OLD HAVANA CAN GUIDE NEW SAN JOSE

By Charles J. Toeniskoetter

San Jose can learn a lot from Havana, Cuba.

Not about economics, of course.

Except for tips earned from tourists, the average monthly wage in Cuba is $10 a month. At the high end, the elite workers in Havana who roll the famous cigars make $17 plus two cigars per day. An OSHA inspector could spend a lifetime logging all the safety and environmental flaws in the tired, old factory we visited during a University of Notre Dame tour this spring.

We can skip politics as well.

As we arrived in Havana, police were pouring into the compound of the Mexican embassy to remove more than 80 Cubans who had sought refuge there. That night Fidel Castro warned on TV that he would tolerate no escapes. The following morning from our hotel room, we noticed spots all over the sea. They turned out to be people fishing from inner tubes because they were not allowed to have fishing boats.

What Havana can teach San Jose is about architecture and urban design.

Fifty years of economic stagnation and massive emigration have allowed Old Havana to escape the redevelopment pressures existing in almost every other place in the world. As a result, the Spanish quarter of downtown Havana is one of the largest, most impressive and architecturally valuable historical districts of any major city in the world. Old Havana constitutes both a museum and laboratory for creating classical downtowns that foster beauty, comfort and a gracious style of living. Many American downtowns have grown too many granite and glass towers to create a pedestrian friendly environment. Downtown San Jose has not.

For precisely these reasons, the Advisory Council of the School of Architecture at Notre Dame, of which I am chairman, took advantage of a three-year educational visa given to the School of Architecture by the U.S. State Department to study Cuba. Our recent group of 25 included Notre Dame Professor of Architecture Victor Deupi, whose father and grandfather had been prominent Cuban architects, and Notre Dame President Father “Monk” Malloy, C.S.C. My family was also represented by my wife, Linda, who was instrumental in the classical designs of both the O’Connor Health Center and 450 W. Santa Clara St. in San Jose; my daughter Erin, who manages 450 W. Santa Clara as part of her responsibilities for Toeniskoetter & Breeding Property Management; and her younger sister, Megan, who is a senior at Notre Dame.

Among our gracious hosts was the dean of the School of Architecture at the University of Havana. He showed us how the University’s architects and urban designers have fully modeled the historical district and designated 9,000 buildings to be deserving of restoration.

The charm of Old Havana lies largely in its human scale. Buildings typically are two to five stories high, varied in style and ornamentation and incorporated into lushly landscaped courtyards, engaging plazas and strongly identified neighborhoods. Residential over retail predominates. Continuous streetscapes encourage residents and visitors alike to stroll leisurely. People meet in sidewalk cafes; they socialize in public. Jazz, flamenco and the music that we broadly identify as “Cuban,” which is a satisfying blend of Mediterranean, Caribbean and African tones and beats, can be heard on almost every corner.
We stayed at the 1930, 483-room Nacional Hotel, which is deservedly recognized as an historical landmark, but the smaller, older hotels like the 27-room Hotel Santa Isabel are much more striking for their simplicity and beauty. Originally the palace of the Count of Santovenia, the fully restored Santa Isabel building steps back from the street at second and third floors to provide outdoor space for rooms facing the street. An ornate, wrought iron roof element complements the railings on the second and third floors. It is both outstanding and yet typical.

Elements of Old Havana exist in San Jose, as in many other American cities, where they are the result of both historical restoration and new construction. The urban design of Old Havana is not greatly different from some of the concepts adopted by the San Jose Redevelopment Agency. Two- and three-story buildings with classical ornamentation, iron balconies, varied facades and residential over retail also were included in the recently abandoned Palladium plan for downtown San Jose.

The lesson Old Havana offers San Jose is that we humans have already identified the scope and scale of buildings most comforting to people and the designs and materials that most endure. They are not high-rises or, as in San Jose, mid-rises. Most people want to live and work in two- to five-story buildings with artistic elements, warm materials and generous access to natural surroundings.

While there is nothing inherently wrong with most of our taller buildings, too many can create the same cold and sterile atmosphere that we see in many of our major cities. It looks good from afar, but like our downtown empties every night.

In San Jose, I would love to develop or see someone else build a pedestrian-scaled corporate headquarters with classical lines, traditional ornamentation and a number of public and private courtyards and plazas. It would constitute both a landmark and a catalyst for continued development on a scope and scale that welcomes people to enter and stay.

Charles J. Toeniskoetter is president of Toeniskoetter & Breeding, (TBI) Inc., a construction, development and property management company based in San Jose since 1983. In addition to development and construction of new buildings, TBI has managed numerous historical restorations, including St. Joseph’s Cathedral, the old Santa Clara County Courthouse and Hoover School of the San Jose Unified district, and developed and constructed the classical building opposite the entrance to the San Jose Arena.