Modernist architecture in Havana (Cuba) - 2-

 Someillan Building

This sleek highrise building (32 floors)  was built in 1951 by the designs of Fernando R. Castro Cardenas and the structural designs by Jose A. Vila Espinosa.

This a typical floor plan

How the boardwalk near Someillan Building looked in the past.
The floor plan and the last picture are from www.arquitectura-cuba.blogspot.com (a very nice blog with lots of informations)

Plaza de la revolucion

This square (that is one of the biggest of the world) was begun in 1952 under Fulgencio Batista's presidency and was completed in 1959, the year that Fidel Castro came to power. Fidel Castro used to have his speeches from here when he was addressing the Cuban population in special occasions.
The square is dominated by the 109m high José Martí Memorial.
The square may be big, but from the urbanistic view it's rather questionable, even if surrounded by really interesting buildings, the layout doesn't work. Take a look at the link below:

http://www.360cities.net/image/plaza-de-la-revolucion-havana-cuba


Ministry of Communication

Many government ministries and other buildings are located in and around the Plaza.
The Ministry of State (now Ministry of Informatics and Communications) building (from 1951 - 54 designed by Ernesto Gomez Sampera and Martin Dominguez ) with the big steel outlines of Camilo Cienfuegos (it was made in October 2009 in honor of 50th anniversary of his death). Accompanying the stencil facade are the words "Vas bien, Fidel (You’re doing fine, Fidel), representing the famous response of Camilo to Fidel at the January 8, 1959 rally where Castro declared that the Columbia military barracks would be made into a school, and then asked Camilo, "Am I doing all right, Camilo?"

 

 today and below in the past

Directly across the Plaza de la Revolución from the José Martí Memorial stands the Ministerio del Interior building (from 1958) instantly recognizable by the enormous bronze wire sculpture of Che Guevara on the facade, which was completed in 1995.

This sculpture was based on the famous photograph of Che taken by Alberto Korda. The words which appear below Che’s image, “Hasta la Victoria Siempre” mean “Ever Onward to Victory” and were the signature in Che’s final letter to Fidel Castro before he was killed in Bolivia.

Modernist architecture in Havana (Cuba)

In this blog, I wrote often about social realism and modernist building in Eastern Europe, mostly of Belgrade. That architectural style that followed the goals of socialism and communism in a philosophical way, produced (in my advise) some of the most fascinating buildings! Try to look at the Genex-Building, the Rudo-Buildings in Belgrade or at these great buildings in Bratislava (Slovakia).

My husband gave me a good reason to make a post about that kind of architecture of a place where this architecture is also very well represented: he made wonderful pictures of communist and modernist buildings in Cuba for me!

Cuba provides a particularly big collection of interesting architecture because it was a colony of Spain, a neo-colonial protectorate of the US, an independent republic and then finally a socialist country, all within less than a century.

Havana's modernism


In the 40's and 50's Havana was considered a destination for gambling and holidays in the sun. It became a haven for criminals, gangsters and playboys. That was the time when most of the modernist high-rise buildings were built. Thanks to Fidel Castro and his regime this beautiful buildings have stayed unaltered and here they stand almost the same like in they time when they were built...and the ravage of time gives them  even more charm! 

Hotel Havana Riviera


This building was built 1956 - 1957 by the designs of russian-born Igor Polevitzky (1911 - 1978) and Irvin Feldman served as general contractor. It's a twenty-one-story, 440-room edifice, towering above the Malecon. When it opened, the Riviera was the largest purpose-built casino-hotel in Cuba or anywhere in the world, outside Las Vegas.
The angled shape made that each room had a sea view and the futuristic look reflected the lifestyle of the before Castro Cuba. 

Here an old postcard when the Hotel was built and below how it looks today. Just the surrounding changed...the Hotel building and its facilities are basically the same as in 1957.

Here a picture of the interior (from www.hotelhavanariviera.com)

The Interior design was made by Albert Parvin (of Parvin Dohrman Co. in Los Angeles). It was  completly furnished and custom-made pieces were made for the lobby, the restaurant and the cocktail lounge.

 

 Focsa Building

Focsa Building like it looks today

The Edificio Focsa (Fomentos de Obrasy Constructiones Sociedad Anonima) designed by architect Ernesto Gomez Sampera (1956) represents Havana's booming economy and foreign influence at the time. 

This 35-storey complex was conceived and based on Corbusian ideas of a self-contained city within a city. It contained 375 apartments (distributed on 30 floors), garages, a school, stores and so on (on 9 floors) and restaurant on the top floor. 

 This was the tallest concrete structure in the world at the time and the ultimate symbol of luxury. Here above the sale brochure used by the investors to sell the apartments (property of Mr. Alberto Quiroga, son of the jewelry store owner in Focsa)

Focsa Building like it looked in the 50's

(to be continued)