The aim of the term is it to unfold and document the traces of the described developments as well as the present transformation processes. Therefore the research work on site is crucial. We will undertake a two-week’s-journey to Havana (April 9-23, 2007) to depict the urban transformations in the city through observation, interviews and other forms of investigation. Throughout the semester we will be supported by a group of Cuban architecture students from the University of CUJAE, who will work in parallel on a similar set of issues. Specialists from scientific and urban planning fields will provide us with continuing support in approaching the urban reality of Havana, through lectures, podiums as well as city excursions. The work will be conducted in groups (‚micro-brigades’) each consisting of two students. Each group will examine a theme connected in part to a concrete location in the city.
After the field research in Havana, the results are processed together in the Studio Basel by means of maps, diagrams, texts and photographs into a series of ‘Urban Portraits’ in a form of a book. A target for each work is it to formulate a thesis regarding a particular research topic; to grasp and describe the specific issues related to a phenomenon in question. Together these theses will form a masterplan of sorts, reflecting the present reality of the city of Havana. This plan is at the same time a view on potentials for the further development of the city; Studio Basel therefore does not make a fundamental difference between research and design.

The proposed research topics are:

01. State-driven urban renewal
02. Foreign interest city and tourism
03. High-end Havana
04. Swiss in Cuba
05. Public Housing
06. Public Projects
07. City Re-symbolized
08. Health and education
09. Squatted city
10. Shopping and supply (Decentralized Centers)
11. Transport and mobility
12. City of Culture, City of Cinema