Reconnecting Cuba's Waterfront: An Urban Strategy for Post-Revolution Havana

Abstract

This thesis proposes the implementation of an urban strategy for Havana's El Vedado neighborhood post US trade embargo. This urban strategy promotes political, physical and social connection between the US and Cuba. Politically, the thesis examines a post US trade embargo Cuba. Drawing from the complex relationship between the United States and Cuba, the thesis proposes a US citizen funded and built public space, as a gift, to help reconcile our political ideologies and promote a US-Cuban alliance. This public space is located adjacent to the US Embassy in El Vedado. Physically, the thesis will connect the US and Cuba via a hydrofoil ferry service between Miami and Havana. Socially, the design seeks to address a public space that promotes cultural exchange while celebrating Cuban identity and acknowledging both the need to remember and learn from the past while projecting a new future.