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Paola Cabrera

Paola Cabrera

Cuban Architecture: Building à la Vintage

Several Cuban colonial centers have the title of World Heritage Site. With diverse artistic styles, which range from Mudejar, neoclassic to art deco, Cuban architecture becomes a paradigm in many of its constructions, to such an extent that buildings like the Atlantis, the San Carlos de la Cabaña Fortress or the Cuba Pavilion are famous for their beauty or functionality. But, is there a current Cuban architecture? What tendencies, problems and perspectives characterize it? The triumph of the Revolution in 1959 marked the start of a period characterized by the neglect of aesthetic budgets, and the non-critical assimilation of the modern Soviet style. That, together with the population’s housing needs, led to practices like the mass construction of impersonal buildings in places far away from the city centers. Pabellon Cuba With the advent of the Special Period, the shortage of materials marked the almost total absence of new constructions and the neglect of those already in existence. The population found the solutions. Architects Claudia Castillo and Orlando Inclán, both from the Office of the City of Havana Historian, defend the idea that Cuba is a vanguard territory, since, due to its needs, it has been applying for years what today...