Light and shadows define a meandering passageway at one of Cuba's National Art Schools, the subject of architect John Loomis' Feb. 13 slide lecture at Regent Square Theater. Click photo for larger image.

The outstanding architectural achievement of the Cuban revolution, says California architect John Loomis, was the collection of National Art Schools that nature is reclaiming in the western suburbs of Havana.

The short-lived Escuelas Nacionales de Arte were conceived and initiated by Fidel Castro and Che Guevara and built in the 1960s. Clustered around a former country club golf course that had catered to Havana's elite, the five schools -- for ballet, music, plastic arts, dramatic arts and modern dance -- were built predominantly in brick and terra cotta.

Architects Ricardo Porro, Vittorio Garatti and Roberto Gottardi used the Catalan vault as the primary structural system, because Cuba had no steel and very little Portland cement.

What it did have was a mason from Barcelona whose father had worked with Antoni Gaudi, and who knew how to build the sturdy, lightweight and extraordinarily beautiful vaults from thin terra cotta tiles.

The architects, Loomis said, "sought to integrate issues of culture, ethnicity and region into a revolutionary symphony of forms unknown before in architecture."

As the idealism and spontaneity of the Cuban revolution was replaced by Soviet ways of thinking and doing, the architects and their schools fell out of favor with Castro, who closed the buildings, some of which were never completed.

But the story is far more complex, as Loomis will explain in a slide-illustrated talk at 1:30 p.m. Feb. 13 at the Regent Square Theater. Author of the 1999 book "Revolution of Forms: Cuba's Forgotten Art Schools" (Princeton Architectural Press), Loomis will explore the history, culture, ideology, politics and conflict surrounding the creation of the schools. The book has prompted the Cuban government to commit to the schools' restoration.

Loomis, who teaches at Stanford and the University of San Francisco, also will show the short film "Variaciones," made in 1961 by Humberto Solas and showing the construction of the schools.

Loomis' appearance is part of the Cuban Film Series curated by Bill Judson and sponsored by the Mattress Factory in collaboration with the University of Pittsburgh's Center for Latin American Studies and Pittsburgh Filmmakers. While there is no specific link between the series' other films and the art schools, Judson said that in three of the films, "Havana and its architecture contribute metaphoric as well as visual cultural context."

Concept Art Gallery will host a reception following the talk.

Squirrel Hill history

The history of Beth Shalom Synagogue is the topic for the February meeting of the Squirrel Hill Historical Society; the speaker is Rabbi Stephen Steindel. It will be held at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Sixth Presbyterian Church, corner of Forbes and Murray avenues. Admission is free.

This ambitious group was established in 2000 by architect Terry Necciai and his wife, landscape designer Sharyn Necciai, who now live in Virginia, and has expanded under Michael Ehrmann, the society's president, who moved here five years ago and has adopted the neighborhood as his own. It now has 120 members and its monthly meetings have hosted talks by architects, architectural historians, authors and others.

The group is working with Arcadia Publishing on the preparation of a book of neighborhood photographs, which is expected to come out this summer.

For more information, visit the society's extensive Web site at www.orgsites.com/pa/shhs/.

Study at Fallingwater

Fallingwater is accepting applications from undergraduate students pursuing a professional architectural degree for an 11-day residency program of intensive study of the weekend house Frank Lloyd Wright designed for Edgar and Liliane Kaufmann in Fayette County. Twelve students will be selected for the third annual College Residency for Students of Architecture, to be held June 25-July 5.

Through on-site design studios with practicing architects and discussions with Wright scholars, students will explore the house in the context of ecology, sustainability and contextual building methods. Tuition is $750 and includes accommodations and most meals. Applications must be postmarked by March 15 and are available at www.fallingwater.org/college.