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LAS
ARBOLEDAS, A NEW TOWN IN CUBA
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Slides
and Some of the History of Building Las Arboledas
by
Huck Rorick
Las Arboledas is a new town for 20,000 people, being
built from scratch including housing, community facilities (schools,
shopping, recreation) and infrastructure (sewage, water,
roads). The project introduced
advanced ideas in energy & resource conservation combined with
urban plans that are more responsive to the local social context.
It also
seeks to produce a beautiful environment under conditions of severe
economic constraint.
What follows are photos accompanied by a brief
history of the project, some explanation of its design concepts and examples of
completed buildings.
Construction
began in 1988 and slowed to a snail's pace in 1990 with the economic
crisis created by the breakup of the Soviet Union. 565
units were finished or under construction as of 1998 completing
several neighborhoods. A total of 5000 units are planned.
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| Photos:
Please click on the thumbnails for a larger image. Use your
"Back" button to return to the text.
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1. Energy Seminar, Havana |
The project had its beginnings in a series of educational exchanges
started in 1979.
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2. Marlo Martin, Solar Cooling specialist, Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory
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Some of the story of how the project developed follows.
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3. Some
of the project architects: Maria Elena, Marilys & Segui. |
Since
the people are the heart of any community, I wanted to first show
you a few Cuban faces and places, people who worked with us on
Las Arboledas and people on the street. At left are
some of the project architects: Maria Elena, Marilys & Segui.
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4. Plaza
de la Revolución
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Here
we attended a speech by Fidel in Plaza de la Revolución, a Plaza
that really only exists when it is full of people.
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5. Project
manager. |
Chelin,
lead architect from Empresa VI, the architectural design enterprise
assigned to the project.
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6. Board
games at Las Arboledas.
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Kids
playing board game in front of apartments at Las Arboledas.
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7. |
Bicycles
became an important form of transport after the collapse of
the Soviet Union cut Cuba's oil supply in half.
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8. |
Cooking
at the construction site.
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9. Tropicana.
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For
North Americans raised during the cold war Cuba may not fit
our image of the "cold face of communism".
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10.
Project engineers.
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Our
road engineer, hydraulic engineer, 3 architects, myself
& others. Women have a strong role in construction,
architecture and planning.
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