The weather is its best ally: 85 years of Bacardi

The Bacardi building celebrates 85 years since it was completed. The passage of time makes it increasingly valuable

Written by Ortelio Rodríguez Alba

Just before 2016, the old Bacardi building remains one of the greatest flagships of Art Deco, excellently preserved in Havana.

Cubans come and go around it, guarding the carters and the “best fruit” of the country, and the natural bustle still fails to break the excellence of its soft and hard lines

The Bacardi building has just celebrated 85 years since being constructed and the passage of time makes it more valuable each day. Completed in December 1930, the building was the architectural symbol of Bacardi in Havana. The power and splendour of the rum company at that time had to be represented at the headquarters of the West. And that icon of greatness went around the world.

The work not only excels for its dimensions, thanks to which it became the tallest building on the island during the 1930s, but also because of its elegance and the refinement of its design. The building, of steel and concrete, also contains various shades of marble, from several European countries, and both its ceilings, walls and floors are lined with pink granite from Bavaria.

The Bacardi Building initiated the first use of soft green marble in Cuba with the two halls covered in it and the erection of an Art Deco building in the city. This last element of art has motivated the visit to the building of thirty participants during the Art Deco Congress, held in Havana. The architecture and decorative pieces that it houses are eponymous examples of that style in the capital.

Construction was channelled by the project of Esteban Rodríguez Castells, along with Rafael Fernandez and Jose Menendez. The execution, after an auction, was offered to the firm of Arellano and Mendoza.

The tower crowning the building exhibits a bat, the symbol of brotherhood and genesis of the Bacardi logo. From the top one can enjoy an impressive view of the cityscape.

With the city noise and without it (on limited occasions), and just before 2016, the old Bacardi building remains one of the greatest flagships of Art Deco, excellently preserved in Havana.

Translated by ESTI