Second Havana Harbour Charrette - March 2008
Apr 9, 2011
The Cuban and Norwegian chapters of C.E.U. - Council for European Urbanism
Design Studies and Recommendations:
Regla and Refinery: Part - 1
General
The Regla / Refinery team submitted a proposal that presumed the existing brownfields, especially in the Refinery portion of the sector, had been remediated. The team studied carefully last year’s proposal and affirmed that the city is a living organism and Regla has a strong identity based upon religious beliefs, and the presence of the oil refinery.
Building on the idea of a living organism, the team did a pattern analysis of Regla’s streets and plazas to devise strategies for expanding the district’s organic street and block forms. They highlighted four sets of patterns:
- two where Regla’s fabric interacts with the Via Blanca;
- two at the district nearest the major plaza;
- two where the ridge line forms a cliff edge with the flatter areas below; and
- one where the Regla peninsula meets the Harbour.
From these patterns, they proposed new streets and blocks which mirror, rather than contrast with, Regla for the dock areas facing Atarés as well as the Refinery. The proposal tries to take advantage of the views and the potential of the whole site. .
The new layout for the rest of the territory was also developed to discourage high speed traffic, including the creation of a parkland buffer between existing and proposed residential areas and the high-capacity artery - the Via Blanca
Architectural Proposals
The team selected four areas from the overall plan to propose possibilities:
Dock Areas Facing Atarés
Tip of Regla Peninsula
Refinery Commercial Centre
Refinery Waterfront
Two features of this area are the cliff face separating the existing town and the corner of the existing dockland. There is the potential to create new cliff dwellings. Nearer the water there is potential for a formal buildings and a figural waterfront promenade.
Dock areas facing Atarés
see note 6 about sources for material on this page
