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  • Havana, Cuba: A Survey of Architectural Preservation
  • Dana Moody (bio)

Havana, Cuba, is a time capsule of buildings known to mirror its rich history. With limited materials and resources, Cuban artisans are forced to use unique preservation methods to conserve a priceless legacy of historic architecture stretching five centuries.1 For the past two summers, I have participated in an artist residency through Unpack Studio, Havana. My project, Havana: Behind the Façade, sought to understand the unique challenges of the Cuban people and how these challenges applied to architecture and preservation.

This experience allowed me to live and travel among the Cuban people. The residency supplied an apartment and support staff who arranged interviews, site visits, and neighborhood ventures in areas of Havana not often visited by tourists. Much time was spent walking through neighborhoods alone, documenting the current state of architecture and the efforts to preserve it. The project was constantly pitched to anyone who would listen, which led to additional contacts and entrances to privately held buildings. Interviews on construction sites and inside the preservation trade schools were recorded for accurate translations.

BACKGROUND

Many buildings in Havana are in serious decay and some seem to be in danger of collapse. Since the 1959 revolution and the enactment of the American embargo, Cubans have struggled to obtain the materials and resources needed to provide basic upkeep to these architectural treasures.2 With an average income of $20 a month and a housing shortage, residents haphazardly add makeshift additions to historic buildings. A view looking down on neighborhoods reveals rooftop shantytowns. Courtyards, porches, and balconies of villas are filled in for additional living space, lacking proper ventilation and lighting as well as reducing the building’s ability to remain cool during intense summers. Colonial buildings with first-floor high ceilings are divided horizontally, adding mezzanines that are cramped and can appear structurally unsafe. These modifications create a constant burden on the load of the original walls, resulting in structurally unsafe buildings prone to collapse.3

ARCHITECTURAL PRESERVATION

Current preservation efforts in Cuba are generated from several sources. These include the Cuban government, international residents who live in Cuba, and private Cuban citizens.

Preservation: The Cuban Government

Most preservation work sponsored by the Cuban government is coordinated through Cuba’s Office of the Historian, which works to preserve the cultural and architectural heritage of the country. The Office of the Historian has a unique model of preservation that focuses on generating income from tourism and investing that revenue into historic preservation. Buildings are selected on the basis of their potential for generating income as hotels, restaurants, and museums.4 Using the Office of the Historian’s Master Plan, a committee annually prioritizes which buildings will get attention. These efforts tend to focus on the five public squares in the historic section of Havana and the corridors that connect them.5

In 1992, Spain founded a preservation trade school in Havana to develop a cadre of skilled craftspeople capable of restoring Havana’s buildings using traditional methods. It was funded for five years and then became a part of the Office of the Historian. Each year, school leaders are informed of the skills needed to meet ongoing projects from the Master Plan. Faculty and roughly 200 students are selected specifically to [End Page 47]


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Paseo de Marti, Havana, Cuba.


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Collapsed building in El Centro, Havana, Cuba.

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meet these annual goals. In return, the students are guaranteed jobs with the Office of the Historian upon graduation. While meeting with Juan Jesús Gesen Musa, Specialist in Restoration of Architecture Works, it was interesting to witness the ingenuity required to preserve buildings in Havana. For example, students working on the restoration of the Capitol dome ground the original damaged pieces of limestone into a cement-like mixture, which was then cast into molds to look like the original. It was also here, while observing students learning forging methods, that I was introduced to Cuba’s innovative vegetable coal product made from the marabou bush weed. This sustainable product has all the benefits of traditional coal but...

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