Montreal Archives - Carlos the architect

03/11/2013 admin 0

Episode 1: Montreal It was a dark sombre evening in Montreal where, in early autumn, the weather can alternate between summer and winter in the […]

26/07/2013 admin 0

It is 1956 – some parts of the world are dealing with post-war austerity; while others are making money as playgrounds for the rich and […]

Architecture is in my blood, having had a great-grandfather who had been a well-known architect in Glasgow, Scotland, before he immigrated to Chicago in the 1850’s where he rose to become the City Architect. Today I combine running a successful architectural practice in Havana and Miami with my role as Professor of Architecture at Havana University.

My father had wanted me to be a lawyer and, to please him, I studied law for a year, but gave up and then moved to Columbia University in New York to complete my architectural training. My mother Ana is a beautiful socialite in Havana society, plays the piano as proficiently as any professional pianist and, as a patron of the arts, has built up one of the largest private collections of contemporary art in Cuba, much of it by local artists who are invited to open house on Sunday afternoons, so I grew up and still live in a unique environment where there is always music and artistic discussion. My father Juan is an executive in the Bacardi Company, ambitious for his only son, but I persuaded him to allow me to follow my heart and become an architect. My mother tells me that many consider me to be the most eligible bachelor in Havana, if not all of Cuba, perhaps because, even though I am thirty years old, I have no intention of settling down to married life. This frustrates my parents and the long list of young ladies my parents introduce how to view someones private instagram photos me to at their house parties.