Nicolás Quintana (January 26, 1925May 31, 2011) was a Cuban-born architect and one of the frontrunners of
modernist architecture
Modern architecture, also called modernist architecture, or the modern movement, is an architectural architectural movement, movement and architectural style, style that was prominent in the 20th century, between the earlier Art Deco Architectu ...
in Cuba.
Early life
Nicolás José Braulio del Carmen Quintana y Gómez Arango Díaz was born on January 26, 1925, in
Havana, Cuba
Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center. Quintana was the son of a prominent Cuban architect, Nicolás Quintana Arango and Carmen Gómez Diaz. He lived his early years in
Vedado
Vedado (, ) is a central business district and urban neighborhood in the city of Havana, Cuba. Bordered on the east by Calzada de Infanta and Centro Habana, Cuba, Central Havana, and on the west by the Alemendares River and Miramar, Havana, Mir ...
and later in Miramar.
Following in his father's footsteps, he enrolled at the School of Architecture at the
University of Havana
The University of Havana (UH; ) is a public university located in the Vedado district of Havana, the capital of Cuba. Founded on 5 January 1728, the university is the oldest in Cuba, and one of the first to be founded in the Americas. Originall ...
. He was one of the architectural students who participated in the "Burning of the Viñolas" event in the courtyard of the School of Architecture's library in 1944.
Career
After his father died in 1950, he graduated and became co-director of Moenck & Quintana in February 1951. In less than a decade he designed two dozen projects which consisted mostly of private houses and resorts.
Quintana formally represented Cuba at the
Congrès Internationaux d'Architecture Moderne
The ''Congrès Internationaux d'Architecture Moderne'' (CIAM), or International Congresses of Modern Architecture, was an organization founded in 1928 and disbanded in 1959, responsible for a series of events and congresses arranged across Europ ...
in
Aix-en-Provence
Aix-en-Provence, or simply Aix, is a List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, city and Communes of France, commune in southern France, about north of Marseille. A former capital of Provence, it is the Subprefectures in France, s ...
in 1953 and
Dubrovnik
Dubrovnik, historically known as Ragusa, is a city in southern Dalmatia, Croatia, by the Adriatic Sea. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations in the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean, a Port, seaport and the centre of the Dubrovni ...
in 1956.
Following the establishment of the National Planning Board in 1955, he oversaw the master plans for the cities of Varadero and Trinidad as a director of Public Works.
In 1958, he was commissioned to design and build the new National Bank of Cuba building in Havana. When the revolution triumphed in 1959, Quintana was accused of being a conspirator by
Che Guevara
Ernesto "Che" Guevara (14th May 1928 – 9 October 1967) was an Argentines, Argentine Communist revolution, Marxist revolutionary, physician, author, Guerrilla warfare, guerrilla leader, diplomat, and Military theory, military theorist. A majo ...
and he was given three options for punishment: exile, incarceration, or the firing squad. He firmly ended his career in Cuba by choosing exile. On January 8, 1960, he was forced into exile following the Castro revolution. He moved to Venezuela and then Puerto Rico where he continued work as an architect, before eventually settling down in Miami by the 1980s.
Teaching career
Quintana began his teaching career in the Department of Architecture at
Florida International University
Florida International University (FIU) is a public research university with its main campus in Westchester, Florida, United States. Founded in 1965 by the Florida Legislature, the school opened to students in 1972. FIU is the third-largest univ ...
in 1986, where he taught until 2010. He retired as professor emeritus for health reasons.
Death
Nicolás Quintana died in Miami, Florida, on May 31, 2011.
References
External links
*Th Nicolás Quintana Papers are held at the Cuban Heritage Collection, University of Miami Libraries,
University of Miami
The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private university, private research university in Coral Gables, Florida, United States. , the university enrolled 19,852 students in two colleges and ten schools across over ...