The FOCSA Building is a residential and commercial block in the Vedado neighborhood of Havana , Cuba. At 121 meters (397 ft), it was the tallest building in Cuba for over 6 decades until the construction of La Torre López-Callejas . It was named after the contracting company Fomento de Obras y Construcciones, Sociedad Anónima , and the architects were Ernesto Gómez Sampera (1921–2004), Mercedes Diaz (his wife), and Martín Domínguez Esteban (1897-1970), who was the architect of the Radiocentro CMQ Building . The structural engineer was Luis Sáenz Duplace, of the firm Sáenz, Cancio & Martín, and professor of engineering at the University of Havana . The civil engineers were Bartolome Bestard and Manuel Padron. Gustavo Becquer and Fernando H.Meneses were the mechanical and electrical engineers, respectively. It is located on a site bordered by Calles 17 and M and Calles 19 and N in the Vedado .
31-544: The building was built between 1954 and 1956, is 121 metres (394 feet), and located in the Vedado section of Havana . In 1952 the CMQ Radio and TV Network located at Calle Rampa and M in el Vedado planned to provide administrative offices, a radio station and housing for employees. CMQ selected a 110,000 sq. ft. plot of land costing approximately 700,000 pesos. The company Fomento de Hipotecas Aseguradas (FHA) financed 80% of
62-416: A film. Gutiérrez Alea also comments that the author, Desnoes, was fully conscious of the fact that his book would be changed as it was made into a movie, and therefore he was able to keep a positive attitude. Desnoes ended up attending shooting sessions and making valuable suggestions. Desnoes commented that the film achieved a level of artistic success that the novel missed because Gutiérrez Alea “objectivized
93-413: A maid's room. The cost of the apartments was $ 21,500 for the larger units in the center and $ 17,500 for the smaller ones. An additional $ 30 per floor was charged the higher up in the building the unit was located; the highest apartments were the first to be sold. Located in the tower are the building's four tenant and two service elevators and two sets of stairs. One of the service elevators is dedicated to
124-459: A plinth made possible by the structural walls which stop below this floor. Each penthouse is the size of two apartments (A+B, C+D, E+F, etc.). The penthouses have a dedicated elevator and patio-courtyards open to the sky. All apartment floors are terrazzo on cinders. The site is divided into three parts: Apartments are a one-half level up or down from the service and tenant corridors. A typical floor contains 13 apartments; five have two bedrooms and
155-402: A supermarket, a bank, a post office, theaters, and two radio stations are also located on the ground floor. (COCO and Radio Metropolitana) There are various cafés situated around the perimeter of the site and along a double-loaded corridor traversing the site from Calle M to N. Light filters to the interior corridor from openings in the podium. On the second floor are the administrative offices for
186-651: A visitor's visa in 1970 when he attempted to enter the US to receive several awards he had won for Memories of Underdevelopment , using the Trading with the Enemy Act as justification. Sergio's apartment in the film was a penthouse in the FOCSA Building . The film adaptation has generally been regarded as an improvement on the novel. In an interview in 1999, Sergio Corrieri was quoted stating, “I think that Memories
217-503: A world that was shapeless… and still abstract in the book” by adding “social density.” Desnoes appears himself as a panelist in a round table. The film was poorly received by some critics because Sergio was an unconventional protagonist. The author of the novel, Edmundo Desnoes, writes of Sergio in Cine Cubano, “that is the tragedy of Sergio. His irony, his intelligence, is a defense mechanism which prevents him from being involved in
248-545: Is a central business district and urban neighborhood in the city of Havana , Cuba . Bordered on the east by Calzada de Infanta and Central Havana , and on the west by the Alemendares River and Miramar / Playa district, Vedado is a more modern part of the city than the areas to the east, developed in the first half of the 20th century, during the Republic period. In 2016 it was described by one commentator as
279-478: Is a 1968 Cuban drama film directed and co-written by Tomás Gutiérrez Alea . The story is based on a novel by Edmundo Desnoes entitled Inconsolable Memories ( Memorias del Subdesarrollo ). It was Gutiérrez Alea's fifth film, and probably his most famous worldwide. The film gathered several awards at international film festivals. It was elected the 144th best film of all time in the Sight & Sound 2012 poll. It
310-503: Is a complex character study of alienation during the turmoil of social changes. The film is told in a highly subjective point of view through a fragmented narrative that resembles the way memories function. Throughout the film, Sergio narrates the action, and at times is used as a tool to present bits of political information about the climate in Cuba at the time. In several instances, real-life documentary footage of protests and political events
341-403: Is a ramp to the street located at the corner of 19th and M; the podium was used as a staging area during the construction of the project. Below the podium at the fourth level are building offices. Marked by a two-lane covered porte-cochѐre at street level is the building's entrance. Inside is the building desk, a large waiting area, and the tenant elevator lobby. The restaurant “El Emperador,” and
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#1732793692050372-1012: Is also the centerpoint of the city's gay scene in a country which now grants many rights to LGBT citizens . At night, 23rd St. is reminiscent of a gay district between the Cinema Yara and Coppelia ice cream parlor, and the foot of 23rd at the Malecón , with numerous gay entertainment options nearby such as the Bim Bom outdoor bar and the Las Vegas nightclub. Many of the casas particulares target LGBT clients as customers. [REDACTED] Cuba portal [REDACTED] Media related to Vedado at Wikimedia Commons 23°07′52″N 82°23′39″W / 23.1311111111°N 82.3941666667°W / 23.1311111111; -82.3941666667 Memories of Underdevelopment Memories of Underdevelopment ( Spanish : Memorias del Subdesarrollo )
403-450: Is an additional concrete mass at the center of the Y, (apartments F and G), to increase resistance to lateral forces. The walls extend through the rear wall to support the corridors. The wall and slab structural system form a three-dimensional lattice resisting horizontal forces. A high strength concrete mix from 21,000 kPa (3,000 psi) to 48,000 kPa (7,000 psi). was used. The tower and corridors show prefabricated panels on
434-489: Is incorporated into the film and played over Sergio's narration to expose the audience to the reality of the Revolution. The timeframe of the film is somewhat ambiguous, but it appears to take place over a few months. Before the film's release, both the director, Tomás Gutiérrez Alea, and the main actor, Sergio Corrieri, were concerned that the film wouldn't be successful. The film was largely inexpensive to produce, as it
465-409: Is one of the few cases in which the film is better than the novel, because usually the opposite is the case. Almost always the cinematic version of a novel comes up short, but here the film transcended the novel.” Gutiérrez Alea explains in an interview with Cineaste in 1977 that at a certain point the novel “was to be betrayed, negated and transformed into something else” for it to be successful as
496-511: Is open to the sky with access to water that is located next to the kitchen. One penthouse on the south side of the FOCSA Building appears in the 1968 film Memories of Underdevelopment , written and directed by Tomás Gutiérrez Alea . It features as the apartment of the protagonist Sergio Carmona Mendoyo, played by Sergio Corrieri . Vedado Vedado ( Spanish : El Vedado , Spanish pronunciation: [el βeˈðaðo] )
527-466: The building was given over to temporary housing of foreign guest workers, primarily from Venezuela. The building rises to a height of 121 m (397 ft) above its footings; 280 mm (11 in) bearing walls separate the apartments and in turn support the 171 mm (6.7 in) reinforced concrete slabs at each level. The bearing walls are solid and have no openings except at the basement and lobby floors to facilitate access between rooms. There
558-493: The building. The wall of the apartments extends through the rear wall to form the support of the corridors on the exterior. The corridors are separated vertically from each other by approximately twenty inches to provide for apartment ventilation and view to the west. There are three sets of service and tenant corridors every other floor. The center corridor is for service to the building; the other two corridors are for tenants. The service and tenant corridors are undifferentiated on
589-399: The city's "most affluent" section. The main street running east to west is Calle 23, also known as "La Rampa". The northern edge of the district is the waterfront seawall known as the Malecón , a famous and popular place for social gatherings in the city. The area popularly referred to as 'Vedado' consists of the wards ( consejos populares ) of Vedado, Rampa, Vedado-Malecón and Carmelo, all in
620-751: The cost of the residences and 60% of the commercial shops. El Banco Continental Cubano granted a credit of 6 million pesos. Work began in February 1954 and finished in June 1956. At the time of construction it was the second-largest residential concrete building in the world, second only to the Martinelli Building in São Paulo , Brazil. It surpassed the López Serrano Building in height, which had been Cuba's tallest building. In
651-406: The early 1960s, middle-class owners of residential floor units in the building had their properties nationalized by the current government. In the 1970-1980s the building housed Soviet and Eastern bloc specialists and advisors and the ground store supermarket was for non-Cubans only. In 2000 an elevator cable snapped killing one person. In the 2000s the building was repainted and renovated and much of
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#1732793692050682-409: The exterior, except that the service corridors are shorter in length; this reflects the location of the service stairs of the end units, A and L . Service and tenant corridors are located at different heights. From each apartment, the exit stair goes up to the tenant corridor and down to the service corridor. There was a private elevator in the initial design to each apartment (X on the plan), however it
713-629: The exterior. Reinforced concrete columns support the podium and the stories below. The residential block, the 'Y,' is supported by 13 280 mm (11 in) walls. There are coral tiles on the ground floor. The building was chosen in February 1997 by the Unión Nacional de Arquitectos e Ingenieros de la Construcción de Cuba (UNAICC) as one of the seven wonders of Cuban civil engineering. The FOCSA has 39 floors 4 of which are dedicated to commercial use; two floors are for parking. 28 floors have 13 residences each. The 34th floor has six penthouses on
744-712: The municipality of Plaza de la Revolución . Among the notable sites in Vedado are the hotels: Hotel Nacional de Cuba (National Hotel), the Havana Libre (former Hilton), Melia Cohiba Hotel and Hotel Riviera . In addition: Nearby neighborhoods include: Aero Caribbean has its headquarters in Vedado. The Venezuelan airline Conviasa has an office in the IACC Building in Vedado. Instituto de Aeronáutica Civil de Cuba , Cuba's civil aviation authority, has its headquarters in Vedado. 23rd Street in Vedado
775-408: The part of someone 10 years his senior in a number of ways, including by dyeing Corrieri's hair grey. Hanna, Sergio's long-lost love in the film, was intended to be a much larger character, but the actress that ended up being cast was not a professional, so the character's role was reduced. Because of the political turmoil between the US and Cuba at the time, the US government denied Gutiérrez Alea
806-439: The reality.” Widely acclaimed as one of the best films of its nation and of its era in terms of bringing together art and politics, and described by John King as 'the most interesting exploration of the problem in any cultural medium'. Because many Cubans already had a revolutionary mentality by the time the film was released, it was regarded more as a representation of an outdated stream of thought. Memories of Underdevelopment
837-414: The restaurant and the observation floor. The other service elevator is for the apartments and is linked to the service corridors. The tower also contains offices on the 37th floor for the restaurant, “La Torre,” on the 38th floor and an observation room on the 39th floor. The podium contains a clubhouse, and offices and swimming pools for adults and children. It has gardens, lighted paths, and benches. There
868-446: Was made without many technological or economic resources, and as a result Gutiérrez Alea feared that his vision wouldn’t translate to the screen. Another concern of Gutiérrez Alea's was that Corrieri would seem too young for his part. At the time of shooting in 1968 Corrieri was 28, yet the character was intended to be 38. Gutiérrez Alea and Corrieri worked together to capture the "different rhythm" that Corrieri needed to take on to play
899-406: Was never installed. The 510 mm (20 in) separation of the floating corridors allows for cross ventilation of the apartments and views to the west. The dropped ceiling over the bathrooms and maid's room allow for natural ventilation to flow through the apartments. Closet doors have vent grilles on their tops and bottoms to allow for air circulation. Penthouse apartments have a "patio" that
930-550: Was popular in the United States. Many American critics were "suitably impressed by the film as a stylistic tour de force as well as a subtle and complex portrait of an uncommitted intellectual from a bourgeois background swept up in a vortex of revolutionary change and the threat of nuclear extinction at the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis ." In an interview with Cineaste Magazine in 1977, Gutiérrez Alea
961-572: Was ranked by the New York Times as one of the 10 best films of 1968. Sergio, a wealthy bourgeois aspiring writer, decides to stay in Cuba even though his wife and friends flee to Miami. Sergio looks back over the changes in Cuba, from the Cuban Revolution to the missile crisis , the effect of living in what he calls an underdeveloped country, and his relations with his girlfriends Elena and Hanna. Memories of Underdevelopment