Leuchsenring in 1964, the
official historian in 1935. 74
Many buildings and spaces in Old office came under the direction of Dr. Eusebio Leal Spengler,
Havana were restored during this period, including the Plaza de who continued his predecessor’s work and established revolu-
6 Exile and Heritage 307

Ermina Odoardo and Ricardo Eguilior.

Garden shelter for Francisco Blanco house,
Nassau (1970s).

Eugenio Batista. Drawing of the interior

sections of the Church of Santa María del
Rosario (eighteenth century), n.d.

tionary management criteria, beginning with a new restoration Before the revolution, preservation was a common form of
of the Palace of the Captains General in 1967. 80
In 1978, the remembrance among the elite families who wished to give
historical center of Havana was declared a national monument, their name to posterity by preserving a monument or building
and in 1982, the historic center together with its old fortifica- associated with their past. An early example was the restora-
tions were recognized as a World Cultural Heritage Site by UN- tion and transformation of the Palacio Pedroso in Old Havana
ESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Or- into apartments by Joaquín E. Weiss in 1938.81 Other examples
ganization). To that end, the National Center for Conservation, included the eighteenth-century parochial churches of San
Restoration and Museology (CENCREM) was created to em- Juan Bautista in Remedios, restored by Aquiles Maza (1944–
power generations of expert professionals and technicians to 1946), and Nuestra Señora del Carmen in Santa Clara (in the
safeguard Cuban heritage. In addition to preserving the coloni- 1950s), both funded by Eutimio Falla Bonet who was at the
al-era buildings in Havana, the Office of the Historian has re- forefront of supporting preservation projects.82
cently been preserving such twentieth-century modern works Eugenio Batista’s passion for the vast heritage of Cuban
as the National Art Schools, the Havana Hilton, the Hotel Rivi- colonial architecture was a relevant source of inspiration for
era, the Seguro Médico building, and the house of Eutimio Falla him as well as many of his students and followers. As previously
Bonet, among others. mentioned, Batista made a direct reference to the expressive
308

character of colonial architecture in his pivotal essay “La casa Princeton University in 1930, he extended his sketching explo-
cubana,” pointing out the “indisputable artistic value of a good rations to the colonial towns of Matanzas, Madruga, Guanaba-
number of colonial residences” that are “exemplary adaptations coa, and Santa María del Rosario, where he carefully studied
of our grandparents’ way of life to the same physical-natural the eighteenth-century parochial church of the same name. 86
environment in which we live.”83 Throughout the span of his pro- As he noted in his letters, he “measured and drew up any num-
fessional and teaching career, both in Cuba and in exile, Batista ber of old roofs, doors, windows, balustrades, and window
never ceased to express an intimate familiarity with the city of grilles,” later turning to “photographs and measured sketch
Havana, a love affair that started when he joined the office of plans of churches and residences” to build an extensive com-
Morales & Company soon after his graduation in 1924.84 It might pilation of sketches that later in life would become a primary
not be a coincidence that this influential Cuban architectural source for his literary endeavors.87
firm was located in a preserved portion of the old Dominican Batista’s explorations around the inherent elements of Cu-
convent of Santa Catalina, where Batista himself remembered ban colonial architecture also included an in-depth analysis of
how “senior partner Leonardo Morales had kept intact the open the old vitrales, or stained-glass windows, that populated the
work timber roof and had relocated a magnificent mahogany traditional Cuban house. In an unpublished text found in his
railing and some painted panels and carved gilded ornaments personal archive, he was attracted by the fact that such a pre-
from the convent chapel.”85 This early sensibility toward preser- vailing element of religious architecture had found its way into
vation, along with an innate ability for drawing and a keen eye private Cuban homes. He explained how their “purpose was to
when it came to architectural detailing, was one that emerged provide physical comfort rather than food for spiritual medita-
through his personal interest in heritage. tion,” while stating at the same time how they “fulfilled [their]
During his time as an early graduate, Batista’s Saturday af- intended goal more readily and with greater aesthetic appeal
ternoons were devoted to sketching the buildings and spaces than modern attempts using other means.”88 It is in these kinds
of Old Havana. Upon his return following his graduation from of pronouncements that Batista stressed the need to incorpo-
6 Exile and Heritage 309

rate traditional elements into the contemporary architecture

that was being developed in Cuba at the time, with the clear
intent of keeping the history and tradition of Cuban architec-
ture alive. This ardent advocacy for preserving the memory of
his beloved colonial architecture followed him after his exile to
the United States in 1961.
In 1970, one year before he officially retired from his teach-
ing position at the University of Oregon, Batista began to con-
sider the task of writing a book on colonial architecture in Cuba
that would be illustrated with his own drawings and photo-
graphs.89 In a letter to his daughters, he noted that “if I could,
even from memory and without measurements, draw a sche-
matic plan of the four adjoining houses ... it would be a formi-
dable illustration of the type of housing that I consider the cul-
mination of a truly Cuban style.”90 In this particular case, Batista
was making reference to his own grandfather’s house on Agu-
iar street in Old Havana, and the three adjacent properties lo-
cated on the contiguous Amargura street that he had partially
sketched before leaving Cuba.
Batista’s efforts in producing a catalog of significant histor-
ic buildings as the core of his publication on colonial architec-
ture inevitably included a series of prominent buildings and
religious structures which had been the subject of his constant
effort at architectural documentation. It is in these significant
buildings, as well as in their history and evolution, where most
of his personal and professional interest would be centered in
the years to come.91 A decade into his exile, he created fasci-
nating reconstructions of a group of notable colonial houses in
Cuba with no other means than his old sketches and insightful
research carried out through correspondence with trusted col-
leagues, including José María Bens Arrarte—the former editor
of the Cuban architectural journal Arquitectura who was now
Eugenio Batista. Sketches showing exiled in Miami—and Enrique Gamba, a family friend who re-
Eugenio Batista’s study of vitrales and
mained in Cuba.92 Batista and Bens Arrarte, in particular, car-
their stylistic evolution in residential
ried out a fascinating epistolary exchange that included the
Cuban architecture, n.d.
re-creation of spaces and elements from memories dated over

Eugenio Batista. Drawing of the four decades earlier. Batista made direct references in his let-
ground floor plan and perspective of the ters to “pre-historic notes, sketches, photographs, and meas-
Casa del Conde de Aldama in Guanabacoa, urements gathered between 1923 and 1933,” alongside his re-
Havana, n.d.
search on the alterations that these buildings had experienced
through the years.93
Batista wrote in 1971 that he was committed to the resto-
ration—at least theoretically on paper—of the palace of the
Marqués de Arcos (ill. p. 310) on the Plaza de la Catedral in
Havana, but it was the Casa del Conde de Aldama in Guanaba-
coa that—as he wrote in the letter to his daughters—put him
under a spell.94 Using his sketches and the on-site survey of the
310

house carried out between 1930 and 1933, along with his own ings.97 For Batista, this was definitely “a much deserved hom-
recollections, he developed a full set of plans and elevations for age to the memory of Eutimio,” as well as an “utmost important
the residence. Bens Arrarte was involved in the restoration of book for any student of the history of Cuban architecture.”98 It
the neoclassical Casa del Conde de Aldama (ill. p. 309) located was indeed for Eutimio Falla Bonet that Batista had built his
just outside of Old Havana facing the Campo de Marte (Field of most significant private residence in 1938. It is interesting to
Mars), a preservation endeavor carried out in 1948 by the Office note how both the client and the architect—having sponsored
of the Historian of the City, turning their shared passion for and designed a piece of residential architecture that is consid-
preservation into a full-circle collaboration. Furthermore, the
95
ered an exemplary modernist exercise—became enthusiastic
Office of the Historian was also the association behind the res- patrons and, each in their own personal endeavors, strong ad-
toration of the ornamented archway at the Casa del Marqués vocates for the preservation of early colonial architecture.99
de Arcos in 1999, the same one that Batista had already docu- Batista’s commitment to Cuban architectural heritage ex-
mented in detail in the late 1920s. 96
tended far beyond buildings. As a professor at the Catholic Uni-
In 1971, Batista acquired a book written by Aquiles de la versity of Santo Tomás de Villanueva in Havana, he was deeply
Maza on Eutimio Falla Bonet and his philanthropic efforts to- interested in the design and preservation of liturgical instru-
ward the preservation of significant religious colonial build- ments and vestments.100 In 1957, he designed several classical
6 Exile and Heritage 311

Eugenio Batista. Sketch showing

details of the Acana wood banister at the
Casa del Marqués de Arcos, Mercaderes 2,
Havana, n.d.

casullas (liturgical vestments) for the Diocese of Havana in dation, the preservation process began, following plans devel-
three different styles and in multiple patterns and colors. Based oped by architect Richard Heisenbottle in association with
on canonical Roman Catholic casullas, his designs were made Hilario Candela. By supporting the preservation efforts from the
to accommodate the warm tropical climate of Cuba, using beginning, the latter helped preserve the memory of modern
lightweight and flexible materials and reducing the amount of Cuban architecture in the 1950s.102 As Jorge Hernández ex-
fabric around the neck and underarms. With no ornamentation pressed “[t]he most exceptional aspect of the stadium’s history
other than the quality of the fabric, stitching, and patterning, emerged when exploring the context of significance with other
the minimalist casullas were both extremely primitive and works closer in geography. The story that unfolded was a touch-
modern, very much in the tradition of his architecture. In Miami, ing lesson on the nature of art, influence, and mentoring.”103
Batista continued to consult on church matters, producing de- The Miami Marine Stadium is a masterpiece among the
signs for altars, candelabras, and prayer rails, as well as writing works of Miami’s modern architectural heritage, a concrete
a book on church architecture and the history of the Catholic structure that has received, albeit belatedly, worldwide recog-
liturgy titled El culto cristiano: ¿ceremonia o dedicación? nition in terms of its patrimonial value, and one of the strongest
(Christian worship: ceremony or dedication?). 101
symbols of ethnic identity, representative of the influential Cu-
ban community in Miami. It is a testament to Cuban architec-
A Symbol of Cuban Modern Identity ture on foreign soil, rising from the preservation of the inherent
In late August 1992, the city of Miami was badly hit by the dev- values and lessons that Candela learned from studying the
astating Hurricane Andrew. The Miami Marine Stadium, that had plastic potential of concrete in both Cuban and Mediterranean
been for three decades a spectacular setting for speedboat architectural cultures.
races and unforgettable evening concerts, was closed one Eugenio Batista and Hilario Candela, each in their own way,
month later following a prejudiced decision by the City Com- became relevant actors in the preservation efforts that today
mission, which requested demolition. Following an engineering are paramount to understanding the character and the value of
report that said the damages were repairable, the grandstand Cuban architecture in all its expressions. In the case of Hilario
remained but was abandoned. Around 2007, new reports and Candela and his magnificent stadium, preservation comes from
rumors of demolition surfaced and a public campaign for its professional practice itself, as the manifestation of values and
preservation and reuse was successfully launched by a new lessons learned. In the case of Eugenio Batista, those efforts
advocacy group, the Friends of the Miami Marine Stadium came from the endeavors that as a teacher and a passionate
(FMMS). Over ten years later, following historic designation and researcher he held to throughout his entire life.
the award of various grants, including one from the Getty Foun-
312

Hilario Candela (Pancoast, Ferendino,

Grafton, Skeels & Burnham). The Miami
Marine Stadium under construction with
the architect, Hilario Candela, in the
foreground (1963).
6 Exile and Heritage 313

NOTES Kahn-­inspired scheme, but the project was not 22 See Jean-François Lejeune, “Miami Marine
implemented: Interview with Enrique Stadium,” in Miami Modern Metropolis, 353–57;
1 Notes presented to authors, February 9, 2016. Larrañaga, August 25, 2019. See Isabel Lasala Jean-François Lejeune, “Preserving the Marine
2 Raúl Rodríguez, “Architecture” in Cubans: An Hernández, Creando Lugares (Caracas: Ediciones Stadium (1962–64): Tropical Brutalism, Society
Epic Journey: The Struggle of Exiles for Truth and FAU UCV, 2014). of Leisure, and Ethnic Identity,” Docomomo-US
Freedom, eds. Sam Verdeja and Guillermo 13 On the double exile of Martín Domínguez, (July 15, 2014), http://www.docomomo-us.org/
Martínez (St. Louis: Reedy Press, 2012), first from Spain and then from Cuba, see Juan news/preserving-the-miami-marine-stadi-
chapter 34. Daniel Fullaondo, “Recuerdo de Martín um-1962-64-tropical-brutalism-society-of-lei-
3 Francisco Gómez Díaz, De Forestier a Sert: Domínguez,” Nueva Forma, no. 64 (May 1971): sure-and-ethnic-identity. See also Sigrid
Ciudad y arquitectura en La Habana 1925–1960 2–22; Pablo Rabasco and Martín Domínguez Adriaenssens, Rosa Lowinger, Jorge Hernan-
(Madrid: Abada, 2008), 558–59. The first Ruz, Martín Domínguez Esteban (Ithaca: Cornell dez, et al., “The Shells of the Miami Marine
meeting with Gropius probably took place in AAP Publications, 2015); and Pablo Rabasco and Stadium: Synergy between Form, Force and
1945 at the time of construction of the Casa Martín Domínguez Ruz, Arniches y Domínguez Environment,” accessible at https://www.
José Noval but the two men developed a solid (Madrid: Akal, 2017). One must marinestadium.org/index.php/news/
friendship that led to their continuous contact add that Domínguez’s works were not altogether c80/?sort=title&startnum=121.
over the years. unknown in the United States. Some of his 23 About the hypar shell examples in Cuba by Max
4 Inquiries at the University of Rochester library projects had been published in American Borges, in some cases with the collaboration of
have revealed that there is no information on maga­zines such as Architectural Forum, Interiors, Félix Candela, see Chapter 4.
the masterplan in their archives. Engineering News Record, or Pro­gressive 24 Hilario Candela, interview by Jean-François
5 Felipe Gorostiza, “Mario Romañach,” in The Architecture. Furthermore, Sigfried Giedion, Dix Lejeune, January 17, 2005.
Book of the School: 100 Years, the Graduate School Ans d’Architecture Contemporaine: A Decade of a 25 Gray Read, “A Center in the Middle of Nowhere:
of Fine Arts of the University of Pennsylvania, New Architecture (Zürich: Editions Girsberger, Miami-Dade Junior College South Campus,” in
eds. Ann L. Strong and George E. Thomas 1951), with a second edition in New York in Miami Modern Metropolis, 250–55.
(Philadelphia: The Graduate School, 1990), 1954, Giedion paid special attention to his work. 26 Adriaenssens, Lowinger, Hernandez, et al., “The
210–11; and G. Holmes Perkins, “The Roma­ñach 14 Quoted from the Cornell University exhibition Shells of the Miami Marine Stadium,” 3; quote
Partnership,” in Drawing Toward Building: panel, “Martín Domínguez as teacher: the from the interview with Hilario Candela by
Philadelphia Architectural Graphics, 1732–1986, program,” Collection Pablo Rabasco and Martín José Vasquez, Miami Dade Community College,
ed. J.F. O’Gorman (Philadelphia: University of Domínguez Ruz, August 17, 2016. Founded in November 2005 and published in
Pennsylvania Press, 1986), 245–47. 1910, the Residencia helped foster and create A Concrete Presence (exhibition website not
6 Charles Dagit, Louis I. Kahn Architect, (New the intellectual environment of Spain’s available anymore).
Brunswick: Transaction Publishers, 2013), 72, brightest young thinkers, writers, and artists. 27 See Chapter 3.
and 75. The students there included Salvador Dalí, Luis 28 Roberto Segre, Cuba: l’architettura della
7 See Robert Stern, Thomas Mellins, and David Buñuel, and Federico García Lorca. rivoluzione (Padova: Marsilio Editori, 1970),
Fishman, New York 1960: Architecture and 15 Rabasco and Domínguez Ruz, Martín quoted by Marella Santangelo, “La CUJAE,
Urbanism between the Second World War and the Domínguez, 11–12. Ciudad Universitaria José Antonio Echeverría,”
Bicentennial (New York: The Monacelli Press, 16 Efraín E. Pérez-Chanis, “Arquitectura: Génesis Area, no. 150 (2017): 79.
1995), 718, and 720–21. Also see https://www. y ruta de la arquitectura en Puerto Rico,” in 29 Notes presented to authors by Hilario Candela,
cardcow.com/158118/model-litho-city-against- La Gran Enciclopedia de Puerto Rico Vol. IX, ed. January 25, 2016.
manhattan-skyline-new-york/. Le Corbusier Vicente Báez (Madrid: Ediciones R, 1976), 30 Gray Read, “A Center in the Middle of
was first envisioned but no contact was made. 164–71; and Nicolás Quintana Papers, Nowhere,” 254.
The other two designers were Jordan Cruzen University of Miami Libraries, Coral Gables, FL, 31 Allan T. Shulman, Building Bacardi, 57–59.
and Peter Samton. The project which also Cuban Heritage Collection, CHC5314. 32 Idem, 60 ff.
included a marina, a luxury liner pier, an 17 See The Dorothy Marx House, Great Exuma, 33 Idem, 149.
extension of Riverside Park, and the United Bahamas, 1970, University of Miami Libraries, 34 See Gray Read, “The Bacardi Building: Rum,
World Center was abandoned in 1966. Coral Gables, FL, Cuban Heritage Collection, Revolution and the Crafting of Identity,” in
8 Stern, Lellins, and Fishman, New York 1960, CHC5314; “Homenaje a Nicolás Quintana,” Miami Modern Metropolis, 179–83; Shulman,
153. Revista encuentro de la cultura cubana, no. 18 Building Bacardi, 149–69. Also see Chapter 3
9 John L. Puckett and Mark Frazier Lloyd, (Fall 2000): 38. in this book.
Becoming Penn: The Pragmatic American 18 Pérez-Chanis, “Arquitectura: Génesis,” 164–71. 35 Shulman, Building Bacardi, 173–74.
University, 1950–2000 (Philadelphia: University 19 See Chapter 4. There is no relation between 36 Ibidem.
of Pennsylvania Press, 2015), 77. Hilario Candela and Félix Candela. 37 On Consuegra’s life and work, see Hugo
10 Gorostiza, “Mario Romañach,” in The Book of the 20 See Chapter 3 and Allan Shulman, Building Consuegra, eds. Lissette Martínez Herryman
School, 210–11; and G. Holmes Perkins, “The Bacardi: Architecture, Art and Identity and Gustavo Valdés (Miami: Ediciones
Romañach Partnership,” in Drawing Toward (New York: Rizzoli Int., 2016), 60 ff. Universal, 2006); and Abigail McEwen,
Building: Philadelphia Architectural Graphics, 21 Lester Pancoast was one of the first important Revolutionary Horizons: Art and Polemics in
1732–1986, ed. J.F. O’Gorman (Philadelphia: architects working in Miami. He later 1950s Cuba (New Haven, CT: Yale University
University of Pennsylvania Press, 1986), associated with Ferendino and Grafton. Press, 2016), 35 ff.
245–47. Other partners joined the firm at various times 38 On Albers’s visit to Havana, see “La exposición
11 See Carlos José Olaizola Rengifo, “Mario including Skeels and Burnham. See Miami de la Escuela de Arquitectura y el cursillo del
Romañach. El arquitecto que sirvió de puente Modern Metropolis: Paradise and Paradox in Profesor Albers,” Arquitectura, no. 225 (April
entre Pensilvania y Caracas,” ArtyHum 26 Midcentury Architecture and Planning, (ed.) Allan 1952): 147–51; and Hugo Consuegra, Elapso
(2016): 147–72; and Enrique Larrañaga (with Shulman (Miami/Pasadena: Bass Museum of Tempore (Miami: Ediciones Universal, 2001),
Odart Graterol), “Mi entrevista [with Mario Art/Balcony Press, 2009); and Jean-François 89–90. On the Arquitectos Unidos, see Emilio de
Romañach]” (Caracas, April 23, 2016), Lejeune and Allan Shulman, The Making of Soto y Sagarra, Album de Cuba, Vol. 3 (Havana:
unpublished manuscript. Miami Beach 1933–1942: The Architecture of Universidad de La Habana, 1950–1960): n.p.;
12 The young architect Pablo Lasala won the Lawrence Murray Dixon (New York: Rizzoli, Consuegra, Elapso Tempore, 150 ff; Consuegra,
competition with an impressive brutalist, 2001). “Evocación de los Espaciales,” Herencia, Vol. 7,
314

no. 1 (Summer 2001): 74–77; and the 55 Margot Tucker house, Caracas, Venezuela, Vol. 6: n.p.; and Rodríguez, The Havana Guide,
Humberto Alonso Papers, University of Miami 1976, Mario J. Romañach Collection, The 16, 80, 112, 148, and 214.
Libraries, Coral Gables, FL, Cuban Heritage Architectural Archives, University of Pennsyl- 67 Mignucci Gianonni, Arquitectura contemporánea,
Collection, CHC5476. vania, No. 48. Alberto Tucker was a student 16–17.
39 Hugo Consuegra, “Un enfoque hacia la pintura of Mario Romañach at Cornell and became his 68 Soto y Sagarra, “Cristófol y Hdez. Dupuy
moderna,” Espacio, Vol. II, nos. 10–11 (July–Oc- associate for projects in Caracas in the arquitectos,” Album de Cuba Vol. 4, 1956: n.p.;
tober 1953): 34 ff. 1960s–1970s. See Rengifo, “Mario Romañach,” “Una obra de los Arqs. Cristófol y Hernández
40 “Tribunal de Cuentas,” Espacio, Vol. II, no. 6 147–72. Dupuy,” Arquitectura, no. 281 (December 1956):
(November–December 1953). 56 Belmont Freeman, “Max Borges, 1918–2009,” 552–54; “Una obra de los Arquitectos Cristófol
41 See the Humberto Alonso Papers, University of The Architect’s Newspaper (March 4, 2009), y Hernández Dupuy,” Arquitectura, no. 283
Miami Libraries, Coral Gables, FL, Cuban https://archpaper.com/2009/03/ (February 1957): 78–79; and Rodríguez,
Heritage Collection, CHC5476; and the max-borges-1918-2009. The Havana Guide, 25, 52, and 161.
Humberto Alonso Collection, Miami. 57 Pérez-Chanis, “Arquitectura: Génesis,” 157. 69 Mignucci Gianonni, Arquitectura contemporánea,
42 Hugo Consuegra, Martínez Herryman and 58 Drawings and photographs of the project 18–19.
Valdés, 191–93; and Rafael Diaz Casas, “In the may be seen at the Gelabert-Navia Arquitectos 70 Drawings and photographs of the projects
Public Eye,” Art on Cuba (July 19, 2014), http:// Records, University of Miami Libraries, may be seen at the “Ermina Odoardo and
artoncuba.com/article/in-the-public-eye. Coral Gables, FL, Cuban Heritage Collection, Ricardo Equilior Architectural Records,”
43 Consuegra, Elapse Tempore, 90–91; Hugo CHC5488. University of Miami Libraries, Coral Gables, FL,
Consuegra, Martínez Herryman and Valdés, 177 59 Joe Adcock, “Construyen en Hato Rey Proyecto Cuban Heritage Collection, CHC5498; also see
and 190. de Viviendas de Tipo Nuevo,” El Mundo, Allan Shulman, Building Bacardi.
44 Ricardo Pau-Llosa, Dirube (Madrid: Editorial San Juan, P.R. (November 12, 1963): n.p. 71 Later in her life, Ermina Odoardo dedicated
Playor, 1979), 133 and 143. 60 Notes presented to author from the architect’s her retirement years to her true artistic
45 Idem, pp. 133, 143, 196–200, and 209–12. descendants, Sara and Manuel Gutiérrez, on passion, that is to say painting realist portraits
46 Roberto Segre, Arquitectura antillana del siglo May 8, 2019. See also the Gutiérrez Family in oils and pastels.
XX, (Havana: Arte y Literatura, 2003), 216; Collection, San Juan, PR, and Miami, FL. 72 Santaballa opened her own interior design
and Cundo Bermúdez and Vicente Báez, Cundo 61 On the López Dirube sculptures, see Pau-Llosa, practice in 1968, a pioneering effort that was
Bermúdez (Miami: Cuban-American Endow- Dirube, 133 and 140–42. La Arboleda received certainly unusual for a woman at the time,
ment for the Arts, Inc, 2000), 160–62, and 190. the Home Builders Association Award in 1966, and received the Best of the Year award from
47 Idem, 133 and 137. and residents included José Gelabert and Rosa Interior Design in 1970 for her design of the
48 Severo Sarduy, “Topologías eróticas,” in Zilia Navia whose son, José Gelabert-Navia, worked U.S. Virgin Islands Information Center.
Sanches: Heróicas eróticas (San Juan: Museo for López Dirube during the summers. Notes 73 See in particular, Octavio González Roura,
de las Américas, 2000); and Vesela Sretenović, presented to author by José Gelabert-Navia, “La necesidad de conservar los monumentos
Carla Acevedo-Yates, and Alyson Cluck, Zilia May 9, 2019. del pasado,” Arquitectura, no. 57 (April 1938):
Sánchez: Soy Isla (New Haven, CT: Yale 62 Pérez-Chanis, “Arquitectura: Génesis,” 157–63; 140–43.
University Press, 2019), 6–7, and 157. Andrés Mignucci Gianonni, Arquitectura 74 Emilio Roig de Leuchsenring, Veinte años de
49 See the exhibition catalogue, One Biscayne contemporánea en Puerto Rico, 1976–1992 (San actividades del Historiador de la Ciudad de
Tower: One Mural, Fifteen Engravings, Nine Juan: Instituto Americano de Arquitectos, La Habana: Emilio Roig De Leuchsenring,
Sculptures (EHG Enterprises, 1972); Capítulo de Puerto Rico, 1992), 22–23, 46–47, 1935–1955 (Havana: Municipio de la Habana,
Allan T. Shulman, Randall C. Robinson, and and 52–53; and Jorge del Río, Emilio Martínez, Oficina del Historiador de la Ciudad, 1955); and
James Donnelly, “One Biscayne Tower,” Miami and Gustavo Luis Moré. “Jorge Del Río: Una Eusebio Leal Spengler, Una experiencia singular:
Architecture: An AIA Guide Featuring Downtown, Vida de Arquitecto ‘Con Las Botas Puestas.’” Valoraciones sobre el modelo de gestión integral de
the Beaches, and Coconut Grove (Gainesville: Archivos de Arquitectura Antillana: AAA 2, no. 5 La Habana Vieja, Patrimonio de la Humanidad =
University Press of Florida, 2010), 24–25. (September 1997): 46–47. A Singular Experience: Appraisals of the Integral
The participation of Sergio A. González was 63 Eduardo Luis Rodríguez, The Havana Guide: Management Model of Old Havana, World
noted to authors on August 21, 2019. Modern Architecture 1926–1965 (Princeton: Heritage Site (Havana: UNESCO, 2006).
50 See José Gómez Sicre’s introductory essay to Princeton Architectural Press, 2000), 64, 68, 75 “Cosas de ayer y de hoy que embellecen la
the exhibition catalog, One Biscayne Tower: 210, and 227; and Nicolás Quintana, Capital,” Arquitectura, no. 63 (October 1938):
One Mural, Fifteen Engravings, Nine Sculptures “In Memoriam: Jorge del Río (1933–2000),” 381; “Rincón bellísimo de La Habana colonial:
(EHG Enterprises, 1972). Herencia, Vol. 7, no. 1 (Summer 2001): 2. Plaza de la Catedral,” Arquitectura, no. 63
51 The installation regrettably no longer exists 64 “In memoriam: AIA Florida and AIA Puerto (October 1938): 384; Maria Elena Martín
– when the building was purchased by new Rico Mourn the Loss of Two Prominent Zequeira and Eduardo L. Rodríguez, La Habana:
owners in the 1980s, they declared the project Colleagues,” Florida Caribbean Architect, Vol. 47, Guía de Arquitectura—Havana, Cuba: An
obsolete. See Pau-Llosa, Dirube, 94,105, and no. 4 (Winter 2000): 36 Architectural Guide. (Havana/Seville: Ciudad de
110–15. 65 In 1967, he received a Progressive Architecture La Habana/Junta de Andalucía, 1998), 70, and
52 Drawings and photographs of the house may be Design Award for his residences for the elderly 105 ff
seen at the Eugenio Batista Collection, in the Municipality of Cidra: “The Fourteenth 76 Roig de Leuchsenring, Veinte años, Vol. II, 237
University of Miami Libraries, Coral Gables, FL, Annual P/A Design Awards Program,” ff.; and Martín Zequeira and Rodríguez,
Cuban Heritage Collection, CHC0331. Progressive Architecture, vol. 48, no. 1 (January La Habana: Guía de Arquitectura, 168–69.
53 Residence for Mr. and Mrs. Romañach, 1967): 124–25. 77 Pedro Martínez Inclán, “La restauración de la
Gladwyne, Lower Merion Township, Mont­ 66 Soto y Sagarra, Album de Cuba, Vol. 3: n.p.; iglesia de Santa María del Rosario,” Arquitectu-
gomery County, PA, Jan. 12, 1972, Mario “Arquitecto – Evelio Pina Iglesias,” Arquitectura, ra, no. 135 (October 1944): 364–66; and Martín
J. Romañach Collection, The Architectural no. 319 (February 1960): n.p.; Soto y Sagarra, Zequeira and Rodríguez, La Habana: Guía de
Archives, University of Pennsylvania, No. 48. “Residencia del Sr. Antonio García. Avenida 25, Arquitectura, 287. See also “La remodelación de
54 David and Josephine Alger House, Pottersville, entre 141 y 150. Country Club Park,” Album La Habana, las obras del Ministerio de Obras
New Jersey, 1976–1979, Mario J. Romañach de Cuba, Vol. 6: n.p. and “Residencia del Públicas, Ingeniero Manuel Febles Valdes,”
Collection, The Architectural Archives, Sr. Francisco Pina. Calle 202, entre Autopista Arquitectura, no. 204 (July 1950): 301.
University of Pennsylvania, No. 48. y Ave. 21. Country Club Park,” Album de Cuba,
6 Exile and Heritage 315

78 See Emilio Roig de Leuchsenring, La Habana: 85 Ibidem. On the convent and its demolition, see 96 Eusebio Leal Spengler, Para no olvidar. Libro
apuntes históricos (Havana: Consejo Nacional de Luis Bay Sevilla, “El Convento de Santa Catalina primero. Testimonio gráfico de la restauración del
Cultura, 1963); Emilio Soto y Sagarra, Album de de Sena,” Arquitectura, nos. 124–125 (Novem- Centro histórico de la Ciudad de la Habana
Cuba, Vol. 1: n.p.; and Roig de Leuchsenring, ber–December 1943): 426–51. (Havana: Ediciones Boloña, Publicaciones de
Veinte años, Vol. IV, 107. 86 Weiss, La arquitectura colonial cubana, pp. la Oficina del Historiador de la Ciudad de la
79 “El VII Congreso Panamericano de Arquitectos,” 284–86; and Martin Zequeira and Rodríguez, Habana, 2005), 334.
Arquitectura, no. 202 (May 1950): 187; La Habana: Guía de Arquitectura, 287. 97 Aquiles de la Maza, Eutimio Falla Bonet,
“Arquitectura colonial cubana,” Arquitectura, 87 In the 1970s, at the time when he was passim.
no. 202 (May 1950): 226–27; and “El VII getting close to his retirement from teaching, 98 See the “Letter to María Teresa Batista, dated
Congreso Panamericano de Arquitectos: Eugenio Batista started compiling all the November 8, 1971,” in the Eugenio Batista
Recepción en el Palacio del Ayuntamiento, sketches and explorations he had produced Collection, CHC0331.
exposición de arquitectura colonial cubana,” between 1923 and 1933 with the intention of 99 “Havana Cuba: All Rooms in this House Open
Arquitectura, no. 205 (August 1950): 339. writing a book on Cuban colonial architecture, on Courtyards,” Architectural Record, Vol. 86
80 Leal Spengler, Una experiencia singular, 17 and for which only an introduction and a first (July–December 1939): 45–46; Rodríguez,
47. chapter were completed. Eugenio Batista The Havana Guide, 84–85; and
81 See the Crane advertisement “Antigua Collection, CHC0331. La Arquitectura del Movimiento Moderno:
residencia señorial ‘Palacio Pedroso,’ Calle Cuba 88 Untitled essay, Eugenio Batista Collection, Selección de obras del Registro Nacional, ed.
núm. 64, entre Peña Pobre y Cuarteles, CHC0331. Eduardo Luis Rodríguez (Havana: Ediciones
recientemente restaurada y adaptada para 89 Letter to Matilde y Ma. Antonia dated June 22, Unión, 2011), 38–39.
apartamentos,” Arquitectura, no. 72 (July 1939): 1971, Eugenio Batista Collection, CHC0331. 100 See “Career Outline in Church Architecture,”
2; and Martín Zequeira and Rodríguez, 90 Ibidem. in the Eugenio Batista Collection, CHC0331.
La Habana: Guía de Arquitectura, 114. 91 Although his work on this subject remained On the Belén Chapel, see Martín Zequeira and
82 Joaquín E. Weiss, La arquitectura colonial cubana unfinished, a manuscript including the chapter Rodríguez, La Habana: Guía de Arquitectura,
siglos XVI al XIX (Havana: Letras Cubanas, outline as well as a completed draft for the first 272. On the Asilo Carvajal, see Martín M.
2002), 165–67 and 452–53; “La restauración chapter can be found in his personal archive Checa-Artasu and Olimpia Niglio,
de la Parroquia Mayor de San Juan Bautista located, Eugenio Batista Collection, CHC0331. El neogótico en la arquitectura americana:
de Remedios, Arquitectos. Joaquín Giménez 92 José María Bens Arrarte was born in Havana, historia, restauración, reinterpretaciones y
Lanier y Aquiles Maza y Santos,” Arquitectura, Cuba in 1893. He graduated from the School of reflexiones (Canterano: Aracne Editrice, 2016),
no. 153 (April 1946): 123–29; and Aquiles de Architecture in Havana in 1916. He was 289–90. On the Casa de los Marqueses de
la Maza, Eutimio Falla Bonet: su obra filantrópica appointed artistic director for the Capitol Avilés, see Martín Zequeira and Rodríguez,
y la arquitectura (Geneva: Skira, 1971). building in 1926, following Raúl Otero’s La Habana: Guía de Arquitectura, 203.
83 Emilio Batista, “La casa cubana,” Artes Plásticas, resignation. Bens Arrarte was an active 101 See the Eugenio Batista Collection, CHC0331.
Vol 2 (1960), translation by Raúl García. collaborator—and eventually director— 102 Jean-François Lejeune, “Miami Marine
84 This remark and some that follow, have been of Arquitectura in the 1950s. See Sambricio, Stadium,” 353–57; and Jean-François Lejeune,
extracted from original documents located in “Notas bio-bibliográficas,” 52–53. “Preserving the Marine Stadium.”
the Eugenio Batista Collection, University of 93 Eugenio Batista, Letter addressed to J. M. Bens 103 Jorge Hernández, “The Fruits of Hemispheric
Miami Libraries, Coral Gables, FL, Cuban Arrarte, dated October 20, 1971 in Eugene, Stewardship,” Preservation Today (November
Heritage Collection, CHC0331. This particular Oregon. Eugenio Batista Collection, CHC0331. 2009): 36.
document is thought to be a draft for an 94 See the “Letter to Mrs. M. Neering and Miss
introduction for the publication of his drawings M. Batista, dated October 25, 1971,” in the
on colonial Cuban architecture, which remains Eugenio Batista Collection, CHC0331.
unpublished. Located in ‘San Cristóbal de la 95 Pedro A. Herrera López, El Palacio Aldama:
Habana. Letter to a Friend’ dated August 12, una joya de la arquitectura habanera
1970, Eugene, Oregon. (Havana: Ediciones Boloña, 2007).
316

BIOGRAPHIES

The history of Cuban modernism could not be written without

mentioning the lives of the various architects, artists, and de-
signers—the so-called Generación de los cincuenta (Genera-
tion of the Fifties)—who were active from the late 1930s until
1959 in Cuba, and then as revolutionary architects and educa-
tors, or in exile abroad. These individuals sought to combine
Cuban identity and traditions with the tenets of international
modernism, in a country that was late to embrace modernity,
increasingly under American influence, and on the verge of rev-
olutionary changes. They reinvented their architectural practice
within the respective cultural and professional contexts yet
were often able to spread the essence of Cuban culture to
countries such as the United States (particularly Florida), Mex-
ico, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, France, Spain, and others. As the
architectural avant-garde in Cuba, these architects represent
the transnational and transcultural aspects of mid-twentieth
century Cuban architecture around the world. The following
Inauguration of the exhibition Latin American
biographies are intended to provide a human face to many of Architecture since 1945 at the Museum of
the individuals considered throughout the book. The list is of Modern Art (MoMA), New York. To the left, the
course incomplete, but we sincerely hope that it will inspire architect Carlos Raúl Villanueva and his wife. To
the right, the architect Max Borges Recio and
others to tell their stories and add to the rich tapestry that
his wife. In the background, the Arcos de Cristal.
makes up Cuban modernism.

Alonso, Humberto
Humberto Alonso (March 17, 1924, Candelaria, Pinar Del Río – Plaza in San Juan, Puerto Rico (1969–1972). He moved to Miami
September 12, 2018, Miami) graduated from the University of in 1969 and formed a partnership with Pelayo Fraga and
Havana School of Architecture in 1948. He then started his ar- worked in collaboration with Henry Gutiérrez, a member of
chitectural practice in Havana designing private homes, apart- the Arquitectos Unidos, on One Biscayne Tower (1969–1972). In
ments, commercial buildings, hospitals and campus plans. He 1980 Humberto formed “Architectura Totalis” with his son,
was the founding architect of the Arquitectos Unidos, a collab- Humberto Alonso Jr., also an architect, a partnership that lasted
orative group of architectural students led by Humberto (1953– seven years. In 1987, Humberto resumed a private practice
1955), responsible for among other projects, the College of with a select group of clients and at age eighty-five retired from
Architects Office Building in the Vedado (1953–1955), and the professional work.
Instituto Edison in La Víbora (1954–1955). He worked for the
Junta de Planificación (1955–1959) where he collaborated with Álvarez, Raúl
Mario Romañach and Pelayo Fraga in the development of the Raúl Álvarez (February 11, 1930, Havana – April 30, 2020, Orlan-
Plan Regulador de La Habana. He also taught at the University do, FL) studied architecture at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Insti-
of Havana from 1959–1960. During this time, he produced one tute in New York, receiving a Bachelor of Architecture in 1951.
of his most important works in Cuba, the design of the Ciudad Soon after he returned to Havana and joined the firm of Arroyo
Universitaria José Antonio Echeverría (CUJAE), a project com- and Menéndez architects, working on the National Theater of
pleted by José Fernández, Fernando Salinas, Josefina Mon- Cuba, while revalidating his architectural degree at the Univer-
talván, and others in 1964. In 1961 he sought political asylum sity of Havana (1953). In 1954 he established his private prac-
and left Cuba, subsequently working in Puerto Rico and Wash- tice working with Richard Neutra and Roberto Burle Marx on
ington D.C. where he developed a substantial body of work in the Alfred de Schulthess residence (1956), a work that received
multi-family and multi-user projects, most notably Cobian’s the Gold Medal from the College of Architects in 1958. In 1956
Biographies 317

Raúl Álvarez went into partnership with his cousin, Enrique Paul Lester Weiner, Mario Romañach, Nicolás Quintana and
Gutiérrez, to form Álvarez and Gutiérrez Architects. They were others to produce the masterplans for Havana, Varadero, Trini-
awarded first prize for the Antonetti Hospital competition, a dad, and the Isle of Pines. Arroyo was subsequently appointed
project that was completed in 1958 and deemed the most as the Cuban ambassador to the United States on April 16,
modern hospital in Latin America. The project received the Gold 1958, the last person to hold that position before Fidel Castro’s
Medal from the College of Architects in 1960. Álvarez and rise to power. After the 1959 Cuban Revolution, Nicolás Arroyo
Gutiérrez later merged with the engineering firm of Sáenz, Can- and Gabriela Menéndez settled in Washington D.C. and estab-
cio, and Martín to form SACMAG. The firm designed and built lished a practice on 18th Street that focused on residential,
several important industrial buildings for the Bacardi Corpora- commercial, and resort architecture. Arroyo was a member of
tion, including the offices in Mexico and Santiago de Cuba in the American Institute of Architects and served on the U.S.
association with Mies van der Rohe, as well as a unique office Commission of Fine Arts from 1971 to 1976. Among their most
building on Biscayne Boulevard in Miami. After his exile in 1960 notable projects in Cuba are the Ciudad Deportiva with its new
he joined the Miami interior design firm of Henry End Associ- Palacio de los Deportes (1955–1957), the Havana Hilton (1958,
ates that specialized in hotels. Between 1963 and 1970, Alvarez with Welton Becket and Associates), and the Teatro Nacional
joined the Houston office of Welton Becket and Associates as (1954–1960, with Raúl Álvarez). Lesser-known works include
Vice President Director of Design. In 1971 he moved to Miami the Teatro-Cine Ambassador (1951), the Ruston Academy
and established his private practice, working on projects in school building (1956), the Hospital Nacional de Rehabilitación
Guatemala, Nicaragua, Mexico, Belize and Panama. In 1996, Ál- de Inválidos (1956), and several apartment buildings and pri-
varez obtained a master’s degree in landscape architecture at vate residences throughout the city.
Florida International University. At the age of eighty-nine, Raúl
Álvarez retired from professional practice. Artaud, Carlos
Carlos Francisco Artaud y Aday (October 8, 1918, Santa Clara,
Arroyo, Nicolás and Gabriela Menéndez Cuba – August 27, 2009, Miami) was raised between Havana,
Nicolás Arroyo Márquez (August 31, 1917, Havana – July 13, Santa Clara, and family farms in the province of Las Villas, where
2008, Potomac, MD) received his architecture degree from the he learned to appreciate and explore nature. His father, Joseph
University of Havana in 1941. That same year, he participated Yves Charles Artaud, was a Frenchman who expanded the
with several other Cuban architects to form the group ATEC French telegraph throughout the Caribbean and was invited to
(Agrupación Tectónica de Expresión Contemporánea), organiz- remain in Cuba by General Máximo Gómez. His mother, Marina
ing gatherings to discuss and promote urban issues and to pro- Aday Casanova, was a philanthropist who belonged to a found-
mote modern architecture. In December 1942, he married fel- ing family of Santa Clara, the capital of Las Villas province. Dur-
low architect and University of Havana classmate Gabriela ing the Great Depression his extended family moved from Ha-
Menéndez García-Beltran (March 17, 1917, Havana – July 10, vana to one of its farms, El Ranchón, where he did not receive
2008, Potomac, MD). Nicolás and Gabriela were also part of a formal education for three years but studied independently,
group of Cuban architects that included Eugenio Batista, Emilio worked the land, cared for the horses, and helped manage the
del Junco, Miguel Gastón, Martín Domínguez, and Lilliam property. Later he spent months at sea on a merchant marine
Mederos, who participated in the International Congress of ship in the Gulf of Mexico. He applied to the Naval Academy and
Modern Architecture (CIAM). Together, they formed the hugely scored well on the entrance exams, only to be denied admis-
influential firm of “Arroyo y Menendez Architects,” practicing in sion due to his vision test. He married Adolfina Rivero Padrón in
Cuba until 1959, with Gabriela also contributing as an interior 1944 and had one daughter named Diana Artaud Rivero.
designer—her influence shown in the furniture selection and Carlos received his architecture degree from the University
color palette of the firm’s projects, as well as several independ- of Havana in 1950. As a university student and after graduation
ent commissions. Their studio workshop on 5th Avenue in Mira- he worked in the offices of Gómez-Sampera & Díaz Architects.
mar received a Silver Medal at the VII Pan-American Congress He founded Artaud and Gutiérrez Architects (1952–1958) with
of Architects in Havana in 1950. Arroyo also served as Cuba’s draughtsman and bookkeeper Fidel Gutiérrez, working largely
Minister of Public Works (1952–1958) in the government of Ful- on residential projects, office and industrial buildings, and hos-
gencio Batista. In that capacity, he oversaw the construction of pitals. The apartment building that he designed and built on 17th
a tunnel under Havana Bay, and worked with José Luis Sert, and 2nd Streets, in the Vedado neighborhood of Havana, was
318

published in the School of Architecture’s journal, Espacio, the “de facto” Dean of the School of Architecture at Havana’s St.
College of Architect’s journal, Arquitectura, and prior to this the Thomas of Villanova Catholic University in the 1950s. After the
popular newspaper Diario de la Marina. Eventually, Fidel em- revolution, he worked as a professor of design at various
bezzled the company and fled the island with all assets and schools including the University of Oregon (1962–1971), where
additional loans he had taken out against the firm, leaving Ar- he built a house for his family, and the University of Puerto Rico
taud to pay off the debt and re-establish himself professionally. (1969). In 1974 he was given a Fulbright scholarship to teach
To that end, Carlos Artaud founded Arvill Architecture & Engi- architecture at the Pontifical Xavierian University in Bogotá, Co-
neering (1958–1959) with his cousin, the engineer Fernando lombia. He continued to consult on architectural matters, often
Villapol. The new firm was successful and built a house for the the preservation of Catholic churches throughout the US, and
architect Sergio González in the Biltmore neighborhood of Ha- in 1981 he wrote a book on church architecture and the history
vana. This practice was interrupted by the revolution of 1959, of the Catholic liturgy titled El culto cristiano: ¿ceremonia o
and Artaud became an assistant professor at the University of dedicación? (Christian Worship: Ceremony or Dedication?),
Havana School of Architecture (1959–1960), teaching architec- with an English translation appearing in 1988.
tural construction materials. He also worked in the Ministry of
Public Works Department of Architecture, Hospital Design Sec- Borges, Max
tion, directed by Sergio González (1957–1961). Later, he arrived Max Borges Recio, often also referred to as Max Borges Jr., (July
in the United States with the first wave of exiles in 1961 and 24, 1918, Havana – January 18, 2009, Falls Church, VA) came
worked for several firms in Florida, Missouri, and New York be- from a reputable family of architects. His father Max Borges del
fore settling at Ferrenz & Taylor Architects in New York City Junco was a notable architect and engineer, building great
(1969–1972). He joined Evans & Delehanty (formerly Chapman mansions throughout the city. Max Jr. obtained his undergradu-
Evans & Delehanty), also in New York City (1972–1975), before ate degree in architecture at Georgia Tech (1939) and his mas-
joining TAG Architects in Charleston, West Virginia (1976–1988). ter’s degree at Harvard Graduate School of Design (1941). After
In 1988 he joined Dewberry & Davis in Richmond, VA, and the finishing his graduate studies, Borges returned to Havana to
following year he retired to Miami. An exceptionally talented join his father’s architecture firm, Max Borges del Junco. He
and prolific architect, Carlos Artaud was also one of the earliest achieved recognition for his work very early in his career, at the
exponents of viviendas económicas (architect-designed af- age of thirty, when his project for the Centro Médico Quirúrgico
fordable homes) in pre-revolutionary Cuba. (Center of Medicine and Surgery) in the Vedado was awarded
 Cristina Vidal Artaud the Gold Medal from the College of Architects in 1948. Three
years later, in 1951, his work became recognized through the
Batista, Eugenio unique design for the Arcos de Cristal at the Tropicana night
Eugenio Batista González de Mendoza (December 24, 1900, Ha- club. Borges continued working often in partnership with his
vana – February 14, 1992, Miami) graduated from the School of architect brother Enrique Borges, and the Spaniard Félix Can-
Architecture at the University of Havana in 1924, and began dela. Among the important commissions he completed in Cuba
working for Morales & Company, the leading firm in Cuba. In are his own house in Miramar (1948), the Someillan apartment
1927, he moved to New York to work as a draftsman at the ar- building (1950), the Club Náutico (1953), the Partagás apart-
chitecture firm of Walker and Gillette, taking summer and ment building (1954), the Antilla flower shop (1956), and the
evening classes at Columbia University. From 1928–1930 he Banco Núñez (1957). He left Cuba in 1959 and settled in Virginia,
studied at Princeton University, graduating with a Master of where he continued his professional practice until his retire-
Fine Arts in Architecture. From 1933–1939, he worked at Prince- ment. His own house, built on Lake Barcroft in Falls Church, VA,
ton as a professor of architecture before returning to Cuba to in 1962, remains as an example of Cuban residential architec-
practice full time, first in partnership with his brother Ernesto ture on US soil, and his 1020 North Quincy apartment building
and then with his cousin Adolfo Arellano. His work in Cuba in- in Arlington contains two hyperbolic paraboloid (hypar) entry
cluded several residences, the open-air amphitheater at the canopies like the ones he employed in Cuba.
Avenida del Puerto in Havana (1935), in collaboration with the
Cuban architect Aquiles Maza, the renovation of Havana’s Te- Cabarrocas, María Elena
atro Payret, and his most celebrated work, the house of Eutimio María Elena Cabarrocas (1922, Havana – 2016, North Carolina),
Falla Bonet in Miramar (1939–1940). He was a professor and the the niece of Félix Cabarrocas Ayala (1887–1961) of the cele-
Biographies 319

brated architecture firm of Govantes and Cabarrocas, graduat- national organizations such as the National Trust for Historic
ed from the University of Havana in 1946, having produced a Preservation, the World’s Monuments Fund, and the Getty
thesis design for a sporting and social club in Varadero. Instead Foundation among others. Currently, Mr. Candela continues his
of joining the family architectural firm she went into business practice under the banner of Candela + Partners, where he col-
with her contractor husband, José Angel Valls, to establish a laborates with architects and academics.
design-build practice. She found great success in the early  María Gabriela Dines
1950s designing residential properties in Miramar and Cama-
güey. She also designed an apartment building on 3rd Street and Capablanca, Aquiles
C in the Vedado, a mixed-use structure owned and financed by Félix Fernando Aquiles Capablanca Graupera, known by his
her father Dr. David Cabarrocas, and another one on 5th Avenue middle name “Aquiles” (October 21, 1907, Havana – November
and 48 Street in Miramar. Later projects in Cuba included the
th
25, 1962, Miami) studied architecture at the University of Ha-
Colegio Lafayette in the Reparto La Coronela (1957) and apart- vana, the date of his graduation remains unknown. He began
ment buildings in Marianao and Varadero (never built). María his professional career in partnership with Antonio Santana, as
Elena and her husband left Cuba in 1960 and settled in Atlanta, Capablanca y Santana Arquitectos, designing residential pro-
GA where they continued working on residential projects for jects. The firm split up in 1946 and Aquiles thereafter worked as
the next twenty years. In 1980, they settled in Key Biscayne, FL sole practitioner until the revolution. Additionally, he worked
in a house designed by María Elena where they continued to briefly at the Ministry of Public Works, and the Comisión Na-
design residential and commercial buildings throughout South cional de Viviendas (National Housing Authority) and served as
Florida. The Cabarrocas family firm continues to this day a consultant for the Colegio Médico Nacional (National College
through Elena’s younger brother, David Cabarrocas, his daugh- of Medicine). His buildings include the house of Jesús Azqueta
ter, Mari Tere Cabarrocas Trelles, and her husband Jorge Trelles, (with Santana, 1944–1945) in Varadero, the Tribunal de Cuentas
and Jorge’s younger brother Luis Trelles. (Office of the Comptroller, 1952–1954) in the Plaza Cívica, and
the Patronato Synagogue (1953) in the Vedado. The first two
Candela, Hilario projects received the Gold Medal from the College of Architects
Hilario Candela (1936, Havana) came to the United States to in 1946 and 1954, and additionally, in 1947 he received the Sil-
study architecture at the Georgia Institute of Technology, gradu- ver Medal at the VI Pan-American Congress of Architects in
ating in 1957. During the summers, Candela held internships in Lima for a residential building. In addition to professional prac-
Havana at the offices of modernist architect, Max Borges. Borg- tice, Aquiles served as the Vice President of the National Col-
es and his group were searching for a unique tropical contribu- lege of Architects and taught at the School of Architecture at
tion dramatically embodied in the outstanding concrete thin- the University of Havana from 1938 until 1958, attending four
shells of the famous Tropicana night club that created an impact Pan-American Congress of Architects meetings in Lima (1947),
on the young Candela. After engaging in post-graduate work, in Havana (1950), Mexico City (1952), and Caracas (1955). He trav-
1958, Candela returned to Havana and joined the largest archi- eled widely throughout Europe and Latin America, and his work
tectural and engineering design firm in Cuba, SACMAG. Candela was published in Peru, Mexico, and Brazil. More importantly, his
was exposed to the firm’s collaboration in significant commis- project for the Tribunal de Cuentas was included in the 1955
sions in Cuba, Puerto Rico, Mexico and Brazil with international MoMA exhibition and catalog titled Latin American Architecture
leaders like Mies van der Rohe, and Félix Candela. Once in Mi- since 1945. After the revolution he left Cuba with his wife Eu-
ami, Candela joined the highly reputable pioneering firm of Pan- genia “Celia” Calienes de Capablanca, and son Fernando, and
coast, Ferendino, Skeels & Burnham where he assumed early on settled in Miami where he died unexpectedly in 1962, never
the leading design position on the Miami Marine Stadium and having had a chance to resume his practice in the United
the Miami Dade College campuses. He became a senior partner States. He was, however, made a posthumous member of the
in 1968 and later the firm became known as Spillis, Candela, and board of the Patronato Synagogue in the Vedado, the only
Partners. Candela is a fellow of the American Institute of Archi- non-Jewish member to be awarded such a distinction. Aquiles
tects recognized for “his significant contributions to design over had five brothers and five sisters, including José Raúl Capablan-
an extended period of time.” The Miami Marine Stadium, one of ca, the only world chess champion from Latin America and still
the projects embodying Félix Candela’s philosophy, has been considered by many as one of the greatest chess players that
brought to the forefront of contemporary architecture by inter- ever lived. Another brother, Ramiro Capablanca, was Governor
320

of the Province of Santa Clara and one of the founders of the Consuegra, Hugo
Partido Autentico (the Cuban Revolutionary Party). Hugo Consuegra (October 26, 1929, Havana – January 24, 2003,
Rego Park, NY) was an architect and visual artist who studied
Cárdenas, Rafael de at the Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes San Alejandro in Havana
Rafael de Cárdenas Culmell (March 24, 1902, Havana – Febru- from 1943–1947 and at the School of Architecture at the Uni-
ary 11, 1957, Havana), also known as “Felo,” came from a dis- versity of Havana, graduating in 1955. He was a member of the
tinguished family of Spanish, Danish, and French ancestry. He progressive art group Los Once known for their promotion of
studied architecture at the University of Havana, graduating in North American abstract expressionism, as well as a member
1923, and then at Columbia University in New York where he of the Arquitectos Unidos (1953–1955), a collaborative group of
obtained a post-graduate degree in 1925. After two years work- architectural students led by Humberto Alonso, responsible for
ing in the Havana office of Morales & Company, he then worked among other projects, the College of Architects Office Building
briefly for the Frederick Snare Company (famous for designing in the Vedado (1953–1955), and the Instituto Edison in La Víbora
golf courses such as the Country Club in Havana) and then with (1954–1955). After the revolution, he was the Director of the
Eugenio Batista before going out on his own in 1927. In 1932, Department of Fine Arts in the Ministry of Public Works (1959–
he moved with his family to Los Angeles to avoid the precarious 1963), head of the Restoration of Public Monuments at the Na-
political and economic situation in Cuba, and enrolled in anoth- tional Council of Culture (1963–1965), and a professor of art
er post-graduate course at UCLA, subsequently passing the history at the School of Architecture at the University of Havana
architectural licensing exam for the state of California. In Los (1960–1965). He left Cuba in 1967, first settling in Spain, and
Angeles, he worked in the office of the celebrated interior de- then from 1970 until his death, he resided in New York City
signer Paul Frankl, and then in the atelier of Richard Neutra, where he practiced architecture with Welton Becket and Asso-
designing several modern houses. He returned to Havana in ciates (1970–1983) and then Brennan Beer Gorman. He has
1935 to resume his career as the head of the architecture divi- been exhibited widely and his work is in collections throughout
sion of the North American firm of Purdy and Henderson. Two the US and Latin America. Consuegra was awarded the Gold
years later, he became an associate of the Cuban architect Medal in the XX Salón de Bellas Artes (1948) at the Museo de
Adrián Macía, during which time he designed the three houses Bellas Artes in Havana, and the CINTAS Fellowship in the Visual
for Bernabé Sánchez Batista, and in 1941 he became the head Arts (1970–1971, 1973–1974).
of the architecture department of the engineering firm of Cris-
tóbal Díaz, designing the offices for the Cuban newspaper El Domínguez, Martín
País. In 1944, he resumed his private practice Rafael de Cárde- Martín Domínguez Esteban (December 26, 1897, San Sebastián,
nas, Arquitecto in Miramar with tremendous success designing Spain – September 13, 1970, New York City) completed his stud-
elaborate private residences, and commercial structures ies in architecture at the Madrid School of Architecture in 1925,
throughout the city, as well as the Reparto La Veneciana on a while living at the Residencia de Estudiantes, where he met a
beachfront property owned by his brother-in-law east of the variety of prominent intellectuals such as Salvador Dalí and
city. He received the Gold Medal from the College of Architects Federico García Lorca. Until his exile in 1936, Domínguez
for his design of the Kaffenburg residence in 1940 and had two worked closely with Carlos Arniches, completing a variety of
other houses awarded in the same year, the first time the com- projects, including the Hipódromo de la Zarzuela in Madrid in
petition was offered. Among his most recognized projects are 1934, and writing a weekly column on architecture in Madrid’s
the house of Hilda Sarrá in the Vedado, the house of Estanislao El Sol newspaper. During the twenty-three years Domínguez
del Valle in Miramar (presently the French ambassador’s resi- lived in Havana, he worked at three different architecture offic-
dence), the Centro Comercial de La Rampa also in the Vedado, es while he continued his weekly column writing in Havana’s
and the Clínica Miramar in conjunction with Víctor Diario de la Marina newspaper. From 1938 to 1943, Domínguez
Morales de Cárdenas. His design versatility enabled him to pro- worked at the office of Honorato Colete, where he completed
duce masterful works in a variety of design styles and approach- multiple residential projects, including the Gil Pla residence,
es including streamlined art-deco, neo-gothic, neo-colonial, and and the Teatro Favorito in Havana. From 1943 to 1952,
modern rationalism. Domínguez completed the Radiocentro Building in the Vedado
Biographies 321

(1947), the residence of Armando Enríquez (1947), the beach jourd’hui (France), 1960, and Informes de la Construcción, Insti-
house for President Grau in Varadero (1948), and the Sánchez tuto Eduardo Torrojas, (Spain), 1961. In 1961 he moved to Cin-
del Junco House (1950), while working at the offices of Emilio cinnati, OH with his architect wife, Otilia Yanes, and in 1964
del Junco and Miguel Gastón. The Radiocentro Building in par- passed the Ohio State Board in Architecture and the NCARB,
ticular was awarded a Gold Medal and diploma at the XVII obtaining licenses in Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, and Florida. In
Pan-American Conference of Architects held in Havana in 1950. 1967, Emilio formed SFA Architects, Inc. His son, E. Tomás
In his final eight years in Cuba, while working with Ernesto Fernández, also an architect, joined the company in 1990. Re-
Gómez-Sampera and Mercedes Díaz, Domínguez completed named the Elevar Design Group, it is now one of the largest
the FOCSA building, the tallest in the country with thirty-nine architecture, engineering, interior design, and site-planning
floors, in 1956. In September of 1960, Domínguez and his family firms in Cincinnati. At the age of ninety, Emilio goes to work
moved to Ithaca, NY, where he began teaching at Cornell Uni- every day at his downtown office and has no plans for
versity’s College of Architecture. He actively participated in the retirement.
college’s internal debates, namely about the disparity between
the emphasis on theory and practice within the curriculum. Galbis, Ricardo A.
Domínguez argued that the lack of attention to the importance Ricardo Galbis (July 17, 1916, Havana – December 27, 2004,
of practice, coupled with the university’s policy against archi- Lakeland, FL) graduated from the University of Havana School
tecture faculty working on projects for the campus, withheld of Architecture ca. 1942. He was hired by the multi-disciplinary
students from applying what they were taught in the classroom firm of Mira and Rosich in 1944 as an associate architect after
to real-world projects. Despite his emphasis on practice, Ricardo Mira, a principal, passed away. Miguel Rosich, a struc-
Domínguez was never able to return to practicing architecture tural engineer, and principal, Vicente Llarena, a mechanical en-
full-time in the United States. Apart from his teaching position, gineer, and Ricardo Galbis, the architect, made up the firm until
he participated in many academic related projects in Latin 1960. Among their renowned projects in Cuba were the Hotel
America throughout the 1960s, notably serving as a member of Internacional in Varadero (1950), the American Embassy in Ha-
Cornell’s Latin American Committee and as a consultant for the vana, as architects of record for Harrison & Abramovitz (1953),
joint Ford Foundation and Inter-American Development Bank and the Hotel Comodoro in Miramar (1955). After the revolu-
program and for the American Institute for the Development of tion, Ricardo moved to Washington D.C. and worked in various
Free Labor Development. Outside of academia, he worked with firms from 1960 to 1963. Then he worked in Santa Monica, CA
Professor Peter Cohen on the preliminary designs for public until 1972 when he moved to Lakeland, FL. After 1978, he main-
schools in Rochester, NY. The Lennox House, his final and only tained two residences, one in Lakeland, the other in Miami,
built project in the United States, was completed in 1970, short- where he worked for Calmaquip Engineering, designing pro-
ly before his death later that year in September. jects for overseas clients. After a year he started working at the
 Taimaisú Ferrer Sin Miami-Dade Solid Waste Disposal designing their ancillary facil-
ities. He remained there until his retirement in 1996. Through-
Fernández, Emilio out his life, he encouraged those who worked with him to strive
Emilio Fernández (March 1930, Luarca, Asturias, Spain) and his for excellence.
family emigrated to Cuba from Spain in 1935 due to their oppo-
sition to the dictator Francisco Franco. He graduated from the Gelabert, José and Rosa Navia
Colegio de Belén in 1948, and the School of Architecture at the José Alfredo Gelabert Marcelo (March 8, 1927, Sagua la Grande
University of Havana in 1955. He started his architectural prac- – November 5, 2017, Miami) received his architecture degree
tice in Havana in 1956 designing private homes, apartments, from the University of Havana in 1952. In May 1953, he married
and commercial buildings, producing his most important work, fellow architect and University of Havana classmate Rosa Navia
the hospital Liga Contra la Ceguera (Anti-Blindness League) in Castaño (June 10, 1929, Pinar del Rio – October 19, 2017, Mi-
1959. He was also in charge of public buildings at the Cuban ami). Together, they formed the firm Gelabert-Navia Arquitec-
Public Works Department from 1959 to the end of 1960 when tos, practicing in Cuba until 1960. Not unlike many young firms
he went into exile in the US. His work in Cuba was published in of those days, they designed and built most of their own pro-
international architecture publications and was featured in Arts jects, many of which were residential. Their own casa-taller
and Architecture (USA), in 1960 and 1961, L’Architecture d’au- (house and office) was a unique design that accommodated
322

their practice as well as three generations of their family. With also won in competition. The Miramar Yacht Club was also in-
the outset of the Cuban revolution, Gelabert became the Direc- cluded in Sigfried Giedion’s landmark book, A Decade of New
tor of Architecture, Urban Design and Construction of the City Architecture (1951). They also designed several residences in
of Havana in 1959 where he was responsible for directing a Havana and the beaches, but it was the government commis-
number of projects including: The Jose Martí Sports Complex sion for the Ministerio de Comunicaciones (Ministry of Commu-
facing the Malecón; the launching of the city’s expansion to the nication, 1952–1954), done in collaboration with Gastón &
other side of the harbor which came to be known as La Habana Domínguez in the Plaza Cívica that set them on a new trajecto-
del Este; the Parque Camilo Cienfuegos, as well as a number of ry. Working also with the Cuban engineer, Bartolomé Bestard,
schools, hospitals, and childcare centers across the island. As they began to explore more unconventional structures, such as
a firm, Gelabert and Navia were responsible for the design of the thirty-nine-story high-rise tower, the Edificio FOCSA (with
many residential projects as well as two major civic realiza- Domínguez as well, 1954–1956) in the Vedado, the Edificio el
tions: The Instituto Cultural Cubano-Norteamericano (1958), Pontón (1959) and the fifty-story Edificio Libertad (1959) both of
designed for Herminio Portell Vilá, and the Ministry of Transpor- which were never built. In 1955, Ernesto and Mercedes sepa-
tation (1969–1961). In 1960, both disenchanted with the direc- rated, and after they divorced, Mercedes moved to Cambridge,
tion which the revolution had taken (though not with the ideals MA, to study urban planning with José Luis Sert at Harvard. She
of the revolution itself) they began to work against the increas- also worked in Sert’s office briefly but returned to Cuba after
ingly communist regime which led to a warrant for their arrest. one year, leaving her studies unfinished. Eventually, Ernesto
In 1961 they fled to Puerto Rico where they renewed their prac- and Mercedes reconciled and left Cuba for Puerto Rico in 1960.
tice, completing over a hundred built projects in the following There, Mercedes was able to secure employment in the Depart-
seventeen years. They were responsible for many projects in- ment of Housing, and Ernesto worked for the architectural divi-
cluding residential, offices, schools, and urban designs. In 1978 sion of the Autoridad de Edificios Públicos (Public Building Au-
they moved again, this time to Venezuela, where their work thority). Mercedes obtained her professional license in 1970
focused primarily on a large-scale, low-income Llano Alto com- and began working for Esteban Padilla on the Palmas del Mar
munity built in the desert state of Apure, bordering with Brazil tourist development. Ernesto acquired his license in 1973 and
and Colombia. In 1981 they moved one final time to Miami, re-established himself in private practice working on residen-
where Gelabert y Navia continued a life-long career committed tial and commercial developments in Puerto Rico, the Virgin
to the practice of architecture. Both would practice well into Islands, and Venezuela. Together with their architect daughter,
their eighties, never losing the enthusiasm and curiosity in the Marisa Gómez, they worked on the design of Las Villas de Pal-
field which had formed their life’s work. mas (2003) for the Palmas del Mar development. The firm con-
 José Gelabert-Navia tinues to this day under the direction of their daughter, Marisa,
and her husband Francisco Jayo.
Gómez-Sampera, Ernesto and Mercedes Díaz
Ernesto Gómez-Sampera (October 11, 1922 – January 19, 2004, González, Sergio
San Juan, Puerto Rico) and Mercedes Díaz (July 8, 1920) formed Sergio Antonio González y Alonso (December 31, 1930, Cande-
a formidable partnership working on some of the most impor- laria, Pinar del Río) was the nephew of the architect Humberto
tant modernist buildings in Havana. The two married in July Alonso (his mother Matilde was Humberto’s older sister),
1946 after Ernesto completed his architectural studies at the though their difference in age was much closer than the rela-
University of Havana (he graduated formally in 1947). He then tionship suggests. Sergio graduated from the School of Archi-
worked for the firm of Junco, Gastón and Domínguez until 1948. tecture at the University of Havana in 1956, having worked for
Mercedes also worked briefly with Junco, Gastón and the Arquitectos Unidos during his time in school on projects
Domínguez on the Radiocentro Building from 1950–1951. The such as the College of Architects Office Building in the Vedado
two also formed the architectural firm of Gómez-Sampera-Díaz (1953–1955) and the Instituto Edison in La Víbora (1954–1955).
in 1947 and worked under that name until 1952. The firm’s early As a student, he attended the VIII Pan-American Congress of
projects included the Villanueva University masterplan, the Architects in Mexico City in 1952 with Professor Manuel de
Miramar Yacht Club (with Alberto Beale, 1947–1950), which Tapia-Ruano and several members of the Arquitectos Unidos
they were awarded having received first place in the design and had a project for the design of a living room in the manner
competition, and the pension fund of the Barbers’ Union (1952), of Mies van der Rohe published in the school’s journal, Espacio.
Biographies 323

After graduation, Sergio also worked for the Ministry of Public Alturas de la Coronela neighborhood in 1959. Henry W. Griffin
Works, which at the time was under the leadership of Alberto was also an early proponent of viviendas económicas, produc-
Beale, as the head of the Department of Hospitals where Carlos ing several designs in the late 1950s. In addition to his residen-
Artaud was also employed. As the Arquitectos Unidos dis- tial work, Griffin also produced designs for the Havana Yacht
solved after the revolution, Sergio, along with Hugo Consuegra Club, and the Rancho Boyeros International Airport. After the
and Manuel Mesa, formed Consuegra-González-Mesa to work revolution, Henry and Bebita fled Cuba under the guise of a
on a high-rise, mixed-use building with labor union offices, a vacation to go seek asylum in Europe and obtain visas for the
school, and several rental floors that regrettably was never rest of the family. While working in London, his talents were
built. He left Cuba in November of 1961 on the same flight as noticed by the American businessman and philanthropist Her-
Carlos Artaud and his family and settled in New York to practice man Sarkowsky, who hired him to work as an architect in his
professionally in January of 1962. After working briefly for company United Homes Corporation. Reunited with his family,
Chapman Evans & Delehanty (1963–1964), he joined Welton he settled in Tacoma, WA and was promoted to vice president
Becket and Associates in New York where he remained until in 1967. Henry became an accomplished, well-known architect
1984. There, he worked on such projects as the Veterans Ad- and real estate developer in the greater Puget Sound region.
ministration Hospital in Northport, Long Island, the interiors of
the Exxon Corporation offices in Manhattan (1969–1970), the Gutiérrez, Enrique
Moscow World Trade Center (1974), One Tampa City Center, and Enrique “Henry” Gutiérrez (May 20, 1931, Havana – June 6,
the Regency Hyatt Hotel (now Hilton), also in Tampa, both from 2017, Miami) became the legendary architect of the Bacardi
the late 1970s. He had a brief stint in Miami in 1973 working Corporation. He graduated from the School of Architecture at
with Pelayo Fraga on the One Biscayne Tower (with Henry the University of Havana in 1956, during which time he was also
Gutiérrez and Humberto Alonso) and the Bank of Miami Tower. an influential figure in the Arquitectos Unidos group. His mother
In 1984, he joined Brennan Beer Gorman Architects alongside was the headmistress and owner of the Edison Institute, a
Hugo Consuegra, the two eventually becoming partners in the large, non-denominational school in Havana which was en-
firm. Among the projects he directed in the 1990s were the larged by the Arquitectos Unidos in 1954. He joined his cousin
high-rise tower at 420 5 Avenue in Manhattan, and the Secau-
th
Raúl Álvarez to form Álvarez and Gutiérrez Architects in 1956.
cus Transfer Station in New Jersey. He retired from practice on They were quickly awarded the Gold Medal from the College of
December 31, 1997. Architects in 1958 for the Alfred de Schulthess residence in the
Country Club, a project which they completed as architects of
Griffin, Henry W. record for the Austrian-American architect, Richard Neutra. Ál-
Henry William Griffin y Castillo (September 16, 1929, Havana – varez and Gutiérrez then received first prize for the Antonetti
November 19, 2017, Tacoma, WA) was the son of Clayton Odus Hospital competition, a project that was completed in 1958 and
Griffin an American from Ochlochlee (Thomasville County, GA), received the Gold Medal from the College of Architects in 1960.
who married a Cuban woman, Maria de Los Angeles Juana Cas- Álvarez and Gutiérrez merged with the engineering firm of
tillo y Jordan from Matanzas. Henry was ten years old when his Sáenz, Cancio, and Martín to form SACMAG in 1958. The firm
father died, and his mother relocated to the Víbora neighbor- served as the construction architects on the building that Mies
hood of Havana. Henry graduated from the University of Ha- van der Rohe had designed in 1957 for the Bacardi Corporation
vana with a master’s degree in architecture and urban planning in Santiago de Cuba. After the revolution, Gutiérrez re-estab-
in 1954, having collaborated with Aquiles Capablanca on the lished SACMAG in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Among their most
Patronato Synagogue in the Vedado as a student. In 1955 he celebrated projects was the 1963 Bacardi Tower in Miami which
married María “Bebita” de la Caridad del Monte y Herrera, and ultimately led him to open a private office there in 1970. He
established his own architectural firm, becoming a successful designed the One Biscayne building in downtown Miami in col-
residential architect in Havana. At some point he met the Cu- laboration with Humberto Alonso and Pelayo Fraga (1969–
ban artist, Domingo Ravenet, while working on the house of his 1972). Between his offices in San Juan and Miami, under the
sister in law, Elba Ramírez Corría. The two would collaborate on firm name E.H.G. Enterprises, he designed numerous condo-
the Monument to the Vegueros (field workers) and Tabaqueros miniums, hotels, hospitals, marinas, malls, and industrial parks,
(tobacconists) in Santiago de las Vegas (Havana) in 1958, and including the El Caribe Building, and the Laguna Gardens apart-
Griffin would design the house of Domingo Ravenet in the ment complex in the Carolina district of San Juan.
324

Gutiérrez, Manuel Emilio left Cuba in 1948 for Stockholm, Sweden where he resid-
Manuel R. Gutiérrez Balmaseda (1925, Artemisa, Pinar del Rio ed in an apartment that was featured in Arquitectura in 1951,
– 2006, Miami) graduated from the School of Architecture at the as an affordable example of the marriage between Scandinavi-
University of Havana in 1948. A few years later he started work- an and Cuban design. He then spent several years in Ontario
ing on many projects influenced by the rationalist movement of before returning to Cuba in 1956. Upon returning, he built his
the time. He was one of the main protagonists of the urban house in the Alturas de la Coronela neighborhood (1957) as a
landscape of Havana in the 1950s, and an advocate of the tra- regional modernist exercise that respected aspects of tradi-
ditional values of Cuban architecture. Among his many works, tional Cuban architecture. He left Cuba in 1960 and settled in
the ones that stand out are the Ingelmo residence in Nuevo Toronto where he briefly practiced and taught at the University
Vedado (1954) and the Electrical and Mechanical Workshops for of Toronto. He was a regular contributor to the journal
the School of Engineering at the Santo Tomás de Villanueva Arquitectura.
University in Miramar (1959), both awarded by the Florida chap-
ter of the American Institute of Architects in the “Test of the Martínez Justiz, Francisco
Times” category in 2004 and 2005 respectively. Other important Francisco “Frank” Martínez Justiz studied architecture at the
works in Cuba included the house of Petra Verdera in Nuevo School of Architecture of the University of Havana where he
Vedado (1955), the apartment building of Gabriel García in the graduated in the same class as Nicolás Quintana, in 1951, and
Víbora (1955), his own house in Jaimanitas (1956), and the participated in the famous “burning of Vignola.” Soon after
house of John Fernández in the Reparto Biltmore (1957), a work graduation, Frank collaborated with his classmate on residen-
that also reveals his profound respect for Frank Lloyd Wright. tial projects in Havana, establishing a brief partnership before
He was a design professor at the University of Havana (1951– Nicolás devoted himself to continuing his late father’s practice.
1952) and later at Villanueva University (1953–1959). Gutiérrez Among Frank’s most important works in Cuba are the house for
exiled to Puerto Rico in 1961 where he developed several ur- Emma Justiniani (1954), the house of Stanley Wax (1959), and
ban projects with over 1,000 residences. His work was recog- the project for the Aquarium in Sibarimar, Guanabo (1959). This
nized with many awards such as the Federal Housing Adminis- last project despite not being built, embodies the organic forms
tration Award for his Floral Park townhouses, built by Monterrey that would shape and become characteristic of modern Cuban
Homes, in Hato Rey, Puerto Rico (1964), the Good Housekeep- architecture. Other notable works include the Indalecio Pertier-
ing Award for the Arboleda residential development in Guayna- ra building—otherwise known as the House of the eight sib-
bo, Puerto Rico (1964), and the Home Builders Association lings—in Miramar (1952), the apartment building for the
Award for the same project in 1966. In 1977 he moved to Miami Farfante sisters (1955), and the house of Ofelia Viamontes in
where, despite spending many years in a wheelchair, he wrote the Reparto Biltmore (1957). Martínez left Cuba after the revo-
a book on the urbanism of Havana and remained professionally lution, to settle in Boston in 1960, where he worked with Walter
active working at the office of Gutiérrez Architects which he Gropius – whom he had met on one of his visits to Cuba – as
founded with his children, who still maintain the practice part of The Architects Collaborative group (TAC) in the project
today. for the campus of the University of Baghdad. He later moved to
Miami in the 1970s where he focused primarily on residential
Junco, Emilio del work throughout the city. He left the United States to establish
Emilio del Junco (1915, Havana – 1974, Toronto) graduated from his residence in Peru, South America in the mid-1990s.
the School of Architecture at the University of Havana in 1942.
He went into practice with Miguel Gastón and Martín Mederos, Lilliam
Domínguez, a partnership that would exert a tremendous influ- Sara María Lilliam Mederos y Cabañas (December 11, 1899, Ha-
ence on the emerging modernism in Cuba. Among the notable vana) was among the most important women architects of the
projects built by the partnership are the Radiocentro Building in Republican era. Lilliam graduated from the School of Architec-
the Vedado (1947), the residence of Armando Enríquez (1947), ture at the University of Havana in 1941, producing a thesis
the beach house for President Grau in Varadero (1948), and the design for a sporting and social club in the Bay of Cabañas.
Sánchez del Junco House (1950). The Radiocentro Building in Shortly thereafter, she designed, in collaboration with the archi-
particular was awarded a Gold Medal and diploma at the XVII tect Ricardo Morales, the new Lyceum and Lawn Tennis Club
Pan-American Conference of Architects held in Havana in 1950. building on Calzada and 8th Street in the Vedado. Lilliam was a
Biographies 325

founding member of the institution, attending the inaugural mate. Cuba’s colonial heritage would need to merge with the
gathering of fourteen women at Berta Arocena’s house, late in vanguard ideas of the modern movement. Víctor Morales stud-
her pregnancy. At one point, she shouted, “has the Lyceum ied architecture at Columbia University—like his father and
been founded yet? If so, please let me go and have my child.” uncle – graduating in 1930. He joined the firm immediately after
She was also a contributing editor to the institution’s journal, graduation and became a professor of architecture at the Uni-
the Revista Lyceum. In 1950, Lilliam designed one of her signa- versity of Havana from 1934–1959. In 1944, Víctor and his uncle
ture residences in collaboration with another cousin, the archi- Leonardo established the Premio Morales y Compañía (Morales
tect César Mederos Menocal, on 5th Avenue in the Reparto & Company Prize), an annual competition to stimulate architec-
Biltmore, and in 1954 she designed the house of the writer and ture students to produce increasingly better designs. He was a
critic, Jorge Mañach, in the Country Club neighborhood. Her prolific architect, and his uncle’s advice on modern architec-
younger sister was Elena Mederos (1900–1981), a political ac- ture was clearly expressed in one of his earliest commissions,
tivist and feminist who also served on the board of the Lyceum the church of Santa Rita in Miramar, a striking space made of
and Lawn Tennis Club. vaulted parabolic arches supporting a wooden ceiling. His
School of Philosophy and Letters at the University of Havana
Merlo Vega, Myrtha shows a greater sense of geometric abstraction that would de-
Myrtha Merlo Vega (Havana) received a degree in architecture fine his later work. Among his other notable works are the 1932
from the University of Havana in 1957, and a master’s degree in reconstruction of the Iglesia del Santo Cristo del Buen Viaje (ca.
landscape architecture from the University of Michigan in 1965. 1755) and the design of Pedroso Bank (1952–1954), both in Old
In Cuba, she worked in the office of Arroyo and Menéndez, and Havana, the School of Philosophy and Letters at the University
then with Mario Romañach in the Havana City Planning Com- of Havana (1952), the Clínica Miramar in collaboration with Ra-
mission. She started her private practice in 1957, designing fael de Cárdenas (1952–1954), and the Hospital Nuestra Señora
furniture for private clients and supervising several exhibitions de las Mercedes (1958) in the Vedado. In 1943, he received the
including the Operación Industria Cubana, the Cuban Pavilion Gold Medal from the College of Architects for the design of the
at the Third New York World Trade Fair, and the Acción Ferrocar- Víctor Pedroso residence on 5th Avenue in Miramar, and be-
ril. She was also the designer of public schools at the Cuban tween 1954 and 1956 he was the President of the Provincial
Public Works Department, and the designer and construction College of Architects in Havana. After the firm closed in 1960,
supervisor of the Cuban Tourist Commission Office, in Havana. Víctor Morales worked independently for the Colegio Seminario
She left Cuba to come to Miami in 1961, and worked at Lapidus, de San Carlos (just behind the cathedral), private work for
Harle and Liebman, and then Pancoast, Ferendino, Skeels & which he was later imprisoned in 1970 for several years. He left
Burnham. After graduating from the University of Michigan, she Cuba permanently in 1975 and settled in Barcelona where his
worked in Montreal for Project Planning Associates, on the eldest son, Víctor Francisco Morales y Mendizábal, had opened
Expo 67 World Exhibition. From 1977 to 1999 she practiced in- a practice. His nephew, Juan Luis Morales, moved to Paris to
terior design in Atlanta, with Stevens & Wilkinson, Carlsten & work for Ricardo Porro and now continues the firm under the
Associates, and Perkins & Will, designing commercial office name Atelier Morales.
spaces and hospital interiors, including Emory University, and
the Crawford Long Hospital. Since 1999 Myrtha has been a full- Nepomechie, Nujim
time artist, though she continues to practice architecture with Nujim Nepomechie (August 3, 1927, Ukraine, in the former
projects for family and friends. USSR) moved with his family to Cuba in 1929, at the age of two.
Nepomechie graduated from the School of Architecture at the
Morales, Víctor University of Havana in 1950, completing, as part of a team of
Víctor Morales y Cárdenas (March 21, 1908, Havana – 1985, Bar- nine, a master’s thesis proposal for the design of the Calixto
celona) came from perhaps the most important family of Cu- Garcia Hospital Universitario, a teaching hospital for the Univer-
ban architects and engineers. His uncle Leonardo Morales Pe- sity of Havana. Having worked in the offices of Agustin Sorhegui
droso was the founder of Morales & Company in 1902, and his and Enrique Gutiérrez as a student, Nepomechie partnered
father Luis, an engineer, also worked in the firm. Leonardo had with University of Havana classmate Eduardo Cañas-Abril in
previously promoted modern architecture in Cuba but felt that 1950–1951 to found Cañas-Abril y Nepomechie Arquitectos,
it needed to adapt to the regional aspects of the island’s cli- one of the rising young firms making a mark on the modern
326

architecture of mid-twentieth-century Cuba. Between 1951 and ried in July of 1945. They moved to Santiago de Cuba where
1959, when the office permanently closed its doors, Cañas- they both worked for the Ministry of Public Works before set-
Abril y Nepomechie completed nearly fifty projects, including a ting up their own practice, Ermina Odoardo—Ricardo Eguilior,
number of significant works across the island. Among them Arquitectos, in 1945. Initially, they focused on private residenc-
were civic, educational, hospitality and residential commis- es, though very quickly the practice began to take on civic and
sions, including the Edificio Rectorado, Universidad de Oriente commercial work around Santiago de Cuba, culminating in the
in Santiago de Cuba (1954–1956); the Club de Playa, Circulo de celebrated Bacardi distillery addition around the famous Coco
Contadores Publicos, in Santa Maria del Mar (1955–1956); the tree in the early 1950s. After the revolution they settled in Mi-
Hotel–Motel Jagua in Punta Gorda, Cienfuegos (1957–1958); ami and continued to work for Bacardi, designing the well-
and the Hotel–Motel Ciudamar (published project 1958–1959). known Bacardi International Limited Administration Building in
The most renowned of the firm’s residences was designed Hamilton, Bermuda (1972). They continued to produce work in
and constructed in Miramar for Eduardo Leal Pozo (1957). The Canada, Venezuela, the Caribbean, Europe, and the United
two-story reinforced concrete structure contrasted an austere States. Ermina Odoardo dedicated her retirement years to
rectilinear street façade, punctuated by a vaulted thin-shell painting portraits in oils and pastels and to teaching art. She
porte-cochère, with a lyrical terraced patio and garden. A ce- was a member of the Professional Artists’ League and the Pas-
ramic outdoor mural by Mario Carreño, patterned terrazzo tel Society, and her work has been exhibited in several local
floors, and an interior fresco by Amelia Peláez were incorporat- galleries in Miami Beach and Coral Gables.
ed into the architecture of the residence. Approximately
three-dozen single and multi-family residential and commercial Porro, Ricardo
infill projects, designed and constructed at a range of budgets Ricardo Porro Hidalgo (November 3, 1925, Camagüey, Cuba –
in and outside of Havana, round out the distinctly tropical mod- December 25, 2014, Paris) graduated from the School of Archi-
ernist oeuvre of Cañas-Abril y Nepomechie Arquitectos in tecture at the University of Havana in 1949, having participated
Cuba. Nepomechie served as Director of Planning for the cities in the famous “burning of Vignola.” After graduation, he trave-
of Havana and Holguin, and later as Director of Infrastructure led to Paris to pursue his graduate studies at the Sorbonne,
and Public Works in Havana, before resigning his post and leav- where he was introduced to the work of the Cuban artist Wifre-
ing the country. From 1963 to 1965 he worked with Yitzhak do Lam, a figure who would influence him throughout his life.
Pearlstein Architects in Tel Aviv, Israel, before joining the firm of He returned to Cuba where he began to take on several resi-
Whiteside, Moeckel and Carbonell Architects, in Wilmington, dential commissions in Havana, including the house for Cristina
Delaware. There, until 1972, he designed and managed the con- Abad (1954), and the house for Timothy James Ennis (1957),
struction of several high-profile educational commissions. In- both in the Nuevo Vedado. However, in 1957 he was forced into
terested in resuming self-employment, Nepomechie gained exile for his revolutionary activities and moved to Venezuela
U.S. licensure and founded a design-build practice in Miami. The where he worked as a professor at the University of Caracas
works of his eponymous firm—erected on sites throughout Mi- until 1960 alongside the Venezuelan architect and theorist Car-
ami-Dade County—included the creation of new residential los Raúl Villanueva. He returned to Cuba following the events of
building typologies, as well as the design of numerous single the revolution and was immediately commissioned by Castro
and multi-family residential projects. Nepomechie designed to carry out the exemplary project for the National Art Schools
and constructed his family home and office in Coconut Grove, on the grounds of the private Country Club. He invited two Ital-
Florida. He retired from active practice in 1998. ian architects, Vittorio Garatti and Roberto Gottardi, both of
 Marilys R. Nepomechie whom he had met during his exile in Venezuela, to collaborate
with him on the project. His design for the school (partly com-
Odoardo, Ermina and Ricardo Eguilior pleted) is to this day his most representative and organic work
Ermina Odoardo Jahkel (June 8, 1923, Buenos Aires – April 27, of architecture. Nevertheless, he was frustrated with the pro-
2018, Miami) studied painting at the Academia de San Alejan- cess and accused of being too individualistic, and so he left
dro in Havana (1936–1940) before enrolling in the School of Cuba in 1966 for Paris, to assume various teaching positions on
Architecture at the University of Havana in 1941. There she met the history of art and architecture in Paris, Lille, and Strasbourg.
fellow classmate Ricardo Eguilior Perea (4 November 1919, He continued working as an architect, designer, and educator
Santiago de Cuba – 1 September 2009, Miami) whom she mar- while combining his passion for painting and sculpture until his
Biographies 327

death at the age of eighty-nine. Porro was a member of the Cuba and her subsequent relationship with the Cuban Revolu-
French Order of Architects and also received the titles of Chev- tion, for which she was rejected by many of her peers. Given
alier des Arts et des Lettres, Chevalier of the Légion d’Honneur this situation, she decided to dedicate herself to education,
and Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres for his work as an proposing the idea of industrial design schools like the one she
architect, artist and planner. had helped to establish in Cuba to various higher education
institutions. In 1969, Porset began to teach a seminar course at
Porset, Clara the newly established industrial design department within the
Clara Porset (May 25, 1895, Matanzas – May 17, 1981, Mexico National School of Architecture at the Universidad Nacional
City) graduated from Columbia University in 1925. In 1928, Por- Autónoma de México (UNAM). She continued to teach this
set continued her studies in Paris, where she enrolled in cours- course until a few years before her death in 1981.
es at the École des Beaux Arts, the Louvre, and the Sorbonne  Taimaisú Ferrer Sin
while also working on architecture and furniture design with
Henri Rapin. In 1933, after having established a successful pro- Pujals, Elena and Alicia
fessional career in Cuba, Porset decided to continue her edu- Elena Victoria Pujals y Mederos (1913–1971), and her sister Ali-
cation at Black Mountain College in North Carolina under the cia Romelia María Pujals y Mederos (1921–2008), came from a
instruction of Bauhaus professor Josef Albers. In 1935, upon distinguished family of architects and builders, their father and
participating in the general strike and becoming an active mili- uncle ran a civil engineering and construction firm in Miramar
tant in the resistance movement, Porset lost many of her pro- called Constructora Pujals S.A. Elena first studied architecture
fessional opportunities in Cuba and was forced to become a at the University of Pennsylvania from 1937–1940 graduating as
political refugee in New York. She moved to Mexico in 1936, a Bachelor of Architecture and having received the Althea Kratz
where she taught industrial design at the Universidad Nacional Prize in Charcoal from the School of Fine Arts in 1938 and be-
Autónoma de México (UNAM). Before reigniting her career as coming a member of the Tau Sigma Delta Honorary Society in
an industrial designer in 1940, Porset cultivated a vast knowl- Architecture and the Allied Arts in 1939, the first woman stu-
edge of Mexican culture through travel and networking with dent at the University of Pennsylvania elected to the society.
local intellectuals. Her continued relationships with Bauhaus Returning to Cuba, she enrolled in the School of Architecture at
artists allowed her to stay connected to the development of the University of Havana, completing her degree in 1941. In
modern design. These opposing influences led to the develop- 1944, Elena became a professor of architecture at the universi-
ment of her widely popular butaques (small armchairs), among ty, holding that post until she resigned in 1960, becoming the
other works, which upon catching the interest of many of the sole woman to have taught at the School of Architecture in the
best architects of the time, established her as one of the most Republican era. Alicia graduated from the School of Architec-
influential artists in the development of contemporary Mexican ture at the University of Havana in 1946. The two sisters worked
furniture design. professionally as architects within the family firm designing
Porset returned to Cuba in 1959 after the Cuban Revolu- several projects throughout the city, including the American
tion. In line with the goal of reconstructing the education sys- National Life Insurance Company building in Central Havana,
tem, Fidel Castro personally commissioned her to design and apartment buildings in Miramar and the Vedado, and several
build the furniture for many institutions such as the Ciudad residences such as the family residence on 5th Avenue in Mira-
Escolar Camilo Cienfuegos (today known as the University of mar. The family left Cuba in 1960 and moved to central Florida
Matanzas Camilo Cienfuegos), the University of Havana, and where they continued to practice architecture, though not as
the National Art Schools. With the direct approval of Ernesto registered architects. The two sisters were unfairly denied ar-
“Che” Guevara, Porset helped to establish Cuba’s first design chitectural registration by the Florida State Board of Architec-
school as its first director, drawing on her international contacts ture without taking further oral and written examinations
and professional experience. However, she was only able to whereas several of their male colleagues were granted regis-
hold the position for a short period of time, as it was given to tration outright. Alicia’s husband Raul, for instance, succeeded
Iván Espín, Raul Castro’s brother-in-law, shortly after the estab- in getting registered as a professional engineer. The two sisters
lishment of the school. Disillusioned, Porset returned to Mexico refused to take further examinations and as a result, Elena
in 1963. She struggled to re-establish herself within her field in turned to the field of education, receiving a degree in education
Mexico as a result of her closing her office before leaving for from Florida Atlantic University. She would teach drafting,
328

mathematics and Spanish at various institutions. Alicia found of the National Planning Board in 1955, where he focused on
satisfying architectural work with Miller Florida Homes, Inc., a the urban and regional plans for the cities of Varadero and Trin-
prominent developer in the state of Florida. idad. Quintana also served as Cuba’s representative at the In-
ternational Congress of Modern Architecture (CIAM) from
Quintana, Antonio 1952–1960. Quintana left Cuba in 1960 for Venezuela, later
Antonio Quintana Simonetti (April 18, 1919 – September 22, moving to Puerto Rico, where he worked on the development
1993, Havana) graduated from the School of Architecture at the of a series of prefabricated systems to be applied for both high-
University of Havana in 1944. As a student he worked in the rise and worker’s residential projects. He moved to Miami in
offices of Morales and Castroverde (1940–1941), and Morales & 1987 where he devoted himself mostly to education. He was an
Company 1942–1943, and participated in the “burning of Vigno- adjunct professor at the University of Miami, and then a full-
la” ceremony. After graduating from school, he worked briefly time professor at the School of Architecture at Florida Interna-
for the firm of Junco, Gastón and Domínguez, before setting out tional University, a position he held until his retirement in 2010.
on his own in conjunction with Albert Beale. The firm was re- His built work outside of Cuba includes the Roberto Clemente
named Beale, Quintana & Rubio in 1948, and in 1952 changed Stadium in San Juan, Puerto Rico (1963), and the Ashford Ter-
to Quintana, Rubio and Pérez-Beato. Among his most important races Condominium, also in San Juan (1974).
works during this period are the entrance to the zoological park
(1949) in the Nuevo Vedado, and the two high-rise, mixed-use Romañach, Mario
towers of the Retiro Odontológico (1953) and Seguro Médico Mario Romañach Paniagua (1917, Havana – March 8, 1984, Phil-
(1956–1958), both in the Vedado. The Retiro Odontológico build- adelphia, PA) graduated from the School of Architecture at the
ing won the Gold Medal from the College of Architects in 1956. University of Havana, having participated in the “burning of Vi-
After the revolution, Quintana retired from professional prac- gnola” ceremony. In 1944 he worked with Pedro Martínez Inclán
tice and became a professor of architecture. He also took over and Antonio Quintana in the Luyanó housing estate, south of
project management at the Ministry of Construction (MICONS) the Havana Bay. He established his private practice in collabo-
from 1961–1969. During this time, he designed in collaboration ration with the architect Silverio Bosch. Together, they pro-
with Alberto Rodríguez, the brutalist 1967 Multi-family Experi- duced several award-winning projects in residential designs,
mental Building, or Edificio Girón, consisting of two seven- including the house of Julia Cueto de Noval in the Country Club
teen-story residential towers rising above concrete pilotis and neighborhood (1948), earning a Gold Medal from the College of
floating over an exterior plaza lobby. In 1969, he worked in Viet- Architects, the house for José Noval Cueto (1949), the house of
nam where he designed the Hotel Tan-Loi, and in the 1970s he Evangelina Aristigueta de Vidaña (1953), which also received a
designed several buildings in the Province of Oriente, including Gold Medal, and the houses of Ana Carolina Font (1956), and
the House of the Cosmonauts in 1975. His last major project Rufino Alvarez (1957), both in the Reparto Biltmore neighbor-
was the Palacio de las Convenciones, in Cubanacán (1979). hood of Havana. He was responsible for several important
Quintana was a rare example of an architect who remained in housing projects, including the apartment building of Josefina
Cuba after the revolution and was still able to become ex- Odoardo (1953), the apartment building of Evangelina Aristigue-
tremely successful in architectural practice. ta de Vidaña (1956), and the apartment building of the Goods
and Bonds Investment Co. (1956–1958). His design of the shoe
Quintana, Nicolás store, Peletería California (1951), is his only recognized com-
Nicolás Quintana (1925, Havana – 2011, Miami) graduated as an mercial structure in Havana. Perhaps more important than his
architect with Honors from the University of Havana in 1951, architectural practice was his participation in the Plan Piloto for
having participated in the famous “burning of Vignola.”After the National Planning Board in 1956 with José Luis Sert, Paul
graduation, he worked briefly with Frank Martínez before be- Lester Weiner, Nicolás Arroyo, and Paul Schulz. Romañach left
coming an associate at the firm of Moenck and Quintana, Cuba in 1959, after which he kept combining both his profes-
named after his father who had passed away one year before. sional and academic pursuits; he was a visiting critic at Harvard
During the early years of his career, Nicolás developed a series (1959), an associate professor at Cornell (1960–1962), and after
of residential and commercial projects such as the Alicia Blan- 1963, a full professor at the Graduate School of Fine Arts at the
co House in Capdevila (1953), and the Hotel Club Kawama in University of Pennsylvania and Chair of the Department of Ar-
Varadero (1954), that culminated in his appointment as Director chitecture from 1971–1974. He also worked as a designer in
Biographies 329

New York for the firm of Kelly & Gruzen, with whom he devel- (1963–1964) and an early member of the board of the CINTAS
oped the Spanish and American Express pavilions for the 1964 Foundation whose mission it is to support Cuban artists, archi-
World Fair, as well as the Chatham Towers in Manhattan. After tects, musicians and writers.
Kelly & Gruzen, Romañach went into partnership with G. Holmes
Perkins in Philadelphia, with whom he developed the Penn Tapia-Ruano, Osvaldo de
super­blocks at the University of Pennsylvania. In 1975, he estab­­ Osvaldo de Tapia-Ruano (August 5, 1930, Havana – December
lished the Romañach Partnership with his daughter María who 24, 2014, Madrid) came from a family of reputable architects
still runs the practice today. and artists. His father was Manuel de Tapia-Ruano, an architect
and professor of architecture at the University of Havana, and
Serra Badué, Daniel his cousin, Juan de Tapia-Ruano, was a successful vanguardia
Daniel Francisco Serra Badué (September 8, 1914, Santiago de artist. Osvaldo graduated from the School of Architecture at the
Cuba – July 15, 1996, New York) was the youngest student to University of Havana in 1954, and began working with his father
enroll at the Art Students League in New York, where he studied on projects such as the Eusebio Viera mixed-use commercial
drawing from 1927–1929. He continued his artistic training in building and apartments on Neptuno Street in Central Havana
Santiago and Barcelona, where he even spent two years stud- (1954), and the house for Felia Fuente de Ibañez in Playa Santa
ying law. He returned to New York from 1938–1939 to study at María del Mar (1956). Between the time of his graduation in
the Art Students League, the National Academy of Design, and Cuba and his exile to Spain in 1966, he was a member of the
Columbia University where he took courses in the history of art. highly influential group Arquitectos Unidos. Additionally, he
From 1939–1941 he studied architecture at the University of worked on the plan for Varadero and Trinidad, while acting as
Havana before he completed his artistic training at the Aca- Technical Director of Industrial Works for the Plan de Viviendas.
demia de San Alejandro, also in Havana, in 1943. A surrealist He also worked as a design architect in Havana for the Instituto
whose work often focuses on the architecture and landscapes Nacional de Proyectos (1964–1966). After the assassination of
of Cuba, Serra Badué has been exhibited widely and his work his brother Alberto by the Castro government on April 18, 1961,
is in collections throughout Europe, the United States, and Latin the family determined they could no longer remain on the is-
America. He was a regular contributor to the Cuban architec- land, eventually settling in Spain in 1966. There, he completed
tural journal, Arquitectura, producing cover images from 1943– his studies in architecture with a specialization in urbanism at
1947. In 1928 he was awarded the First Prize/Gold Medal at the the University of Barcelona (1967), obtaining his Ph.D. at the
16th Wanamaker Annual Drawing Competition, New York, and Universidad Complutense of Madrid in 1972. He was a licensed
ten years later in 1938, he was the first Cuban American winner member of the Institute of Architects both in Cuba and in Spain,
of a Guggenheim fellowship. In 1939, he won the Prix de Rome where he developed most of his professional career. He contin-
but was unable to fulfill it because of the outbreak of World War ued his professional practice in Spain with projects ranging
II. He once wrote that his art was always connected to his from high-rise buildings, to commercial facilities, office build-
homeland. “There’s a relationship between me, as an artist, and ings, and hospitals in Nigeria, Argentina and Uruguay. His 2006
the land where I was born,” he wrote. Serra Badué was one of book Havana in the XXI Century (Ediciones Universal) consid-
the first winners of the CINTAS Fellowship in the Visual Arts ered the future urbanization of the city.
330

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY Cárdenas Sánchez, Eliana, Historiografía e Domínguez, Jorge, Cuba: Order and Revolution
identidad en la arquitectura cubana (Havana: (Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press, 1978).
Ediciones Unión, 2015). Duverger Salfrán, Heriberto, and Nicolás Ramírez,
Acosta León, Maruja, and Jorge E. Hardoy, Urban
Un siglo de enseñanza de la arquitectura en Cuba Oriente de Cuba: Guía de arquitectura = An
Reform in Revolutionary Cuba (New Haven, CT:
(Havana: Ediciones ISPJAE, 2002). Architectural Guide: Santiago de Cuba, Guantána-
Antilles Research Program, Yale University,
En la búsqueda de una arquitectura nacional mo, Holguín, Las Tunas, Granma (Seville: Junta
1973).
(Havana: Letras Cubanas, 1991). de Andalucía, Consejería de Obras Públicas y
Albini, Franco, Antonio Piva, and Vittorio Prina,
Carpentier, Alejo, and Paolo Gasparini, La ciudad Transportes, 2002).
Franco Albini, 1905–1977 (Milan: Electa, 1998).
de las columnas (Barcelona: Editorial Lumen,
Alonso, Alejandro G., Pedro Contreras, and
1970). English, T.J., Havana Nocturne: How the Mob
Martino Fagiuoli, Havana Deco (New York: W.W.
Castro, Fidel, “Palabras de Fidel a los intelectu- Owned Cuba – and Then Lost It to the Revolution
Norton & Co., 2007).
ales,” Artes plásticas 3, no. 1 (1962): n.p. (New York: HarperCollins, 2008).
Alonso, Nancy, and Mirta Yáñez, Damas de Social:
Castro, Martín E.R., and Concepción Otero, Exposición de arte en la Universidad de La Habana:
Intelectuales cubanas en la revista Social (Havana:
Arquitectura cubana: metamorfosis, pensamiento 300 años de arte en Cuba (Havana: Imprenta
Ediciones Boloña, 2014).
y critica (Havana: Artecubano Ediciones, 2002). “La Verónica,” 1940).
Álvarez Tabío, Emma, Invención de La Habana
Céspedes, Carlos Miguel, República de Cuba:
(Barcelona: Editorial Casiopea, 2000).
Capitolio (Havana: P. Fernández y Compañía, Fernández, Damián J., ed., Cuban Studies Since the
Amaral, Aracy A., Arquitectura Neocolonial: América
1933). Revolution (Gainesville, FL: University Press of
Latina, Caribe, Estados Unidos (São Paulo:
Chao, Sonia R., Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk, Jaime Florida, 1992).
Memorial FCE, 1994).
Correa, Thorn Grafton, Jorge L. Hernández, Jan Fernández, José A., Architecture in Puerto Rico
Armas, Ramón de, Historia de la Universidad de La
Hochstim, Becky Matkov, Carolyn Mitchell, and (New York: Architectural Book, 1965).
Habana, 1728–1979 (Havana: Editorial de
Hugalde G. Sánchez, Under the Sun: Traditions Fernández, Núñez José Manuel, La vivienda en
Ciencias Sociales, 1984).
and Innovations in Sustainable Architecture and Cuba (Havana: Editorial Arte y Literatura,
Arroyo, Nicolás, Mario Romañach, and Town
Urbanism in the Sub-Tropics (Coral Gables, FL: Instituto Cubano del Libro, 1976).
Planning Associates, Plan Piloto de La Habana.
University of Miami, School of Architecture, Fernández, Segundo J., Juan A. Martínez, and
Directivas generales: diseños preliminares,
2012). Paul B. Niell, Cuban Art in the 20th Century:
soluciones tipo (New York: Town Planning
Cirules, Enrique, The Mafia in Havana: A Caribbean Cultural Identity and the International Avant
Associates, 1959).
Mob Story (Melbourne, New York: Ocean Press, Garde (Tallahassee: Florida State University,
2004). College of Fine Arts, 2016).
Barr, Alfred H. Jr., “Modern Cuban Painters,”
Cobas, Amate Roberto, and Antonio Eligio Fernández, Wifredo, and Roig De Leuchsenring,
The Bulletin of the Museum of Modern Art 11,
Fernández, Guía Arte Cubano (Havana: Museo Emilio, El libro de Cuba: historia, letras, artes,
no. 5 (April 1944): 2–14.
Nacional de Bellas Artes, 2002). ciencias, agricultura, industria, comercio, bellezas
Batista, Eugenio, “Patios, Portales y Persianas:
Consuegra, Hugo, Elapso Tempore (Miami: naturales: Obra de propaganda Nacional (Havana:
The Cuban House,” translated by Raúl García,
Ediciones Universal, 2004). Talleres del Sindicato de Artes Gráficas, 1925).
Herencia 3, no. 1 (Spring–Summer 1997):
Costa, Xavier, and Guido Hartray, eds., Sert: Forestier, Jean-Claude Nicolas, Gardens: A
18–21.
arquitecto en Nueva York (Barcelona: Museu Note-book of Plans and Sketches (New York:
“La casa cubana,” Artes Plásticas 2 (1960): 4–7.
d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona, 1997). Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1928).
Bay Sevilla, Luis, La vivienda del pobre: sus peligros
Cuevas Toraya, Juan de las, 500 años de construc- Jardins, carnet de plans et de croquis (Paris, 1920).
en el orden moral y de la salud; estudio de cuanto se
ciones en Cuba (Madrid: D.V. Chavín, 2001). Grandes villes et systèmes de parcs (Paris, 1906).
ha realizado en el mundo para mejorar la, haciendo
Fornés, Rafael, “El gran burgués (interview with
a cada cual propietario de la casa que habita
Deupi, Victor, Emilio Sanchez in New York and Latin Nicolás Quintana),” Revista encuentro de la
(Havana: Imp. Montalvo, Cárdenas y Cía.,
America (New York: Routledge, 2020). cultura cubana, no. 18 (Fall 2000): 23–48.
1924).
Deupi, Victor, and Jean-François Lejeune, “Cuban Frechilla, Juan José Martín, and Carlos Sambricio,
Baxandall, Lee, ed., Radical Perspectives in the Arts
Architects at Home and in Exile: The Modernist eds., Arquitectura española del exilio (Madrid:
(Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1972).
Generation,” in Picturing Cuba: Art, Culture, and Lampreave, 2014).
Beals, Carleton, The Crime of Cuba (Philadelphia,
Identity on the Island and in the Diaspora, ed.
London: J.B. Lippincott Company, 1933).
Jorge Duany (Gainesville, FL: University Press García Santana, Alicia, Treinta maravillas del
Bergdoll, Barry, Carlos Eduardo Comas, Jorge
of Florida, 2019), 109–130. patrimonio arquitectónico cubano (Guatemala
Francisco Liernur, and Patricio del Real, Latin
Diener, Roger, Marcel Meili, Christian Schmidt, City: Ediciones Polymita, 2012).
America in Construction: Architecture, 1955–1980
et al., Public Housing in Havana – History of Ideas Giedion, Sigfried, Dix ans d’architecture contempo-
(New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 2015).
(Basel: ETH Studio Basel, 2007). raine: A Decade of New Architecture (Zurich:
Bermúdez, Jorge R., Clara Porset: diseño y cultura
Directorio de ingenieros y arquitectos de Cuba, Editions Girsberger, 1951).
(Havana: Letras Cubanas, 2005).
(Havana: La Milagrosa, 1958). Gjelten, Tom, Bacardi and the Long Fight for Cuba
Bondil, Nathalie, ed., Cuba: Art and History From
Doctrina, proyecciones, y actividades del Instituto (New York: Penguin Books, 2009).
1868 to Today (Montreal: Montreal Museum of
Cubano del Turismo: 20 de febrero, 1953–20 de Gómez Díaz, Francisco, De Forestier a Sert: Ciudad
Fine Arts, 2009).
febrero, 1954 (Havana: Instituto Cubano del y arquitectura en La Habana 1925–1960.
Turismo, 1954). (Madrid: Abada Editores, 2008).
Selected Bibliography 331

Gómez Sicre, José, Pintura cubana de hoy (Havana: La enciclopedia de Cuba (San Juan, PR: Enciclopedia Mallea, Hermes, Great Houses of Havana: A Century
María Luisa Gómez Mena, 1944). y Clásicos Cubanos, 1975). of Cuban Style (New York: Monacelli Press, 2011).
Goodwin, Philip, Brazil Builds, Architecture New “La Habana crece y se moderniza,” Revista del Mañach, Jorge, Indagación del choteo (Havana:
and Old, 1652–1942 (New York: The Museum of Instituto Nacional de Cultura 1, nos. 3–4 (June– Libro Cubano, 1955).
Modern Art, 1943). September 1956): 25–31. Martínez, Juan A., Cuban Art and National
Guerra, Lillian, Visions of Power in Cuba: Revolu- Latin American Architecture since 1945, The Identity: The Vanguardia Painters, 1927–1950
tion, Redemption, and Resistance, 1959–1971 Museum of Modern Art, Wednesday, November (Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida,
(Chapel Hill, N.C.: University of North Carolina 23, 1955 – February 19, 1956, https://www. 1994).
Press, 2012). moma.org/calendar/exhibitions/2436. Martínez Inclán, Pedro, Código de Urbanismo. Carta
Gutiérrez Alea, Tomás, dir., Memorias del Leal Spengler, Eusebio, Una experiencia singular: de Atenas. Carta de La Habana (Havana:
Subdesarrollo (Memories of Underdevelopment), Valoraciones sobre el modelo de gestión integral de Imprenta P. Fernández y Cía., 1949), reprinted
1968, Cuba. Film, 97 minutes. La Habana Vieja, Patrimonio de la Humanidad = in Cuba: arquitectura y urbanismo, eds. Felipe J.
Gutiérrez, Ramón, Jorge Tartarini, and Rubens a Singular Experience: Appraisals of the Integral Préstamo y Hernández, and Marcos A. Ramos
Stagno, Congresos Panamericanos de arquitectos, Management Model of Old Havana, World (Miami: Ediciones Universal, 1995), 437–449.
1920–2000: aportes para su historia (Buenos Heritage Site (Havana: UNESCO, 2006). Discurso de ingreso como miembro de número de la
Aires: CEDODAL, 2007). Leal Spengler, Eusebio, Angel M. Ramírez, and sección de arquitectura (Havana: Impr. “El Siglo
Maria Vargas, Havana: A Living City (Tuscaloo- XX”, 1926).
Hartman, Joseph R., Dictator’s Dreamscape: How sa, AL: Parallel Editions, 2009). La Habana actual: estudio de la capital de Cuba
Architecture and Vision Built Machado’s Cuba and Leal Spengler, Eusebio, Juliet Barclay, and Silvana desde el punto de vista de la arquitectura de
Invented Modern Havana (Pittsburgh, PA: Garriga, Lest We Forget: Volume Two: Testimony ciudades (Havana: P. Fernández y Cía., 1925).
University of Pittsburgh Press, 2019). to the Restoration of the Historical Centre of the Martínez Pedro, Luis, and Walter Gropius,
Herrera López, Pedro A., El Palacio Aldama: una City of Havana (Havana: Ediciones Boloña, Exposición de óleos de Luis Martínez Pedro
joya de la arquitectura habanera (Havana: 2005). (Havana: Tip. Ponciano, 1953).
Ediciones Boloña, 2007). Leclerc, Bénédicte. ed., Jean Claude Nicolas Martin Zequeira, María Elena, and Eduardo L.
Hitchcock, Henry-Russell, Latin American Forestier: 1861–1930: du jardin au paysage urbain Rodríguez, La Habana: guía de arquitectura—
Architecture since 1945 (New York: Museum of (Paris: Picard, 1994). Havana, Cuba, an Architectural Guide (Havana,
Modern Art, 1956). Lejeune, Jean-François, “Miami Marine Stadium,” Seville: Ciudad de La Habana/Junta de
Hugo Consuegra: Architect, eds. Lissette Martínez in Miami Modern Metropolis: Paradise and Andalucía, 1998).
Herryman and Gustavo Valdés (Miami: Paradox in Mid-century Architecture and Planning, Maza de Fernández, Piedad, “Evolución de la
Ediciones Universal, 2006). ed. Allan Shulman (Miami/Glendale: Bass mujer,” Carteles 26, no. 21 (May 24, 1936): 52.
Hüppauf, Bernd, and Maiken Umbach, eds., Museum of Art/Balcony Press, 2009), 352–359. Maza Santos, Aquiles de la, Eutimio Falla Bonet:
Vernacular Modernism – Heimat, Globalization, ed. Cruelty and Utopia: Cities and Landscapes of su obra filantrópica y la arquitectura (Geneva:
and the Built Environment (Stanford: Stanford Latin America (New York: Princeton Architec- Skira, 1971).
University Press, 2005). tural Press, 2005). McEwen, Abigail, Revolutionary Horizons: Art and
Hyde, Timothy, Constitutional Modernism: “The City as Landscape: Jean-Claude Nicolas Polemics in 1950s Cuba (New Haven, CT: Yale
Architecture and Civil Society in Cuba, 1933–1959 Forestier and the Grand Public Works in University Press, 2016).
(Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, Havana, 1925–1930,” Journal of the Decorative Memoria del plan de obras del gobierno del Dr. Ramón
2013). and Propaganda Arts 21 (1996): 150–185. Grau San Martín (Havana: Ministerio de Obras
Lejeune, Jean-François, and Michelangelo Públicas, 1947).
Instituto Nacional de Artes Plásticas y Pictóricas, Sabatino, Modern Architecture and the Mediterra- Merino Acosta, Luz, Arte en Cuba: 1902–1958
Exposición de arte en la Universidad de La nean: Vernacular Dialogues and Contested (Havana: Universidad de La Habana, 1983).
Habana: El Arte en Cuba, su evolución en la obra Identities (London: Routledge, 2010). Merino Acosta, Luz, and Armando Maribona,
de algunos artistas (Havana: Imprenta Linares Ferrer, José, ed., El Museo Nacional de Espacios críticos habaneros del arte cubano:
“La Verónica”, 1940). Bellas Artes: Historia de un proyecto (Havana: La década de 1950 (Havana: Ediciones Unión,
Oficina de Publicaciones del Consejo de Estado, 2015).
Jiménez Soler, Guillermo, Los propietarios de Cuba 2003). Merrill, Dennis, Negotiating Paradise: U.S. Tourism
1958 (Havana: Editorial de Ciencias Sociales, Loomis, John A., Revolution of Forms: Cuba’s in Twentieth Century Latin America (Chapel Hill:
2006). Forgotten Art Schools (New York: Princeton University of North Carolina Press, 2009).
Las empresas de Cuba 1958 (Havana: Ciencias Architectural Press, 2011). Midant, Jean-Paul, Juan Calatrava Escobar, and
Sociales, 2004). Lowinger, Rosa, and Ofelia Fox, Tropicana Nights: José L. López Jiménez, eds., Diccionario Akal de
Juan, Adelaida de, Pintura cubana: temas y The Life and Times of the Legendary Cuban la arquitectura del siglo XX (Madrid: Akal, 2004).
variaciones (Havana: Unión de Escritores y Nightclub (Orlando: Harcourt, 2006). Mignucci Gianonni, Andrés, Arquitectura
Artistas De Cuba, 1978). contemporánea en Puerto Rico, 1976–1992
Machetti, Claudio, Gianluca Mengozzi, and Luca (San Juan: Instituto Americano de Arquitectos,
Kalatozov, Mikhail, dir. Yo Soy Cuba (I Am Cuba), Spitoni, Cuba: Scuole Nazionali D’arte (Milano: Capítulo de Puerto Rico, 1992).
1964, USSR. Film, 140 minutes. Skira, 2011). Moholy-Nagy, Sibyl, Carlos Raúl Villanueva and the
Architecture of Venezuela (New York: Praeger,
1964).
332

Moruzzi, Peter, Havana before Castro: When Cuba “Arquitectura cubana: una búsqueda de la Salinas Flores, Oscar, Ana Elena Mallet, and
Was a Tropical Playground (Salt Lake City, UT: verdad,” Arquitectura Cuba, nos. 309–310 Alejandro Hernández Gálvez, El diseño de Clara
Gibbs Smith, 2008). (April–May 1959): 167. Porset: Inventando un México moderno = Clara
Mumford, Eric, The CIAM Discourse on Urbanism, Porset’s Design: Creating a Modern Mexico
1928–1960 (Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press, Rabasco, Pablo, and Martín Domínguez Ruz, eds., (Madrid: Turner Eds., 2006).
2000). Arniches y Domínguez (Madrid: Akal, 2017). Sambricio, Carlos, Un siglo de vivienda social,
Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes. Sala Permanente Martín Domínguez Esteban (Ithaca, NY: Cornell 1903–2003 (Madrid: Nerea, 2003).
de Artes Plásticas en Cuba. Havana: Ministerio AAP Publications, 2015). “Notas bio-bibliográficas sobre los arquitectos
de Educación, Instituto Nacional de Cultura, Reed, Carol, dir., Our Man in Havana. 1959, United de La Habana, 1925–1950,” In Arquitectura de la
1950. Kingdom. Film, 111 minutes. ciudad de La Habana. Primera Modernidad
Rexach, Rosario, “El Lyceum de la Habana como (Madrid: Electa, 2000), 49–63.
Navarro Cantón, José and Martín Duarte institución cultural,” in Actas del IX Congreso de Sambricio, Carlos, and Roberto Segre, Arquitectura
Hurtado. Cuba: 42 años de revolución: cronología la Asociación Internacional de Hispanistas, ed. en la ciudad de La Habana: primera modernidad
histórica (Havana: Ciencias Sociales, Sebastian Neumeister(Frankfurt am Main: (Madrid: Electa España, 2000).
2006–2007). Vervuert, 1989), 679–690. Scarpaci, Joseph L., Roberto Segre, and Mario
One Biscayne Tower: One Mural, Fifteen Ripoll, Carlos, Evocación de “Las Yaguas,” Indigencia Coyula, Havana: Two Faces of the Antillean
Engravings, Nine Sculptures (EHG Enterprises, y Socialismo (New York, Coral Gables: Editorial Metropolis (Chapel Hill: University of North
1972). Dos Ríos, 2009). Carolina Press, 2002).
Rivera, Alfredo, “Revolutionizing Modernities: Schwartz, Rosalie, Pleasure Island: Tourism &
Pau-Llosa, Ricardo, Dirube (Madrid: Editorial Visualizing Utopia in 1960s Cuba,” Ph.D. diss. Temptation in Cuba (Lincoln: University of
Playor, 1979). (Duke University, 2015). Nebraska Press, 1997).
Pérez, Louis A. Cuba: Between Reform and Rodríguez, Arquímedes, and Marcos Muñiz, Segre, Roberto,
Revolution (New York: Oxford University Press, Santiago de Cuba (Santiago de Cuba: Unión Arquitectura antillana del siglo XX. (Havana: Arte
1995). Gráfica, 1950–1959). y Literatura, 2003).
Pérez Pérez, Isabel María, and Emma Álva- Rodríguez Bolufé, Olga María, Relaciones artísticas Lectura crítica del entorno cubano (Havana:
rez-Tabío Albo, Rita Longa (Cuba: Arte Cubano entre Cuba y México (1920–1950): momentos Letras Cubanas, 1990).
Ediciones, 2013). claves de una historia (Mexico: Universidad La vivienda en Cuba en el siglo XX. República y
Pérez-Stable, Marifeli, The Cuban Revolution: Iberoamericana, 2011). Revolución (Mexico: Editorial Concepto, 1980).
Origins, Course and Legacy (New York: Oxford Rodríguez, Eduardo Luis, La arquitectura del Arquitectura Cubana (Buenos Aires: Ediciones
University Press, 2012). movimiento moderno: Selección de obras del Registro Nueva Visión, 1970).
Philippou, Styliane, and Ron T. Robin, Enclaves of Nacional (Havana: Ediciones Unión, 2011). Cuba: l’architettura della rivoluzione (Padua:
America: The Rhetoric of American Political Modernidad Tropical: Neutra, Burle Marx y Cuba: Marsilio Editori, 1970).
Architecture Abroad, 1900–1965 (Princeton: La Casa de Schulthess (Havana: Embajada de Serra-Badué, Daniel, Santiago de Cuba histórico:
Princeton University Press, 1992). Suiza en Cuba, 2007). dibujos a pluma (Barcelona: I.G. Seix & Barral
Pina, Gricelys Rosario, “Caribbean Modernisms. The Havana Guide: Modern Architecture Herms S.A., 1929).
The Discourse on the Modern Dwelling in Four 1925–1965 (New York: Princeton Architectural Sert, José Luis, “Centers of Community Life,” in
Architectural Magazines, 1945–1960,” Ph.D. Press, 2000). CIAM 8. The Heart of the City: Towards the
diss. (Polytechnic University of Turin, 2015). La Habana, arquitectura del siglo XX (Barcelona: Humanization of Urban Life, ed. Jaqueline
Porro, Ricardo, “El sentido de la tradición,” Nuestro Blume, 1998). Tyrwhitt (New York: Pellegrini and Cudahy,
Tiempo 16 (1957). Rodríguez-Falcón, Olga, “Urban Utopias in 1952), 3–16.
Portell-Vila, Herminio, Nueva historia de la Havana’s Representations, an Interdisciplinary Sert, José Luis, and Paul Lester Wiener, “Can
República de Cuba (Miami: La Moderna Poesia, Analysis,” Ph.D. diss. (London: Middlesex Patios Make Cities?” Architectural Forum 99, no.
1986). University, 2008). 2 (August 1953): 124–131.
Prat, Puig F., El pre-barroco en Cuba: una escuela Roig de Leuchsenring, Emilio, La Habana: apuntes Shulman, Allan T., Building Bacardi: Architecture,
criolla de arquitectura morisca (Havana: históricos (Havana: Consejo Nacional de Cultura, Art & Identity (New York, Rizzoli, 2016).
Biblioteca Nacional José Marti, 1947). 1963). Shulman, Allan T., ed., Miami Modern Metropolis:
Préstamo y Hernández, Felipe J. and Marcos A. Veinte años de actividades del Historiador de la Paradise and Paradox in Mid-Century Architecture
Ramos, eds., Cuba: arquitectura y urbanismo Ciudad de La Habana: Emilio Roig De Leuchsen- and Planning (Miami: Bass Museum of Art,
(Miami: Ediciones Universal, 1995). ring, 1935–1955 (Havana: Municipio de la 2009).
Habana, Oficina del Historiador de la Ciudad, Shulman, Allan T., Randall C. Robinson, and
Quintana, Nicolás, “Cuba en su Arquitectura y 1955). James Donnelly, eds., Miami Architecture: An
Urbanismo, Los años 50: Pasado, Presente y La Habana de ayer de hoy y de mañana (Havana: AIA Guide Featuring Downtown, the Beaches, and
Futuro,” Herencia 7, no. 1 (Summer 2001): Sindicato de Artes Gráficas, 1928). Coconut Grove (Gainesville, FL: University Press
14–23. Rovira i Gimeno, Josep M., José Luis Sert: of Florida, 2010).
“Evolución histórica de la arquitectura en 1901–1983 (Milano: Electa, 2000). Sims, Lowery Stokes, Wifredo Lam: and the
Cuba,” in La Enciclopedia De Cuba. Vol. VII (San Ryan, Zoë, In a Cloud, in a Wall, in a Chair: Six International Avant-Garde, 1923–1982 (Austin:
Juan, P.R.: Enciclopedia y Clásicos Cubanos, Modernists in Mexico at Midcentury (Chicago: Art University of Texas Press, 2002).
1975), 1–113. Institute of Chicago, 2019).
Selected Bibliography 333

Soto y Sagarra, Emilio de, Album de Cuba. Seven Veigas, José, Adolfo V. Nodal, and Cristina Vives López Oña y Morales Family Collection, 1906-
volumes (Havana: Universidad de La Habana, Memoria: Cuban art of the 20th century (Los 2013, CHC5326
1950–1960). Angeles: California/International Arts Lyceum and Lawn Tennis Club Collection,
Stoner, K. Lynn. From the House to the Streets: The Foundation, 2002). 1929–1986, CHC0124000012
Cuban Woman’s Movement for Legal Reform, Véjar Pérez-Rubio, Carlos, Y el perro ladra y la luna Ermina Odoardo and Ricardo Equilior Architectur-
1898–1940. (Durham, NC: Duke University enfría, Fernando Salinas: diseño, ambiente y al Records, CHC5498
Press, 1991). esperanza (Mexico: Universidad Autónoma Alicia Pujals Mederos Collection, CHC5544
Sretenović, Vesela, Carla Acevedo-Yates, and Metropolitana, Unidad Azcapotzalco, 1994). Nicolás Quintana Papers, CHC5314
Alyson Cluck, Zilia Sánchez: Soy Isla (New Osvaldo de Tapia-Ruano Collection, CHC5456
Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2019). Weiss, Joaquín E., La arquitectura colonial cubana Emilio Fernández Papers, CHC5487
siglos XVI al XIX (Havana: Letras Cubanas,
Tapia-Ruano, Osvaldo de, Havana in the XXI 2002). Other Collections and Archives:
Century (Miami: Ediciones Universal, 2006). Arquitectura cubana contemporánea: colección de The Joseph and Anni Albers Foundation, Bethany,
Taylor, Brian Brace, Ricardo Porro (Old Westbury: fotografías de los más recientes y característicos CT. “Chronology,” accessed February 27, 2020,
New York Institute of Technology, 2010). edificios erigidos en Cuba (Havana: Cultural, https://albersfoundation.org/artists/
Terragni, Emilia, and Helen Thomas, 20th Century 1947). chronology/
World Architecture (London: Phaidon Press, Wharton, Annabel Jane, Building the Cold War: Humberto Alonso Collection, Miami.
2012). Hilton International Hotels and Modern Vidal Artaud Family Collection, Miami.
The Journal of Decorative and Propaganda Arts, Architecture (Chicago: University of Chicago Pablo and Margarita Cano Collection, Miami.
1875–1945. Vol XXII. (Miami: Wolfson Press, 2001). Emilio Fernández Collection, Cincinnati, OH.
Foundation of Decorative and Propaganda Arts, Rafael Fornés Collection, Miami.
1996). Archives and Collections Gutiérrez Family Collection, San Juan, PR, and
Thomas, Hugh, Cuba, or, The Pursuit of Freedom University of Miami Libraries, Coral Gables FL, Miami.
(New York: Da Capo Press, 1998). Cuban Heritage Collection, CHC – Collection, Philip Johnson Papers, Getty.
Thompson, Krista, An Eye for the Tropics: Tourism, Papers, Records. Mario J. Romañach Collection, The Architectural
Photography and Framing the Caribbean Humberto Alonso Papers, CHC5476 Archives, University of Pennsylvania, No. 48.
Picturesque (Durham, NC: Duke University Raúl Álvarez Papers, CHC5484 Annette and Rudi Rada photographs, 1946–1974,
Press, 2006). Nicolás Arroyo and Gabriela Menéndez Papers, HistoryMiami Museum, Miami.
Two Cities: Planning in North and South America, CHC5489 Igor B. Polevitzky Collection, HistoryMiami
Exhibition Catalog (New York: MOMA, 1947). Eugenio Batista Collection, CHC0331 Museum, Miami.
Gelabert-Navia Arquitectos Records, CHC5488 Archivo Clara Porset, Centro de Investigaciones de
Union Internationale des Architectes (UIA), Cuba: Guillermo “Willy” González Collection, Diseño Industrial, Facultad de Arquitectura,
Architecture in Countries in the Process of CHC01700001340001001 UNAM, Mexico City.
Development (Havana, 1963). Rolando López Dirube Papers CHC5214 Wahl Snyder Architectural Records, HistoryMiami
Museum, Miami.
334

INDEX Art Deco, 12, 14, 27, 61, 74, 76, 141, 142, 182, bodegas, 12
185, 252 bohío (rustic hut), 12, 244
Abela, Eduardo, 253 Bonich, Luis
Agrarian Reform Law, 28 Bacardi Rum Company, 76, 222, 294 Cinema Rex, 183, 185
Agrupación Tectónica de Expresión Contemporánea Edificio Bacardi (Havana), 141, 189 Boni, Domenico, 103
(Tectonic Group of Contemporary Expression, Bacardi Building (Miami), 292, 293 Borges del Junco, Max, 51
ATEC), 17, 18, 115, 236 Bacardi Headquarters (Hamilton, Bermuda), 294 Borges, Enrique 51, 158, 218
Alamar, 32, 129, 176, 179 Bacardi Headquarters (Santiago de Cuba), 189, Borges Recio, Max, 51, 145, 160, 167, 182, 191,
Albers, Anni, 10 190, 289 195, 203, 214–17, 263–65, 282, 289, 306
Albers, Josef, 10, 294, 295 El Coco(Santiago de Cuba), 190 Anter Building, 155, 158
Albini, Franco, 127–29, 173, 174 Tultitlán (Mexico), 289, 292 Banco Núñez, 200, 218
Almendares River, 100–02, 103, 104, 115, 126, Bacardí Moreau, Emilio, 55 Centro Médico Quirúrgico S.A., 182
138, 167, 244, 245 Bancells, Concepción “Conchita,” 72 Club Náutico, 217
Alonso, Humberto, 186, 282, 291, 298, 306 Banco de Desarrollo Económico y Social (Bank for Flores Antilla (flower shop), 218
Cobian’s Plaza (San Juan), 294–96 Economic and Social Development, BANDES), Gran Stadium del Cerro, 219
Cué, Reynaldo (apartment building), 162, 163, 223 House of (Falls Church, VA), 303, 304
167 Barragán, Luis, 11, 16, 146 House of (Miramar), 61–63
Lamas, Juan F. (house), 82–83 Barr, Alfred H., 253 Núñez Gálvez tomb, 218
Ciudad Universitaria (1952 proposal), 204 Barrio Lutgardita, 168 Partagás Apartment Building, 158
Ciudad Universitaria José Antonio Echeverría Barrio Obrero de Luyanó (Luyanó Workers’ Someillán, Ildefonsa (apartment building), 156,
(CUJAE), 204, 205 Residential Neighborhood), 168–73 158
Álvarez, Mercédes, 32, 170, 173 batey, 242 Tropicana Cabaret (see Tropicana)
Álvarez, Raúl, 64, 65, 190, 196, 260, 282, 292 Batista, Ernesto, 12, 43 Bosch, José Mario “Pepin,” 189, 190, 294, 305
Jardín Experimental, 245–47 Batista, Eugenio, 11, 12–18, 20, 22, 23, 26, 32, 33, Bosch, Silverio, 58–62, 160, 188, 189, 260
Álvarez and Gutiérrez (Enrique) 55, 57, 74, 115, 129, 231, 244–46, 252, 253, Bosch and Romañach (Mario)
Clínica Antonetti, 182 255, 274, 282, 303–12 Cueto de Noval, Julia (house), 58, 59
Schulthess Residence, see Neutra Apartment Building (Vedado), 259, 260 Noval Cueto, José (house), 59–61, 66, 82, 87
Timeless Cylinder, 297, 298 Cervera Falla, Ricardo (house), 16, 49–51 Pardo, Oswaldo (apartment building), 158,
Álvarez, Teresita, 275 Falla Bonet, Eutimio (house), 41–45 160–64
Amalgamated Lithographers of America, 283 House of (Eugene, OR), 298 Peletería California (California shoe store), 188,
Arellano, Adolfo, 259 House of (Miramar), 46, 47, 50 189, 260
Arniches, Carlos, 140, 141, 285 Mendoza, Nicolás G. (house), 49 Brasil
Arquitectos Unidos (United Architects), 272, 292, Teatro al Aire Libre (open-air theater), 42, 102, Brasilia, 285
294, 295 103, 104 Cidade dos Motores, 20
College of Architects Office Rental Building, Teatro Payret, 259 Rio de Janeiro, 129, 146, 152, 165, 170, 197
186, 187 Batista, Fulgencio, 22, 32, 33, 74, 112, 114, 115, Brennand, Francisco, 293
Instituto Edison, 82 120, 124, 127, 138, 139, 141, 170, 200, 202, Brunner, Karl, 109, 168
Arroyo, Nicolás, 11, 18, 22, 23, 115–18, 120, 126, 203, 219, 223, 229, 237 Manual de Urbanismo, 109
229, 238, 255 Batista Rubio, Rubén, 33 Buigas de la Cruz, Octavio, 220
Arroyo and Menéndez (Gabriela), 11, 65, 119, Bauhaus (Dessau), 10, 182, 294 Burle Marx, Roberto, 64, 65, 245, 247
127, 186, 197, 201, 202, 275, 282 Bay Sevilla, Luis, 14, 46, 168 butaques (small armchairs), 275
Ciudad Deportiva (City of Sports), 115, 117, Beale, Alberto, 142, 170
219, 220, 259 Beals, Carleton, 138 Cabarrocas Ayala, Félix, 53, 103, 107, 111, 182,
Díaz de Villegas house, 73, 74 Beaudouin, Eugène, 100 194, 195, 198, 228
García, Berta (apartment building), 155, 156 Beauvoir, Simone de, 32 Cabarrocas, María Elena, 51, 53, 73, 282
Havana Hilton, 223–28 Becket, Welton, 295 Quesada López-Chávez, Irma, Yolanda, and
Hogar Cristo de Limpias (hospital), 179, 182 Havana Hilton, 223–28 Ildefonso (house), 73
House and Studio (Miramar), 18, 19 Beller, Herman 96, 98, 108 Cabrera, Lydia, 237
House of (Country Club), 74 Bens Arrarte, José María, 15, 114, 124, 167, 195, Campeche chair, 235, 275
Palacio de los Deportes (Coliseo, or Sports 306, 309, 310 Campos, Juan, 30, 31, 238
Palace), 219, 220, 228, 259 Bergson, Maria, 73, 272 Canavés Ugalde, José
Ruston Academy, 272 Bermúdez, Cundo, 226, 228, 253, 264, 265, 267, Hotel Capri, 223–26
Teatro Nacional (National Theater), 112, 195, 268, 270, 295 Cañas Abril, Eduardo, 191
196, 260, 262 Berriz, Gabriel, 304 Cañas Abril and Nepomechie (Nujim)
Artaud, Carlos, 70–72, 167 Bestard, Bartolomé, 150 Leal, Eugenio (house), 87, 89, 90, 269, 270
Chisholm residence, 70, 71 Black Mountain College, 10 Motel Jagua (Cienfuegos), 228
Viviendas económicas, 70, 72 Boada, Antonio Candela, Félix, 87, 146, 190, 203, 216, 217, 218,
Almar Building, 166, 167 285, 289, 292
Index 335

Candela, Hilario Colegio Nacional de Arquitectos de Cuba (College Díaz Álvarez, Reinaldo, 271
Miami Dade College, 280, 289, 291 of Architects, CNAC), 10, 12, 14, 23, 27, 28, 46, Díaz, Mercedes, 32, 73, 150, 170, 173, 198
Miami Marine Stadium, 289, 290, 311, 312 52, 59, 61, 73, 82, 168, 170, 173, 182–84, 186, Dietz, Johannes, 294
Candilis, George, 20 187, 245, 246, 258, 259 Diocese of Havana, 312
Capablanca, Aquiles Headquarters building, 182–85 Domínguez, Martín, 53, 148, 282
Hebrew Community Building and Synagogue, Colegio Provincial de Arquitectos de La Habana, Hippodrome of the Zarzuela (Madrid), 140, 216
185 28 Lennox House, 286
Tribunal de Cuentas, 145, 186, 196–98, 216, Colón cemetery, 102, 218 Public School (Rochester), 285
217, 258, 259 Colón market, 257 Domínguez, Gastón and del Junco
Cape, Elvira, 56 Compañía de Fomento del Túnel de La Habana, Miralda Building, 141
Capitolio (Capitol), 14, 96, 98, 101, 107, 114, 195, S.A. (Havana tunnel), 115, 122, 127, 202 Radiocentro Building, 13, 14, 139–41, 150, 197,
245, 246 Compañía Telefónica de Cuba, 14 271, 272
Caravía Montenegro, Enrique, 257–59 Congrès International d’Architecture Moderne Domínguez, Gómez-Sampera and Bestard
Cárdenas Culmell, Rafael de, 11, 51, 182, 252 (CIAM), 17, 20, 22, 26, 82, 119–21, 126, 129, El Pontón Building, 173, 176
Batista, Bernabé Sánchez (houses of), 43, 45, 174 FOCSA Building, 105, 139, 150–52, 153, 176,
46 Aix-en-Provence, 23, 229, 231 227
Centro Comercial La Rampa, 276 Dubrovnik, 20, 231 Fondo de Pensiones de Empleados de Comercio
Kaffenburg, Albert and Sylvia (house), 45, 46 Hoddesdon, 21 (Commercial Employees’ Pension Fund,
Sarrá, Hilda (house), 45, 47, 48 Congreso Panamericano de Arquitectos (Pan-Ameri- Guanabacoa), 170
Carpentier, Alejo 31, 32, 252 can Conference of Architects) Domínguez, Gómez-Sampera and Díaz
La ciudad de las columnas, 123 Sixth Pan-American Congress of Architects Ministry of Communication, 125, 198
Carreño, Mario, 87, 253–55, 268–70 (Havana, 1928), 103 Domínguez, Gómez-Sampera and Seinuk
Carrera-Justiz, Ignacio, 293 Seventh Pan-American Congress of Architects Barbers’ Union Apartment Building, 173, 174
Carrerá Machado, Manuel José, 225 (Havana, 1950), 13, 14, 186, 254, 270, 306 Libertad Building, 176
Carrillo, Hector, 218 Ninth Pan-American Congress of Architects Domínguez, Sonia, 246, 247
Casa del Conde de Aldama (Guanabacoa), 309, 310 (Caracas, 1955), 270 Doxiadis Associates, 20
Casa del Fascio (Giuseppe Terragni, Como), 192 Consejo Nacional de Cultura (CNC), 31 DuPont de Nemours, Irénée, 228, 235
casas económicas, 70, 72, 170, 305 Constitution of 1940 (Guáimaro), 114
Castillo de los Tres Reyes del Morro (El Morro Consuegra, Hugo, 31–33, 186, 204, 272, 294, 295 Eames, Charles & Ray, 272
Castle), 98, 103, 202 Copado, Manuel Echavarri y Aragón, Augusto, 43, 45
Castillo del Príncipe, 100, 101, 107, 109, 122, 126, Solimar Building, 152, 155, 156 Echeverría, José Antonio, 33, 204, 205
160 Cornill, Enrique, 99 Echeverría, Luis, 170
Castillo de San Carlos de la Cabaña, 103, 202 Corporación Nacional del Turismo (National École des Beaux-Arts (Paris), 100
Castillo de San Salvador de la Punta, 99, 102, 103, Tourism Corporation), 253 Eisenstein, Sergei, 107
124, 127, 254 Costa, Lúcio, 11, 16, 144, 146, 165, 195 Emerald Necklace (Boston), 101, 126
Castro, Fidel, 27–33, 61, 129, 173, 192, 202, 203, Ministry of Education (Rio de Janeiro), 197 Enríquez, Carlos, 253, 263
204, 275 Coyula, Mario, 246 Escobar, Emilio, 246
Caviedes, Hipólito Hidalgo de, 260, 261, 265 Cristófol, Joaquín, 304, 305 Escuelas Nacionales de Arte (National Art
Centro Asturiano, 195 cuadra, 117, 119, 127, 174 Schools), 24, 25, 27, 31–33, 129, 203, 204, 206,
Centro Gallego, 182, 195 Cuban National Housing Program, 21, 117, 118 207, 241, 242, 243, 275, 307
Centro Nacional de Conservación, Restauración y Cuban Revolution, 26–28, 31–33, 127–29, 138, Esquiróz, Mario, 27, 183–85
Museología (National Center for Conservation, 173, 203–06 Estévez, Reinaldo, 32, 170, 173
Restoration and Museology, CENCREM), 307 Cuban Tourist Commission, 276 Estopiñan, Roberto, 260
Centros de Recreo (recreation centers), 218 cubanidad, 12, 20, 23, 27, 96, 99, 129, 195, 203, Estrada Palma, Tomás (President), 103
Centro Turístico Soroa (Candelaría), 238 214–17, 228, 244, 254 Evans, Walker, 138
Céspedes, Carlos Miguel de, 96, 99, 104, 107, 108 Cubiertas Ala, 216 Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques
Charter of Athens, 19, 20, 170 dans la Vie Moderne (1925), 17
Cienfuegos, 31, 228 D’Acosta, Hugo, 32, 170, 173
Ciolli, Gino, 252 Darden-Beller Company, 96, 98 Falla Bonet, Eutimio, 12, 16, 42–45, 46, 49, 74,
Ciudad Escolar Camilo Cienfuegos, 273, 275 Darié, Sandú, 31, 255, 265 250, 252, 253, 307, 310
Ciudad Universitaria José Antonio Echeverría Dauval, Luis, 108 Febles Valdes, Manuel, 127
(CUJAE), 204, 205, 291 Hospital Infantil Antituberculoso (Children’s Ferendino, Andrew, 289
Ciudad Universitaria (Caracas), 26 Anti-tuberculosis Hospital), 12, 182 Fernández, Agustín, 259, 260
Ciudad Universitaria (Mexico), 216 del Junco, Emilio, 11, 18, 23, 51, 139, 140, 270 Fernández Cañizares, Omar, 275
Clínica Miramar, 182 House of, 52–54 Fernández, Emilio, 23, 238
Coderch, José Antonio, 46 del Río, Jorge, 136, 199, 304 Anti-Blindness League, 181, 182
Colegio de Médicos, 142 Diago, Roberto, 260 Estrada Palma Apartment Building, 164, 167
336

González Apartment Building, 165, 167 Govantes and Cabarrocas, 103, 111, 198 Hotel Sevilla Biltmore, 215
González, Avelino (house), 83, 271, 272 Biblioteca Nacional (José Martí National Hotel Varadero Internacional, 229, 230, 236, 261
González, Conrado (house), 83, 84 Library), 28, 112, 125, 194, 195 hyperbolic paraboloids (hypar), 84, 167, 216–18,
González, Carlos Manuel (house), 84, 85 Hospital Infantil Municipal (Municipal 255, 289
Fernández, José, 205, 206 Children’s Hospital), 182
Fernández Ruenes, Rafael, 141 Mansión Xanadú (Varadero), 228 Ibiza, 11, 20
Festival dei Due Mondi (Spoleto, Italy), 238 Gran Parque Nacional (Bosque de La Habana, Instituto Nacional de Ahorro y Vivienda (INAV),
Flores Jenkins, Aníbal, 270 Havana Forest), 101, 102, 109, 126, 244 28, 32, 170, 173–76
Fondo de Pensiones de Empleados de Comercio Grau, Pedro, 57, 127 Instituto Nacional de Artes Plásticas (National
(Commercial Employees’ Pension Fund, Grau San Martín, Ramón (President), 168, 182 Institute of Fine Arts), 253
Guanabacoa), 170 Griffin, Henry, 55
Forestier, Jean Claude Nicolas, 94–112, 116, 117, Gropius, Walter, 10, 17, 42, 59, 74, 268–70, 274, Johnson, Philip, 225, 303
122, 126, 129, 244 282 Junta Nacional de Planificación (JNP), 115–17,
Fox, Martín, 51 Grupo de Arquitectos y Técnicos Españoles para la 120, 124, 126, 229, 237, 238, 288
Fuentes, Enrique, 31 Arquitectura Contemporánea (Group of Spanish
Fumagalli, Raúl, 200 Architects and Technicians for Contemporary Kahlo, Frida, 254, 274
Fundación Trinidad/Festivales de Trinidad Architecture, GATEPAC) 11, 20, 231 Kalatozov, Mikhail
(Trinidad Foundation & Festival), 237 Guastavino Tile-Vaulting System, 203 Yo Soy Cuba (I am Cuba), 139
Guerra, César, 15, 96, 106, 107, 182 Kelly and Gruzen
Galbis, Ricardo, 229, 230 Guevara de la Serna, Ernesto “Che”, 200, 203, 286 Chatham Towers, 284
Gamba, Aldo, 263 Guevara, Diego, 100 Litho City, 283, 284
Garatti, Vittorio, 26, 27, 32, 33, 203, 204, 207, Gutiérrez Alea, Tomás Klumb, Henry, 146, 305
275 Memorias del subdesarrollo (Memories of Knoll, Hans, 64, 65
García Menocal, Armando (President), 99, 103, Underdevelopment), 139 Korbel, Mario, 94, 107
107 Gutiérrez, Enrique “Henry,” 64, 65, 182, 186, 190,
García Mercadal, Fernando, 11 323, 182, 282, 292, 293 Labatut, Jean, 100, 110–13, 195, 244
Gastón, Miguel, 18, 53, 127, 139, 140, 225 Caribe Building (San Juan), 295 Lam, Wifredo, 23, 26, 31, 86, 145, 253, 263
House of, 58, 268 Bacardi Building (Miami), see Bacardi Rum Lansky, Meyer, 23, 125, 225
Gattorno, Antonio, 253 Company La Rampa (Calle 23, Vedado), 30, 31, 117, 120,
Gelabert, Florencio, 225, 261, 265 One Biscayne Tower (Miami), 296–98 123, 138–40, 141, 142, 228, 254, 263, 268, 276
Gelabert, José, 28 Timeless Cylinder, 298 Las Yaguas, 28, 29, 33, 179
Gelabert and Navia (Rosa), 28, 73, 282 Gutiérrez, Fidel, 70–72 Laws of the Indies, 20, 117, 119
Americas Court (San Juan), 304 Gutiérrez, Manuel, 282, 304 Leal Spengler, Eusebio, 306
Boomerang Restaurant, 193 Ingelmo, Paulino (house), 66–68 Le Corbusier (Corbusian), 10, 20, 21, 22, 46, 58,
Cultural Center, 193 Verdera, Petra (house), 68 59, 61, 66, 73, 81, 100, 108, 117, 125, 126, 145,
Daycare Center, 193 Santo Tomás de Villanueva, 33, 192, 206, 310 146, 148, 152, 165, 197, 206
El Golfo Clubhouse, 193 Léger, Fernand, 20
House of, 75, 76 Habana del Este (East Havana), 32, 57, 115, Leveau, Théodore, 100, 108
Instituto Cultural Cubano-Norteamericano, 190 127–29, 174, 175, 176, 179, 201–03 Ley de casas baratas (Law of affordable houses),
Ministry of Transportation, 112, 198, 272 Harrison & Abramovitz 168
Ruiz-Sánchez, Ramón (house, San Juan), 304 American Embassy, 127, 139, 140, 200 Ley de Propiedad Horizontal (Law of Horizontal
Viviendas económicas (San Juan), 304, 305 Havana Hilton, 23, 150, 223, 225–28, 266–68, Property), 115, 141
Giedion, Sigfried, 20 307 Ley Hotelera 2074 (Hotel Law 2074), 223
Girona, Mario, 243 Heitzler, Louis, 100 Link, Milton, 45
Gómez Fantoli, Lorenzo, 200 Heladería Coppelia, 141, 240–44 Llarena, Vicente, 229, 230
Gómez, José Miguel (President), 168 Hermida, Raúl, 100 Llinás, Guido, 33
Gómez-Mena, María Luisa, 254 Hernández, Armando, 246 Loma de los Catalanes, 100, 101, 107, 114, 120,
Gómez-Sampera, Ernesto, 70, 73, 150, 151, Hernández Dupuy, Alberto, 304, 305 126
170–76, 197, 218 Hitchcock, Henry-Russell, 145, 146, 197, 216, Longa, Rita, 245, 253, 254, 255–57, 259, 260, 263
Miramar Yacht Club, 218 217, 258, 259 López Castro, Amadeo, 263
Gómez Sicre, José, 253 Latin American Architecture since 1945, 21, 145, López Dirube, Rolando, 225, 259, 263–65, 270,
González, Carmelo, 263 146, 216, 258 276, 295–98, 304
González, Ernesto, 257 Hospital Clínico Quirúrgico Hermanos Ameijeiras, López Segura, Manuel, 26
González, Mario, 32, 170, 173 202 Los Once, 33, 259, 294, 297
González Romero, Raúl, 23, 33, 272 Hotel Capri, 23, 138, 223–26 Lozano, Alfredo, 255, 257, 260
González, Sergio A., 272, 298 Hotel Nacional, 104, 139, 265 Lyceum and Lawn Tennis Club, 10, 72, 73, 243,
Goodwin, Philip 144 Hotel Riviera, 23, 179, 212, 219, 223, 226, 245, 253, 254
Gottardi, Roberto, 26, 27, 32, 33, 203, 275 263–67, 307
Index 337

Machado y Morales, Gerardo (President), 11, 96, Mirabal, Rafael, 195 Olmsted, Frederick Law, 126
103, 108, 109, 114, 168, 195, 253 Miramar Yacht Club, 218, 265 Operación Industria Cubana (Operation Cuban
Mafia, 124, 125, 146, 223 Moenck and Quintana, 23, 108, 186, 231, 286 Industry), 275
Malecón, 22, 96, 99, 102–05, 108, 109, 115, 122, Biltmore Yacht and Country Club, 54 Orozco, José Clemente, 11, 254
124, 126, 127, 139, 149, 179, 199, 200, 214, School of Architecture and Engineering, see Osorio, Carlos, 206
220, 221, 225 University of Havana Otero, Raúl, 99, 100, 110–13
mambises (Cuban guerilla soldiers), 253 Montoulieu, Eduardo, 18, 22, 114, 115, 288
Mañach, Jorge, 11, 72, 73, 114 Montoulieu, Enrique, 100, 101 Pabellón de Cuba, 30, 31
Mantilla, Jorge, 115, 168 Morales, Leonardo, 42, 51, 308 Pabellón de rayos cósmicos (Pavilion of cosmic
Mantilla, Pedro Pablo, 73, 245 Morales, Ricardo, 72 radiation, Mexico City), 216
Manuel, Víctor, 253 Morales, Víctor, 51–53, 111, 182, 191, 306 Palace of the Marqués de Aguas Claras, 14, 31
Martí, José, 28, 101, 115, 125, 126, 179, 203, 220, Banco Pedroso, 145, 146, 260, 261 Palace of the Marqués de Arcos, 309, 310
221, 245 Church of Santa Rita, 255 Palacio Aldama, 306
Monument to Martí, 110–14, 195 School of Philosophy and Letters, see Palacio de Bellas Artes (Museum of Fine Arts), 31,
Martínez Inclán, Pedro, 14, 103, 107, 108, 116, University of Havana 255–59
182, 231 Moré, Benny, 268 Palacio de Justicia (Palace of Justice), 112, 125,
Código de Urbanismo: Carta de Atenas, Carta de Moreno López, Gustavo 195
La Habana, 19, 120 Misiones Building, 145, 147 Palacio Presidencial (Presidential Palace, Palace of
Justo Carrillo Building, 12, 252 Moret, Enrique, 263 the Palms), 33, 122, 201, 202
La Habana Actual, 98, 99, 114, 168, 244 Moretti, Luigi Pancoast, Ferendino, Grafton, Skeels & Burnham,
Martínez Justiz, Francisco “Frank,” 23, 51, 161, Gómez-Mena, Alfonso (house), 85, 86 289
195, 282 moucharabieh, 145, 164 Parajón, Saturnino
National Aquarium, 238, 239, 242 Mudéjar, 252 Teatro Fausto, 12, 183, 185
Pérez Farfante, Isabel and Olga (house), 66, 69, Mumford, Lewis, 20 Parque Central, 96, 108, 120, 195, 245, 246
70 Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), 144, 145, 197, Parque de la Fraternidad Americana, 96, 102, 108,
Pertierra, Indalecio (apartment building; also 253, 254, 258, 274, 285 306
called Casa de los ocho hermanos), 165–67 Parque José Martí, 220
Viamontes, Manuela Ofelia (house), 66, 71 National Lottery, 200 Parque Lenin, 246, 247
Wax, Stanley (house), 55–57 Navarrete, Horacio, 28, 52 Parque-Monumento a los Mártires Universitarios
Martínez Pedro, Luis, 255, 268, 271 Navarro, Ernesto 257 (Monumental Park for the University Martyrs),
Martínez, Raúl, 33, 260 Nepomechie, Nujim, 87, 89, 90, 191, 228 246
Massaguer, Conrado, 214 Nervi, Pier Luigi 216, 289 Parque Zoológico de La Habana (Havana Zoo),
Maza, Aquiles, 42, 43, 103, 104, 110, 111, 244, Neutra, Richard, 10, 11, 42, 43, 59, 61, 74 244, 245, 265
253, 254, 306, 307, 310 Schulthess, Alfred de (house), 64, 65, 245 Paseo de Carlos III, 101, 107, 117
Maza, Piedad, 253, 254, 274 New York Paseo del Prado, 12, 96–98, 102, 103, 108, 120,
McKim, Mead & White, 139 Chatham Towers, 284 123, 124, 127, 182
Hotel Nacional, 104, 139, 265 Lever House, 144 Patronato Pro-Urbanismo, 18, 19, 114
McQuaid, James, 228 Litho City, 283 Pedro Miranda & Associates, 288
Mederos, Lilliam, 11, 72, 73, 245 World’s Fair (1939), 253, 275 Pedroso, Víctor, 52, 145, 146, 260, 261
Lyceum and Lawn Tennis Club, 72, 73 Niemeyer, Oscar, 26, 87, 144, 146, 179, 197, 200 Peláez, Amelia, 31, 87, 197, 228, 253, 258, 263,
Medrano, Lorenzo, 31 Nuestra Señora del Carmen (Santa Clara), 43, 307 266–68, 270, 271, 276
Merlo Vega, Myrtha, 273–76, 306 Pelayo Fraga Associates, 298
Meyer, Jack, 289 Odoardo Jackel, Ermina, 189, 190, 294 Pérez Beato, Augusto, 142, 144, 148
Miami Odoardo and Eguilior (Ricardo) Pérez Benitoa, José, 182, 195, 200
Miami Dade College, 280, 289, 291 Bacardi Headquarters (Hamilton, Bermuda), see Perkins, G. Holmes, 284
Miami Marine Stadium, 289, 290, 311, 312 Bacardi Rum Company Pichardo, Alfonso Rodríguez, 31, 256, 257
One Biscayne Tower, 296–98 Bacardí, Joaquín (house), 76, 78 pilotis, 10, 31, 57, 61, 66, 144, 158, 167, 176, 179,
Timeless Cylinder, 298 Blanco, Francisco (house), 305, 306 181, 182, 191, 197, 198, 206, 225, 270, 301,
Mies van der Rohe, Ludwig, 42, 61, 68, 81, 82, Bosch, José M. (house), 305 305
144, 148, 189, 190, 272, 289, 291, 292, 294 Bosch, Jorge and Yvelise (house), 76, 77 Pina, Evelio, 304
Bacardi Headquarters (Santiago de Cuba), see Ciudamar Yacht Club (Santiago de Cuba), 220 Plan Regulador/Piloto de La Habana (Regulating/
Bacardi Rum Company Pilot Plan for Havana), 22, 33, 115–25, 126,
Milián, Raúl, 276 El Coco (Santiago de Cuba), see Bacardi Rum 127, 129, 174, 200–02, 229
Ministerio de la Construcción (Ministry of Company Plan Regulador/Piloto de La Habana del Este
Construction, MICONS), 32, 129, 179 Vista Alegre Tennis Club (Santiago de Cuba), (Regulating/Pilot Plan for East Havana), 127
Mira and Rosich, 12, 140, 141, 200, 229, 230, 261 220 Plan Regulador/Piloto de Trinidad (Regulating/Pilot
Hotel Varadero Internacional, 229, 230 Odoardo Jackel, Josefina, 222 Plan for Trinidad), 23, 115, 236–38
López Serrano Building, 12, 140, 141 Oliva, Tomás, 33, 260
338

Plan Regulador/Piloto de Varadero (Regulating/Pilot Retiro Odontológico Building, 142, 145, 262, Salinas, Fernando, 23, 32, 33, 171, 173, 174, 179,
Plan for Varadero), 23, 115, 229–31 263 205, 206, 272–74
Plaza Cívica (Plaza de la República, Civic Square), Salas, Rafael (apartment building), 149, 153 San Alejandro Academy, 12, 254, 294
101, 110–14, 115, 125, 126, 127, 186, 195, Seguro Médico (National Medical Association Sánchez Culmell, Anaís, 43, 45, 46
196–98, 202, 272 and Medical Insurance Company), 142–44, 148, Sánchez, Zilia 296–98
Plaza del Maine, 96, 102, 103, 104, 123, 124 149, 197, 208, 227, 263, 307 San Juan Bautista (Remedios), 43, 307
Pogolotti, Dino, 168, 173 Quinta Palatino, 116, 117, 119 Santa Clara (Convent), 120
Pogolotti, Marcelo, 253 Santa María del Rosario, 306, 307, 308
Polevitzky, Igor B., 265 Rada, Annette, 265 Santana, Antonio
Biltmore Club, 218, 219 Rada, Rudi, 245, 265 Olan Tower, 149
Hotel Riviera, 223, 225, 226 Rallo, Joaquín, 31 Sartre, Jean-Paul, 32
Ponce de León, Fidelio, 253 Ramírez Ovando, Francisco, 107 Sasaki and Walker Associates, 202
Ponce, Matilde, 193 Ramos Blanco, Teodoro, 257 Scarpa, Carlo, 167
Porro, Ricardo, 23, 27, 32, 90, 127, 236, 273, 282 Ravenet, Domingo, 55, 252–54, 258, 268, 270 Schultze & Weaver, 215
Abad, Cristina (house), 23, 86, 87 Rayneri Piedra, Eugenio, 195 Segre, Roberto, 115, 129, 152, 179, 204, 246, 247,
Ennis, Timothy James (house), 23, 86, 88 Reed, Carol 291
Escuelas Nacionales de Arte (National Art Our Man in Havana, 137, 138 Seinuk, Ysrael, 172–76
Schools), 24, 25, 27, 33, 203, 204, 241, 242, rejas (also cancelas), 96, 173, 231, 252 Serra-Badué, Daniel 12, 13
275 Rivera, Diego, 11, 254, 274 Sert, José Luis, 10, 11, 17–23, 59, 74, 186, 283,
Porset, Clara, 10, 16, 18, 273–75 Robaina, Alberto, 193 284, 288
Portocarrero, René, 31, 197, 228, 257, 260, 262, Rodríguez Castells, Esteban, 141 “Can Patios Make Cities?”, 118, 121, 122
263, 267, 268, 276 Rodríguez, Eugenio, 260 Chimbote (Peru), 20–22
Préstamo, Felipe, 127, 288 Rodríguez Gómez, Agustín, 306 Ciutat de Repòs i de Vacances (City of Rest and
Primera Exposición de Productos Cubanos en la Rodríguez, Mariano, 262, 263 Vacation, Barcelona), 231
Acción Ferrocarril (The First Exhibition of Rogers, Ernesto Nathan, 26 Plan Regulador/Piloto de La Habana (Regulating/
Cuban Products by Way of Rail), 275, 276 Roig de Leuchsenring, Emilio, 14, 120, 306, 307 Pilot Plan for Havana), 22, 33, 115–25, 126,
Prío Socarrás, Carlos (President), 168 Romañach, María, 299, 301 127, 129, 174, 200–02, 229
Pujals, Alicia and Elena, 73 Romañach, Mario, 40, 86, 87, 115, 116, 120, 126, Plan Regulador/Piloto de Trinidad (Regulating/
House of Alicia Pujals and Raúl L. Mora, 73 127, 136, 148, 153, 168, 169, 174, 222, 275, Pilot Plan for Trinidad), 23, 115, 236–38
Pujals and Company (multi-purpose building), 276, 299–303, 304 Plan Regulador/Piloto de Varadero (Regulating/
186 Alger, David and Josephine (house, Pottersville, Pilot Plan for Varadero), 23, 115, 229–31
NJ), 303 Sicre, Juan José, 110, 111, 257
Quema de los Vignolas (Bonfire of the Vignolas), Alvarez, Rufino (house), 42, 80–82, 303 Siqueiros, David Alfaro, 11, 254
10, 23 Aristigueta de Vidaña, Evangelina (apartment Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, 127
Quintana, Nicolás, 8, 10, 17, 23, 26, 51, 57, 58, building), 164, 276 Snyder, Wahl
82, 84, 86, 115, 127, 129, 199, 200, 202, Aristigueta de Vidaña, Evangelina (house), 61 Bacardí Cape, Amalia (house), 55–58
229–38, 282 Banco Nacional, 136, 199, 200 Soto, Emilio de, 11, 14, 73, 152, 153, 228, 229,
Altavista Condominium (San Juan), 287, 288 Bienes & Bonos Building, 157, 158 272
Banco Nacional, 136, 199, 200, 286 Courtyard house (Puerto Rico), 303 Clínica de Maternidad Obrera (Workers’
Cabañas del Sol (Residencial Yacht Club), see Cueto de Noval, Julia (house), 58, 59 Maternity Hospital), 12, 177, 182
Varadero Font, Ana Carolina (house), 79, 82, 303 Residencial Surf Club, see Varadero
Kawama Beach Club, see Varadero Government Administration Building (Caracas), Santa Elvira, see Varadero
Marina del Sur (Peñuelas), 288 284, 285 Santeiro Building, 155
Marx, Dorothy (house, Great Exuma, Bahamas), House of (Gladwyne, PA), 299, 301 Soto, Luis de, 15, 114
288 Noval Cueto, José (house), 59–61, 66, 82, 87 Spillis, Peter, 280, 289–91
Nava-Quin prefabrication, 288 Pardo, Oswaldo (apartment building), 158, streamline moderne, 45, 155, 182
Ramírez Corría, Carlos (house), 53–55, 90, 269, 160–64 supermanzanas (superblocks), 127
270 Peletería California (California shoe store), 188, Surugue, Jeanne, 100
Santiago, Mardonio (house), 77–78, 81 189, 260
Roberto Clemente Coliseum (San Juan), 234, Tucker, Margot (house, Caracas), 303 Tamayo, Rufino, 254
235 Rubio, Lydia, 305 Tapia-Ruano, Manuel de, 111, 186, 270
Quintana Simonetti, Antonio, 33, 168, 169, 170, Rudofsky, Bernard, 11 Veterinary School, 177, 182
202, 241, 244, 245, 246, 247 Tapia-Ruano, Osvaldo de, 282
Girón Building, 176, 181 Sabater, Salmán & Sánchez Eusebio Viera Building, 186
Quintana, Rubio and Pérez Beato García Mallo, Alfredo (house), 270 Team X, 20, 23, 120, 126, 206, 231, 288, 289
Fernández, Enriqueta (apartment building), Sáenz, Cancio, Martín, Álvarez & Gutiérrez
148, 149, 197, 293 (SACMAG), 190, 289, 292, 293
Index 339

Three P’s UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific Varela, Enrique Luis, 110–13, 190
patios (courtyards), 11, 12, 14, 16, 20–22, 23, and Cultural Organization), 307 Varona, Enrique José, 108
26, 32, 42, 43, 49, 51, 53, 59, 61, 66, 71, 76, 81, Unidad Quirúrgica del Centro Gallego (Surgery Vasconcelos, Emilio, 100
82, 84, 87, 90, 117–19, 121, 123, 138, 142, 144, wing of the Centro Gallego), 182 Venezuela
164, 167, 173, 175, 193, 203, 235, 237, 257, Unidad Vecinal, 32, 170, 173, 174, 176 Venezuelan Congress in Caracas, 284
259, 270, 275, 303 Union Internationale des Architectes (UIA), 31, 32 Central University of Caracas, 26, 220
portales (arcades), 12, 15, 16, 26, 32, 42, 45, 71, United States World Trade Fair, 275 Verner Johnson and Associates, 225
73, 98, 101, 103, 108, 119, 123, 139, 141, 200, University of Havana, 10, 11, 31, 32, 33, 54, 59, Via Monumental, 127
252 72, 74, 76, 82, 94, 114, 177, 204, 245, 253, 275, Vidal, Antonio, 31
persianas (louvers), 11, 15, 16, 26, 42, 46, 49, 294, 295, 305 Vilalta de Saavedra, José, 245
51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 57, 59, 61, 65, 66, 67, 68, 70, Aula Magna, 107 Vila Morales, Vidal, 270
71, 73, 74, 76, 77, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 87, 119, Edificio de la Biblioteca (Library), 12, 108, 252, Villanueva, Carlos Raúl, 26, 170, 216, 220
142, 145, 146, 153, 158, 164, 167, 186, 200, 254 vitrales, 16, 26, 32, 87, 145, 167, 228, 244, 252,
222, 231, 235, 236, 252, 270, 288, 304, 305 Master Plan (Forestier), 106–08 267, 276, 308
Toro and Ferrer School of Architecture and Engineering, 108 vueltabajera, 12, 43
Caribe Hilton, 226 School of Philosophy and Letters, 191
Torriente Bécquer, Mateo, 257 University of Pennsylvania, 283, 284 Weissenhof Siedlung, 73
Torroja, Eduardo, 140, 216, 289 University of Rochester, 282 Weiss, Joaquín E., 12, 14, 15, 17, 22, 108, 254,
Town Planning Associates (TPA), see José Luis 307
Sert Varadero, 8, 22, 23, 53, 77, 84, 85, 115, 126, 127, Wiener, Paul Lester, 20–22, 115–25
Trinidad, 12, 17, 18, 22, 23, 31, 115, 126, 127, 167, 215, 238, 261 Wright, Frank Lloyd, 10, 43, 57, 74, 286
215, 229, 236–38 Cabañas del Sol (Residencial Yacht Club), 9,
Tropicana, 51, 145, 203, 213–18, 263–65 234, 235 Zárraga, Fernando de, 27, 183–85
Arcos de Cristal (Crystal Arches), 214–16 Kawama, 53, 231–35 Zevi, Bruno, 23, 26, 174
Bajo las estrellas (Under the Stars), 216, 265 Residencial Surf Club, 229 Zuazo, Secundino, 141, 176, 216
Villa Mina, 218 Santa Elvira, 228
Tucker Mellior, Alberto, 284, 303 Varda, Agnès, 268
340

ILLUSTRATION CREDITS Vidal Artaud Family Collection, Miami, FL: Fonds Théodore Leveau, SIAF/Cité de l’Architec-
71 (bottom), 72. ture et du Patrimoine/ Archives d’Architecture
Artes Plásticas, Vol. II (Havana, 1960): 57. du XXe Siècle, Paris: 98, 99 (top), 100, 106, 109.
Album de Cuba, Havana (1956): 68 (bottom).
Asociación de Comerciantes de la Calle 23 (December Pedro Martínez Inclán, La Habana Actual (1925):
Album de Cuba, Varadero (n.d.): 229.
1956): 138. 99 (bottom).
Humberto Alonso Collection, Coral Gables, FL:
Bacardí Archives, Miami, FL: 292, 293. Myrtha Merlo Vega Collection, Atlanta, GA: 273
295.
Eugenio Batista Collection, University of Miami (bottom left), 274.
Humberto Alonso Papers, University of Miami
Libraries, Coral Gables, FL, Cuban Heritage Miami Dade College Archives, Miami, FL: 280,
Libraries, Coral Gables, FL, Cuban Heritage
Collection: 13 (bottom), 14, 15, 16, 51, 104, 291.
Collection: 187, 204, 205 (top), 294,
298, 307, 308, 309, 310. Miami-Dade Public Library System, Emilio
296 (top left).
Bruce Becket Archives, Los Angeles: 225. Sanchez Collection: 9
Raúl Álvarez Collection, Orlando, FL. Photos by
Max Borges Jr. Collection, Falls Church, VA: 154, Mies van der Rohe Archive, Museum of Modern
Rudi Rada: 247, 297.
156 (left), 213, 215, 304. Art/Licensed by SCALA/Art Resource, NY: 189.
Raúl Álvarez Papers, University of Miami
Hilario Candela Collection, Coral Gables, FL: 290, Museum of Modern Art/Licensed by SCALA/Art
Libraries, Coral Gables, FL, Cuban Heritage
312. Resource, NY: 24–25, 316.
Collection: 64, 65, 196 (top left),
Alfredo Cannatello: 260 (right). Ermina Odoardo and Ricardo Equilior Architectur-
196 (bottom left).
Margarita Cano Collection, Miami, FL: 273 al Records, University of Miami Libraries, Coral
Alessandra Anselmi: 257.
(bottom right). Gables, FL, Cuban Heritage Collection:
Architectural Forum 99, no. 2 (August 1953): 21,
Cuban Map Collection, University of Miami 76 (right), 306.
118 (bottom).
Libraries, Cuban Heritage Collection: 34–35. Juan Penabad: 296 (top right).
Architecture d’aujourd’hui, no. 350 (Cuba issue,
Cuban Photograph Collection, University of Ivan Petkov Ivanov: 143 (top), 148 (right).
January–February 2004): 52 (top).
Miami Libraries, Coral Gables, FL, Cuban Igor B. Polevitzky Photographs, HistoryMiami
Archivio Centrale de lo Stato, Rome: 86.
Heritage Collection: 95, 102, 105. Museum, Miami, FL. Photos by Rudi Rada: 212,
Arquitectura, no. 59 (June 1938):
Victor Deupi Collection: 45, 47, 125, 205 218 (bottom), 222, 223, 251, 264 (top), 265.
183 (bottom right).
(bottom), 246, 255. Progressive Architecture, no. 36 (1955): 200.
Arquitectura, no. 89 (December 1940): 41, 49.
Martín Domínguez Ruz Collection, Madrid, Spain: Alicia Pujals Mederos Collection, University of
Arquitectura, no. 104 (March 1942):
139, 140, 150, 170, 172, 173, 174, 175, 197, Miami Libraries, Coral Gables, FL, Cuban
113 (bottom right).
285. Heritage Collection: 73 (left), 186 (top).
Arquitectura, no. 105 (April 1942): 110 (bottom),
Espacio 1, no. 4 (July–August 1952): 161 (top). Nicolás Quintana Papers, University of Miami
113 (top).
Espacio 2, no. 9 (May–June 1953): 113 (middle). Libraries, Coral Gables, FL, Cuban Heritage
Arquitectura, no. 113 (December 1942): 73 (right).
Emilio Fernández Collection, Cincinnati, OH: 83, Collection: 8, 17, 53, 54 (top), 77 (bottom left),
Arquitectura, no. 154 (May 1946): 13 (top left)
84 (top), 85, 165, 181, 271. 77 (bottom right), 78 (top right), 78 (bottom
Arquitectura, no. 186 (January 1949): 178.
Fondazione Franco Albini: 129. right), 90 (right), 199 (bottom), 219 (top), 230,
Arquitectura, no. 190 (March 1949): 168.
Rafael Fornes Collection, Miami, FL: 238, 239 230–231, 232, 233, 234, 235, 236, 237, 286,
Arquitectura, no. 191 (June 1949): 13 (top right),
(bottom). 287, 288.
183 (bottom left).
Gelabert-Navia Arquitectos Records, University of Annette and Rudi Rada Photographs,
Arquitectura, no. 198 (January 1950): 58 (bottom),
Miami Libraries, Coral Gables, FL, Cuban HistoryMiami Museum, Miami, FL: 244.
59.
Heritage Collection: 75 (top), 75 (bottom), 190, Mariana Ravenet Collection, Havana: 254.
Arquitectura, no. 219 (October 1951):
191 (drawings Donnie García), 193 (top right), Carol Reed, Our Man in Havana, film, Columbia
60 (bottom left).
drawings Donnie García, 193 (bottom), 198 Pictures (1959): 137.
Arquitectura, no. 239 (June 1953): 111.
(top, drawings Donnie García), 305. Mario J. Romañach Collection, The Architectural
Arquitectura, no. 245 (December 1953): 188.
Google Earth: 130-131 Archives, University of Pennsylvania by the gift
Arquitectura, no. 258 (January 1955): 196 (top
The Gutiérrez Family Collection, San Juan, PR, of Maria Romañach: 40, 60 (bottom right),
right), 196 (bottom right).
and Fort Lauderdale, FL: 193 (top left). 60–61 (top), 62 (top left), 62 (bottom left), 79,
Arquitectura, no. 272 (March 1956): 68 (top).
Henry Russell Hitchcock, Latin American 80, 81, 136, 158, 159, 199 (top), 281, 283, 284,
Arquitectura, no. 273 (April 1956): 186 (bottom).
Architecture since 1945 (New York: Museum of 299, 300, 301, 302, 303.
Arquitectura, no. 275 (June 1956): 151.
Modern Art, 1955): 145, 214. Silvia Ros Photography: cover, 2,19, 30, 44, 46, 48,
Arquitectura, no. 284 (March 1957): 149.
House & Home (August 1952): 60–61 (top). 50, 52 (bottom), 56, 63, 66, 67, 69, 70, 71 (top),
Arquitectura, no. 295 (February 1958): 76 (left).
Informes de la construcción XIV, no. 132 (June–July 82, 87, 88, 89, 90 (left), 94, 142, 143 (bottom),
Arquitectura, no. 306 (January 1959): 27.
1961): 164. 144, 146, 147, 148 (left), 152, 153, 155, 156
Arquitectura, no. 309–310 (April–May 1959): 171.
Jean Labatut Papers, Princeton University Library, (right), 157, 160, 161 (bottom), 162, 163, 166,
Arquitectura, no. 319 (February 1960): 239 (top).
Special Collections: 110 (top), 112, 113 (bottom 169, 176, 177 (top), 180, 183 (top), 184 (top),
arquitecturayempresa.es: 218 (top).
left). 185 (top), 192, 194, 198 (bottom), 208, 217,
Nicolás Arroyo and Gabriela Menéndez Papers,
Jean-François Lejeune Collection: 96, 97, 221, 224, 240, 241, 242, 250, 252, 256, 257,
University of Miami Libraries, Coral Gables, FL,
273 (top). 258–259, 260 (left), 261, 262, 263, 264
Cuban Heritage Collection: 18, 74, 179, 201
Lyceum and Lawn Tennis Club Collection, (bottom), 266, 267, 268, 269, 276.
(bottom), 202, 219 (bottom), 220, 226, 227,
University of Miami Libraries, Coral Gables, FL, Zilia Sánchez, courtesy Galerie Lelong & Co.,
272.
Cuban Heritage Collection: 243. New York: 296 (bottom).
Illustration credits 341

Wahl Snyder Collection, HistoryMiami Museum, Osvaldo Valdés: 184 (bottom). the architect Nicolás Quintana on February 18,
Miami, FL: 58 (top left). Joaquín E. Weiss, Arquitectura cubana contem- 2011 at the University of Miami’s Casa Bacardí:
Siria Tatum Collection, Fort Lauderdale, FL: 29. poránea: colección de fotografías de los más https://www.cubaencuentro.com/revista/
Town Planning Associates, Nicolas Arroyo, Mario recientes y característicos edificios erigidos en multimedia/videos/nicolas-quintana-sentir-y-
Romañach, Plan Piloto de La Habana (1959): Cuba (Havana: Cultural, 1947): 141, hacer-la-habana-de-los-anos-40-y-50.
116, 118 (top), 119, 121, 122, 123, 124, 201 177 (bottom). Chapter 4: Roberto Segre, “The Pearl of the
(top). Antilles: Havana’s Tropical Shadows and
University of Miami School of Architecture: Epigraph credits Utopias,” in Cruelty and Utopia: Cities and
42 & 43 (drawings Antoine Laduron and Introduction: Francisco Gómez Díaz, De Forestier a Landscapes of Latin America, ed. Jean-François
Valentin Secq), 50 (drawings Janan Husain), Sert: ciudad y arquitectura en La Habana, Lejeune (New York: Princeton Architectural
54 (bottom, drawings Rawan Alkandari), 1925–1960 (Madrid: Abada, 2008), back cover. Press, 2005), 140.
55 (drawings Rawan Alkandari), 58 (top right, Chapter 1: Eugenio Batista, “La casa cubana,” Chapter 5: Juan A. Martínez, Cuban Art and
drawings Jason Brostoff), 62 (right, drawings Artes Plásticas 2 (1960): 5. National Identity: The Vanguardia Painters,
Yiqing Wang), 75 (middle, drawings Yiqing Chapter 2: Nicolás Quintana, “Arquitectura y 1927–1950 (Gainesville: University Press of
Wang), 77 (top right, drawings Xingyi Huang), urbanismo en la República de Cuba (1902– Florida, 1994), 5.
78 (top left, drawings Xingyi Huang), 1958). Antecedentes, evolución y estructuras de Chapter 6: Rafael Fornés, “’El gran burgués’,
88 (drawings Polen Durak), 89 (drawings apoyo,” (2001): http://lasa.international.pitt. Nicolás Quintana entrevisto por Rafael
Tanya Rivera). edu/Lasa2001/QuintanaNicolas.pdf. Fornés,” Encuentro de la Cultura cubana 18
University of Miami School of Architecture. Chapter 3: Nicolás Quintana, “Sentir y hacer. La (Fall 2000): 21.
Model by Patrick A. Beck (2015): 206–207. Habana de los años 40 y 50,” Lecture given by
342

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Victor Deupi, Ph.D., is a lecturer at the University of Miami

School of Architecture. His research focuses on the art and ar-
chitecture of the Early Modern Spanish and Ibero-American
world, and mid-twentieth-century Cuba. His books include
Architectural Temperance: Spain and Rome, 1700–1759 (Rout-
ledge 2015), Transformations in Classical Architecture: New
Directions in Research and Practice (Oscar Riera Ojeda Publish-
ers, 2018), Emilio Sanchez in New York and Latin America
(Routledge, 2020), and Stables: High Design for Horse and
Home and Wineries of the World: Architecture and Viticulture,
both with Oscar Riera Ojeda (Rizzoli, 2021). Dr. Deupi was also
the President of the CINTAS Foundation dedicated to promot-
ing Cuban art and culture from 2016–2018.

Jean-François Lejeune, Ph.D., is a professor of architecture,

urban design, and history at the University of Miami School of
Architecture. His research ranges from Latin American archi-
tecture and urbanism to twentieth-century vernacular modern-
ism in Spain and Italy. His publications include The Making of
Miami Beach 1933–1942: The Architecture of Lawrence Murray
Dixon (Rizzoli, 2001), Cruelty and Utopia: Cities and Landscapes
of Latin America (Princeton Architectural Press, 2005), Sitte,
Hegemann, and the Metropolis (Routledge, 2009), Modern
Architecture and the Mediterranean: Vernacular Dialogues and
Contested Identities (Routledge, 2010), Nord-Sud: L’architettura
moderna e il Mediterraneo (ListLab, 2016), and Rural Utopia
and Water Urbanism: The Modern Village in Franco’s Spain
(DOM publishers, 2021). He is the secretary of DoCOMOMO-US/
Florida and was an Affiliated Fellow at the American Academy
in Rome in 2007.

Silvia Ros is a Cuban-American, Miami-based photographer

with a master’s degree in architecture. After over a decade as
a museum photographer, she launched a busy freelance career,
concentrating not only on her own creative projects such
as Photographing Cuba: My Myth, My Reality, Post 67, and Con-
crete Miami but serving as the official Art Basel Miami Beach
photographer for five years, and with clients including Ford,
Artsy, and Instagram. In 2014, the Smithsonian National Muse-
um of American History acquired eighty-six of her photographs
documenting the LGBTQ movement in the United States. The
photography for Cuban Modernism was funded by the Knight
Foundation and Oolite Arts.
This book was made possible through generous
grants from the Graham Foundation for Advanced
Studies in the Fine Arts and the University of
Miami School of Architecture.

It was also supported by DoCOMOMO-US/Florida.

Graphic design, layout and typesetting Miriam Bussmann

Copy editing Sean McCaughan

Project management Ria Stein

Production Heike Strempel

Paper 135 g/m² Condat Matt Perigord

Printing optimal media GmbH

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020946449

Bibliographic information published by the German National Library
The German National Library lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbiblio-
grafie; detailed bibliographic data are available on the Internet at http://dnb.dnb.de.

This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved, whether the
whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of
translation, reprinting, re-use of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting,
reproduction on microfilms or in other ways, and storage in databases.
For any kind of use, permission of the copyright owner must be obtained.

ISBN 978-3-0356-1641-5
e-ISBN (PDF) 978-3-0356-1644-6

© 2021 Birkhäuser Verlag GmbH, Basel

P.O. Box 44, 4009 Basel, Switzerland
Part of Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

Printed on acid-free paper produced from chlorine-free pulp. TCF ∞

Printed in Germany

987654321
www.birkhauser.com