Evelio Govantes Fuertes. Cuban architect and civil engineer. Member of the National Academy of Arts and Letters , he was involved in the design, construction and remodeling of important works.
Summary
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- 1 Biographical summary
- 1 Childhood and youth
- 2 Career path
- 2 external links
- 3 Fuente
biographical synthesis
childhood and youth
He studied Architecture at the University of Havana , where he graduated in 1907 . Together with the architect Félix Cabarrocas Ayala , he created the firm Govantes y Cabarrocas, which designed and built outstanding works such as urban milestones in the city of Havana, which have been recognized internationally.
Career path
In 1916 the firm designed the Freyre de Andrade General Hospital, whose construction was undertaken by the architect Rodolfo Morari , within the canons of classicism. In 1924 the construction of the Palacio de las Cariátides was completed, designed as the headquarters of the exclusive Unión Club, for men of high society. Building that was rehabilitated in 1998 by the architect Miguel Viera Medal, to house the headquarters of the Cultural Center of Spain in Havana.
As of 1925 , the firm Govantes y Cabarrocas resumed the project, begun in 1917 , for the construction of the National Capitol . The initial design was modified to give greater relief and monumentality to components such as the staircase and the dome, and new elements were introduced such as the large pilasters of the side porticoes. The building, whose cost reached seventeen million pesos, was inaugurated on May 20, 1929 , during the governorship of Gerardo Machado .
In 1928 Govantes and Cabarrocas undertook a new work: the residence of Dr. Juan Pedro Baró and his wife, Catalina Lasa (today Casa de la Amistad). Both architects designed the exterior, in the style of the Italian Renaissance. Inside, the art deco decoration was carried out by the French designer René Lalique .
In 1929 they carried out the project for the construction of the Ludgardita working-class neighborhood, in the industrial area of Rancho Boyeros , on the outskirts of Havana. The first of its kind in Latin America, the project consisted of one hundred homes with childcare services, a school, a hospital and a theater, among other facilities.
In 1930 the firm executed the remodeling of the Palacio de los Capitanes Generales , former headquarters of the representatives of the Spanish colonial government in Cuba . Since 1920 , the building housed the headquarters of the Havana City Council and, filled with offices and metropolitan dependencies, was in a terrible state of conservation. Govantes and Cabarrocas —with the advice of José Manuel Ximénez— undertook a capital remodeling, which included repairs to the interior of the palace: walls, ceilings, floors, carpentry, stairs, electrical installations.
The monument dedicated to Christopher Columbus , which stood in the center of the courtyard since 1862 , was also restored. At the same time, the Govantes-Cabarrocas team designed and built, with notable influence from the art deco style, the América Arias Maternity Hospital, in Havana ‘s Vedado .
Between 1944 and 1948 they designed the National Museum of Fine Arts ( Cuba ), made up of reinforced concrete volumes, with continuous horizontal windows, accentuated stairwells and monumentalized main entrances, and built with marble and calcareous stone. Small overhangs with sculptural groups by Cuban artists stood out in it, among which the sculptural group form, space, light -made in white marble from the Isle of Pines- by the sculptress Rita Longa is relevant .
In 1948 , the Library building of the Friends of the Country Economic Society was inaugurated on Avenida de Carlos III in Havana, to commemorate the 155th anniversary of the foundation of the Society. In the work, a storage tower, spacious and ventilated reading areas and an assembly hall stood out.
In 1957 the firm built the José Martí National Library building in the Plaza Cívica, now Plaza de la Revolución José Martí , in which volumes designed with different scales stood out, and a central volume marked by an accentuated verticality with rows of windows . The main access to the building, of monumental character, was emphasized with bas-reliefs in honor of famous figures of international culture. Marble and calcareous stone were used for its construction. In 1960 they completed, in the same square, the work of the Municipal Palace -currently the Ministry of the Revolutionary Armed Forces ( MINFAR ).)-, post-rationalist style, with volumetric and monumental autonomy within the urban planning of the city of Havana.