The Lost City

A city frozen in time since the 1950s is threatened by developers. Architects and planners work to save priceless architecture and public spaces.

1 minute read

February 26, 2003, 8:00 AM PST

By Abhijeet Chavan @http://twitter.com/legalaidtech

"It is an image Jeffrey Horowitz cannot bear: Havana, the crumbling colonial gem of the Caribbean, transformed into a generic city of shopping malls, glass office buildings and cul-de-sacs sprouting with as much beauty and planning as garden weeds.So Horowitz, a leading U.S. architect and urban planner, is in Havana this weekend with a group of high-level colleagues to confer with their Cuban counterparts about the future of a city whose architecture and development have been essentially frozen in time since Fidel Castro took over in 1959. 'This is an innocent, lost city that is going to be raped by the world,' said Horowitz, noting that cash-flush developers from around the world are lining up to get into Cuba the moment the four-decade-old U.S. economic embargo is lifted."

Thanks to Abhijeet Chavan

Read the full story: Preservationists Fear for Havana's Future

Tuesday, February 25, 2003 in The Washington Post

History / Preservation United States

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