Fusterlandia

José Fuster began covering his own house in Jaimanitas with mosaic in the 1970s and did not stop, working outward through the neighbourhood as neighbours asked him to do theirs. The result is several blocks of a working-class suburb where walls, roofs, benches, bus stops and doorways are covered in broken tile in bright colour, with recurring motifs of palms, roosters, boats and faces. His own house and studio are at the centre, with towers, a pool and a rooftop that can be climbed.

What to look for

• The studio house - Fuster's own house, mosaic from the ground to the roof, open to walk through.
• The neighbourhood - streets where dozens of houses have been given the same treatment.
• The rooftops - climbable terraces with mosaic towers and views over the suburb.
• The motifs - palms, roosters, boats and faces repeated across the whole project.

When to go

Year-round; it is outdoors and works in any weather. Mornings are quieter, before the tour groups arrive from Old Havana. Midday sun makes the colours harsh in photographs.

Practical notes

It is genuinely a residential neighbourhood, and beyond the studio the houses are people's homes rather than exhibits. Tour groups arrive in numbers and the site is small. There is little in the way of shade, food or facilities.

Nearby

Central Havana is half an hour east, and Marina Hemingway is nearby on the coast.

Key facts