We are sorry to announce that Cuban architect Ricardo Porro (1925) passed away on December 25, 2014, in Paris, France. [Many thanks to Dr. Michael Connors for providing this information. Here are excerpts (translated from the original obituary in Spanish) by Juan Luis Morales Menocal (of Atelier Morales). In the photo above, Ricardo Porro is shown at Atelier Morales, Paris, France.]
Born in the colonial city of Camagüey in 1925, Ricardo Porro graduated from the School of Architecture of Havana in the 40s. He took his first trip to Europe in 1948 when he studied at the Sorbonne and at the Institute of Urbanism in Paris. He later traveled to several European countries where he took courses at the School of the CIAM (Congrès internationaux d’architecture moderne) with leading architects and theorists of the Modern Movement such as Rogers, Gardella, Franco Albini and Bruno Zevi.
Back in Cuba in 1950, he conceived and performed his first works of architecture in Havana such as Villa Armanteros (1950), Villa Ennis (1953), Villa San Miguel (1953), Villa Villegas (1953), the Garcia House (1954), the Abad-Villegas House (1954), and the Timothy Ennis House (1957); these residences are among the most important works of the Cuban modern architecture movement, along with works by young modern architects of his generation, like Frank Martínez, Nicolás Quintana, Manuel Gutiérrez, Emilio del Junco, and others.
In the second half of the 50s he moved to Venezuela, where he was accepted as a professor of urbanism and architecture in the newly opened School of Architecture and Urbanism, which was inaugurated in 1954 at the University of Caracas. There he met many leading figures such as the well-known Venezuelan architect and theoretician Carlos Raúl Villanueva and Cuban artist Wifredo Lam, who, in 1957, painted one of the murals of the Ciudad Universitaria.
Returning to Cuba in 1959, architect Selma Díaz requested that Porro act as overall project coordinator of the National Art Schools in the Cubanacan neighborhood on the outskirts of Havana. For this project, Porro invited Italian architects Vittorio Garatti and Roberto Gottardi, who he had met in Caracas, Venezuela.
From 1961 to 1965, Porro, conceived and directed work on the School of Plastic Arts and Modern Dance, aided by a group of young students of architecture of the time. The Art Schools would represent one of the most important architectural projects made Latin America and undoubtedly the best known and written about work of Cuban architecture in the world.
Strong ideological and political struggles within the Cuban Revolution—and specifically, in the milieu of Cuban architects and builders—led Porro to migrate to Europe, definitely, settling in Paris in 1966 in.
From his arrival in France until 1992, Porro worked as a university professor in different schools of architecture in France (for example, in Strasbourg, La Villette, Lille) and later as a visiting professor in Berlin, Rabat, Gratz, New York, Havana, and Tel Aviv.
In 1966 Porro also began to participate in important architectural competitions such as the Palais de l’Air et de l’Espace (Paris) and the urban plan of the University of Villetaneuse, in collaboration with Polish architect André Mrowiec. His first work of architecture built in Europe was in 1969 when, at the request of Robert Altman—important art patron and collector—he designed the L’Or du Rhin Art Center in Vaduz, Liechtenstein.
From this moment, along with his work as a sculptor and painter, Porro accomplished germinal projects of architecture and urbanism, such as the Maison des Jeunes (also in Vaduz), a Vacation Village on the island of Vela Luka, in former Yugoslavia, and the Jardin du Paradis, Villa Isfahan (Iran, 1975).
Between 1975 and 1985, Porro, in association with architects Philippe Louguet, Jean Robien, and Jean-François Dechoux, completed various contest projects such as the École Gonzalo in Marne-la-Vallée, 1976; La Forêt homes, in Cergy-Pontoise, 1978; La Source Library, in Villeneuve d’Ascq, 1979-1980; the Dance School of the Ópera de París, 1983; and the expansion of the Hôtel de Ville of Saint-Denis, 1985.
After the revalidation of his architecture degree in France at the National Superior School of Architecture of Versailles, in 1986, he associated with the young architect Renaud de La Noue, to found an architecture agency in Paris. From that moment, his work as an architect and urban planner multiplied and developed exponentially, and he built 20 major projects including schools, hospitals, parks, office buildings, hotels and homes. [. . .]
For full obituary, see http://www.diariodecuba.com/cultura/1419609067_12021.html
Photo from http://www.cubacontemporanea.com/noticias/11981-fallecio-en-paris-el-arquitecto-cubano-ricardo-porro
For more information on Ricardo Porro, see:
http://www.revuedas.com/Conversation-avec-Ricardo-Porro
http://www.franceculture.fr/personne-ricardo-porro.html
http://www1.rfi.fr/actues/articles/116/article_12504.asp
Repeating Islands 