Edificio Bacardí (La Habana) - La Habana, Cuba
Posted by: 
Ariberna
N 23° 08.333 W 082° 21.427
17Q E 361054 N 2559540
The Bacardi building is a construction located in Havana on Avenida de Excelencia No. 261 between Empedrado and San Juan de Dios, in the old part of the city.
Waymark Code: WM14NBE
Location: Cuba
Date Posted: 07/31/2021
Views: 0
History
The building was commissioned to the architects Rafael Fernández Ruenes, Esteban Rodríguez Castell and José Menéndez, by the rum company Bacardí SA . This Art Deco gem was completed in 1930 and was once the tallest structure in the city. The land where it was built was part of the old Havana neighborhood of Las Murallas. In this place were the headquarters of the company. The rest of the building was leased to different companies and companies based in the city. After the triumph of the Cuban Revolution and the nationalization laws carried out by the new socialist government, foreign companies based on the island abandon it. The Bacardi building continued to serve as an office building. At the end of the '90s it was restored under a project of the Office of the City Historian. Today it continues to serve as an office building for this institution.
Structure
The structure of the building is made of steel and concrete . Its facades are made of natural granite , terracotta and pressed bricks. Its shape is made up of the central body that is staggered in its ascent until it reaches the tower with a hipped roof that identifies it, where the bronze bat was located, symbol of the company, supported by a polyhedron of glass with armor of metal that glows from within at night. The entrance hall was externally decorated with marblewine red in color, exemplifying the color of rum honeys. Bright yellow ceramic stoneware tiles were used on the upper floors, representing the white-gold rums that were the ones that contributed to the world fame of Bacardi rums. The upper floor and the central tower show a careful design of polychrome tiles that alternate blue and brown stripes, with decorated panels. 1The most lavish decorations were placed in the interior spaces on the ground floor and the mezzanine. A small portal gave access to the lobby and to the right was the exhibition hall, decorated with pilasters of gilded capitals, stepped beams and finely designed lamps. In this, the openings of the mezzanine where the guest bar was located, veneered in wood and with stylized palm trees at the door of the bathrooms.
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