# An Art Deco Tour Unlocks Havana's Treasury of Stylish Buildings

> Havana hides a stunning treasury of Art Deco architecture. See how a city tour reveals the glamour and luxury of a bygone era across its stylish buildings.

- URL: https://langandtrip.com.ua/en/article/tur-u-styli-ardeko-rozkryvaie-skarbnytsiu-stylnykh-budivel-havany/
- Language: en
- Published: 2024-09-19
- Categories: Culture, Historic Sites, Museums, Tours, Cuba

---
Cuba's capital, Havana, boasts one of the world's most significant yet often overlooked treasuries of Art Deco architecture.

Successfully blending architecture, interior design, fashion and the visual arts, this decorative movement left a wide-reaching mark on the Caribbean island.

Spanning the "Roaring Twenties" and carrying on into the depression-hit 1930s, Art Deco came to embody all the glamour, luxury, freedom and hedonism of the post-First World War Jazz Age.

The Art Deco aesthetic is defined by sweeping lines, geometric shapes, new materials and bold, sometimes garish colours.

In Cuba, the rule of twice-elected president General Gerardo Machado (1925-1933) saw the movement reach its greatest heights.

Influenced by trends from abroad, Cuban architects wove Art Deco features into a series of buildings across Havana, often drawing on tropical motifs such as palms and pineapples, as well as African iconography.

## Saved From Demolition

Cuba's communist era helped preserve much of Havana's iconic Art Deco architecture from the wrecking ball, though it also meant that many of these buildings now stand in a sorry state of neglect.

Times are slowly changing, however; in 2013, Cuba hosted the Art Deco Congress for the first time, and organisations such as Habana Deco are now working hard to promote and protect the country's Art Deco heritage.

Art Deco architecture tours in Havana can be arranged through the British travel company Cuba Direct.