Arte Deco

Art Deco, Modern Heritage of Cuban Cities


Escrito por By Mabel Guerra Garcia *

martes, 12 de junio de 2012
Interesante artículo, tomado del periódico Juventud Rebelde


12 de junio de 2012, 10:18Por By Mabel Guerra Garcia *



Camagüey, Cuba (Prensa Latina) Almost immediately at the same time of its worldwide recognition in the twentieth century, Art Deco breaks into Cuban spaces and is now a valuable heritage of modern architecture in the nation.



Two years after being promoted in Paris, France in 1925, the new trend arrives in Havana with the name of modern style and boasts impressive and beautiful works that are distinguished in the invasion of architectural and artistic styles of the early century, which originated unknown landmarks in the urban of the island.



Building sites such as: the residence of Francisco Arguelles, designed by architect Jose Antonio Mendigutía, and the well-known building on Belascoaín Street by architect Leonardo Morales (Havana, 1927) were the pioneers of Art Deco style in Cuba.



At that time the cities were filled with Gothic, Renaissance and classical buildings, with a share of Cuban identity and somehow different from similar European cities, which distinguish in various historical centers in the country.



In Cuba a wide range of decorative elements stand out: such as tankards, corbels, masks, garlands, floral and geometric patterns and deco's own figures worthy of admiration in spite of the time.



During 1923-1925, United States, at the rise of skyscrapers construction, accomplished the Art Deco as modern architectural language.



Movies in Latin America also became promoters of deco, style widespread in the 1930s and preferred in the architectural culture of the region, until late 40s.



THE ART DECO IN CAMAGÜEY



Art Deco, and its predecessor, art nouveau, meant the transition from classicism to modernity in the century-old town of Camaguey, 550 km east from Havana city.



This city, about to celebrate 500 years of its foundation in 2014, stands out for the variety of architectural styles breaking the myth of the colonial city, nowadays Cultural Heritage of Humanity.



Art deco is present in a large number of buildings of the urban, even in the slightest details of the decoration.



In fact it was the preferred style in sumptuous homes built in the city during the 30s and 40s of last century.



The House Number 304 on Andres Sanchez street, at La Vigia neighborhood is an example of that style. It was built in 1940 by architect-engineer Roberto Antonio Duglas Navarrete. Its original owners were the marriage Enrique Loret de Mola and Macela D'John Douglas Navarrete also designed the residence Number 556 on Julio Sanguily Street in the same neighborhood, built in 1942 and originally owned by Mrs. Angela Balmaseda.



Navarrete, who entered the Art Deco and rationalism, also built former Tennis Club (currently building the Palace of Youth) and the College of Architecture (now the headquarters of the Provincial Party Committee).



Several Art Deco works can be found on Republic Street in Camaguey. These are houses numbers 166, 164, 162A and 162B, and in the former Champagnat School, built by Marist Brothers in 1942 and designed by Catalan architect Claudio Muns Blanchart.



The Champagnat (currently Josue Pais primary school) stands out as a classic example of integrated design and deco decoration. The building summarizes the monastic tradition with education requirements and the principles established by the architectural style.



Despite of the building decorative changes, some elements have been well preserved, particularly the details of the frieze, the assembly hall, the floor ,the hall, the decoration of the front door and the original carpentry design.



Muns Blanchart also created the project of the wellknown Puerto Principe Hotel. Other famous local, national and foreing architects left important Art Deco works in Camaguey, including Felipe Herrero Morato, creator Alkazar theater.



It is a style that came to change the image and modernize it, to open new paths with different aesthetic expressions, where beauty is expressed through a slihgt decoration, researcher Adela Garcia Yero, asserted. Art Deco also expresses itself in a verging decoration in the balance and in many cases the symmetry and an increasing use of buildings, Garcia added.



Its most significant features in the legendary Camagüey are friezes decorated with floral geometry with amorphous forms tending to hardness; balconies with geometric brackets, pilasters and parapets with openings staggered terminations lintels, octagonal and jagged.



Likewise, in its bars there are diamond motifs, braids and straight designs showing a break with the arabesques worked during the colonial and the Republic stage, with flat roofs , Cuban or French tiled roofs which modernize facades and maintain a traditional interior.



Experts say that the entire compositional range of Art Deco in exceptional or relevant buildings was exploited in this eastern region, in many cases properly rescued and preserved.



The continuity of Deco decoration also spread in carpentries and the buildings balconies.



Even the style spreads. Basic figures of style, such as squares, triangles, circles, lozenges, fit under the popular initiative in long lasting combinations together with alternating of horizontal and vertical lines of porch, doorways and windows.



Thus, the irreplaceable heritage is preserved in the ancient story of the city.



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