Arphiteclure and planning in Cuba

Architecture and revolution :Cuba,1959 to 1974

Susana I orrc

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'Society is lilled wlth a violent desire tor some-lhlng which it may obtain or may not. Everything liesin that: everything depends on the ellort made andthe attention paid to these alarming symptoms. Archi-tecture or revolutlon. Revolution can be avoided,'Le Corbusier, Towards a New Architecture

Centuries of economic and social struggle have relentlesslydemonstrated that architectural ulopias embodying idealsocial order and design reconslructions of classless ar_cadias are only affairs of ttje mind Utopian aspirations ofsocial reform have in most inslances included some kind ofgrand urban scheme which, it was assumed, would bringabout social change by the example of its own absoluteclarity. At their best, utopias have contained the seeds of aforcelul social consciousness. At their worst, society hascondemned them to oblivion, as in the past, or absorbedthem lnlo its current system of consumer choices.

Historical evidence demonstrates that without a parallelprocess creating the condjtions of a revolutionary socialchange as the expression of the entire community, designutopias, however powerful and mesmerizing, do not affectreality. For "it is not design whose organization determinesthe social relationships [and] the distribution of power be_tween people, but the social relationships which dictate theconceptual organizalion of design "r

Design utopias have ignored that ,,the change of humanassociations," as well as a change in the ownership of theland and the means of production, constitute the necessaryprerequisites for their materialization. They have traditjon_ally been conceived as closed systems, or networks, whichexist within or connect to the elements of a social andphysical space that remains otherwise unchanged. lt is im_portant to note, however, thal the elements of physicalspace are organized, contrary to ulopian pre_emptive as_sumplions, in a manner thal ref lects the past and presentpolilical hislory ol a social struclure. ln this sense, and ulti_

Author: Susana Torre praclices archttecture in New yorkCity and rs assistant professor of architectural design andlheory al Slate Universily ol New york, Old Westbury

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'iiiFlr)i tlle (lCrsrCJr-r an0 Orgartrzal of Cri tite eIvlrOnmef l s,r,:,ll ii:i trrf ,.)ii:it_rr itcJ .il l)oi t a.r ilclroIs whrie'utopial ancl:l'rr'isl:i v{l 1.,rr) ir03l i'eq IteS aiit(e ltave tradttiOrrally pOStU-rle(j or.ier lrom wilttoul lhe rcal clrallcngc of social revolu,ir:; ir;i:l bcen seen in their abiiity Io oreate the necessary

irLrirCjrtroTrs lor soCial Order to emerge t'rom wtthrn

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.l|(l Lrndctdcvcloprllen! 1ltitl rtlJ1 0rtly cltaraclerizei )r. L alrn Arlerrcan sltUrltron ltLttwhrr:ir ai so presen|y rillelr,F vF\ ot close to three-fourths of the wor cl s popLtjallon| (,.lull.r lrrrwcver, even rl tlre politrCal and Lrcor'tOmtc i?venls'iratl (,reiiled tlte present coniext for archrtectLtre atrd lr'll.rr-i,::irlll!l re-,sLr led f rorn a r:llrli._tler:;y:;lelti ol p.irlctL_;,llr u I' rrilIl!il'r_i(.r.-l l:t{:ry (ti|titL]l i,t: lr-i v i_i|!jcr..lt(-r{.1 tf lal\crt ,}:i t.|lrLr (llcr.i (.'itt,,L, it .;loty

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Since the revolulion rn 195g, Cuba lras seenthree f arrly drsttnct phases of archilecture.I.he f rsl ts seen rn Porro's CubanacanSchool ol Fir)e Arf:i ( I 961

- I 963) Castro

cnlrcized arch tects who produce this kindof desrgn for usrng "excesstvely egocenlriccriteria" and f or "pretending to makea particular case out of every building."

lils century, has been accentuated by the penetration ofneocaprla isl eoonomic venlures into aroitaic and under-developed economic structures. ln such cases, the deci-srons of large, transnalional corporalions, especially inareas aff ecttng the exploitatron of naturai resources and themanutacture ot goods, are taken primarily in relation to aworldwide strategy, rather than in accordance with the de-velopmenlal pace and social needs of the irost country

A consequence of this activity, which dates back to acondrt on of economic dependency on diff erent f oreignt ags for two ccnturies, can be seen In Lalin Amerrca,where 86 5 percent of the populalion lives on the coaslalbelt lair removed f rom the resources and productive areasol lhc lrrlerror. lhe traditional metaphor of the Latin Arneri-ci,irrci.rprlarl cily lurning its bar;k lo tlte rest of the country(Bral ,,rrd Co onriria are lhe sole exceptions) expressesllro rrcJlrr .urrr (iorlralized hte raf chy of lhe urban strLiclure

t\f arrrilly:; --j of lhe Cuban sttualton prror to ,1959 brrngs

lllo iocLls specit c traits of these general condrtions Thet,urrirlry s e(jonomy was undetdevelopecl Througlr a lowlcvel t-rf 1trr..rdr-rctivity, Cuba exClu:;ively pLrrve;ye)d ritw rrlil,'

Architecture and revolution

rials rn uniiaterai contrnercial trade 160 to 70 ltercent of allexporls were to the U.S , lhe same percenlage ol all tm-porled goods were tronr tlre U.S.). Land ownership wasone of lati{undia, and the land itsel{ was almosl exclusrvely(under)used tor nronocr.ops, mainly sugar.

Wllile the low per-capita income was uneqirally ciis-trrbuted, 72 percenl of the large estates,4T percenl ot thesugar induslry, 95 percent o1 the public services, and g0percent of tlre banks were owned by loreign capilal, Therural population, the 46 percenl most severely aff ecled bythis state of affairs, received only two percent of the totalnational revenue. Eigity-six percent of the rural infant pop-ulation was afJected by parasites, while 75 percenl of allmedrcal services were concentrated in Havana; 90 percentof the rural population lived in bohios (similar to adobes),while 89 percent of the annual conslruclion was lor specu-lative purposes or unproductive investmenls, using the ser-vices of some of the 90 percent of all of ihe Cuban archi-tects who practiced exclusively in the metropolitan area. Allof these factsr indicale the extreme polarity between thecity and the countryside; as such indicators they are repre-sentative embodiments oi the political and economic fac-tors that organize physical space,

Ellects ol Soviet planning models on CubaThe elimination of this polarity and the idea of territorialequipoise are deeply rooted in the materlalistic conceptionof reality, and were f irst formulated by Engels in Anti-Dur-lng, He also developed, to a certain extenl, a theory olplanning which called for a global strategy for an entire ter-ritory. His idea established, in the minds of his contempo-raries and later generations, an inseparable association be-tween planning and socialism. The issue of planning and,more precisely, the concept of the Master Plan, were re-garded as one of the fundamental differences between so-cialism and capitalism,

After the October Bevolution in Russia, the intention otachieving a town and country equipoise persislently ap-pears in the f irst efforts ol the Soviety planners, The theo-retical sources for their f irst hypothesis of the Socialist Citycan be traced to the Fourierist-anarchist tradition, the Gar-den Cities movement, and the German planning treatises,as was made obvious in the f irst Moscow plan of 1918,which ref lects some distinct fealures of anarchist thought.During the early transition years, the Soviet planners con-centrated more on defining planning models than on elabo-rating concrete planning programs. They believed in thePlan as an ideological objective and as a somewhat mag-ical solution for the problem of a harmonious developmentof the terrilory, but when it became increasingly evidentthal the Plan as an instrumenl for territorial reconciliationwas neilher suff icienl nor entirely relevanl to the concreteand aclual circumslances, Lenin himself indicated that itwasn'l yel time lo elaborale rigid, all-encompassing plans:"We are poor. . A lrue masler plan is today, for us,bureaucralized ulopia. "'

The actual "clyrrarnics clf development" deltred by.pre-cise econornrc plarrrrrrrg obleclrves arrd scienlrf ic analysisas lhe basrs l

!urng llre ilr,coir(i j)llise ol archrleclurcrllur the revolulra)f rnosl ol lire desrgrriild conslruclron rosources were diverlcdlo ltlc ourldrng ol scirools, lollowing the'r)nlpLclc cradicalion ol illiteracy rn' lrl'r. f,nai lo lire a;olrslr ucliOn ol f aclores

r'-. iiulvador Ailerrcle Grade Scllooi ol l9/2(i Ulrl) lhe I e|rin Vocatronal Higir Schoolrl 19711 (tc)r)) and llre 'f r contrnenlaL Srrcla,-itcragc and lvllr I r|t: Ierrn naL ol 196/rL vu, lyprly I .. : .l ,u' l"!'pL't u(l

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The thrrd and presenl phase of Cuban burlding ltas seen il relur{t lo llteconslruclron of hous[]g and a new emphasrs on reuslng old burldrngs.such as the legendary Moncada Garrison in Santiago (above). which waslranslormed, like all lormer f ortresses and prisons. lnto a schoolNew hoLising has been made possible largely through lhe creation ol llle"mlcrobriqade," which began as a popular response lo havtng so mucnof the resources and energies diverted into school conslruction Micro-brrgades are groups of 33 workers who leave their regular jobs forperiods of lime to do conslrucljon work under lrained experls. They havebeen responsible lor proJecls such as Alamar (lop anO lell), a ne!v citynear Havana thal rs projected lo have a population ol I 25 000 by 1 982

Archlleclure and revolution

creation of new irrstituticlns endowed with planning and ex-ecutory responsibililies shaped the new policies in relationto the social and physical environmenl. One of the first newlaws, and the replacement of the abolished national lotterywith an lnstitute for Savings and Housing, were to have im-mediate impact on land appropriation palterns of the cily.The sale of vacant lots held by land speculators and privatedevelopers became obligatory and resulted in their rec-lamation for the construction of much-needed housing andcommercial facilities. "There are already enough buildingsin the large cities to solve immediately any housing short-age, " Engels said in 1872, "t they are used rationally,[which] can only happen through expropriation from thelandlords and the distribution of their houses to those whodon't have one and to those workers who live in extremelycrowded quarters."r Cuba followed this advice shortly afterthe U.S, economic blockade was enlorced. Mansionsabandoned by fleeing wealthy families, as well as slums,became the state's property, and little or no compensationwas granted the former owners.

The initial guidelines regarding the construction of newhousing resulted in f irm rent control and in a Law of UrbanReform that proclaimed housing to be an inalienable rightand basic need of every human being. A three-stagemethod was proposed for ils implementatlon. ln the firstphase, rent payments would represent the amorlization ofthe unit's price over a period of 5 to 20 years; in the secondphase, through massive stale construction programs, unitswould be allocated permanently and paid for in monthly in-stallments not to exceed 10 percent of the family income; inthe final stage, housing would be allocated f ree.

Natlonal seminar on housing, 1964Even though the construction of housing had been a press-ing concern f rom the outset, it was not until the tirst hous-ing census (carried out by neighborhood organizations)was completed in 1962 that a realistic ordering of housingpriorities could be established. These priorities were formu-lated at the National Seminar on Housing in 1964. Theycalled for the construction of housing needed in connec-tion with the development of the national economy; next,for housing in rural areas neighboring the recently createdfarms and near existing or new industrial complexes; then,ior housing to meet the demands of population growth; andlast, lor the replacement ot old and derelict buildings

The location preference given to dwellings in the coun-tryside was expected lo reverse, as it did, the migratorytrends toward Havana and the provincial capitals. The sem-inar also made slrong recommendations for the standard-ization of economical and technical indices, furnishingsand equrpment, modular systems, and building types.

Early models lor the ideal urban residential unit, whichHabana del Este exemplrf ies, as well as rural clusters ot dts-persed individual houses, had to be discontinued and re-placed by schemes that took the scarcity of technical andmalerial resources inlo account, "if we are lesolve_thehousing problem in 10 instead of 30 years."'

Four years later, rn 1968, the demands crealed by thecomplete eradication of illiteracy (which had averaged 50

percent until 1961 , and which was eliminated in one yearthrough the servrces of more than 100,000 students andvolunteers) caused a considerable amount of material andlabor resources to be shifted from housing to educ'ationalfacilities, "ls our youth going to lose its opportunity for edu-calion because the country does not have the necessaryfacilities . . .? 500 schools are more important for the pres-ent, and even more for the future, than 10,000 houses.""The popular response to this situation was the creation ofthe microbrigade-a self-help group of 33 workers whotake leave of their regular jobs to learn construction skillson the site under the supervisron of experts. This releasedthe professional construction force for building schools.

The rational utllizatlon ol resourcesThe rational utilization of resources has always been, in un-derdeveloped countries, a critical question that affordedlittle margin Jor the predictable errors that are made in theattempt to solve problems never encountered before. Themain difficulties in the building process in Cuba, whichwere identified by Castro in his 1964 address to the FirstCongress of Builders, included the problems of idealizingthe real conditions in terms of projects, materials and labor,and the use of excessively "egocentric criteria" by somearchitects, "who pretend to make a particular case out ofevery building." Castro also called attention to the generallow quality of the projects, which he felt was due either toinsuff icient program definition by the user-sponsor and thedesigner, or the architect's own lack of interest in exhaus-tively studying the real conditions of produclion in order togive the most appropriale design solution.

ln calling for a more integrated team collaboration be-tween sponsors, users, and designers, Castro concludedwith a series of exhortations to increase lhe amount of re-search and experimentationi to study the development ofthe industrial and technological sector in order to applytheir new findings to the field of construction; to use com-puters systematically in the production aspects; to increasethe typification and modular coordination of building; tolearn f rom other international experiences; and to intensifythe formation of capable cadres of workers, designers, andtechnology experts at all levels.

The goals of educationln Cuba today, an endeavor is made to implement Jos6Marti's postulate that "There is no social equality wilhoutcultural equality," This is seen in every area of professionaland educational aclivity through a combination of work andstudy, and in the arduous efforls to achieve the univer-salization of higher education. Upon the attainment ol thisformidable goal, it is envisioned lhat universities will ceaseto exist in their presently known form, since every organiza-lion or productive cenler could ideally create and imparlknowledge at the level reguired to form qualilied arrd corn-petent professionals. The present university syslem coul(Jthen be transformed into a network of research instituleswhich could concentrate on the productron ol theory

Education ol lhe architectThe sludents of archilecture (who were moslly ol rrreli,,polrtan extraction) called to torm the ranks of lhe Sr rr;r;rr i I ,ral Service created in 1964. were to conlribule lltr:rr ,.,'.

Architecture and revolulion

ative etforls 1o the lratrslorrlatiorr of the aclual errvirorrrnerrlwhile experiencing, al llre sarne lirle, a personal conlaclwitlrtire sclcioeconorlic realily of lhe rnajority of the popu-latiorr. Since rrosl new br.rildtng prograrns were tteir-rg cle-veloped in lhe rural or less developed areas, a rninimum oftwo years was to be spent working with one ol these pro-grams afler graduation. Studenls who chose lo remainlonger in the assigned area could do so, and those whowished to be relocated could be transferred, but pref erablyat the end of their lerm of service.

Since 1964, mainly as the result of the f or.rndation of twoschools ol architeclure outside of Havana, the post-graduate program has been largely replaced by a situationwhere the students become involved earlrer in lhe con-struction induslry. The lirst two years of this new programmight involve learning the building trade by helping a bri-gade construct a project which the students probably alsohelped to design ln later years, students would study as-pects of production organizatron and supervision in depth.

The curriculum ol the schools of architecture is in a stateof f lux today, and many radical departures f rom the tradi-tional educational approach have already occurred. Nolonger is education, or the practice of architecture, cen-tered exclusively on the design properties of the self-contained architectural artifact and its conventional rela-tionship with an environment considered as a "giveninvarient." As a resull, architect-planners are actively in-volved in the postulation of archilectural and buildinglypes, through a process of decision and policy-makingthat is rarely assessible to design professionals outside oJsocialist-orienled societies. lt is recognized now that theelaboration of plans al all levels requires the coordinationand specialized knowledge of various disciplines. Ralherthan attempting to create generalists in the areas of ecol-ogy, sociology, economics, etc,, the trend now is lowardthe application of theoretical problems to actual planningconditions, discussed within the team structure. ln this con-text, the role of the architect-planner is seen as that ofcoordinating the technological and human factors thatmust coalesce to achieve productive and social relation-ships through "Economy, Quality and Form, "'

Anolher direction in design education is seen in the cre-ation of a "university of methods," where the learning of1l)eory would provide students with the conceptual skills toanalyze and resolve types of design problems. Because ob-jects are primarily considered as elemenls of a system, ex-isting within a conlext rather than as self-conlained entities,the practice of solving isolated "design cases" is totally re-jected, ln conjunclion with this, courses such as semiotics,communications lheory, value theory, slruclural logic, psy-chology and polltical economy are included in the designcurriculum along with specif ic design courses. ln addition,studenls are encouraged to engage in the production oftheorelical knowledge in research seminars.

Finally, there is a close maintenance of relationship be-lween lhe studio projects and lhe f uttillment of real de-mands and needs in areas of research, desigq, technical.production and supervision. Specialized personnel ol lhestate planning organizalrons are encouraged to become

Progressrve Archttecture 1 0;74

part ol lhe archrlecture schools' faculties in order lo insurethis. There is a slrong commilment to the idea that indus-lrializalion is not only an imporlant and desirable factor inorder 1o transcend the "realm of necessity 10 that ol free-dom," bul that i1 rs also, as Hannes Mayer believed, af Lrndamental component in the "expression of the archi-tectural cullure of our time," alorrg with lire "lransformationof tlre new rnan's social life."

The scenario lor today and the lutureln the f irst decade of the revolulion, Cuban archilects ad-mitted thal lhe currenl architectural production, "with itsheavy conslruction, static and rigid proportions, lack ofadaptability, diff icult maintenance and weak or ecclectic in-dividual expression,"n could nol satisfactorily resolve thef ull range of individual and social demands. Castro turtherelaborated on this by saying: "lt is obvious that in theseearly times we cannot satisfy our highest aspirations of es-thetic quality. This is also a dialectical process, a process ofchange. We cannot aspire now to making things as beau-tif ul as we will in 20 years, But we must try to avoid makingthem so ugly that in 20 years we will be embarrassed bywhat we have done today. " He has f urther postulated, "wemust not in any way think that esthetics is in conflict witheconomy and that esthetics is not one of the elements(which are) indispensable to man and society . . . and wemust not mistake esthetics with luxury, which is a very dif-ferent thing.",

After f ifteen years of revolution, Cuban society has alsobegun to reach beyond the realjzation of its social aims forthe implementation of its own cultural representations; and10 reach beyond the continuous process of building, for theformulation of principles for an architecture appropriate tosocialrsm and underdevelopment, These principles evolvef rom three main sources: lhe process of social transforma-tions in time, the need to raise the level of productivitywithin the limited available resources, and socialist human-ism. "' Because "humanism" has been so deeply en-trenched in the content oi occidental architecture, andequally proclaimed by opposite schools of thought, the Cu-ban architects and theoreticians have searched to bringthis ever-elusive and polysemic notion within more preciselimits. The explicit recognition of the exlreme complexityof human beings, both as psychological beings and as theconscious or unconscious participants in intricate socialevents, disposes of the transparent and bidimensional im-age of a "universal man" as the ideal inhabitant of archi-tecture, At less elevated levels, criteria such as "low in-come" or "luxury," mainly applied to the design andmarketing of human dwellings, also lack relevance withinlhe Cuban cultural context.

Hypotheses ol Cuban architeclureThe hypotheses advanced by Cuban architects are bestrepresented by the writings of Fernando Salinas,,,fromwhich the lollowing principles are excerpted:

The principle of adaptability. ln tlmes of social change,there is the need lor an architecture whose changing formcan accommodate changing functions and uses. The archi-tectural form is seen as "the form of transformation itself ."Archrtecturally, this would entail the development of an ex-lensive syslem ol movable walls, f lexible space dividers and

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light iurrrrttrre, to lransf orm interior spaces.f he principle of economy Production o1 the maxrmurn ot

construclive possibilities with the minimum oi resourcesand eftort Utilization of materials al their optimum struc-tural and construclive conditions; the best possible plannedorganization of the production process and the most ad-vanced technology available. Economrcal maintenance isalso considered a determinanl factor

The principle of change and groMh. When the pressure ofsolving immediate social needs is relieved, there should ex-ist the possibility of translorming the present architecture interms of growlll and change ot form and space.

The principle of variety within unity The f ull developmentof the individual should f ind its'correspondence in an archi-tecture which permits, through the creative combinatron otelements, lhe expression ol the parlicular characteristics 01tire individual anci collective user ln this serrse, the user isrrol seen as a "consurrrer of space," but as a participant inlhe creative iJrorjess of def ining space.

Whether lhe achrevenrents of an arclritecture that takesthese principles into consideratron wrll evolve a novel es-thetic of contrnuity and newness def ined by change,clrowtlt and aciaptitbility, cleperrds orr lhe extent to whicirlirese rdeas are irtegrated into llre cullural represerttattOrtsol lhe f utrrrtr rrr Cuban soctclV Wert: c-rne to adopt a iropr:lLraltrtucj1, llrt-. 1)trs ttve (jriIlf tbUlioil ol tltese rdeas cor-rld, pernapS, resull rrt .ir arCltrtectLile wrllluLjl rlretl{tc. an archt-tectLJre whrch. in renouncintl llle rreecl tb 'materiaiize" lhe.illLrsion ol etenrity, rnighl rlrrror and sustaiit tlte cclntirruc.ritsunloldirrr.l ,-rl irurnan exiSlr-lnce l

Murals suci) as lnese: 'Cleantng and Embellishment ts the Task ol All."(above) and "We Shall be like tiim" (betow) now reptace commercrat advertrsing in Cuba, olten (as above) promoting lhe idea of collectrve work

Relerences'lzonrs, A, irtvvarcls a Non-oppressive Envttonntenl.'Garcra Vascluez F EI Procsso tlc urUar lacron en Cuba." in La Ltrls,tt,zact0n an Antt'tica Laltnal"iirrrr. M l-eS lJrt-,rilrele5 liypL,lile!ii lit JJidi Liui.li (Jn !iltJai rtr-,\r,.t,r, r

Russrc:rovrclr(lue l9l8-1921). tA Ar:i)tllta)a No i. 13/'jErrqels F . flte Housutg ()uL':;ltt-,ttC.r;lro F Clorilrg :lpcech. Conlcrcncc ol inlor.rillrunal Unrori ,i i

Ir'-cls, Hav:ln.l, I 963.Cl:;tro. F . S1;e.och, Blh annrver:i3ry ol lllc (loill[]rllr)! l()r llrc i)rrlr:r .

llte ilrvrrlrrlrnrt I 9tilJUoilr)elivr) ()l ll c latrjrJlly ol Fltrvltr[r /\rctrlld(]lurrj SclroOl ,\r,lrtrl", lr. .lr'1 ,'! !tttitttit)'Ll;t:;lro. l: il ()i,il1{J speL.Ch, lSi 1,,ILllcj: il r.? rr!ilriii l i.: ',\, ;''lurt t'St:tjre ll Stgt)iltCJCion de Clutt,t i.n tJ etlilLil.: ,1!tltlt!: \ i t)i ,

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