The next weeks 11 and 12, we will travel from Saturday 8th to Thursday 20th of December to HAVANA, capital city of Cuba. Specific visits to local exemplary buildings in Havana will be arranged, such as the exceptional National Art Schools by Ricardo Porro, Vittorio Garatti, Roberto Gottardi, the wavy concrete shells of the Nautic Club and Tropicana Cabaret by Max Borges y Recio, and gigantic Coppelia ice-cream parlour by Mario Girona. Besides these architectural highlights, some visits will be focus on understanding past and new housing examples.
This trip will help to get certain knowledge of local architectural culture, material experimentation and ways of living. After the unit trip, some analytical drawings of the architectural examples visited should be elaborated. All documents produced will be compiled in a Unit Booklet or Video that will complete the first hypothesis reflected in London. A conclusion from this portfolio will help later to define both the CONTEXT or location for each building proposal and its programmatic CONTENT.
Readings:
– Luis Eduardo Rodriguez, The Havana Guide: Modern Architecture 1925-1965, Princeton Architectural Press, 2000.
– John A. Loomis: Revolution of forms : Cuba’s forgotten art schools, New York : Princeton Architectural Press, 2011.
– Barry Bergdoll & Carlos Eduardo Comas: Latin America in Construction: Architecture 1955-1980, New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 2015.
– Luis E. Carranza & Fernando Luiz Lara: Modern Architecture in Latin America: Art, Technology, and Utopia, University of Texas Press, 2015.
