Architecture + Urbanism

Across the harbor from the Old Havana district, a small seafaring settlement shares a hill with a fortress, a monumental statue of Christ, and some of the most breathtaking views in all of Havana. Architect and urbanist Felicia Chateloín Santiesteban looks at the life and history of Casablanca, and the turning point it faces for its future.

Cuban-born Rosa Lowinger is an award-winning fine-art and architecture conservator and the author of Tropicana Nights: The Life and Times of the Legendary Cuban Nightclub. She recently spoke with Cuban Art News associate publisher Patricia Farber about architectural restoration in Havana, the city’s modernist architecture, and more.

Last June, during the first Bienal del Diseño La Habana, the New York-based organization EcoArt Project announced “the first eco-sustainable furniture and lighting design competition in Cuba.” Now it’s showing off its finalists in a Design Week exhibition. And one of them will be headed to Italy.

The show, opening this Thursday, February 9, at the Lowe Art Museum, is the artist’s first in South Florida in over a decade. Co-curator and architecture scholar Victor Deupi spoke with Cuban Art News about the exhibition, Sanchez’s career, and the role of architecture in his art.

Early next month, the Coral Gables Museum turns the spotlight on modernist architecture by Cuban designers on the island and abroad. Victor Deupi, who co-curated the exhibition with Jean-François Lejeune, gives us a pre-opening glimpse of Cuban Architects at Home and in Exile.