LITERATURE + LECTURES

The Houston Seminar presents Encounter Cuban Style. Two Thursdays, November 3 and December 1, 6:00-7:30 p.m. The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, 5601 Main Street at Binz American General Conference Room, Mezzanine Level, Audrey Jones Beck Building.

November 3: The Architecture of Havana with Stephen Fox

As one of the oldest cities in the western hemisphere, Havana possesses an extraordinary legacy of architecture. Habana Vieja (Old Havana, pictured), on the west shore of the harbor, is the colonial core, noted for its narrow streets and arcaded stone buildings. Centro Habana stretches to the west, followed by Vedado and Miramar, the upscale and increasingly suburban sectors of the 20th century. Colonial churches, grandly scaled classical buildings dating from the time of Cuban independence; exuberant Art Deco landmarks, and daring mid-twentieth-century modern architecture represent the eras of Havana's growth.

Stephen Fox is an acclaimed architectural historian and a Fellow of the Anchorage Foundation of Texas.

December 1: Cuban American architect and historian Hermes Mallea takes us inside the greatest residences of Havana via his new book, Great Houses of Havana: A Century of Cuban Style (The Monacelli Press, 2011).

The book traces the evolution of the Cuban home from the classic Spanish colonial courtyard house to the "Tropical Modernist" villas of the 1950s, celebrating 100 years of creativity, design and a singular Cuban style. With Hermes Mallea, we will be introduced to the larger-than-life personalities and patrons who made Havana the "Paris of the Caribbean."

Hermes Mallea is a partner in M(Group), an interiors and architecture firm based in New York. 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 and his business partner, Carey Maloney, have lectured on interior design and historic architecture in New York, Houston, Mexico City, Istanbul and aboard the Queen Mary 2.