We can go, we can’t go. The ping pong of access to Cuba has always been a game of chance, and if you’ve had the opportunity to go, navigating once there an unknown. Known as the “Pearl of the Antilles,” Cuba remains a Caribbean island nation with the creative vitality that comes from an extraordinary legacy of African, Indigenous, Spanish, and French influences over four centuries. Its charming cities are plentiful in artistic and architectural heritage, where artisans, thought leaders and creative entrepreneurs are working diligently to preserve and sustain Havana’s cultural legacy. Join Hermes Mallea, architect and member of a Cuban-American family, for a first-hand account of the cultural ebullience of Cuba that comes from his passion for exposing the incredible entrepreneurialism at play despite the economic challenges. An architect by trade, but also author of three books: Great Houses of Havana; Escape: The Heyday of Caribbean Glamour; and Havana Living Today: Cuban Home Style Now, Mallea will dive into a verbal tour of Cuba and the importance of its preservation.
If you are unable to attend the event but would like to purchase one or more signed copies, please visit Buxton Books here.
About Hermes Mallea
Hermes Mallea is an architect and partner in the New York City-based firm M(Group). Mr. Mallea studied at the University of Miami’s School of Architecture and Columbia University’s graduate Historic Preservation Program and is a member of the American Institute of Architects (AIA). His work has been featured in such publications as The New York Times, Architectural Digest, House & Garden, Town and Country, Arte e Decoracao (Brazil), and World of Interiors (Great Britain). He has lectured on interior design and historic architecture in New York, Houston, Mexico City, Istanbul, and aboard Queen Mary 2. He is the author of Great Houses of Havana (2011), Escape: The Heyday of Caribbean Glamour (2014), and Havana Living Today: Cuban Home Style Now (2017) and has also led tours to Cuba, Cienfuegos and Trinidad through Arrangements Abroad. As a longtime collector of vintage Cuban photographs, Mr. Mallea has traveled to Cuba frequently to do research for his books and to lecture on historic preservation.