„Havana-Urban Potential“
Research-Design approach for urban development in Havana, Cuba

Laboratoire de la production d`architecture at EPF Lausanne, Switzerland in collaboration with the
Centre for Urban Studies of Havana (CEU-H), the Architectural and Urban Design Department at the Technical University Havana (ISPJAE)

Abstract

“10 de Octubre can not only be rehabilitated, it needs to be reinvented.” 10DE10UC

The concentration of rehabilitation efforts in present day Havana in areas of interest for foreign investment and tourism along the coastline augments the traditional north-south divide of the city. The popular areas of the city, the so-called Deep Havana, sink into oblivion.

Without a healthy hinterland the coastal area risks to become a touristic theme park with little connection to the Cuban reality, and deep Havana might develop into a peripheral area where today it still can claim to be a city.

The project partners outlined the development of the potential of the endangered Deep Havana as a relevant topic. The municipality 10 de Octubre is representative for the situation in Deep Havana. With its 240 000 inhabitants it is also the largest municipality of the city and one of the major ones of the entire country.

The general propositions made for 10 de Octubre are valid for other popular areas of the Havana hinterland.

10DE10UC : Urban Constitution for 10 de Octubre and Zoning Plan

The result of the collaborative work is the Urban Constitution and the respective Zoning Plan for the Municipality “10 de Octubre”; a set of rules defining the objectives and main directions of future urban development in “10 de Octubre”. Both elements are under the present conditions a visionary exercise and a means to provoke discussion, under different economic and administrative circumstances they could serve as a blueprint for a long-term master plan.

The key articles of the Urban Constitution are summarized as follows:

The Municipality of 10 de Octubre has huge potential, but to activate its potential 10 de Octubre needs to be reinvented. Pure rehabilitation, just preserving the current body of the municipality would be a short-sighted measure. A measure that might stop the erosion of the existing structure but not make it fit for future challenges. The current city corpus forms a solid foundation for a new urban structure.

Key to the reinvention of 10 de Octubre is the facilitation of connections to the city centre and the rapprochement to the Bay of Havana.

The high density of 10 de Octubre is to be maintained, if not increased, simultaneously the creation of quality public space and programmed green zones is necessary, especially in the dense neighbourhoods close to the harbour.

It is vital for 10 de Octubre to become attractive for inhabitants and for investment to counteract segregation tendencies. The modulated topography, the historic and cultural roots of 10 de Octubre are to be explored to promote the renaissance of the municipality.

Havana needs to regain its multiple centralities; a variety of functions of city-, national and international scale need to be reintroduced to 10 de Octubre.

The zoning plan describes the proposed interventions and is further illustrated by a series of architectural projects.

Architecture Injection for 10 de Octubre

The site and program of the architectural projects have been chosen by the participants based on the regulations set by the Urban Constitution, the Zoning Plan and the experiences on site during the workshop.

Projects are a means of analysis and so is the choice of site and program. The decision of most project participants to work on public programs indicates a lack of infrastructures providing other than basic services and bestowing identity for 10 de Octubre.

10 de Octubre has disappeared from the mental map of the city simultaneously with the disappearance of its cultural spaces, its restaurants and the varied commercial activities.

The lack or derelict state of spaces and institutions of the civil society of the municipality has been underscored by the hands-on experience of what effort a simple trip to cinema or a bar demands in present day Havana.

The architectural projects are agents for change, a starting point to create a momentum and identity. The projects activate the main meridians of 10 de Octubre and propose again a truly urban scale to the municipality.

“Havana-Urban Potential” did concentrate on planning policies for 10 de Octubre and suggests not barely a reparation of the found structure, but the reinvention of 10 de Octubre as a city of its own right.

The project acts on different levels; as a means to increase awareness for deep Havana, encouragement for discussion and a horizontal planning culture during the workshop and as a education project for the participating Swiss and Cuban students.

Contact adress Switzerland
Prof. Harry Gugger
harry.gugger@epfl.ch

Henriette Spoerl
henriette.spoerl@epfl.ch

Laboratoire de la production d`architecture,
Section Architecture, ENAC, EPF Lausanne
GC H2 614, Station 18, 1015 Lausanne
http://lapa.epfl.ch

 

Contact adress in Cuba

Dr. Arq. Jorge Pena Diaz
jorgep@arquitectura.cujae.edu.cu
CEU-H Centre for Urban Studies of Havana
Technical University of Havana (ISPJAE)

Prof. Dr. Arq. Ruben Bancroft
bancroft@mercadu.co.cu
Architectural and Urban Design Department,
Technical University Havana (ISPJAE)
www.cujae.edu.cu