This report is the culmination of the Pratt Institute Spring 2019 Havana Studio, a collaborative effort between the Pratt Graduate Center for Planning and the Environment (GCPE) in Brooklyn, New York, and the José Antonio Echeverría Technological University of Habana (CUJAE) in Havana, Cuba.
With a focus on the Centro Habana neighborhood of Los Sitios, our planning, placemaking and design efforts aim to build upon and expand student recommendations from last year’s studio. The eleven Pratt students and nine CUJAE students who worked on this study come from a variety of professional backgrounds and academic perspectives.
We represent the Pratt disciplines of City and Regional Planning, Urban Placemaking and Management, and Sustainable Environmental Systems; the CUJAE students are part of that university’s architecture program.
These diverse perspectives came together to offer a wide-ranging examination of the existing conditions of Los Sitios, and our proposals for future development, we hope, promote the expansion of a vibrant, sustainable, equitable, and supportive Los Sitios.
Alex DeWitt was one of two group members in charge of the plaza designs for the comprehensive neighborhood plan. Alex drew inspiration for these public space improvements from his youth growing up visiting his family in San Juan, Puerto Rico.