Félix Cabarrocas Ayala

Since 1947, Member of Merit in Sculpture of the National Academy of Arts and Letters. He was part of the renowned firm Govantes y Cabarrocas.

Félix Cabarrocas was born in the province of Santa Clara. He studied Architecture at the University of La Habana, where he graduated in 1910.

Together with architect Evelio Govantes Fuertes, he established the firm Govantes y Cabarrocas, which designed and built numerous works that stood out as landmarks in the urbanism of the city of La Habana and received international recognition.

In 1916, the firm designed the Hospital General Freyre de Andrade, built within the canons of classicism.

In 1917 Cabarrocas restarted the project of the Capitolio Nacional. The first design for that work —completed in 1910 by architects Rayneri (father and son)— underwent substantial changes in its new version, such as the staircase and the portico, both monumental and ending in a dome, which Cabarrocas conceived. The style of the building was orthodox classicism. In 1921 work stopped, and was resumed in 1925 by the firm Govantes y Cabarrocas, emphasizing the importance of the monumental staircase, adding large pilasters to the lateral porticos and incorporating more classical elements to the dome.

Subsequently other architects worked on the project such as Bens Arrarte and Pedro Martínez Inclán, who incorporated countless modifications, until finally American contractors Purdy and Henderson took charge of its execution.

In 1928 the firm undertook a new work: a residence for doctor Juan Pedro Baró and his wife, Catalina Lasa (today Casa de la Amistad). Govantes y Cabarrocas designed the exterior, in Italian Renaissance style. On the interior, the art deco decoration was done by French designer Rene Lalique.

In 1929 they completed the project for the construction of the Ludgardita working-class neighborhood, in the industrial area of Rancho Boyeros, near José Martí International Airport. The project —the first of its kind to be built in Latin America— included one hundred homes with their corresponding services of childcare, school, hospital, theater, etc. According to the opinion of Roberto Segre, it offered a sample of what should be the living environment for workers.

In the period of 1944-1948, Govantes y Cabarrocas designed the Palacio de Bellas Artes, composed of reinforced concrete volumes, with continuous horizontal windows, accentuated stairwell boxes and monumentalized main accesses. Marble and limestone were used in its construction. The building featured small overhangs with sculptural groups by Cuban artists, among which the work of sculptor Rita Longa stood out.

In 1957, the firm built in the Civic Plaza, today José Martí Revolution Plaza, the building of the José Martí National Library, in which volumes designed at different scales stood out, with a central volume distinguished by the verticality emphasized by rows of window panes. The main access of the building —built in marble and limestone— denoted the monumentality emphasized by relief sculptures commemorating figures of international culture.

In 1960 work began on the Municipal Palace of La Habana —current Ministry of Revolutionary Armed Forces (MINFAR)—, in post-rationalist style, in the same plaza. Both buildings have maintained volumetric and monumental autonomy within the city's urbanism.

Cabarrocas also designed, independently, the headquarters of the Faculty of Arts and Letters of the University of La Habana and the Pedro Borrás Children's Hospital.

He also created sculptural works. Among those placed in Cuba, are:
1924. The Caryatids, stone (with Evelio Govantes), at the Hispano-American Center of Culture
1925. Monument to the Victims of the Maine (with Moisés de Huerta), La Habana.
1937. Pantheon of Horacio Ferrer, bronze. Cristóbal Colón Necropolis, La Habana.
1929. Pantheon of Colonel José Álvarez, Cristóbal Colón Necropolis, La Habana.
1929. Mausoleum of the Armed Forces, Cristóbal Colón Necropolis, La Habana.
1929. Monument to the Spanish Soldier, bronze and marble. San Juan Hill, Santiago de Cuba, relief.

Cabarrocas also participated in collective exhibitions. Among them:
1916-1917. Salon of Fine Arts. Academy of Sciences of Cuba.
1935. National Exhibition of Painting and Sculpture, La Habana.
1938. Autumn Salon, Circle of Fine Arts.
1939. XXI Salon of Fine Arts, Circle of Fine Arts, La Habana.
1940. Latin American Exhibition of Fine Arts and Applied Art, Riverside Museum, Nueva York, Estados Unidos.
1941. Exhibition of modern and classical art, City Hall of La Habana.
1955. Permanent Room of Plastic Arts of Cuba, Palace of Fine Arts, La Habana.

His sculptural work received several awards: in 1915, the Prize of the International Competition for the Monument to the Victims of the Maine; in 1919, the Second Prize of the Competition Monument to Máximo Gómez (with Moisés de Huerta, Spanish sculptor); in 1935, the Prize of the Exhibition of Painting and Sculpture of La Habana.