Cuba News and Information

In 1960, Nicolas Quintana was a prominent Havana architect, a member of Cuba’s national planning board. When Castro came to power, Quintana left for what he thought would be a few months. He has been in exile ever since. Now, from his post at Florida International University, Quintana, 81, is developing an ambitious plan to rebuild and restore Old Havana. This is not just the nostalgic musings of an old man. It is a project funded by two homebuilders--Lennar and Century. And there are indications the Cuban authorities are not only aware of the plan, they may tacitly approve of it. What role will U.S. companies play in rebuilding Cuba, especially when other countries are already there?

Go to Big City Dreams article to watch a four minute CNBC video about the future city architectural design plans for the post-Castro Havana. I could not see the video using Firefox so I opened an IE7 window and it worked fine.

To me it seems JUST a bit presumptuous of an old Cuban exile to design a city he left over 40 years ago. However, his designs may have some merit if he gives them to Havana city planners.