Alternative Initiatives CUBA Conference

Alternative Initiatives Cuba is the first in a series of groundbreaking conferences that investigate the influence of a country’s political, economic and social conditions on its architecture. The conference will speculate on the future of architecture and development in Cuba. The conference series is run by NOUS, the innovative architecture gallery and collaborative based in London. The event is curated by Melissa Woolford of NOUS and Francisco Gonzales de Canales and Nuria Lombardero of Canales & Lombardero. Participants Dr. Mario Coyula Cowley Dr. Francisco Gómez Díaz Francisco Gonzales de Canales Edgar Gonzales Dr. Eusebio Leal Spengler Nuria Alvarez Lombardero Ricardo Porro NOUS NOUS is a London-based collaborative consisting of a gallery, consultancy, and network, with an initiative to promote and facilitate realised work and research by architects and designers. NOUS’ Director is Melissa Woolford, who founded the collaborative in 2007. Melissa previously worked as an architectural designer for Zaha Hadid Architects and has a Masters in Architecture from Pratt Institute. NOUS 4M, a sister company, has recently been formed to provide fabrication facilities, office space, and educational resources to architects and designers. Nuria Alvarez Lombardero studied architecture at ETSA Madrid and the Housing and Urbanism MA at the AA. She has worked for Machado & Silvetti in Boston and was part of the editorial board of Neutra magazine. She has co-directed Canales & Lombardero since 2003, lectured at the University of Seville and worked as a researcher at Harvard University, the University of Cambridge and the AA. She is Inter 8 Unit master at the AA. She is currently finalising her PhD on the dissolution of boundaries traced by modern urban planning. Dr. Mario Coyula Cowley is a leading authority on Cuban architecture and architectural history. He has served as a visiting professor at Harvard University, is a full professor at the Faculty of Architecture of Havana and is vice-director of the Group for the Integrated Development of the Capital. Dr. Coyula is also a member of several commissions, scientific councils and advisory councils. He is a co-author of the book Havana: Two Faces of the Antillean Metropolis (London and Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina, 2002). Dr. Francisco Gómez Díaz is an architect, coordinator of the AECID (Spanish Agency for International Cooperation and Development) and the CICOT-JA (International Cooperation for the Public Development Council-Junta de Andalucía) in Cuba, professor at the University of Seville, honorary collaborator at the University of Oriente, Santiago de Cuba, and author of several books on Cuban architecture including Aprendiendo de La Habana and De Forestier a Sert: ciudad y arquitectura en La Habana (1925-1960). He is also the secretary for the Fundación Arquitectura Contemporánea and member of the urban think tank La Ciudad Viva. Francisco Gonzales de Canales studied architecture at ETSA Seville, ETSA Barcelona and Harvard University, and worked for Foster + Partners and Rafael Moneo before establishing Canales & Lombardero. An active architectural critic, he has previously lectured in England, Mexico, Spain and the USA, collaborated and worked in different architectural publications including Abitare, ARQ, Arquitectura COAM or Metalocus, and directed the architectural magazine Neutra for five years. He is currently the AACP coordinator, inter 8 unit master and MA Histories & Theories tutor at the Architectural Association. He has recently completed his PhD on the radical domestic self-experimentations of the 1940s and 1950s. Edgar Gonzalez is a leading architect in London and one half of BrisacGonzalez. Edgar Gonzalez has over twenty years experience working in the UK, France, Germany, Holland, Sweden, and the United States on cultural, commercial and residential buildings. Edgar received a master’s degree from Columbia University in New York City. Dr. Eusebio Leal Spengler is the Havana City Historian, director of the restoration program of Old Havana and its historical center, UNESCO World Heritage Site, Deputy to the National Assembly of the Popular Power in the IV, V and I SAW Legislature, Ambassador of Good Will of the United Nations, the University of Havana. He is President of the Commission of Monuments in the City of Havana and a specialist in Archeological Sciences. Ricardo Porro is a Cuban-born architect and lecturer now practicing in France. His projects include numerous villas in Havana, the Cuban School of Fine Art and the Cuban School of Modern Dance.