Havana Urban Design Charrette: Cuba, 19-25 February 2012

INTBAU Cuba and INTBAU Scandinavia invite you to join the 2012 Havana Urban Design Charrette.
The 2012 International Charrette will take place from 19-25 February 2012 and will build on work completed at the charrettes held annually from 2007. International architects and planners are invited to join Cuban experts and local communities for a one-week charrette to develop proposals for the regeneration and development of the waterfront area of Centro Havana.

The charrette will fit both educational and professional purposes and will give participants an introduction to the history of Havana’s cultural heritage through close contact with its traditions, architecture and urbanism. The charrette seeks the participation of individuals who share a respectful attitude to new interventions in historical contexts, and who value the creation of places where humans can enjoy living and working.

Tour of Havana, 26 February–3 March 2012

A study tour of Havana will take place following the charrette, entitled "An introduction to the history of the urbanism and architecture of Havana". You can register for one or both of the events. For more information on the tour, please click here.

Charrette Objectives:

• Elaborate ideas for the development of the waterfront sectors of the district of Centro Habana.
• Promote an integrated vision between the natural condition and the built environment.
• Promote and highlight the importance of the Malecon for the new image of Havana and for social and cultural integration.
• Evaluate the benefits of the transformation of the district of Centro Habana for the future of Havana in economical and urban terms.
• Improve the quality of life of the inhabitants of the district of Centro Haban, preserving its Mediterranean image and getting advantage of its privilege site.
• Propose the increase of urban open space, housing and commerce in the area and its impact at city level.
• Turn the current dilapidated image of the district of Centro Habana into a contemporary and joyful one.
• Reshape the urban landscape of an area currently dilapidated and lacking character by increasing the green areas.
• Reinforce the cultural identity of the district of Centro Habana within the city of Havana.

What is a charrette?

A charrette is an intensive planning session where citizens, designers and others collaborate on a vision for development. It provides a forum for ideas and offers the unique advantage of giving immediate feedback to the designers. More importantly, it allows everyone who participates to be a mutual author of the plan.

Registration & costs

The registration fee for international participants is 300 CUC (Cuban Convertible Peso), approx. 240 EUR, GBP £200, or USD $330. This fee goes exclusively to covering expenses during the charrette, such as studio equipment, transportation costs for Cuban participants, and renting the venue.

Further information and registration:

Julio Cesar Perez, INTBAU Cuba
Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it and This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it (use both)

Audun Engh, INTBAU Scandinavia
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Who is it for?

The charrette is designed for architects, planners, art historians, antiquarians, writers, students and anyone with an interest in the history, traditions and culture of Cuba. The full charrette programme and a description of the Centro Habana area are included at the bottom of this page.

US participants

We have had US participants for the previous tours and workshops. Due to the US trade embargo, US citizens will have to travel under either a general or a specific licence. For further information, please go to the website of the United States Department of the Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control.

You may email us or contact one of the travel agencies listed below for additional information on licences.
• Common Ground Education & Travel Services – www.commongroundtravel.com
• Marazul – www.marazul.com

You may also contact the Center for Constitutional Rights in New York on This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
A previous US participant Michael Mehaffy suggests looking at the link below, and referring to the bottom of page 10.

http://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/sanctions/Programs/Documents/cuba_tr_app.pdf

Mr Mehaffy also has the following advice for interested US participants:

‘You will need to make your own specific determination, but in my case I went under a "general licence," no pre-application required, under the provisions of an international professional meeting in my professional area. I brought with me: a letter of invitation from the Scandianvian organizers; a print of this OFAC document with relevant sections highlighted; my CV; and my itinerary, making it clear this was a professional and international event. I had no problems whatsoever, and I am not aware that anyone else from these events has either.

The intent of the licence is to avoid penalising American professionals who might otherwise benefit from an international professional event in Cuba.'

A visa to Cuba will be issued upon arrival at Havana airport. US passports are not stamped by Cuban authorities.

Travel

Participants are responsible for their own travel to Cuba, accommodation and meals. We can assist with arranging accommodation for you, either in private apartments (Casa Particular) or in an international-style hotel.

Airlines with connections from Europe include Air France, British Airways, Iberia, and Virgin Atlantic (from London). There are also flights to Havana from the US (Miami, New York), Canada, Mexico and other Latin American countries.

No credit cards issued by US banks will work in Cuba. It is recommended to bring cash for the trip. Euros, UK Pounds and Dollars are accepted in any currency exchange shop. US Dollars will be subject to a 10% tax when exchanged.

Visas

You will need a visa to visit Cuba. Please contact your local Cuban embassy. A tourist visa will be the simplest to obtain. New regulations require you to submit the name of the hotel or the address and registration number of the Casa Particular when applying for a visa. We will provide you with this information with sufficient time if you prefer Casa Particular accommodation.

We can on request arrange Casa Particular (rooms in private houses and apartments) accommodation in the Vedado district for 50 CUC, Cuban Convertible Peso per night (approx, $55, 35 Euro, £30). This price is per room, single or double occupancy. Most of our participants at the previous charrettes chose this option, although some preferred to arrange for their own accommodation. We can make some suggestions if you prefer hotel accommodation.

Previous Havana charrettes

Our previous charrettes have brought together participants from Cuba, the UK, the USA, Canada, Norway, Sweden, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Slovakia, Argentina, Mexico and other countries. You can read reports on past charrettes online on John Pilling’s website.

John H. Pilling's report from the 2011 INTBAU Charrette in Centro Havana: http://www.johnpilling.net/2011-havana-urban-design-charette/summary_files/2011-havana-urban-design-charrette.pdf

The New York-based website Cuban Art News published an article about the 2011 charrette:
http://www.cubanartnews.org/can/post/charrette_2011_envisioning_the_future_of_havana/

Cuban Art News interview with Prof. Julio Cesar Perez:
Part 1: http://www.cubanartnews.org/can/post/julio_cesar_perez_the_city_must_be_dreamed_designed_and_conceived_for_the_f/
Part 2: http://www.cubanartnews.org/can/post/julio_cesar_perez_part_2_i_feel_very_proud_very_happy_when_i_speak_about_ha/

The organisers

The charrette is organized by INTBAU Cuba and INTBAU Scandinavia, in partnership with the Cuban and Norwegian chapters of the Council for European Urbanism. We have organised similar events in several countries, including Norway, Germany, the UK, Romania and Italy. In September 2008 C.E.U. Norway organised the Third International C.E.U. Congress – Climate Change and Urban Design – in Oslo, Norway.
Professor Julio Cesar Pérez Hernández

Julio Cesar Perez is responsible for the academic and professional programme in Havana and the Cuban participation. He was a Loeb Fellow at Harvard Graduate School of Design 2001-2002 and adjunct professor at the School of Architecture in Havana (1998-2006), and has lectured widely in the USA, Canada and Europe about Cuban architecture. He is a member of the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba and the recipient of several international and national awards. His writings have been published in the New York Times, Arquitectura Cuba and Arquitectura y Urbanismo.

Pérez Hernández is the author of a major new book on Cuban architecture and culture, Inside Cuba, published by Taschen. He is the president of the Cuban Chapters of INTBAU and the C.E.U. and the author of A Masterplan for 21st century Havana.

John H. Pilling, AIA has been an instructor at the Boston Architectural College since 1993. His studies, which focus on cities of Mexico and the Caribbean, have been done with the friendship of the Faculties of Architecture at CUJAE in Havana and campuses of Tec. de Monterrey (ITESM) in Guadalajara and Mexico City. He has traveled regularly to Cuba since 2001 to do research on its architecture and urban design. In addition to his academic work he practises full time in metropolitan Boston.

Audun Engh is from Oslo, Norway. Education in law. Project manager for conferences, workshops and charrettes held in several countries, including the Climate Change and Urban Design conference in Oslo, 2008, and INTBAU Scandinavia workshops in Transylvania, Romania. Member of the INTBAU College of Chapters, representing INTBAU Scandinavia. Board member of CEU – Council for European Urbanism.

Cuban Supporting Organizations
• Office of the Historian of the City of Havana
• UNEAC (National Union of Artists and Writers of Cuba)
• UNAICC (National Union of Architects and Engineers of Cuba)
• National Physical Planning Institute
• Faculty of Architecture of Havana / CUJAE
• Fundación El Hombre y la Naturaleza
• Instituto Nacional de Geofísica y Astronomía

6th Havana Waterfront Charrette Programme, 19-25 February 2012

Day 1 SUNDAY 19 February
Evening 5.30 -7.00 pm. Hotel Condes de Villanueva. Mercaderes Street, at corner of Lamparilla Street. Old Havana.
Welcome and introduction by Dr. Eusebio Leal Spengler, Director of the Office of the Historian of the City of Havana (to be confirmed); Prof. Julio César Pérez, INTBAU Cuba; and Audun Engh, INTBAU Scandinavia. Followed by a buffet and drinks reception.

Day 2 MONDAY 20 February
Morning 10 am. Work Session. Tour of Centro Habana (charrette site). Introduction to the city, its history and evolution by Professor Julio César Pérez.
Lunch on your own or at the venue.
2.30-5.30 pm. Introductory lectures by both Cuban experts and foreign participants. Work in teams. Venue Hotel Condes de Villanueva, Mercaderes Street, corner of Obrapía.

Day 3 TUESDAY 21 February
9.30 am Work session – Discussion and organisation of preliminary ideas.
1.30- 2.30 pm Lunch
2.30- 5.30 pm Afternoon session. Studio work at the venue.

Day 4 WEDNESDAY 22 February
9.00 am Studio work – Public meeting /pin-ups of first ideas, led by Prof. J.C.Perez
1.30- 2.30 pm Lunch
2.30- 5.30 pm Studio work. Adjustments of proposals and ideas.

Day 5 THURSDAY 23 February
9.00 am Studio work.
1.30- 2.30 pm Lunch
2.30- 5.30 pm Studio work
5.30 pm Public presentation and discussion of first proposals

Day 6 FRIDAY 24 February
9.00 am Adjustments of proposals. Studio work.
1.30- 2.30 pm Lunch
2.30- 5.30 pm Preparation for the final presentation. Studio work.

Day 7 SATURDAY 25 February
10.00 am. Public presentation of final proposals for Centro Habana
Conclusions and announcement of follow up.

The 2012 Charrette Site, Centro Habana

Centro Habana was the first suburb of Havana and its origins date back from the early 1700s. The increase of the agricultural activity in the rural territories off the walls for granting the Spanish Fleet the necessary supplies and the expanding shipbuilding industry contributed to the birth of the first settlements. A small church devoted to the Virgin of Guadalupe in 1716 would define the so considered first neighbourhood (at Monte and Aguila streets) while the relocation of the Real Arsenal in 1734 to the South by the Atares area and the lay out of the Alameda de Extramuros (Off the Walls Promenade) by the Marquis de la Torre around 1772 also contributed to the expansion of the city. The first cemetery of Havana was built in 1804 – the Espada Cemetery, named after Bishop Espada, while the first hospital outside the walls was built in 1714 (San Lazaro hospital).

The Alameda de Extramuros established a significant urban axis and expressed an early assimilation of the new European trends about the appreciation and enjoyment of Nature in the cities. In 1817 a regulating plan – Plan de Ensanche, the first of its kind in Havana executed by a qualified group of engineers led by Colonel Engineer Antonio Maria de la Torre y Cardenas based on a grid – guided the expansion of the city beyond the walls in an orderly manner by using the existing layout of the roads that connected the walled city with the countryside. The plan established a hierarchy of streets where the main arteries called ‘calzadas’ would become the most distinctive feature of Havana’s new streetscape and stood in clear contrast with the character of Old Havana. The so called ‘calzadas’ turned into commercial axes later sheltered with Neoclassical porticoes and arcades that signalled the porches as Havana’s trademark. The famous Cuban writer Alejo Carpentier called Havana the City of Columns. This urban pattern can easily be recognized nowadays where the ‘calzadas’ play a role as linear axes that not only define different neighbourhoods but provide a variety of mixed uses.

Centro Habana is the most diverse district of Havana, the most densely populated and the most dilapidated one. Due to construction speculation during the first decades of the 20th century and neglect of almost half a century the district is currently decaying and many buildings have collapsed.
Centro Habana is located to the North and the center of Havana so that The Straits of Florida is the natural limit and The Malecon its physical border to the North while El Cerro district – also named after another ‘calzada’ – is the South border. Old Havana is to the East and El Vedado district is to the West.

For the Masterplan purpose – and also for the Charrette’s – the Centro Habana waterfront sector is defined by the presence of both colonial fortresses, La Punta (1589 -1600)and The Morro Castle (1589 -1630), the Paseo del Prado and the Torreon de San Lazaro (1665). This sector is quite different in character from the harbor and from East Havana in terms of environmental issues, urban landscape, heritage presence, urban and architectural typologies, urban design and architecture.

The challenges are many and huge but the most important one will be the integration of this territory as proposed in the Master Plan following its guidelines and design – urban, landscape and architectural – codes so that the whole waterfront is developed according to both its vocation and its potential to give Havana a new facade related to the sea, that orients new urban development to the sea and creates an urban realm according and a sustainable environment. Another major challenge will consist in the integration of this area with the rest of Havana in both physical and cultural terms so that it gives continuity to the tradition of excellence of Havana’s urbanism and architecture.

Due to the lack of open space and high density the current population of about 154, 000 is considered to live in extreme environmental conditions with 1.5 Centigrade degree above the average of the city. Green scarcity also contributes to the heat increase even though the breeze coming from the sea seems occasionally to alleviate the situation.

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