Name Max Jr. | Role Architect | |
Born July 24, 1918 Havana, Cuba Died January 18, 2009, Falls Church, Virginia, United States Education Georgia Institute of Technology | ||
Max Borges, Jr., born Max Borges-Recio (July 24, 1918 – January 18, 2009), was a Cuban architect exiled in the United States. He studied in the United States, earning his bachelor's degree at Georgia Tech and a master's degree at the Harvard Graduate School of Design.
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Borges' style was highly influenced by his work with Spanish structural engineer Félix Candela who practiced in Mexico and was a specialist in lightweight concrete parabolic structures. Borges invited Candela to work with him in Cuba, and they both developed extraordinary projects. His best known work is the Tropicana Club of 1951, for which he later designed expansions. Other unique buildings like the 1943 Apartment Building of Max Borges-del Junco at Jovellar St. and the Club Náutico place Borges among one of few modern architects of the Americas with a unique recognizable original style.
After 1959 his family moved to the United States, where he remained active well into the 1980s, along with his brother Enrique, designing and building many residential and commercial buildings in the Washington Metropolitan Area.
Awards
He won the Cuban National College of Architects Award for his "Medical and Surgical Center" built in 1948 in El Vedado, Havana, Cuba. In 2006, he was awarded the Cintas Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award [1].
Family
He was son of architect Max Borges-del Junco, a well-known Cuban architect. His brother was architect Enrique Borges-Recio, with whom he authored many works as partner. He married Mignon Olmo-Garrido (March 18, 1923 - May 6, 2007) on February 5, 1944 at San Juan de Letrán Catholic Church in Havana, Cuba and they had two sons, Philip M. and Max M.Borges-Olmo (also an architect), as well as five grandchildren.