Max Borges, Jr.

Who was Max Borges, Jr.?

Max Borges, Jr., born Max Borges-Recio, was a Cuban architect exiled in the United States. He studied in the United States, earning his Bachelor degree at Georgia Tech and a Master's degree at the Harvard Graduate School of Design.

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.