cohabitar
Just out is the volume COHABITAR, edited by Anna Nufrio in Barcelona. This book gathers the experience initiated in 2004 in the international seminar INSIDE LA HABANA which I organized with Anna, with the help of my great Cuban friends. The intent of this international seminar was to present architecture students with a first approximation to the city. It involved students and faculty from the Clemson University Architecture Center in Barcelona, Spain, the Conseil d’Architecture, d’Urbanisme et Environnement, France, the Politecnico di Milano, Italy, the Universitat Internacional de Catalunya, Spain, and the Instituto Superior Politécnico José Antonio Echeverría, Cuba, all with the support of the Office of the Historian of the City of Havana, Cuba. The thirty European students and four faculty members who participated in the research seminar spent two weeks in Havana collaborating with Cuban architecture students mapping stories of the city, examining Havana’s interaction with the sea and documenting housing conditions in the historic center. To aid in their investigations, I organized seminars with practicing Cuban architects, well-known artists, writers, filmmakers, sociologists and research professionals. For the conclusion of the seminar, the students presented their work to the public through models, sketches and videos. I hoped to continue INSIDE LA HABANA with U.S. students and faculty, but, because of continuing policy issues during the Bush Administration, it was impossible. I am happy that Anna was able to continue and expand on what we initiated so long ago. Europe, specially Spain, has always been a more agreeable platform from which to engage Cuba. Let’s hope that under this new administration we are able to engage Cuba in new ways.
