For the first time in over a half-century, the United States reopened its official diplomatic embassy in Havana earlier today, shining an international spotlight on Harrison and Abramovitz's modernist shoreline classic. Historically maligned by many Cubans as an embodiment of American arrogance and imperialism, the building has played a pronounced symbolic role in the escalation - and now the easement - of political animosities between the two countries.
The symbolic importance of this move - and of diplomatic architecture generally - was not lost on the pun-loving New York Times:
"...[T]he reopening of the embassy on the Malecón waterfront in Havana, previously used as an interests section, a limited diplomatic outpost, stands as the most concrete symbol yet of the thaw set in motion last year when President Obama ordered the full restoration of diplomatic ties between the countries." [1]
We get it. It's concrete (and travertine).
Read more about the architecture of the U.S. Embassy on AD Classics.
[1] Ahmed, Azam. U.S. Embassy in Havana Reopens After More Than 50 Years. New York Times. 20 July 2015. Available at http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/21/world/americas/cuba-us-embassy-diplomatic-relations.html?_r=0.
