CIUDAD CAMILO CIENFUEGOS
PHOTO ESSAY BY DAMARIS BETANCOURT
In East Havana, less than two miles from downtown, on 80 acres of vacant land, was built with funds from the National Lottery, which shortly before
had been dissolved by Fidel Castro, the Unidad Vecinal Nr. 1 , later Ciudad Camilo Cienfuegos. This was the first and best residential complex executed after the triumph of the Cuban revolution to date.
Ciudad Camilo Cienfuegos was built between April 1959 and November 1961. For a population of 7,836 people were built 1,306 apartments, distributed in 51 four-story buildings with twenty different models, and 7 elevenstory buildings of three different models. In 667 days, at a rate of two houses per day, a balance was achieved between high and low buildings, green areas, pedestrian and vehicle paths, and commercial and recreational areas. And all this with an excellent quality of construction.
Text by Iván García