The Instituto Superior de Arte occupies the former Havana Country Club golf course — seized after the revolution and given to a trio of architects (Ricardo Porro, Roberto Gottardi, and Vittorio Garatti) to design Cuba's national arts school. The buildings completed between 1961 and 1965 are among the most extraordinary pieces of architecture in the Americas: sinuous brick vaults, organic Catalan tile rooflines, and winding outdoor corridors that feel grown rather than designed.
Porro described the main School of Plastic Arts as a homage to Afro-Cuban women. The project was halted, denounced as decadent, and left unfinished for decades; the unfinished sections have a haunting ruined quality that adds to rather than detracts from the experience. The campus is now partially used by the arts schools and is open to visitors during the day, though getting full access to all buildings sometimes requires a guide.