Radiocentro CMQ Building, Media broadcasting complex in Vedado, Havana, Cuba
The Radiocentro CMQ Building is a 10-story structure of concrete and steel with geometric shapes standing at the corner of Calle L and La Rampa in Havana. It originally housed a large theater and multiple commercial spaces on its ground floor.
The building was completed in 1947 and marked a turning point in Havana's urban development by breaking height restrictions that had existed before. Its construction signaled a modernization of the city's architectural standards.
The letters CMQ on the tower recall the radio network whose Studio No. 2 hosted most RCA Victor recordings made in Cuba between 1948 and 1959. The Discuba label, founded there in 1959, released Celia Cruz, Beny Moré, Orquesta Aragón and La Lupe. The comedy show La Tremenda Corte, written by Vispo, aired from 1942 to 1961, and its cast toured Puerto Rico, Venezuela and Colombia.
The complex occupies the block of 23rd Street between Calles L and M, at the corner with La Rampa. The building is set back five metres from the property line, and a four-metre arcade forms a wide covered gallery along the slope of 23rd Street. That gallery leads to the office lobby and served as the covered hall of the cinema at the upper corner with Calle L.
The architect Martín Domínguez Esteban drew inspiration from New York's Rockefeller Center when designing this structure. It is considered one of Cuba's first multipurpose buildings and set the tone for future urban development.
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