Cuba old houses
by Jose Rey
Title
Cuba old houses
Artist
Jose Rey
Medium
Photograph - Digital Photo
Description
Guatemala, old batey of the Preston sugar mill town, bordered to the North and West by Nipe Bay. It has an area of 36 kilometers. It has a population of 7846 inhabitants, with a Housing Fund of 2322 homes.
The United Fruit Company was one of the biggest enterprises of sugar throughout Cuba and owner of two great giants, the Preston and the Boston. The building of the central area was not very inhabited, so the population of this place has different, peasant origins of migrants from Haiti, the area, Chinese, Spanish constituted an amalgam of nationalities and cultures.
Laura and I reached the village and we were speechless before dwellings as atypical for Cuba, its architecture reminded me of scenes from the South of the United States, to start walking through the village and we had the opportunity to talk with a rod entered Cuban, told us about the 10 years that I work in the central Preston led by the Americans and then continued working in the after 1959 until closed it in 2002.
To our amazement about the architecture of the village told us that the batey was divided into different neighborhoods with names of cities in USA, after the visit to this place, I've been reading some references and one of them tells the story that most of the houses in this batey were painted yellow, corporate color of this company. This paint mixed with chemicals that helped eliminate the high populations of mosquitoes that filled the area.
The complete structures, buildings were imported from the South of the United States, American origin wooden architecture are preserved to this day. In the urban area coexisted different Archetypes of different epochs, which indicates that the study of housing in those bateyes not allowed to divide them in areas or districts, but in types. In the New York area, for qualified workers, there were homes built 1906-1907, 1912-1920, 1922-1937, these latest French tiles and bricks.
This means that system of architectural replacement of the batey in Preston did not mean the demolition of the original set just as they did in other locations, by what Preston is regarded as the best-preserved North American origin of the region housing heritage.
The homes built to be inhabited by the American personnel kept the scheme of the domestic buildings of the American middle class in rural or semi-urban areas of monumental proportions, comfortable surrounded by gardens and green areas.
Highlights the breadth that reaches the room - dining room, room and a spacious living room, used as library or areas of reception of guests, rooms - bedroom divided by a shared bathroom and a small room at the bottom on one side of the kitchen, for the use of the easement with separate bathroom. The front is accessed to a staircase leading directly to the portal, often protected by a wire mesh. Another small portal can be found at the bottom.
Dominate the walls of tongue and Groove wood double bottom, roof, two and four waters with respective combinations and the use of French tiles, zinc, or plaques of asbestos that rested on a frame of wooden girders. Polished wood floor, was made to cover carpet and body of the dwelling as such rested on piles which favored ventilation and avoid moisture.
It certainly is for us to make another visit to this wonderful place.
Uploaded
January 5th, 2016
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