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
Architect Hermes Mallea is the author of “Great Houses of Havana, A Century of Cuban Style”, (The Monacelli Press, 2011) which is currently in its third printing and of ESCAPE, The Heyday of Caribbean Glamour”. “(Rizzoli 2014), Mallea’s latest book, “Havana Living Today/ Cuban Homestyle Now” (Rizzoli) celebrates homeowners’ individual flair and resourcefulness, taking the reader inside a world that foreign visitors and most Cubans have never seen. Mallea has presented his books at venues across the United States and is a lecturer annually for visitors to Havana. He has presented papers on historic Cuban family life at Havana’s annual Jornadas Tecnicas de Arquitectura Vernacula in 2010 and in 2009 and the 2013 International Art Deco Congress in Havana. In 2011, Mallea curated and installed “Luz de Memoria”, an exhibition of a century of family photographs at Havana’s Museum of Natural History. In July 2018, Mallea installed an update of this exhibition in one of his family’s former homes in Gibara, Cuba as part of their annual film festival.
Mallea received a Bachelor of Architecture degree from the University of Miami, attended the Master’s Program in Historic Preservation at Columbia University. Mallea formed the award-winning interiors and architecture practice, M(Group), in 1983 with interior designer Carey Maloney. In 2021 he was honored with the Preservation League of New York State’s Pillar award recognizing his work in historic preservation in Cuba and the United States. Mallea is a board member of the Cintas Foundation which awards fellowships to Cuban artists working on and off the island. He is a founding board member of Havana Heritage Foundation which is sponsoring the creation of a new library of design books created to honor the memory of Eusebio Leal. More than 4,000 donated books have been shipped as of summer 2022. Mallea is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Finca Vigia Foundation which supports the preservation of Ernest Hemingway’s Havana home and his legacy in Cuba. Mallea is serving as a creative consultant bringing authentic Cuban style to two restaurants soon to open in London. He serves on the International Council of the Preservation Society of Newport County.
Prior to the program, We invite our Fellows Members to enjoy a Happy Hour from 5:00 – 6:00pm, downstairs in the Dr. Suzan D. Boyd Fellows Club Lounge.
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