{"id":1955,"date":"2026-11-11T15:12:19","date_gmt":"2026-11-11T20:12:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/constructhubs.com\/casa-eleta-modern-architecture-panama\/"},"modified":"2026-11-11T15:12:19","modified_gmt":"2026-11-11T20:12:19","slug":"casa-eleta-modern-architecture-panama","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/constructhubs.com\/en\/casa-eleta-modern-architecture-panama\/","title":{"rendered":"Casa Eleta: A Journey into the Soul of Modern Architecture in Panama"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Casa Eleta, in La Cresta, is one of the landmarks of modern architecture in Panama.<\/strong> Built in 1953 to a design by American architect Edward Durell Stone \u2014author of the MoMA and the Kennedy Center\u2014, it won the \u201cHouse of the Year\u201d award from the Panamanian Society of Engineers and Architects (SPIA). Its cantilevers, brick sunscreens and natural ventilation make it a lesson in tropical design, and within its walls began the story of the song \u201cHistoria de un amor.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This content is part of the <a title=\"ConstructHUBS Digital Magazine\" href=\"https:\/\/constructhubs.com\/en\/digital-magazine\/\">ConstructHUBS Digital Magazine<\/a>, within our editorial line dedicated to <a title=\"architecture and design\" href=\"https:\/\/constructhubs.com\/en\/category\/architecture-and-design\/\">architecture and design<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>We toured the house with <strong>Daniel Gonz\u00e1lez<\/strong>, graphic designer and creator of @ModernPTY, the project that documents Panamanian modern architecture (from the late 1930s to the 1960s) and that grew from an Instagram account into a cultural movement that has led more than 3,000 people to rediscover the city on its guided tours.<\/p>\n<p>You can also read the <a title=\"version published in the April 2026 issue of Construcci\u00f3n en Panam\u00e1 magazine\" href=\"https:\/\/cp.aflip.in\/construccionenpanama-abr26.html#page\/18\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">version published in the April 2026 issue of Construcci\u00f3n en Panam\u00e1 magazine<\/a> (in Spanish).<\/p>\n<h2>An oasis in La Cresta<\/h2>\n<p>La Cresta is a purely residential neighborhood that Gonz\u00e1lez describes as an \u201coasis\u201d amid the urban chaos. On a hill that once offered an uninterrupted view to the Amador islands and the sea stands the residence that belonged to Don Fernando Eleta.<\/p>\n<h2>Who designed Casa Eleta?<\/h2>\n<p>The design was by architect Edward Durell Stone, whose work includes Radio City Music Hall, the MoMA in New York and the Kennedy Center. But the house also bears its owner&#8217;s signature: Fernando Eleta, an MIT-trained engineer, was actively involved in designing the cantilevered structures of the balconies and terraces.<\/p>\n<p>The result was a structure that pushed the limits of its time and that, under today&#8217;s safety codes, would be almost impossible to replicate without modifications.<\/p>\n<h2>Keys to its modern architecture<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Brick:<\/strong> it \u201cdresses\u201d the fa\u00e7ade with textures and shapes designed specifically for the house.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Sunscreens (quiebrasoles):<\/strong> they provide geometry, privacy and cross ventilation.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Designed without air conditioning:<\/strong> high ceilings and \u201cMiami Windows,\u201d still original and working, keep it naturally cool. Air conditioning was added years later only in bedrooms and the study.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Original interiors:<\/strong> floors that, according to Gonz\u00e1lez, \u201cwill never be made again,\u201d and pastel bathrooms with curved-edge tiles.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Social area:<\/strong> a pool with small mosaic tiles that connects visually with the living room and bedrooms through large windows, and a bar with louvered doors.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>These ventilation and solar control strategies are the basis of what we now call <a title=\"bioclimatic architecture\" href=\"https:\/\/constructhubs.com\/en\/building-skin-bioclimatic-architecture\/\">bioclimatic architecture<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2>The mosaic and the story of \u201cHistoria de un amor\u201d<\/h2>\n<p>The most moving element is the staircase leading down to the pool. Its mosaic portrays two of the family&#8217;s children; the absence of the third daughter, Aurora, recalls a tragedy: her mother, Mercedes Casanovas, died of polio at Gorgas Hospital in 1954, three days after Aurora was born.<\/p>\n<p>That grief inspired her brother-in-law, composer Carlos Eleta, to write \u201cHistoria de un amor\u201d that same day, a song that has traveled the world in voices such as Luis Miguel&#8217;s.<\/p>\n<h2>Other stories within its walls<\/h2>\n<p>On the property there is a second building, a small \u201crotunda\u201d or guest house, where singer Miguel Bos\u00e9 spent his first months of life after being born in Panama. In the main house, one room served the owner&#8217;s hobby of radio communications.<\/p>\n<h2>A legacy that must endure<\/h2>\n<p>When we visited, the house was unoccupied but maintained by its owners, relatives of the Eleta family, who refuse to demolish it. There is a project to restore it while preserving its original volumes.<\/p>\n<p>ModernPTY&#8217;s tours aim for exactly that: helping Panamanians and visitors look beyond a building&#8217;s current condition and value a heritage that often goes unnoticed. His work has been recognized by the Colegio de Arquitectos de Panam\u00e1. To learn about upcoming tours, you can follow Daniel Gonz\u00e1lez on Instagram at @ModernPTY.<\/p>\n<h2>Frequently asked questions about Casa Eleta<\/h2>\n<h3>Where is Casa Eleta?<\/h3>\n<p>In the residential neighborhood of La Cresta, in Panama City.<\/p>\n<h3>Who was its architect?<\/h3>\n<p>Edward Durell Stone, with engineer Fernando Eleta involved in the cantilevered structures.<\/p>\n<h3>How is it connected to \u201cHistoria de un amor\u201d?<\/h3>\n<p>Carlos Eleta wrote the song after the death of Mercedes Casanovas, his brother&#8217;s wife and the mother of the children portrayed in the house&#8217;s mosaic.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A tour of Casa Eleta, a gem of Panamanian modern architecture, with @ModernPTY.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1893,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[518],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1955","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-architecture-and-design"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/constructhubs.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1955","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/constructhubs.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/constructhubs.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/constructhubs.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/constructhubs.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1955"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/constructhubs.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1955\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/constructhubs.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1893"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/constructhubs.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1955"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/constructhubs.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1955"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/constructhubs.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1955"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}