FIGURE 2.7 ESCUELA NACIONAL DE ARTES PLÁSTICAS
1. Exploded view from above of main lecture and studio roooms (looking south). Despiece de arriba de la conferencia principal y roooms estudio (mirando hacia el sur). 2. Por co detail with roof removed. Detalle Pór co con techo quitado.
3. Typical Eleva on. Elevación Típica.
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3 rather than automobile movement. It is common to find portales fi ed with addi onal overhangs, tables and chairs reaching into the streets during cooler por ons of the day; less dependency on the building envelope is achieved and the building is no longer the exclusive provider for ac vity. The benefits of this environment are extraordinary because it demonstrates the difficulty of a building’s constraint of envelope, provided by Havana’s fair weather and the abandonment of air-condi oning. This is a view that is essen al to understanding if a emp ng to construct, or reconstruct within the city, as this configura on does not exclude buildings of civic and municipal func ons. The development of outdoor living space in Havana is well-founded, extending beyond the seventeenth century. One of the oldest structures in the city; the La Punta castle located on the northern point of the city and constructed in 1590 to defend the colonial city from marine a acks, contains not just one plaza but a series of plazas; this space is used today for
colonial reenactments and entertainment events. Previously, it offered a safe area for traders and merchants to walk and conduct business. Havana’s urban model is configured in the same way; centered on what became this Cuban plaza: One of the most adjacent plazas to the site, Plaza de Armas or Square of Arms built in 1584 serves similar purpose today in tourist entertainment and trade. The plaza also possesses a strong cultural component not dissimilar to its original purpose in that both tourists and ci zens walk freely about the plaza without crea ng a spectacle within their selves.36 A major source and distributer of art, dance, culture and the na onal pride of Cuban art producers
are the post-revolu on Na onal Schools of Plas c Arts (Escuela Nacional de Artes Plás cas), located in Cubanacán. A er the 1959 revolu on there was poli cal and economic op mism in the city, and in the 1960s a lot of enthusiasm for architecture37. The sudden influx of soviet aid and shi in produc on to the soviet type model for architecture and public housing, resulted in a perceived downgrade of architecture by Cuban ci zens and subsequent discredi ng of previous architects and projects such as the Schools of Art by many government officials. Developed originally for upper-class residen al and recrea onal use during the mid-century, the site of the schools was redesigned carefully for educaonal facili es in 1961 by Cuban Architects Ricardo
36 . I considered the plazas successful because both tourists and locals appeared comfortable being in the same space; among the most popularized loca ons I noted: Plaza de Armas, Plaza Vieja, Plaza de San Francisco in Havana, Plaza Juan Delgado in Bejucal.
37 . Porro, Ricardo. (2010, May). Guest of honor presenta on and personal interview. The 9th Congress on Cuban Architecture. Recorded May 15th, 2010.
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