{"id":240848,"date":"2021-06-27T02:00:13","date_gmt":"2021-06-27T06:00:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/?p=240848"},"modified":"2021-06-26T14:24:28","modified_gmt":"2021-06-26T18:24:28","slug":"successive-spaces","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oncubanews.com\/en\/cuba\/successive-spaces\/","title":{"rendered":"Successive spaces"},"content":{"rendered":"

It is a house that attracts attention, marked with the number 255. The facade, in the form of white cubes, recalls a certain area of \u200b\u200bconcrete art. There is nothing similar to it on that block of 26 Street between 21 and 19, in El Vedado, dominated by Havana\u2019s eclecticism, a sum of dissimilar styles, style without style.<\/span><\/p>\n

Then I learned that the installation, enigmatic for me until very recently, was originally a house devoid of architectural interest, and that it had been remodeled to become the headquarters of Proyecto Espacios (PE) since 2015.<\/span><\/p>\n

The LAB.26 gallery studio works there, which these days is presenting the exhibition<\/span> Distancias m\u00ednimas<\/span><\/i> (Minimum Distances), a catalog of what the Proyecto Espacios has done during 2019 and 2020, a very difficult period that, however, did not stop the feverish activity of this interdisciplinary group founded in 1998 under the creative, unprejudiced and sensitive gaze of architect Vilma Bartolom\u00e9, and under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture and the Cuban Fund for Cultural Assets.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"View
View of the exhibition \u201cDistancias m\u00ednimas.\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The name of the exhibition alludes to these harsh pandemic times, when the distance that must be observed between people is regulated, to minimize the chances of contagion. So you have to make an appointment in advance to access LAB.26. And there I went to find out, to be amazed, to admire.<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2020, works and projects such as the <\/span>El Carmelo Cultural Station<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>La Torre Restaurant <\/span><\/a>\u00a0and the <\/span>protocol house of the Government of Havana<\/span><\/a>, were completed, endeavors that contribute to the capital city.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Interior
Interior of the Government of Havana protocol house.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The headquarters of LAB.26, as can be seen, is, in itself, a manifesto, as far as architecture is concerned, of the distinctive features of the Proyecto Espacios: \u201csimple functional schemes, refined forms, study of natural light and ventilation, main incorporation of vegetation, work with noble materials, contemporary reinterpretation of traditional architectural values\u2026.\u201d The aforementioned are words taken from promotional materials that one cannot help but confirm.<\/span><\/p>\n

I was particularly struck by the assortment of more than 130 drawings and prototypes of furniture that are available to investors and clients \u2014 now even private ones \u2014 designed and manufactured by this creative group, which accumulates nearly 1,200 furniture designs, in twenty years of uninterrupted work. These pieces of furniture are offered \u201c\u00e0 la carte\u201d: it is enough to choose the model and the material in which they should be made, almost always imported, to send them to be produced at Factor\u00eda Espacios, a workshop located in the Havana neighborhood of Los Sitios, one of the PE departments. Many are designs that have been thought out and \u201ctested\u201d in hotel facilities, restaurants, offices and residences: sofas, armchairs, chairs, stools, tables, beds, storage furniture, outdoor furniture for porches and gardens, for kitchens and for the kids\u2019 bedrooms. Pieces that combine functionality, durability and beauty. And, what is no less important, in PE they pride themselves on scrupulously complying with the agreed delivery dates.<\/span><\/p>\n