FOCSA Building, Modernist skyscraper in Vedado district, Havana, Cuba.
The FOCSA Building is a modernist skyscraper with 39 floors and a distinctive Y-shaped design in Havana's Vedado neighborhood. Its facade features wrap-around balconies that give the structure its recognizable appearance.
The building was completed in 1956 and was Cuba's first major residential and commercial skyscraper. Its construction marked a turning point in the island's urban development.
The building represents mid-20th-century Cuban architecture and shows how the city was developing at that time. From outside, you can see the distinctive wrap-around balconies that reveal how residents live.
The entrance is a two-lane covered porte-cochère at street level, leading to a desk, waiting area and the tenant elevator lobby. A ramp to the street sits at the corner of Calles 19 and M. The podium holds two swimming pools, a clubhouse, gardens, lit paths and benches, with parking for 500 cars below.
The building employs a three-dimensional lattice wall system with openings only in the basement and lobby floors. This unusual construction was an innovative approach to stability and design for its time.
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