Particularly because of this reason, architecture’s role is irrelevant in Havana: It is not possible to integrate itself in the production of the city neither via state or private capital. The current situation of the discipline would be summarized as follows: Architecture in Havana (most possibly Cuba in general) has access to very limited national capital and restricted foreign capital (some restoration projects and some restricted foreign investments). Therefore the current validity of the discourse is minimal and consequently the exercise of the practice is restricted.
However, the "production of space" is still practiced actively in Havana, both by the state and the citizens. The Cuban society under transformation produce their own space, with their own means. Current political paradigms give way to the possibilities for public initiatives to produce space under the toleration of the state. And these spaces are not necessarily "confirming" but possible to "challenge" the state hegemony in the city.
Since any "role" architecture would take on cannot be without the "production of space" in a society, this field of influence between the "formal" and "informal" seems to be the right place to look for it in Havana... The "margins".
G.U.
.jpg)
