A glimpse at Havana's rooftop dwellers as urban landscape transforms

2015-03-19T20:19:00-04:00

In overcrowded Central Havana and in the historic quarter, the shortage of places to live and play and find much-needed privacy pushed the city upward, spilling onto the rooftops.The technical term for it is 'parasitic architecture.' The Cuban government doesn’t encourage the practice, but in the city’s oldest and most dilapidated neighborhoods, longtime roof-dwelling families...were usually allowed to stay. The parasites became permanent.

Havana's rooftop-dwelling communities brace for more change -- at least in tourism -- in the bustling city below, as Cuba and the U.S. re-establish relations.

"Old Bank District Museum" in Downtown LA to snake through sub-basements, basements, ground floors, mezzanines, and roofs of 3 buildings

2014-06-13T19:54:00-04:00

Downtown Los Angeles’s historic core is about to get its first major museum, if that’s what you want to call it. Local developer Tom Gilmore and architect Tom Wiscombe are teaming up on the complex project, which they are calling the Old Bank District Museum. It will be dedicated to contemporary Los Angeles art and located in the sub-basements, basements, ground floors, mezzanines, and roofs of three interconnected buildings along Main and Fourth streets.

Archinect - News

A glimpse at Havana's rooftop dwellers as urban landscape transforms

"Old Bank District Museum" in Downtown LA to snake through sub-basements, basements, ground floors, mezzanines, and roofs of 3 buildings