Crossroads of the Americas is the first comprehensive account of the history of Cuban architecture from before the Spanish colonization of the island to the present. More importantly, the book is not simply a chronology of Cuban architecture but one that recognizes the intersection of ideas related to race and nation in the struggle for Cuban identity and independence. Cuba’s architecture, planning, and landscapes underscore that the island’s history is not just a “Cuban” story, but one with important lessons for the history of architecture on the continent. It is a profoundly American story. Developed as a critical resource for the study of Cuban architecture, Crossroads of the Americas presents a thorough overview that has been underrepresented and obscured to date, illuminating the important architectural history of what was once the maritime crossroads of trade between the Mediterranean and the Caribbean and North and South America. The book contains both historical images and new photography, extensive footnotes, and a comprehensive bibliography.

Victor Deupi is an associate professor in practice at the University of Miami’s School of Architecture where he teaches architectural history and theory. His research focuses on the Early Modern Spanish and Ibero-American world, mid-twentieth-century Cuba, and contemporary architecture. His books include Architectural Temperance: Spain and Rome, 1700–1759 (Routledge, 2015); Emilio Sanchez in New York and Latin America (Routledge, 2020); Cuban Modernism: Mid-Century Architecture 1940–1970, with Jean-Francois Lejeune (Birkhäuser Verlag, 2021); Emilio Sanchez Revisited: A Centenary Celebration of the Artist’s Life and Work (Oscar Riera Ojeda Publishers, 2021); The Urban Housing Handbook, with Eric Firley (Wiley 2023), and most recently Rada Photography: Mid-Century Architecture and Culture in South Florida and the Caribbean (University Press of Florida, 2025). Deupi is the president of the Docomomo US/Florida chapter and previously was the president of the CINTAS Foundation, which is dedicated to promoting Cuban art and culture.