Unfinished Spaces

In 1961, three young visionary architects were given the task by Fidel Castro and Che Guevara to design ‘state of the art’ art academies on a former golf court in Havana. Set in a sumptuous scenery, the buildings have been dilapidating for more than four decades now. Documentary dealing with half a decade of Cuban history.

Under the banner Cuba’s National Art Schools the inspiring buildings were meant as creative, artistic learning environments for students from all art disciplines. Giving free reign to their creativity, the architects enthusiastically began creating and building their radical designs. However, the rise of Communism and the closer ties with the Soviet Union threw a spanner in the works. Soon, the designs were judged irrelevant and the architects had to work on cheap, prefabricated buildings along the lines of the Soviet model. Now, more than forty years later, the derelict school buildings have still not been completed, waiting for better times to come. There is hope on the horizon when out of the blue Castro launches a plan to renovate the schools and complete them after all. But this might well come too late for the three architects.