No prior scholarly work on Cuban architectural and intellectual history has yet focusedon Arquitectura Cuba, a periodical published by the Colegio Nacional de Arquitectos, as an archive. However, issues of the publication from the early years of the Cuban Revolution (especially 1959 and 1960) provide an indication of state-sponsored views on architecture, urbanism and the interplay between these and the socialist project in Cuba. Using articles and editorials from Arquitectura Cuba alongside other contemporary sources, this article focuses on and critiques three themes that recur throughout these issues: the idea of architecture as a socially minded profession, the need for urbanisation of the countryside as a core goal of the new Cuban state and the interplay between global modernism and localised practices. Ultimately, this investigation illustrates potential methodological directions and archival sources for Cuban architectural and social historiography, revealing another lens to read the Cuban Revolution and its legacies today.

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Como citar: Braga, P. C. de C. (2017). Arquitectura Cuba and the Early Revolutionary Project. International Journal of Cuban Studies, 9(2), 235–259. https://doi.org/10.13169/intejcubastud.9.2.0235