IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - 10

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What's New & of Note

When Starwood Hotels and Resorts closed three deals
in Cuba in March, it became the first U.S.-based hotel
company to enter the market since Cuba's communist
revolution in 1959.
"If an American interior designer was going to work
there, they could work under the license that Starwood has
for those three hotels. But you couldn't work for a fourth
hotel that didn't have a license," says Jose Gelabert-Navia,
regional director for Latin America at Perkins+Will in
Miami, Florida, USA. "It's a tricky political thing."
Starwood moved ahead quickly with renovations on
the Hotel Quinta Avenida Habana, which was built in
2010. Reopened as the Four Points by Sheraton Havana at
the end of June 2016, the hotel features a pink and white
marble floor in the lobby, along with Doric columns and
a fountain.
Starwood also has plans to renovate Havana's Hotel
Santa Isabel and the iconic Hotel Inglaterra, which was
originally opened in 1875. Hotel Inglaterra, with its stained
glass, imported Andalusian tile, and elaborate ceilings, has
a historic quality that Starwood will likely maintain when it
reopens the space in December 2018.
But because of constraints on materials, labor, and
permits, a new, unique Cuban style is arising in architecture

Photo by: YAMIL LAGE / Staff

THE SUN ALSO RISES

and design. This has led to some interesting material
innovations, says Gelabert-Navia, who was born in Cuba but
returned last November for the first time in 50 years.
"Almost everything really is imported," Gelabert-Navia
says. "The country really doesn't have a cottage industry of
most things the way other countries have."
Despite this, local materials and tradition are still used in
designs when possible. For example, many projects use locally
produced Cuban tile, which is actually colored concrete.
"There was a whole tradition in Cuba, since the 19th
century, of making these tiles with very beautiful, elaborate
patterns," he says. "It is full of jewels everywhere you look.
The old part of the city is a World Heritage site."
-Tegan Jones

The Four
Points by
Sheraton
Havana was
the first
U.S.-based
hospitality
company
to enter the
Cuban market
since the
country's 1959
communist
revolution.



http://www.hightoweraccess.com http://www.hightoweraccess.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017

IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017
Contents
From IIDA
Next
World View
Sum of Its Parts
Talk, Talk
Pre/Post
Data Viz
A Common Good
Pop Goes Design
A New School of Thought
Balancing Act
Scratch Pad
Insider Intel
Sound Bytes
IIDA News + Updates
Why This Design Works
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - Cover2
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - 1
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - Contents
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - 3
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - 4
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - From IIDA
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - Next
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - 7
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - 8
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - 9
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - 10
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - 11
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - World View
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - 13
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - Sum of Its Parts
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - 15
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - Talk, Talk
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - 17
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - Pre/Post
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - 19
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - Data Viz
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - 21
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - 22
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - 23
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - A Common Good
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - 25
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - 26
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - 27
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - 28
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - 29
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - 30
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - 31
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - Pop Goes Design
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - 33
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - 34
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - 35
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - 36
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - 37
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - A New School of Thought
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - 39
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - 40
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - 41
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - 42
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - 43
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - Balancing Act
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - 45
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - 46
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - 47
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - Scratch Pad
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - 49
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - Insider Intel
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - 51
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - Sound Bytes
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - 53
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - IIDA News + Updates
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - 55
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - Why This Design Works
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - Cover3
IIDA Perspective - Spring/Summer 2017 - Cover4
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