Norman Foster's visits to Havana over the past ten years have enabled him to meet a variety of Cuban artists and architects. Inspired by his travels, 'Havana. Autos and Architecture' features historic and current photographs that allow the reader to marvel over Cuba's love affair with classic cars. In it, Mauricio Vicent guides us through Cuba's tumultuous history, seamlessly blending its automobiles and architecture through the stories of different Havana locals.
The book focuses on the memories of some of the owners of the historical cars of the Caribbean island. In this way, Mauricio Vicent, author of the texts, guides us through Cuba’s tumultuous history through the lives of its inhabitants. The book also includes photographs by Nigel Young and Luc Chessex, as well as various historical images compiled meticulously by Vicent along with Havana’s city historian, Eusebio Leal Spengler. The book weaves together the relationship between automobiles, architecture and the habaneros .
‘The whole country is a veritable museum of classic American automobiles, mostly from that golden age of the 1950s. In their colours and condition there is a visual rapport between the architecture and the autos, both miraculously surviving the ravages of time’, explains Norman Foster in the book’s closing text. The project emerged from this idea ‘to make a record for present and future generations as well as lovers of architecture and cars to appreciate a rich cultural heritage—frozen at this critical point in time.’
Along with the texts by Foster and Vicent, this publication includes a foreword by Eusebio Leal Spengler, who says of the Cuban capital that ‘its urbanism and original architecture have long been the focus of attention, but this should not obscure what is in fact, the true essence of the city: the life and character of its inhabitants.’
CREDITS.-
Camera and editing: Nigel Young.
Texts.- Mauricio Vicent, Eusebio Leal Spengler and Norman Foster.
Photographs.- Nigel Young and Luc Chessex.
Presentation.- 28 September 2014 at 12:00 h.
Venue.- Iglesia de San Juan de los Caballeros, plaza de Colmenares, Segovia. Spain.
Havana. Autos & Architecture will be presented at the church of San Juan de los Caballeros and the event will be attended by the authors Norman Foster and Mauricio Vicent , film director David Trueba and Ivorypress Founder and CEO Elena Ochoa Foster.
