The Insular Condition: Architecture, Modernism and Politics in the Caribbean

​This lecture examines the entangled relationship between modernist architecture and the shifting political currents of the Caribbean throughout the twentieth century. Focusing on the Antilles, it explores how the region developed a distinctive form of tropical modernism amid authoritarian regimes, postcolonial transitions, and ongoing struggles for democratic self-definition.

Through key case studies, this lecture reveals how architecture became both a symbol and instrument of political aspiration, projecting visions of progress, nationalism, and control. It foregrounds the social, cultural, and climatic forces that shaped architectural and urban practices in a context marked by insularity—not only geographic, but also political and epistemological.

Drawing on Professor Martínez Suárez’s body of work—including exhibitions, publications, and academic collaborations—the talk advocates for a more inclusive understanding of modernism, one that recognizes the Caribbean’s contributions and contradictions. It also calls for urgent efforts to document, preserve, and reframe this built heritage as part of a broader global discourse, grounded in its unique historical and cultural conditions.

Professor Martínez Suárez will be joined in conversation by Nicholas Simcik Arese.

Alex Martínez-Suárez is a Dominican architect, researcher, and curator. He is the director of Archipiélago, a multidisciplinary platform dedicated to architecture, academic research, and cultural production. Alex has taught at Harvard University (USA) and the Instituto Tecnológico de Monterrey (Mexico), and currently serves as a professor at Universidad Iberoamericana (UNIBE) in the Dominican Republic. He is an active member of DoCoMoMo Dominican Republic and a member of the editorial board of Arquitexto, a Santo Domingo–based architecture magazine. He was recently honoured with two awards at the XII Dominican Republic Architecture and Urbanism Biennale.

This event is co-organized by The Embassy of the Dominican Republic in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, with Centro León.

Image: Fair for Peace and Fraternity in the Free World, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, 1959. Hank Walker (LIFE Magazine © Time Inc.)

Please get in touch to let us know of any access requirements that you might have and how we can best accommodate these. If you are unable to attend physically but would like to participate in the event remotely please email publicprogramme@aaschool.ac.uk