Page 31 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Cuba

A POR TR AIT OF CUBA  29

The 19th Century
The widespread use of porticoes with columns
and lintels, wrought iron and decoration
inspired by Classical antiquity or the Renaissance,
An elegant arched mediopunto window
is the distinguishing feature of 19th-century
Mediopunto Cuban Neo-Classical architecture. Grilles across
windows and shutters helped air to circulate
These half-moon, stained-glass windows were inside (previously the central courtyard
created in the mid-18th century to protect performed this function). Buildings that best
houses from the glare of the tropical sun. represent Cuban Neo-Classicism are the
They became popular in the 1800s, when
mansion windows were decorated with glass Palacio de Aldama in Havana (p88) and the
set into a wooden frame. The original geometric Teatro Sauto in Matanzas (p162).
motifs were later replaced by others drawing Shutters and
inspiration from tropical flora and fauna. Wrought- or cast-iron mediopuntos protected
grilles
rooms from bright light.
Ionic pilasters

Palacio de Aldama, designed by Manuel José Carrera in 1840 for the
wealthy Don Domingo de Aldama, is the most important Neo-Classical Doric columns
building in Havana. Rejecting Baroque exuberance, it echoes the In the portico the arch is
austerity and purity of line of Classical architecture. replaced by the lintel.
Bridging the 19th–20th Centuries
The architectural value of many Cuban cities derives from the mixture of
different styles.This is seen in buildings such as the Neo-Moorish Palacio de
Valle in Cienfuegos (p174), the Capitolio in Havana (pp86–7), and at Paseo
and Calle 17, Havana’s so-called “millionaires’ row”, with splendid mansions
such as the Casa de la Amistad, built in 1926 (p103).
Palacio de Valle in Cienfuegos,
designed by the Venetian architect
Alfredo Colli in 1912 for Acisclo
del Valle, combines Moorish and
Venetian Gothic elements with
references to Beaux Arts forms –
Detail of the façade of a typical example of the eclectic
the Palacio Guasch, style’s use of a range of prevailing
Pinar del Río (p144) architectural motifs and elements.
The 20th Century
The early 20th century saw the
construction of a few examples of Art
Nouveau and Art Deco buildings, paving Edificio Bacardí
the way for the major urban development (1930) in Havana,
that took place in Havana in the 1950s. designed by
This period witnessed the building of E Rodríguez Castells,
some very tall, modern skyscrapers and R Fernández Ruenes
hotels such as the Riviera and the Habana and J Menéndez, is a
Libre (then called the Habana Hilton, splendid example
of Art Deco. It is
p102). In parallel with this came the rise clad in granite and
of a style that was reminiscent of limestone, with
Rationalist architecture. enamelled motifs.

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