Jelmer van Zalingen
Complex Projects
THE IMMOBILE CITY
Student: Jelmer van Zalingen
Title: The Immobile City: Revival of Havana’s public transportation system
Studio: MSc3/4 Havana Studio
Graduated: Spring 2017
Abstract
The almost sixty year Castro regime has driven the island of Cuba into isolation. Infrastructure on the island fully relies on the nation own capacity and since the special period like everything else this is in an overall state of decline. The ongoing neglected state of Cuba’s infrastructure, together with a continuous scarcity of resources and inefficient logistics have made Havana into an immobile city. However Cuba understands that it cannot longer stay isolated and economically dependent on others, therefore Cuba in a state of change and slowly opening up to the world. The city opposes numerous problems with underutilized potentials in order to become a contemporary city. The opposed question is how can Havana become a more connected city with a high level of urban mobility to establish a prosperous future. The main goal of the project is to connect people, neighborhoods and infrastructure together by blending different transportation options into one transportation hub. Spatial building principles of unity, clarity and connectivity symbolizes a strong transportation typology, that will connect the old historic city to the future Redevelopment of the old harbor area and becomes a transition zone from fine to bigger scale and from residential to a commercial character. The building has a perpendicular orientation relative to the infrastructure and forms a bridge that binds and orders all infrastructure lines seamlessly together, giving the traveller full possibility of transfer between.
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