The Architectural Treasures of Cuba: Access Renewed

April 15-22, 2012

Arranged by Cuba Cultural Travel in collaboration with Classical Excursions

In an effort to support meaningful travel by Americans, the Obama administration has created the People to People travel program that permits its citizens to visit Cuba legally for the first time in eight years. Cuba Cultural Travel, which has designed and is managing the itinerary for this tour in collaboration with Classical Excursions, has been licensed by the Treasury Department to operate People to People tours.

The program will focus on providing the type of intimate interaction and privileged access travelers have come to expect from Classical Excursions’ tours for the Institute of Classical Architecture & Art. Throughout our tour we will enjoy the type of intimate personal exchanges that build lifelong memories.

Thanks in part to history and ideology, Cuba, and especially Havana, is a treasure trove of architectural styles spanning six centuries. With buildings dating from the 16th through the 19th centuries, Havana is perhaps the most authentic colonial city in the Americas. Since 1982, when the city became a UNESCO World Heritage site, the government has embarked on an ambitious preservation and restoration program concentrated in the Old City. However, a severe lack of funding and materials has hampered efforts. Therefore, the decay and neglect of the past 40 years coupled with the destructive tropical weather continues to claim buildings every year.

Most of the architectural styles imported from Europe—including Renaissance, Baroque, Neoclassical, Neo-gothic, the Moorish mudejar and even Art Deco—are well represented in Havana and other cities in Cuba in ecclesiastical and civic buildings and large private villas. Similarly, the Spanish emphasis on urban planning as a complement to colonization can be seen in the precise urban grids and the numerous military fortifications throughout the country. Yet, there are distinctly Cuban elements that developed which are expressed in terms of colors, textures, details, materials, lighting, and in the spatial arrangements that address the tropical climate.

By the late 19th century, Cuba was educating its own architects and engineers in established university programs and architecture schools; and by the end of World War I, specialized design journals published on the island played the important role of disseminating ideas and providing a forum for the discourse of architectural ideologies from Europe and the United States. Due to a number of converging circumstances, the four decades between 1925 and 1965 saw an unprecedented richness and variety in Cuban modern architecture, not to mention a drastic alteration of the Havana skyline. While the regime, since 1959, has mostly promoted utilitarian architecture based upon the former Soviet model, Cuba today affords a rich variety of architectural and urban planning examples.

Itinerary Highlights:

• Guided tour of old town Havana lead by staff from the office of the City Historian, Mr. Eusebio Leal. Highlights include the Plaza de Armas, Palacio de los Capitanes Generales, Palacio del Segundo Cabo, and the Catedral de San Cristobal de La Habana.
• Eclectic Havana tour, visiting the Neoclassical banks of Cuba’s Wall Street lead by Architect Maria Elena Martin.
• Art Deco tour, visiting the Bacardi building and Havana’s majestic Theatres.
• Lectures on Cuban architecture by Architect Victor Marin, vice director of the Cuban National Center for Conservation, Restoration and Museum Studies.
  * Guided visit to the famous Cuban Art Schools by one of its designers Architect Roberto Gottardi.
• Visit to Museum of Decorative Arts and several restored mansions.
• Tours of the Capitolio Nacional and the Gran Teatro.
• Two nights in the provincial towns of Cinfuegos and Trinidad. Cinfeugos is a town laid out in the 18th century in the neo-classical style, while Trinidad has its origins in the 16th century and is a Unesco World Heritage Site.
• A five night stay at the Parque Central Hotel located in the heart of Old Havana.

AIA LUs available.

Space is limited, early registration required. Please contact Lani Summerville to reserve a space. Lani@classicalexcursions.com or (413) 528-3359.

Tour price including airfare: $4600 per person based on double occupancy, $5050 per person single occupancy; plus a $500 tax-deductible donation to the Institute.

Rome Through the Eyes of Piranesi: Drawing and Painting Tour

June 9–16, 2012

Join experienced instructors of the ICAA and affiliated institutions for this opportunity to experience Rome while honing your observational drawing and painting skills. Participants at all levels will be provided with a practical knowledge of the classical tradition as manifested in Rome, and ample opportunity for the observation and representation of classical architecture. This signature study and drawing tour is open to all architects, artists, and like-minded individuals. Credit hours from this trip may be counted toward the completion of the Certificate in Classical Architecture.

Watch the video from last year’s tour.

Application Deadline: March 1, 2012.
Program Fee: $2,400 ($2,150 Members).
Includes cost of instruction, lecture fees, day trip fees, opening reception and closing dinner, museum entrance fees, and double accommodation. A limited number of single rooms are available for an additional supplement. Prices are subject to change due to currency exchange rates.
Continuing Education Hours: 40 (15 HSW) AIA/CES CEHs available.

For more information, please email us at education@classicist.org, or call 212.730.9646 × 116

INSTRUCTOR BIOS

Richard Wilson Cameron
Richard Cameron was educated at the University of Toronto and Princeton.  He also spent a year in Rome teaching for the University of Notre Dame’s Rome Studies Program.  In 1992 Richard co-founded the Institute of Classical Architecture (now the Institute of Classical Architecture & Classical America). Richard has taught drawing and the history of architectural theory at the Institute since its foundation, and currently serves on the board of Directors as its Vice-Chairman.  He is also the Chairman of the Institute’s Education Committee.  He was awarded first prize in the Royal Oak Foundation’s Annual Architecture Competition in 1993.  His work has appeared in House and Garden; The New York Times; Period Homes; New Old House; Traditional Building; and various other books and journals throughout his career.  

Michael Djordjevitch
Michael Djordjevitch studied Architecture at the University of Toronto, receiving his B. Arch in 1979.  He then worked at the Royal Ontario Museum and taught at the School of Architecture of the University of Toronto, while taking courses in Art History.  His principal teacher was Prof. Hans Luecke.  In 1988 he was accepted into the History and Theory Program of the School of Architecture of Princeton University, receiving his Masters in 1991.  The following year he was received into the Graduate Program of the American School of Classical Studies in Athens, completing the program and becoming a Fellow of the School in 1993.  Throughout the 90’s he worked as one of the two Architects for the Agora Excavations of the American School of Classical Studies in Athens.  In 2001 be began to teach for the Architecture Program of the University of Notre Dame in Rome.  Following the completion of his term in 2003, he was invited to the home campus as a visiting critic for the next several years. 

Patrick Connors
Patrick Connors is a 1980 graduate of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Certificate Program. There, he studied primarily under Arthur DeCosta and was awarded the Perspective Prize. In 1982 he graduated from the University of Pennsylvania. His work is exhibited internationally and in the past decade has been in solo or group venues at the National Academy of Design, New York Academy of Art, Butler Institute of American Art, Meredith Long & Company, Pierrepont Fine Arts, Arcadia Gallery, and Hirschl & Adler Galleries. His paintings, drawings, designs, and murals are included in private and public collections. In 2002, Connors was awarded an Oxford University Summer Residency Fellowship in painting and anatomy. In 1998 he was awarded a Pollock Krasner Foundation Grant for painting and in 1999 was the select alternate for a Senior Research Fulbright Scholarship for Italy. He teaches in the Graduate School of the New York Academy of Art, Grand Central Academy of Art, Institute of Classical Architecture, Studio Incamminati, and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Among the institutions at which he has lectured are Yale University Art Gallery, Water Street Atelier, Drexel School of Medicine, Classical America: Philadelphia Chapter, the Philadelphia Museum of Art. In fall 2009 he was a visiting artist at Savannah College of Art and Design.

Image: Temple of Castor and Pollux, 2011 by Patrick Connors

Discovering the Treasures of Bordeaux: Exemplary 17th to 21st Century Architecture, Decorative Arts, Châteaux & Gardens

June 17 – 23, 2012

Arranged by Pamela Huntington Darling, Exclusive Cultural Travel Programs

The City of Bordeaux, Port of the Moon, is described on the UNESCO World Heritage list as “an inhabited historic city, an outstanding urban and architectural ensemble, created in the Age of Enlightenment, whose values continued up to the first half of the 20th century.”

The Bordeaux region, a place of exchange and commerce for over 2,000 years, thanks also to its production of fine wine, has, after Paris, more edifices on the national list of Historic Monuments than any other city in France, priding majestic Neo-Classical buildings.

The creation of Bordeaux’ unique ensemble of 18th century public buildings, residences, streets and squares is a tribute to the philosophers of the French Enlightenment who influenced by their beliefs the city’s planning: to produce admirable buildings—theatres, town halls, other official sites, and private mansions—in an imposing planned setting—with squares, parks, walks, fountains and inspiring perspectives.

By the middle of the 18th century, ancient Greece and Andrea Palladio became the principal references to the new “Neo-Classical style”. 20th and 21st century architects have continued in this honourable tradition designing remarkable buildings in Bordeaux and its wine region.

During our exclusive tour with our expert lecturer, we will enjoy private visits of the city, its majestic buildings and town houses in the historic center of Bordeaux. We will have a special visit of Le Corbusier’s “Cite Fruges” based on a 50-house development plan, in Pessac.

We will also enjoy private visits, luncheons and dinners at Bordeaux’ most prestigious chateaux, celebrated for their architecture—ancient and contemporary—and fine wine, such as: Chateau Cheval Blanc, featuring a wine cellar created by architect Christian de Portzamparc (Pritzker Prize 1994); Chateau Lafite Rothschild, whose circular wine cellar with Neo-Classic pillars was designed by architect Ricardo Bofill (Pritzker Prize 2004); Chateau Cos d’Estournel, famous for a combination of oriental features of the late 18th century and a 21st century wine cellar by architect Jean-Michel Wilmotte; Chateau Haut Brion, the first Bordeaux wine to be imported to the U.S. by Thomas Jefferson; Chateau Pape Clement, with seven centuries of history; and Château Margaux, celebrating pure Palladian style, interior decor recently renovated by French classical interior designer Francois-Joseph Graf.

We will reside at the 5-star luxury Grand Hotel de Bordeaux & Spa, a Historic Monument, member of the “Leading Hotels of the World”, recently renovated by French interior designer Jacques Garcia. Situated on a splendid square, the hotel was designed by classical architect Victor Louis, who was also responsible for the remarkable Grand Theatre, opposite the hotel. View hotel website here.

The Institute of Classical Architecture & Art and Pamela Huntington Darling, specializing in organizing inimitable cultural travel programs, welcome you to join us for this exclusive cultural program.

For more information or to register, please call +33 1 45 67 62 81 or email: pdarling@exclusiveculturaltours.com.

Members at the Contributor or Individual ~ Professional level or higher are welcome to attend our tours. Members at the Donor level and higher receive Priority Registration E-alerts before the general public. Join online today or call (212) 730-9646, extension 104 to upgrade your membership.

In addition, participants are required to make a contribution to the Institute’s Annual Fund —which help to further our mission of advancing the practice and appreciation of the classical tradition in architecture and the allied arts. This contribution is fully tax-deductible.

Second Image: Place de la Bourse, Jean-Bernard Nadeau, photographer