Odoardo, Ermina

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Odoardo, Ermina

• Odoardo Jähkel, Ermina Luisa

1923-2018

Ermina Luisa Odoardo Jähkel was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina on June 8th, 1923 to Rogelio Odoardo and Helen Jähkel. In 1930, she and her family moved to Cuba from Argentina as her father was from Cuba and his parents lived there. She began her art education early at the San Alejandro school of fine arts. She earned her Bachelor Degree in Letters and Sciences in 1940 and then a degree in architecture in 1945, both from the University of Havana. Her thesis architecture project was the development of the Gonzalo de Quesada Park in the city of Camagüey.

She and her husband Ricardo Eguilior y Perea worked together at their architecture firm, Ermina Odoardo Ricardo Eguilior Arquitectos, in Santiago de Cuba. Odoardo is known for being the first woman to practice architecture in Santiago. She was registered by the Colegio de Arquitectos de Oriente in 1948. During this time, their architectural style was mainly Rationalist, creating more than 50 buildings. Additionally, in the mid-1950’s, they were central to the urbanization and expansion of the Vista Alegre neighborhood in Santiago de Cuba, which remains to this day one of the most attractive areas of the city. Her firm constructed a condominium building there, shifting the overall aesthetic of the area. Some of the houses she created were on Calle 12 no. 206, at Avenida Manduley no. 301, at Calle 3 no. 202, at Anacaona no. 152, in the Merrimac division are the homes of Calle del Mirador, from Brooks Avenue and Rosell Street. Odoardo’s works could also be found in the Historic Center and in the districts of Development, Terrazas, Veguita de Gala and Santa Bárbara. She designed the house where she lived in Vista Alegre at Calle 19 esquina a Avenida Cebreco. In 1951, she won third prize for the Municipal Palace project. They built the Vista Alegre Tennis Club in 1953.

Odoardo and Eguilior greatly contributed to the development of modern Cuban architecture that was both modern and appropriate to the tropical climate. In 1958, their work was featured in the magazine, Arquitectura de La Habana. Her most notable projects built in Santiago de Cuba are the Bacardi Rum Company, Vista Alegre Tennis Club, Ferreiro Supermarket, Mestre and Espinoza drugstore, League Against Cancer Hospital, Office Building for Texaco, Texaco Refinery Laboratory Building, Texaco Employee Recreation Building, Pool on Siboney beach, Pool at Club Ciudamar, Merrimac Cast Planning, and the Planning of the Vista Alegre District Expansion.

Odoardo and her family left Santiago de Cuba and moved to Miami, Florida in 1960. In 1972, Odoardo and Eguilior’s firm designed the Bacardi International Limited Building in Bermuda, heavily influenced by Mies van der Rohe. Living in Miami, Odoardo also pursued painting and joined a local arts group. She passed away in 2018.

Finale

Geheel

Biographical note written by Kate Villa, 2020-2021 UGrow Fellow for Manuscripts and Archives Management.

1. Ermina Eguilior Obituary (2018) - the Miami Herald (legacy.com)

2. Ermina Odoardo - Wikipedia, la enciclopedia libre

3. Exhibition | Cuban Architecture | Modern Magazine

4. Preview: Cuban Architects at Home and in Exile: The Modernist Generation | THE ARCHIVE | CUBAN ART NEWS (cubanartnewsarchive.org)

5. AN reviews "Building Bacardi: Architecture, Art & Identity" (archpaper.com)

6. Ermina Odoardo - EcuRed

7. Archivo:Vista Alegre Tenis Club Odoardo y R Eguilior.jpg - EcuRed

8. Arquitectura santiaguera con nombre de mujer – Cuban Heritage