Photo Feature by Irina Pino
HAVANA TIMES – The grounds of the former Country Club served as the site for constructing the National Art School. There, amidst nature, a project began to take shape, including several schools: Dance, Fine Arts, Performing Arts, Music, and Ballet. The idea came from Fidel Castro and Che Guevara in 1961. They hired three architects: Ricardo Porro (Cuban), Vittorio Garatti, and Roberto Gottardi (both Italian).
The goal of this ambitious project was to blend the buildings harmoniously with the natural surroundings. Materials such as bricks and terracotta tiles were used to reduce construction costs. The design’s unique features include Catalan vaults, serpentine structures, oval-shaped pavilions, irregular courtyards, a plaza covered with glass sheets, curved colonnades, and long interconnected corridors. From the outside, and especially from an aerial view, the construction appears extraordinary, resembling a large fortress. It’s a design that defies architectural conventions.
As often happens with many projects, this one was left incomplete in 1962 during the Cuban Missile Crisis. The foreign architects were sent back to Italy, losing their ability to continue the work. Critics claimed their designs were out of touch with the times and represented a bourgeois and elitist concept. Nothing could be further from the truth. On the contrary, the uniqueness was tied to imagination and practicality.
In 1999, John Loomis published his book Revolution of Forms, which discussed these schools. This helped revive the history, and the three architects were called upon once again. However, for the second time, the project stalled.
This site has been used for filming movies and TV shows, and people often visit to take photographs. I’ve been there only three times, but on this last visit, I didn’t miss the chance to take my own pictures. Very close to these walled structures, a local goat breeder lets his animals graze freely. He is accompanied by two dogs.
Here are the images.
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