Great houses of Havana : a century of architecture and design /

Great Houses of Havana celebrates one hundred years of creativity, design and style that made the city "the Paris of the Caribbean." For four hundred years, Havana was the center of Spanish trade in the western hemisphere. With the expansion of the sugar industry, independence from Spain a...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Mallea, Hermes
Format: Book
Language:English
Published: New York : Monacelli Press, [2011]
Subjects:
Description
Summary:Great Houses of Havana celebrates one hundred years of creativity, design and style that made the city "the Paris of the Caribbean." For four hundred years, Havana was the center of Spanish trade in the western hemisphere. With the expansion of the sugar industry, independence from Spain and North American investment, Havana became a city of great wealth, great style and great houses in a vocabulary that was a unique amalgam of European, American and Caribbean elements. Great Houses of Havana traces the evolution of the Cuban home from the classic, Spanish colonial courtyard house to the "Tropical Modernist" villas of the 1950s- houses reflecting international architecture trends while remaining true to the Cuban tradition. Cuba's social history is woven throughout the book. Vintage photographs illustrate Havana's sophisticated lifestyle, the masked balls, yacht club picnics and dynastic weddings of fashionable Cubans and their international guests. Popular cafes, hotels, theaters and weekend resorts are also featured, creating a view of the privileged life inside the gated mansions of the city's grandest neighborhoods.
Physical Description:272 pages : illustrations (chiefly color) ; 32 cm.
Bibliography:Includes bibliographical references (page 270).
ISBN:9781580932882
1580932886