Master's Thesis: Designing Contextually In A Globalized World | A New[Er] Havana
Fall 2015, Cornell University
How can architecture engage both the culture of a place and its connectedness to the global condition by enabling citizen participation? Normalization of US-Cuba relations has begun to fuel local economic inequality between those working in the state and private sectors in Cuba. How can small scale interventions create space for exchange between travelers and locals in order to disrupt the inequality caused by the recent increase in mass tourism?
Through the design of nomadic, reconfigurable and flexible WiFi/technology hubs, spaces of commons throughout Havana are transformed to support a variety of scenarios derived from analysis of existing informal social interactions and programs that foster this exchange.
