The Architecture of Diplomacy

THE ARCHITECTURE OF D I P LO M A C Y

Camille Filbien 1

T H E A R C H I T E C T U R E O F D I P LO M A C Y CAMILLE FILBIEN

T h i s p r o g ra m m e i s intended to be viewed and read in full screen

Diff eren t <links > lead to rel e van t pa rt s of the p r o g ra m m e - a n d < b a c k >

Thesis Programme 2018 The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts School of Architecture Political Architecture : Critical Sustainability Student number: 160149 Thesis Supervisor: Niels Grønbæk and Thomas Chevalier Bøjstrup Spring 2018

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T H E A R C H I T E C T U R E O F D I P LO M A C Y

CONTENT

CAMILLE FILBIEN 5 Overview 11 Preface

Part 1. Towards a multi-lateral diplomacy Context 18 Contained Cuban politics 22 Diplomatic framework 26 Networks and Assemblages

local global theoretical

Altering the context 32 Assemblage’s diagram 36 Modifying the Vienna convention 40 Cuba: A new partnership with the EU

theoretical global local

44

Addressing the UN SDG

Part 2. Material context of diplomacy in Havana 50

Atlas of diplomacy

urban

Political embassies 56 The United States 62 Spain 68 Russia

architectures

Embassies’ borders 78 The fence 82 The outdoor waiting room 84 The park

architectural devices

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A site for proposition

Part 3. An embassy for the European Union 104 112 114 127

From existing to proposed relations From existing to proposed premises From existing to proposed program Architectural Intent

133 Submission

Thesis Programme 2018 The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts School of Architecture Political Architecture : Critical Sustainability Student number: 160149 Thesis Supervisor: Niels Grønbæk and Thomas Chevalier Bøjstrup Spring 2018

Appendices 136 A - Cuban Atlas of diplomacy 142 B - Diplomacy in Copenhagen 147 C - The Vienna convention - extract 149 D - Architecture of security 151 E - The EU embassy in Washington 152 References and Bibliography 155 CV

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An overview The project investigates the role of architecture in the practice of diplomacy, processes of conflict, negotiation, and peace making, through an exploration of embassy buildings, and a proposal for a European Union embassy in the city of Havana, capital of Cuba.

This programme constructs a basic foundation for the forthcoming thesis project, through three distinct but intertwined parts: Part 1. Towards a multi-lateral diplomacy Part 2. Material context of diplomacy in Havana Part 3. An embassy for the European Union The thematics of each part are explored through different lenses, and move in a scalar pattern from the particular to the general, and then from the general to the particular.

Part one introduces the political and theoretical contexts of the thesis, and then proposes to alter these contexts, through local, global, and theoretical lenses.

The existing context is established with an exploration of; the political context of Cuba (local), the international diplomatic framework of the Vienna convention (global), and established theories of diplomatic networks and assemblages (theoretical). The context is then altered by adding new actors and connections to the diplomatic assemblage (theoretical), modifying the Vienna convention (global), and revising the new political partnership between Cuba and the EU (local).

Part two is a study of the materiality of diplomacy in Havana, in dialogue with the context established in part one, through an interpretation of the urban context (urban), three embassy buildings (architectures), and three architectural devices (architectural devices). This part starts with a speculation on an active micro-world of diplomacy existing in Havana, mapped through an atlas of diplomacy (urban). It then studies the American, Spanish and Russian embassies in Havana, and their role within political relations between the State they represent and Cuba (architectures). Next comes an analysis of embassiesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; borders, and the relation between an embassy and its urban context, through three objects or spaces: the fence, the outdoor waiting room and the park (architectural devices).

These urban and architectural explorations lead to the site itself, which is analysed in consideration of its proposed use; an EU embassy.

Part three explores how the thematics introduced in the two previous parts can coalesce through the programmatic composition and architectural design of a proposed EU embassy, and begins to outline the forthcoming thesis project and its architectural intent. This part critiques the existing EU embassy in Havana (its inflexible premises and limited program can only accommodate bilateral diplomatic relations), and instead looks towards an assemblage of multilateral diplomatic relations, enabled by versatile premises, a comprehensive program and an integrated urban strategy - a new form of embassy building for the evolving project of the European Union.

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An overview

The United States

The Bahamas Havana Cuba Dominican Republic

Mexico

Jamaica

Beliz

HaĂŻti

Honduras Nicaragua

â&#x20AC;&#x153;A key element in international affairs in our time is the tectonic shift in world power, and the growth and importance of a number of emerging States. This means that the effective management of relations bilateral, regional, and global - becomes crucial to maintaining stability and mutual confidence among States, and to overcoming new issues that can be traced to changes brought about by these shifts. The embassy gains in value as an instrument for improving understanding among States, and as a builder of mutual credibility.â&#x20AC;?

Kishan S. Rana, The Contemporary Embassy: Paths to Diplomatic Excellence, 2013, Palgrave povot

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An overview

The United States

The Bahamas Havana Cuba Dominican Republic

Mexico

Jamaica

Beliz

Haïti

Honduras Nicaragua

The object of concern of this thesis is diplomacy in Havana, and its architecture.

“A key element in international affairs in our time is the tectonic shift in world power, and the growth and importance of a number of emerging States. This means that the effective management of relations bilateral, regional, and global - becomes crucial to maintaining stability and mutual confidence among States, and to overcoming new issues that can be traced to changes brought about by these shifts. The embassy gains in value as an instrument for improving understanding among States, and as a builder of mutual credibility.”

Kishan S. Rana, The Contemporary Embassy: Paths to Diplomatic Excellence, 2013, Palgrave povot

The argument developed is that the architecture of embassy buildings in Havana has a largely detrimental effect on the practice of diplomacy. This thesis proposes to explore an architecture which facilitates diplomacy rather than obstruct it through the design of an embassy for the European Union in Havana. In light of the current political rapprochement between Cuba and the EU, the Union’s ambition to strengthen its diplomatic position across the world, and the internal rethinking of relations between EU Member States, the project explores the notion of multi-lateral and urban diplomacy - relations of negotiation operating at different scales, within and across various assemblages, through a particular urban context.

An EU embassy is a relatively new construct which emerged in 2011. As a Union of 27 Member States, the EU is itself a multi-lateral network, and a complex program. An EU embassy in Havana is therefore a relevant institution to investigate and design as an instrument for improving collaboration among States, with particular focus on engaging with EU member States, the urban context of Havana, and other embassies present through the city.

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Preface

Political Architecture

Above Cuban boys playing football on the Antiimperialist park, in front the US embassy which is hidden behind a wall of flag poles, Havana.

Photograph by Eladio Orlando GarcĂ­a PĂŠrez

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Preface

Political Architecture

A political architecture This thesis is situated within the Political Architecture: Critical Sustainability Master progamme, which explores the site-specific political capacity of architecture and its potential agency in moving towards sustainable practices. In 2017 this method of investigation was focused on the capital city of Cuba, Havana.

If politics is about the allocation of resources and the strategizing of power relations in society, then political architecture begins with architectureâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s complicit relationship with such distributions, that is, with its role in enforcing and implementing political regulations of society and social life. Yet, what architecture can do politically reaches beyond deliberate politics and prevalent political hegemony.

Specifically, this thesis asks what architecture does and can do in Havana where critical attention toward matters of societal resilience and development are urgent.1

Above Cuban boys playing football on the Antiimperialist park, in front the US embassy which is hidden behind a wall of flag poles, Havana.

Photograph by Eladio Orlando GarcĂ­a PĂŠrez

Method - Co-evolutionary project work Co-evolutionary Project Work operates by developing relations between academic work and architectural design processes. This approach centres on a process of interaction between two distinct paths of investigation, one pursuing academic critical thinking through scholarly method, the other developing individual interest driven architectural propositions from thinking through heuristic production.

Scholarly focus is on theoretical diversity (Part one - Towards a multi-lateral diplomacy) whereas project work develops from the specific context identified during fieldwork (Part two - The material context of diplomacy in Havana). In developing the project I will continue to work with these two interweaving strands: the theoretical thinking of an urban multi-lateral diplomacy and the architectural proposition for a European Union embassy in Havana.

A practice of political architecture The research informing this thesis evolved through a combination of desk research, design work, theoretical readings, questionnaires and interviews. A driving part of the research was a month of field work in Havana in October 2017, which led to visits and surveys of several embassy buildings and their surroundings, discussions, interviews and questionnaires with various State and non-State stakeholders such as ambassadors, diplomats, Cuban and foreign embassy staff from an array of foreign States represented in Havana, as well as building program representatives and Cubans visiting embassies.

I then undertook similar visits and interviews in Copenhagen to establish a comparative ground and identify the particularities of embassies in the Cuban context and the cross-border concordances of diplomatic practices and architectural phenomenon. The valuable information gathered and tested through these conversations have significantly influenced the development of the project.

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Part one introduces the political and theoretical contexts of the thesis, and then proposes to alter these contexts, through local, global, and theoretical lenses.

The existing context is established with an exploration of; the political context of Cuba (local), the international diplomatic framework of the Vienna convention (global), and established theories of diplomatic networks and assemblages (theoretical). The context is then altered by adding new actors and connections to the diplomatic assemblage (theoretical), modifying the Vienna convention (global), and revising the new political partnership between Cuba and the EU (local).

PA RT O N E TO W A R D S A M U LT I - L AT E R A L D I P LO M A C Y

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CO N T E X T Local

Global

Theoretical

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ATLAS OF DIPLOMACY

N

MAP5

EMBASSIES AT THE EDGE OF HAVANA, CUBA Spain, the United States, and Russia

1492 - 1902 Spanish colonialism

1902 - 1959 US neo-colonialism

1960 - 1991 USSR dependence

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N

ATLAS OF DIPLOMACY

Context - local

Contained Cuban politics EMBASSIES AT THE EDGE OF HAVANA, CUBA Spain, the United States, and Russia

Cuban history is deeply shaped by the presence and actions of foreign nations in Cuba. Several States have influenced and have had a significant impact on Cuban economic, social, political and urban development.

A Spanish colony from 1492 to 1902, the island then became a form of ‘neocolony’ of the United States, which generated large economic inequalities, until the 1959 Cuban Revolution let by Fidel Castro. Cuba then developed a political friendship with the USSR and relations of dependence on its resources, until its collapse in 1991. The lose of subsidies led to an economic crash and a large scale famine called the Special Period which Cuba has yet to fully recover from.

As a reaction against what was denounced by the Revolution as governances of domination, the Government of Cuba rapidly established a controlled relation with foreign States. This approach of precaution and containment of foreign States’ involvement in Cuba is still manifested through the presence and management of embassies. Indeed, embassy buildings in Havana and Cuban embassies abroad are the primary space of political and economic negotiations, which can lead to bilateral agreements and partnerships. Embassies in Havana therefore play a deciding role in the making of political relations between Cuba and foreign States.

1492 - 1902 Spanish colonialism

1902 - 1959 US neo-colonialism

Since the Revolution, the Cuban government exerts a tight control over embassy buildings. Most foreign diplomatic delegations in Havana are situated in rented former dwellings. Foreign States cannot buy land, or build their own embassies in Havana, only the USSR expectationally built their own compound. <click for page 75 - the Russian Embassy> However, since the Special Period (1991), Cuba moved away from a model of uni lateral relation with one strong State, like it had been the case with Spain, the US and the USSR. The government strives to develop and be in control of a multitude of political and economic partners, in order to maintain a stable Cuban sovereignty. As relations with the US are deteriorating since 2014, Cuba is trying diversifying its relations to establish a wide network of partners including China, Venezuela, Russia, Iran and the European Union.

Considering the current diversification of Cuban foreign relations, it appears relevant to speculate on a change in Cuba’s attitude towards foreign embassies in Havana, to explore foreign States’ participation in the urban fabric of Havana through their embassies. Indeed, the Spanish embassy is in the process of negotiating with Cuban authorities to build a new consulate, even though it appears complicated.2 The project therefore speculates on a slight shift in Cuban approach: from politics of containment towards possibilities for negotiation.

1960 - 1991 USSR dependence

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“Aiming towards the sovereign equality of States and the maintenance of international peace and security.

The function of a diplomatic mission consists in representing, protecting, negotiating, reporting and promoting friendly relations.

Left Extract of the Vienna Convention on diplomatic relations of 1961. <click for Appendix A - Extract of the Vienna Convention> ‘The premises of the mission’ refers to embassy building, consulate, ambassador’s residence, and their ancillary land, irrespective of ownership.

The premises of the mission shall be inviolable.

The receiving State shall protect the premises of the diplomatic missions, and not discriminate as between States.

The Sending State may entrust the protection of its interests to a third State.”

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Context - global

“Aiming towards the sovereign equality of States and the maintenance of international peace and security.

The function of a diplomatic mission consists in representing, protecting, negotiating, reporting and promoting friendly relations.

Left Extract of the Vienna Convention on diplomatic relations of 1961. <click for Appendix C - Extract of the Vienna Convention> ‘The premises of the mission’ refers to embassy building, consulate, ambassador’s residence, and their ancillary land, irrespective of ownership.

The Sending State may entrust the protection of its interests to a third State.”

Diplomatic relations in Cuba are framed by Cuba’s vivid history of foreign interference - notably with Spain, the US and the USSR Cuba’s recent development of partnerships with various States, as well as international laws, as outlined by the Vienna convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961. Diplomatic practices have existed since the early days of human communication as attempts to solve conflicts in non-violent ways. It can be traced back to the institute of privileges and immunities among Australian aborigines, through the ancient Greek concept of hospitality to the first organised diplomatic system established among Italian city States during the Renaissance.3 Today diplomacy is defined by the Vienna convention.

The Convention focuses on diplomatic practices between two States, a Sending State (represented by an embassy) and a Host State (in this case Cuba). It charges embassies with a set of rights and obligations , such as the duty to represent a State, protect and promote its interests.

The premises of the mission shall be inviolable.

The receiving State shall protect the premises of the diplomatic missions, and not discriminate as between States.

Diplomatic framework

Advertisement poster on the fence of the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland embassy in Havana October, 2017.

A provocative (undiplomatic?) slogan in Cuba’s communist political context.

Vietnam war demonstration which turned into a violent riot in front of the US embassy in Copenhagen, 1968.

The convention aims to induce the negotiation of conflicts, not the elimination of conflict. However, by focusing almost exclusively on practices, the convention struggles to explicitly address its own material implications. The material consequences of the convention have therefore, in some instances, turned away from diplomatic intentions, and conflict negotiation. Indeed, separated by fences, guarded by surveillance cameras, or dressed in provoking political advertisements (i.e. ‘Business is Great’ on the British embassy), the architecture of embassies is relatively distant from an architecture at the service of diplomacy. Embassies are more often associated with the image of an imposing building (i.e Russian embassy in Havana), long waiting queues, traffic disruptions, security check points, violent protests (i.e. Vietnam war protests at the US embassy) people climbing over fences, or even terrorist attacks. The architecture of embassies can result in violence (the opposite of diplomacy) and isolation from its context (opposite of negotiation).

Diplomacy is one of few means to engage with conflict, it therefore necessarily operates within conflict. However embassies’ border conditions and the practices they entail sit at odd with the founding principles of diplomatic relations: to establish connections among States in order to address conflicts through negotiation. Some of the practices seem however aiming to suppress conflict all together by minimising spaces of mediation, which can result in forms of violence.

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Context - theoretical

Networks and Assemblages

Embassies in Havana

Diplomacy in Cuba

Diplomacy

Above Diagram of the assemblage of diplomacy in Havana which exists within and across other assemblages

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Context - theoretical

Networks and Assemblages

Embassy buildings in Havana are embedded in systems which move across and connect people, communities, objects, representations and policies. A theoretical framework through which these systems can be analysed is Actor Network theory (ANT) by Bruno Latour and Assemblage theory by Manuel Delanda.

Embassies in Havana

Diplomacy in Cuba

Diplomacy

Above Diagram of the assemblage of diplomacy in Havana which exists within and across other assemblages

Actor Network theory ANT is concerned with the attribution of characteristics to both humans and nonhumans, the distribution of properties among those matters, the establishment of connections between them and their transformation.9 This approach considers collectives10 according to the multiplicity of relations they are made of.

Assemblage theory Developed by Manuel DeLanda, Assemblages are ‘wholes characterised by relations of exteriority’11.

These relations of exteriority mean that component parts of a whole cannot be reduced to their function within that whole, and can be parts of multiple wholes at any given moment. The parts are nevertheless shaped by their interaction within assemblages, and indeed it is the capacities, rather than the properties, of component parts that are more relevant in understanding resultant assemblages.

Assemblage theory and ANT are lenses for analysing complexities.

Both approaches are concerned with why orders emerge in particular ways, how they hold together, and how they reach across or mould space. They are determined through different means which emphasise distinctive elements of their definition and therefore possibilities. Together, they set a diverse cross-framework to trace associations with, within and through diplomacy in Havana.

While diplomacy sometimes serves the role of being an abstract narrative, it is also a well-defined political object which is mobilized in various manners and can achieve different things. It is an activity of relationality and negotiation, where representative bodies engage with positions and policies, through protocols and legislations.

Diplomacy is a well consolidated practice which can be read as an Actor within ANT. An actor has an agency, it is a ‘world making entity’4, irrelevant of its human or non-human characteristics. It is not conceived as a fixed entity but as a circulating object, and its continuity has to be obtained by other actions.

Diplomacy can also be understood as an assemblage, ‘a ‘multiplicity which is made up of many heterogeneous terms and which establishes liaisons, relations between them’5. It is ‘equipped with the parameter’6 of the Vienna Convention, which defines the legislative framework for diplomatic relations between countries.

Diplomacy in Cuba can be analysed as an actor (within ANT) or assemblage formed of three main types of nodes: the Government of Cuba as the Host State, all embassies present in Havana, and the Sending States represented by these embassies. It exists within other assemblages and is formed of entities which themselves are assemblages, and assemblages of assemblages.7 An example of a broader8 assemblage could be ‘all Host States – all Embassies – all Sending States’, with its parameter of the Vienna convention, which can simply be called ‘diplomacy’. An embassy itself is an assemblage, a combination of people (diplomats, staff, guards), well defined locales (embassy building, ambassador’s residence) and material and symbolic objects (signs, flag, security camera, fences) which act upon each other.

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A LT E R I N G T H E CO N T E XT

Theoretical

Global

Local

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Altering the context - theoretical

Sending State

Consulate

Embassy

Ambassadorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Residence

Havanaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s urban context

Cuban nationals

Embassy

Embassy

Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Host State: Government of Cuba

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Altering the context - theoretical

Diplomatic assemblage’s diagram

Sending State Left Assemblage’s diagram Diagram of diplomatic network with exiting connections and proposed harvested connections

Existing connections

Consulate

Embassy

Ambassador’s Residence

Proposed connections

Havana’s urban context

Cuban nationals

Embassy

Embassy

Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Host State: Government of Cuba

Assemblage and Network theories are tools to analyse complex diplomatic relations and also to speculate on potential new connections and actors. These new connections can be integrated in existing formations and transform them by widening their field of possibilities and actions. Assemblage theory can provide a tool to integrate conditions that ‘could’ take part in the assemblage of diplomacy in Cuba.

‘An ensemble in which components have been correctly matched together possesses properties that its components do not have. It also has its own tendencies and capacities. The latter are real but not necessarily actual if they are not currently manifested or exercised. An assemblage’s diagram captures the structure of the possibility space associated with an assemblage’s dispositions.‘ Manuel Delanda, Assemblage Theory The project proposes to add new actors, new explicit connections between these new actors and existing ones, and between existing actors.

Havana’s urban context could be interpreted as a ‘tendency not currently manifested or exercised’12 within diplomatic relations between States in Cuba. Indeed, it unveils conditions of possibilities for an architecture of diplomacy: a territorial disposition of diplomatic relations between embassies buildings and other Cuban buildings, infrastructures and public spaces in Havana.

While all embassies in Havana are necessarily connected to the Government of Cuba, and that they share the same legal rights and obligations according to the Vienna convention, there is no explicit or intended diplomatic connections between them yet. Developing these relations, already part of the ‘possibility space’13, could facilitate dialogue and negotiation among embassies. This in-between diplomatic scale does not aim to replace other existing bilateral relations between two States, but rather to address site specific concerns of mutual interests, collaboration, shared concerns and informal occurrences in the context of Havana.

These three interconnected evolutions of the assemblage should, together, contribute to a move towards an urban diplomacy in Havana concerned with local complexities and local globalities.14 35

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Aiming towards the sovereign equality of States , the maintenance of international peace and security,

and the promotion of friendly relations between diplomatic missions present in the same receiving State. Diplomatic missions present in the same receiving State

The function of a diplomatic mission consists in representing, protecting, negotiating, reporting and promoting friendly relations through the presence and use of shall pursue diplomatic relations between one another.

the premises of the mission. The premises of the mission shall pursue diplomatic relations with the urban context it is embedded in. Parts of

the premises of the mission shall be inviolable, and integrated in the urban context of the receiving State. Embassies have a duty of care towards individuals in or in the proximity of the premises of the mission.

The receiving

State shall facilitate the integration of the

premises of the diplomatic missions in its civic infrastructure and urban fabric, protect the

premises of the diplomatic missions, and not discriminate as between States.

The premises of the mission shall endeavour to contribute to the civic infrastructure and

The sending State may entrust the protection of its interests to a third State. Two or more States may establish activity of the receiving State.

premises of coexistence by sharing all or parts of diplomatic premises.

Left Mutated extract of the Vienna Convention on diplomatic relations of 1961.

In yellow are proposed additions aiming to broader the scope of the convention to include new practices and connections between actors in order to move towards an architecture of multi-lateral diplomacy.

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“Aiming towards the sovereign equality of States , the maintenance of international peace and security,

Altering the context - global

Modifying the Vienna Convention

and the promotion of friendly relations between diplomatic missions present in the same receiving State. Diplomatic missions present in the same receiving State

The function of a diplomatic mission consists in representing, protecting, negotiating, reporting and promoting friendly relations through the presence and use of shall pursue diplomatic relations between one another.

“Architecture makes a good ambassador. “ Jean Louis Cohen

the premises of the mission. The premises of the mission shall pursue diplomatic relations with the urban context it is embedded in. Parts of

the premises of the mission shall be inviolable, and integrated in the urban context

As previously explored, embassies lack sensibility and connection to their materiality, their urban context and each other. To expand on this analysis, this thesis proposes to alter the Vienna convention, to develop an architectural, urban and assemblage-like framework for diplomatic practices.

of the receiving State. Embassies have a duty of care towards individuals in or in the proximity of the premises of the mission.

The receiving

State shall facilitate the integration of the

premises of the diplomatic missions in its civic infrastructure and urban fabric, protect the

premises of the diplomatic missions, and not discriminate as between States.

The premises of the mission shall endeavour to contribute to the civic infrastructure and

The sending State may entrust the protection of its interests to a third State. Two or more States may establish activity of the receiving State.

premises of coexistence by sharing all or parts of diplomatic premises.

Left Mutated extract of the Vienna Convention on diplomatic relations of 1961.

In yellow are proposed additions aiming to broader the scope of the convention to include new practices and connections between actors in order to move towards an architecture of multi-lateral diplomacy.

<click to go back to page 91 a site for proposition>

By modifying some existing content and adding new fragments, the mutation of the convention should, in the context of Havana and likely elsewhere, trigger three mobilities: -The connection of embassies present in the same city, Havana, through an in-between scale of diplomatic relations.

- The development of an “urban diplomacy” which establishes a dialogue between embassies and the Cuban urban realm that they are embedded in.

- The development of an “architectural diplomacy” which orientates the physicality of embassy buildings and its effects on people towards diplomatic practices.

The formulation of these regulations establishes a new political context from which embassy buildings in Havana can be perceived and conceived differently. By tackling explicitly the architectural and urban implications of the Vienna convention, the architectural devices which define the limits of embassies could turn towards diplomacy rather than away from it, and point to an architecture of multi lateral diplomacy.

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No material presence in Cuba 1988 Diplomatic Relation established between the EU and Cuba

Opening EU representation office in Havana

COMMON POSITION

Upgrade to EU delegation office in Havana

2003 Black Spring: Arrest of 75 Cuban dissidents. The EU imposed sanctions on Cuba and supported dissidents rather than supporting official Cuban events.

2008 Beginning of â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;High level political dialogue meetingsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; and negotiations between the EU and Cuba

Upgrade to EU Embassy in Havana 2011 Treaty of Lisbon formally launched, establishment of the European External Action Service which serves as a foreign ministry and diplomatic corps for the EU.

2016

New EU embassy compound?

PDCA

1st November 2017 EU-Cuba Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement (PDCA): more dialogue on Human Rights, promotion of democracy, help modernise Cuba, make trade easier, fight against criminality, cultural heritage and social development, help making the island less vulnerable to droughts and storm, include Cuba in Erasmus Mondus.

<click to go back to page 113 - An embassy for the European Union>

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Altering the context - local

No material presence in Cuba

Cuba: A new partnership with the EU

1988 Diplomatic Relation established between the EU and Cuba

Opening EU representation office in Havana

COMMON POSITION

Upgrade to EU delegation office in Havana

2003 Black Spring: Arrest of 75 Cuban dissidents. The EU imposed sanctions on Cuba and supported dissidents rather than supporting official Cuban events.

2008 Beginning of ‘High level political dialogue meetings’ and negotiations between the EU and Cuba

Upgrade to EU Embassy in Havana 2011 Treaty of Lisbon formally launched, establishment of the European External Action Service which serves as a foreign ministry and diplomatic corps for the EU.

2016

“The EU is the world’s most unified regional entity; its members have pooled sovereignty and transferred an unprecedented degree of decision making to the collective. At the same time each member State strives to promote its national trade and other economic interests, often in competition with fellow EU members.”

Rhana The Contemporary Embassy: Paths to Diplomatic Excellence

New EU embassy compound?

PDCA

1st November 2017 EU-Cuba Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement (PDCA): more dialogue on Human Rights, promotion of democracy, help modernise Cuba, make trade easier, fight against criminality, cultural heritage and social development, help making the island less vulnerable to droughts and storm, include Cuba in Erasmus Mondus.

“We must become more joined up across our external policies, between Member States and EU institutions, and between the internal and external dimensions of our policies.

This is particularly relevant to the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals.”

The EU Global Strategy Shared Vision, Common Action

One of the partnerships Cuba is striving to develop is its relation to the European Union EU. Since the Lisbon treaty of 2011, the EU is indeed aiming to consolidate its role on the international stage through the new European External Action Service, an active administration that implements the international agreements at the core of European diplomacy. The EU is committed to foster and support comprehensive agreements rooted in broad and durable regional and international partnerships, to achieve sustainable peace.15 Several (19) EU Member States already are in bilateral agreements with Cuba (especially Spain, France and the Netherlands), which means that, as a collective body, the EU is already Cuba’s greatest investor and second-largest trading partner. However the Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement (PDCA) of 2017, is the first partnership established between the EU and Cuba after two decades of frozen diplomatic relations.

The first materialisation of the EU-Cuba cooperation is development projects in agriculture, sustainable development, as well as economic and social modernization.16 A further materialisation of the EU’s ambition to coordinate the actions of Member States in Cuba could be rethink its embassy building’s presence and action in Havana, its relation to EU member State’s embassies, to Cuban civic infrastructure, and to other embassies.

As a Union of 27 Member States, the EU is itself a multi-lateral network which operates at various scales. A proposal for a new EU embassy is therefore an investigation into the relation of the two overarching levels of the group (EU) and its individual voices (EU Member States). A multi-layered EU embassy building in Havana could address, represent, and participate in the idea of multi-lateral partnerships between EU Member States, EU institutions, Cuban institutions and other foreign States.

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Addressing the UN SDG

A local approach to global ambitions

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;To successfully implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, we must swiftly move from commitment s to action. To do that, we need strong, inclusive and integrated partnerships at all levels.â&#x20AC;&#x2122; UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon

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Addressing the UN SDG

A local approach to global ambitions

The Vienna convention and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) are both outputs of the United Nations, they provide theoretical laws and goals from a global position.

“The role of embassies is for States to understand each other, and with understanding comes peace.”

Vasily Ryabov, Russian Embassy Attaché in Copenhagen.

Interview 06/12/2017

Within this research into an architecture of diplomacy in Havana, the concept of diplomacy is entangled with goal 16: peace and justice, strong institutions and 17: partnership for the goals while architecture is necessarily enmesh with goal 11: Sustainable cities and communities. The SDG can operate at a variety of scale and should be considered and appropriated to a given political and territorial context, such as Havana. Rather than a common theoretical field, the project engages with the SDG and the Vienna convention through a questioning of their mode of implementation. The proposal is for an in-between scale to diplomatic relations where collaboration, partnerships, peace, and sustainable communities can grow out of site specific concerns and be negotiated between a multiplicity of actors.

The project aims to sit in between two existing scales: the bilateral diplomatic relations in Havana on one end and international laws and recommendation of the United Nations on the other.

“In a world caught between global pressures and local pushback, regional dynamics come to the fore. “ The EU Global Strategy

‘To successfully implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, we must swiftly move from commitment s to action. To do that, we need strong, inclusive and integrated partnerships at all levels.’

UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon

The rewording of the Vienna convention sits within that initiative of adapting the global interaction standard of diplomacy to specific contexts.

As previously noted, bilateral diplomacy studied in Cuba as outlines by the Vienna convention offers a narrow scope of collaboration among nations - limited to a lineal and hierarchical relation between the State of Cuba and other States. At the other end, the UN operates at a de-territorialised, global and mathematical scale of State representation, so wide its output difficulty exceeds the form of theoretical recommendations or goals. The SDG are one of the most promising achievement of the UN, only if they are exploited, deployed and implemented on the ground.

A “ground” scale is therefore needed, an urban or regional approach to bridge the gap between global guidelines and bilateral relations.

This is where urban and architectural thinking can exploit, deploy and implement the idea of the SDG (and of the Vienna convention).

The project aims to make a necessary tie between the global (UN treaties and recommendations: Vienna convention and SDG) and the local (the unfolding of diplomatic relations in Havana). In order to make that link an active scale is needed - a transformative scale which is what a European Union Embassy in Havana could be.

By seeking to put in relation the Cuban urban realm and a multiplicity of diplomatic actors (human and nonhumans), an embassy for the EU in Havana could be a step towards a regional, multi-lateral approach to the Sustainable Development Goals.

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Part two is a study of the materiality of diplomacy in Havana, in dialogue with the context established in part one, through an interpretation of the urban context (urban), three embassy buildings (architectures), and three architectural devices (architectural devices).

This part starts with a speculation on an active microworld of diplomacy existing in Havana, mapped through an atlas of diplomacy (urban). It then studies the American, Spanish and Russian embassies in Havana, and their role within political relations between the State they represent and Cuba (architectures). Next comes an analysis of embassiesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; borders, and the relation between an embassy and its urban context, through three objects or spaces: the fence, the outdoor waiting room and the park (architectural devices).

These urban and architectural explorations lead to the site itself, which is analysed in consideration of its proposed use; an EU embassy.

PA RT T W O M AT E R I A L CO N T E XT O F D I P LO M A C Y I N H A V A N A

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Diplomacy in Havana

Atlas of diplomacy

Map of the world of Havana formed of an archipelago, a continent, and islands.

Islands Archipelago - Vedado Continent - Miramar

<click to go back to page 106 - An embassy for the European Union>

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Diplomacy in Havana

Right Map of the world of Havana formed of an archipelago, a continent, and islands.

Islands

Atlas of diplomacy

“Mapping some of the zone incentives onto the city potentially changes its wiring and disposition, inviting more channels of information, circumstance, and contradiction that are the hallmarks of open, public urban space.”

Keller Easterling Extrastatecraft

Archipelago - Vedado Continent - Miramar

Vedado

The Vienna convention implies that an embassy building and ground should be ‘treated as the territory of their State’. Even though very few Sates own the land or property used as embassy in Cuba, the Vienna convention supersedes Cuban laws. Therefore, the presence of 120 embassies representing around 140 States in Havana can be described as a micro-world: a condensed, geographically reorganized, version of the world of Cuba. It is a geography directly responding to, and embedded in, Cuban history and politics.

Therefore, arguably, the map of the ‘world’ in Havana is more representative to Cuba than the well-known world map within which it is drawn.

These geographies manifest very particular types of intentions, or, at least, have led to particular localities and could further set conditions of possibilities. Different characteristics of the urban presence of embassy buildings in Havana can be mapped in a Cuban atlas of diplomacy: Cubanacan (contient), an exclusive and luxurious part of Havana hosts ambassador’s residences, Miramar (continent), a quiet residential area accommodates most embassies in relatively frictionless proximity and Vedado (archipelago) a lively neighbourhood is home to a few scattered embassies in tentative conversation with their context. Three embassy buildings are isolates at different edges of Havana: Spain, The US and Russia (islands).

Miramar

The process of mapping associations and proximities, does two things simultaneously, it records, and it creates: ‘The map has a powerful recursive quality, a memory device and a foundation for projective action. The map is at once a necessary starting point for the exploration process and a principal outcome of that process’.17

Cubanacan

These maps and the process of fieldwork involved in tracing them form three different urban typologies and diplomatic practices across the city: the continent, the archipelago and the island. Within each geography, embassies engage differently with architecture, their urban and social context, and with each other. <click for appendix A - Cuban Atlas of Diplomacy> 7

POLITICAL EMBASSIES architectures

These embassies present three radically different approaches to diplomatic architecture in Havana, revealing design strategies that express both productive and unproductive architectures of diplomacy. the United States

Spain

USSR - Russia

<click to go back to page 18 Contained Cuban politics>

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Political embassies

The US embassy

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US embassy in Vedado One storey building which houses the consular services, visa section - 1 - and wraps around the office tower that acts as the embassy - 2.

3. Malecon 4. Ocean 5. Flag poles 6. Anti-imperialist park 7. Cuban diplomatic security cabin.

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1945 - End of WW2

1959 - Cuban Revolution

1953 Completion of the American Embassy by US architects Harrison and Abramovitz

Jan 1961 Diplomatic ties severed between the US and Cuba Apr 1961 - Bay of Pigs Feb 1962 - US Embargo

Oct 1962 - Cuban Missile Crisis 1977 US Interest Section opens in the former US embassy building

1991 - Collapse of the Soviet Union

Apr 2000 Construction of the Anti-imperialist park Jan 2006 Billboard delivering messages in Spanish on the facade of the US Embassy such as: ‘the people best suited to running the country are those currently driving taxis and cutting hair’

2014 US and Cuba seek to re-establish full diplomatic relations

Feb 2006 - ‘the billboard war’ 148 poles and flags erected in front of the embassy to visually block the billboard.

2015 Re-opening of the American Embassy

Jun 2017 Trump declares: “I am cancelling the last administration’s completely one-sided deal with Cuba.”

Oct 2017 U.S. diplomats’ health attacks

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1945 - End of WW2

1959 - Cuban Revolution

1953 Completion of the American Embassy by US architects Harrison and Abramovitz

Political embassies

The US embassy

Jan 1961 Diplomatic ties severed between the US and Cuba Apr 1961 - Bay of Pigs Feb 1962 - US Embargo

Oct 1962 - Cuban Missile Crisis 1977 US Interest Section opens in the former US embassy building

1991 - Collapse of the Soviet Union

Apr 2000 Construction of the Anti-imperialist park Jan 2006 Billboard delivering messages in Spanish on the facade of the US Embassy such as: ‘the people best suited to running the country are those currently driving taxis and cutting hair’

2014 US and Cuba seek to re-establish full diplomatic relations 2015 Re-opening of the American Embassy

Jun 2017 Trump declares: “I am cancelling the last administration’s completely one-sided deal with Cuba.”

Oct 2017 U.S. diplomats’ health attacks

Left US embassy in Havana timeline Negotiation Polarisation

Antonyms of Diplomacy (n): incivility, insensitivity, disregard.

Feb 2006 - ‘the billboard war’ 148 poles and flags erected in front of the embassy to visually block the billboard. <click to go back to page 99 - Diplomacy in Havana, a site for proposition>

The US and Cuba have battled through 50 years of hostilities. The US embassy in Havana is the manifestation of the vivid political relation between the US and Cuba, but also the active maker of this relation.

The building and its surroundings have evolved in connection with the development of the relation between both States.

The escalating tension between Cuba and the US can be analysed through to the Bay of Pig invasion, the US embargo, and the Cuban missile crisis, but also through the evolution of the US embassy building in Havana, and its immediate context.

In 2000 the Government of Cuba built a park in front of the US embassy called anti-imperialist tribune, with a powerful sound and lighting system, which was designed to host anti- US political demonstrations. Six years later, the US embassy turned their facade into a “Time Square type billboard”18 advertising anti-Castro propaganda. A month later, a wall of flags was erected in front of the US embassy, to hide the US slogans.

This political conflict is exploited through architecture and urban strategies at the US embassy, and these materialisations reinforce hostile positions. Here architecture entrenches rather than entangles. It further polarises discourses by transforming potential spaces of dialogue into deafening monologues.

Architecture and urbanism are mobilised as weapons of war that build undiplomatic relations.

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Political embassies

The Spanish embassy

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Morro Castle - 1589 Fortress guarding the entrance of Havana Bay

San Salvador de la Punta Fortress - 1559 Built to protect the entrance of Havana Bay Palace Velasco-Sarra - 1912 Current embassy of Spain The castle of the Royal Force - 1577 Built to defend against attack by pirates

El Capitolio -1920 will soon house the Cuban Parliament

Outline and position of the next map

Plan of Havana Vieja (Old Havana), the historical centre of the capital, built under Spanish colonialism.

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Political embassies

The Spanish embassy

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Morro Castle - 1589 Fortress guarding the entrance of Havana Bay

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San Salvador de la Punta Fortress - 1559 Built to protect the entrance of Havana Bay Palace Velasco-Sarra - 1912 Current embassy of Spain The castle of the Royal Force - 1577 Built to defend against attack by pirates

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El Capitolio -1920 will soon house the Cuban Parliament

Outline and position of the next map

Plan of Havana Vieja (Old Havana), the historical centre of the capital, built under Spanish colonialism.

1. Grand entrance to the embassy 2. Queue to the consulate, under the porch of the embassy building, around the corner from the embassy entrance 3. Information desk to the consulate, onto the street

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Political embassies

The Spanish embassy

Cuba was a Spanish colony for 400 years.

The architecture of Spanish colonialism runs deep through the city of Havana, which was itself founded during the colonial period. This colonial past is manifested in the Spanish embassy, which stands at the edge of the historic centre of Havana, in a former colonial palace.

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Since 2009, the public space around the embassy has become an external waiting room, due to the lack of appropriate consular facilities. Around two hundred people can be observed on the pavement everyday in lines, organised patterns, or chaotic groups, waiting for an appointment at the Spanish consulate (2-3). The embassy is in a process of negotiation with Cuban authorities to build a new, larger, consulate.19

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Although within the same plot, there is a striking difference between the consulate and the embassy of Spain. While a grand newly renovated facade frames the entrance to the embassy (1), a wall with small windows, topped with razor wires, acts as the consulate (3). The consulate is the backyard of the embassy, and uses the streetâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s pavement as its waiting room. Diplomatic practices are presumably reserved to the embassy at the expense of the consulate as Cuban visitors are not integrated within the diplomatic assemblage. The Cuban urban context (the street used a waiting room) is part of this assemblage but as a bi-product, an undesired overflow of visitors waiting. This forms an undiplomatic separation between Spain and Cuba.

On the other hand, the space under the porch (2) starts to point towards an interesting space of negotiation. This in between zone creates a blurred border between the two States. The embassy building shelters the visitors to the consulate, becomes a place of rest, and an opportunity to further mediate between Spanish and Cuban space.

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1. Grand entrance to the embassy 2. Queue to the consulate, under the porch of the embassy building, around the corner from the embassy entrance 3. Information desk to the consulate, onto the street

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Political embassies

The Russian embassy

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Political embassies

The Russian embassy

“The Russian embassy in Havana is very solid I think, it was very modern at that time, especially the tower. It was a bold project that turned out to be very controversial in Havana. Everybody wants to make a joke about the tower because it is very odd architecturally, but it's still the classic style of Soviet architecture.”

Vasily Ryabov, Russian Embassy Attaché in Copenhagen Interview 06/12/2017

Right Russian embassy tower next to a six storey housing block for Russian officers and their families.

Below Coastline of Havana seen from the neighbourhood of Nautico, the Russian embassy’s tower stands out from the skyline.

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Political embassies

The Russian embassy

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5 8 9 5th Avenue

The Russian embassy compound Built between 1975 and 1981, it is the only embassy built in Havana since the 1959 Revolution. The consulate is separated from the compound, which acts as a Russian enclave where diplomatic staff and their family live and work.

1. Embassy building 2. Six-storey housing block 3. Tower 4. Diplomatic entrance 5. Inhabitants and employee access control 6. Service compound access control 7. Inhabitants and employee parking 8. Visitor parking 9. Consulate

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Political embassies

The Russian embassy

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The USSR had a strong political and economic relation with Cuba until the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, and Cubaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s dependence on Russian resources might be the reason for the exceptional authorisation of the design and building of the former USSR now Russian embassy in Miramar.

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5 8 9 5th Avenue

The four hectares compound designed by Russian architect Alexander Rochegov is composed of a six-storey housing block which can house up to 900 people, Russian officials and their families, a large squared plan embassy building, a rhetorical diplomatic entrance which is never used20, and a tower with a sky room and sculptural pinnacle. Architecturally, the Russian embassy can be interpreted as an overwhelming demonstration of power and authority, especially when read in conjunction with other embassies in Havana.

The Russian embassy compound Built between 1975 and 1981, it is the only embassy built in Havana since the 1959 Revolution. The consulate is separated from the compound, which acts as a Russian enclave where diplomatic staff and their family live and work.

1. Embassy building 2. Six-storey housing block 3. Tower 4. Diplomatic entrance 5. Inhabitants and employee access control 6. Service compound access control 7. Inhabitants and employee parking 8. Visitor parking 9. Consulate

The Russian enclave today stands as an embodiment of the political and economic presence of the USSR in Cuba at a moment in time. Although the embassy has transitioned from representing the USSR to representing Russia, its architecture remains unchanged. The architecture of the embassy does not address the internal volatility of the entity it represents.

<click to go back to page 20 Contained Cuban politics>

However, Cuba and Russia have maintained diplomatic relations since the fall of the USSR, and these relations have continued to increase since Vladimir Putin came to power in 2000. Although Cuba is not seeking to re-establish the relation it previously had with the USSR, this embassy could be interpreted as an ambition still relevant in driving a close partnership between Russia and Cuba.

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EMBASSY BORDER a r c h i t e c t u ra l d e v i ce s

The fence

The waiting room

The park

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Embassy border

Edge of the German embassy in Havana, 2017.

Most often, visitors have to present a proof of scheduled appointment before being allowed within diplomatic premises. This arrival protocol happens on the street, behind fences.

However here, security measures protect visitors of the embassy as much as diplomatic staff members. Visitors enter through a revolving metal gate, activated by a guard inside. The door is activated when the guard sees a visitor, and allows them in before hey have to justify their presence.

Edge of the Russian embassy in Havana, 2017.

Embassy compound closed off with a five meter high concrete wall topped with razor wire. Behind, the top of the embassy tower.

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Embassy border

Edge of the German embassy in Havana, 2017.

Most often, visitors have to present a proof of scheduled appointment before being allowed within diplomatic premises. This arrival protocol happens on the street, behind fences.

However here, security measures protect visitors of the embassy as much as diplomatic staff members. Visitors enter through a revolving metal gate, activated by a guard inside. The door is activated when the guard sees a visitor, and allows them in before hey have to justify their presence.

The fence

All diplomatic premises in Havana are separated from the street by some form of edge condition. The first contact established with an embassy is most of the time at this edge: through a fence, by a gate, behind a wall. Some embassies in Havana (like Russia) have particularly imposing and monolithic architectural edges, while others mediate their border through a combination of security surveillance devices, guards, check points and fences (like Germany).

The edge is in most cases implemented to separate, protect, avoid confrontation and neutralise negotiation.

Above Peruvian Embassy in Havana, April 1980.

A group of Cubans drove a bus through a fence of the Peruvian embassy in Havana, quickly followed by 10 000 other refugees who requested - and were granted - political asylum.

Embassiesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; border conditions and the practices they entail therefore sit at odd with the founding principles of diplomatic relations: to establish connections among States in order to address conflicts through negotiation. Indeed most embassy fences separate rather than connect, and address conflicts through violence rather than negotiation.

The Assange case: Diplomatic asylum is not introduced in the Vienna Convention and is left for countries to regulate on an ad hoc basis. Since the UK does not recognise diplomatic asylum, Julian Assange does not have a free passage from the Ecuadorian embassy in London to Ecuador.

The Assange case could even be considered a breach of the Vienna Convention that specifies that â&#x20AC;&#x153;the premises of a diplomatic mission should not be used in any manner incompatible with its functionsâ&#x20AC;?.

However, Assange has been in the Embassy of Ecuador in London since June 2012, and is protected due to the inviolability of the Ecuadorian embassy - as guaranteed by the Vienna Convention itself.

In the Assange example the convention provides a form of political asylum relatively despite itself. By establishing clear and distinct territorial spaces, enforced by architectural borders (walls and fences) the convention forms a blurry legislative spaces. The possibility of diplomatic asylum is a bi-product of the law of inviolability of diplomatic premises. The border becomes an opportunity, it creates new practices and possibilities that were certainly not intended (such as the incident at the Peruvian embassy in Havana).

Edge of the Russian embassy in Havana, 2017.

Embassy compound closed off with a five meter high concrete wall topped with razor wire. Behind, the top of the embassy tower.

If a fence holds the potential to create new practices, can the edge of a diplomatic premises play a role in stimulating exchange and creating opportunities within the practice of diplomacy?

Rather than aiming to suppress possibilities of conflict, can a border directly address conflicts and be a space of negotiation?

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Embassy border

Existing Two identical outdoor waiting, Dominican Republic (first floor) and Ethiopia (second floor).

They are one above the other separated by metal fences and disconnected from each other.

Proposed A Reducing individual waiting space by reducing the stair landing and creating a shared waiting room in between the two floors, where people visiting either embassy can wait.

An existing edge condition which could be a space of negotiation is the outdoor waiting room - where embassy visitors wait before appointments or services.

Present in several embassies and consulates in Havana, this typology varies greatly from one embassy to the other.

This in-between space is an opportunity to analyse means of connections between Embassies and Cuban context through their borders.

Proposed B Minimising individual waiting space by reducing the stair landing and creating a triple height lobby, as well as using the roof top as a shared waiting room or an informal meeting space for embassy staff.

The above drawings represent existing and proposed outdoor waiting rooms, in a former apartment building in Miramar which currently accommodates the embassy of Costa Rica (ground floor), the consulate of Dominican Republic (first floor), and the embassy of Ethiopia (second floor).

Despite their close proximity, the embassy staff of these three diplomatic delegations did not express particular interaction

Existing Ground floor porch used as a waiting room by the embassy of Costa Rica.

between each other: â&#x20AC;&#x153;We are good neighbours, but we are work neighboursâ&#x20AC;?21 .

The different embassies do not share lunch, or cleaning staff, and even less collaborate on political issues. Rather than a conscious decision not to interact, a routine seems to have settled, where each embassy or consulate operates separately and without considering its neighbours as particular.

The outdoor waiting room

Proposed C Activating the facade by creating multilevel, walk through waiting rooms/meeting rooms for all three diplomatic missions in between each floor, over looking one another.

The above three propositions explore possible inter-relation between these embassies through their outdoor waiting rooms. They are investigations into the possibility for embassies to affect and to be affected, through strategies of shared spaces, diluted edges, and ambiguous borders. The exploratory proposals lead towards architectural strategies of multilateral diplomacy.

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Embassy border

The park

The park and the embassy Contrasting social formation between the neutralised queue along the anti-social fence of US embassy (top left) and the hyper social activity of people waiting at the square (bottom right).

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Embassy border

The park

The US embassy’s external waiting room is pecular, as in that it is displaced outside of the embassy premises. For at least the last ten years, the embassy has been using a nearby public park as the official outdoor waiting room of their consular section. The US embassy presumably uses the park to avoid crowds forming within the embassy grounds, considered as potentially threatening to the diplomatic staff.

US official appointment letters for visa matters or information requests ask Cubans to meet at the Lamentation park at a specific date and time. Depending on the political climate between the US and Cuba, people gathering in the park can form a small group of 30 people up to an overwhelming crowd of a thousand.

The daily events follows a well rehearsed pattern; Cubans gather in the park, share hopes and stories, listen to each others questions, despair at the opacity and complexity of the situation, and watch the US embassy intensely.

Once documents have been checked by a US consulate official, they move in a group, led by the official, towards the US embassy. They line up against the fence, waiting for their documents to be verified once again. They are searched by guards, before finally being allowed within the diplomatic premises. At the fence, the social dynamics which formed in the park are dissolved into a line of anxious individuals.22 The proximity to the fence, cameras and guards, and the highly secured and surveyed premises, serves to pacify visitors and neutralise possibilities of social interaction.

The park and the embassy Contrasting social formation between the neutralised queue along the anti-social fence of US embassy (top left) and the hyper social activity of people waiting at the square (bottom right).

Above Two information officers of the US consulate office arrive at the park where Cubans have been waiting. A crowd forms around them while they announce that all visa applications have been frozen Lamentation park, Havana October 2017, 9:15am

This example highlights the transformative possibilities of an embassy’s border in relation to a public space. Although presenting a rather undiplomatic transformation, it reveals the relation between political actions and urban reactions, and shows the active role of embassies’ border in representing and enforcing power relations. Could a different approach to the use of public space in embassy’s organisation engender a different set of possibilities towards diplomatic relations?

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Diplomacy in Havana

A site for proposition

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Diplomacy in Havana

1. Embassy of North Korea 2. Ambassador’s residence of Great Britain and Northern Ireland 3. Embassy of China 4. Embassy of Germany 5. Embassy of Poland 6. Embassy of Norway 7. Embassy of India 8. Embassy of the United States 9. Refugee section of the US embassy

Anti imperialist tribune 148 flag poles

Area from where the advertisement of Great Britain’s embassy can be seen.

Area from where the advertisement of the North Korean embassy can be seen.

Galleries and artist studios in collaboration with the embassy of Norway.

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Currently a sunken void within the densely urbanised area of Vedado, this site is embedded in a lively neighbourhood which mixes residential (apartment buildings), cultural (cultural centre, galleries) social (dance schools, leisure centre), civic (ministry of foreign affairs) and touristic programs (casa particulares and hotels). Several embassies are also present in Vedado. They are identified as an urban archipelago: a scattered but relatively close group of buildings with various degrees of tentative conversation with their context <click for page 141 - Appendix A example of the Norwegian embassy in Vedado>. Vedado provides a rich and varied Cuban context with a plasticity opportune to urban intimacy.

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A site for proposition

“Parts of the premises of the mission shall be inviolable, and integrated in the urban realm of the receiving State.

The receiving State shall facilitate the integration of the premises of the diplomatic missions in its civic infrastructure and urban fabric.”

Modified Vienna Convention Towards diplomatic relations with a Cuban urban realm. <click for page 39 Modifying the Vienna Convention>

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These explorations of the urban, the architecture of different embassies, and the effects of particular architectural devices lead the project towards a site for a proposed EU embassy which could engage with the raised problematics. The project aims to translate the theoretical implications of the modified Vienna convention into a site specific strategy of urban integration. The site has been strategically selected for its centrality within both the urban field and the networks of diplomacy affecting it. The site boundary is intentionally ambiguous, absorbing both an architectural and urban context. The primary architectural inquiry is focused on the large and small urban context of the site: the local conditions, civic institutions and public spaces.

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Left Map of Vedado Archipelago of embassies and the impact on their immediate context

10. Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs 11. University of International relations 12. Police station

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Above The Malecon at sunset

At the north of the site is the Malecon: a major transport artery and iconic public promenade. The Malecon operates as an edge from where people turn their back to the ocean and face the city. It is formed by a high speed 6-lane road, difficult to cross for pedestrians. On the other side of it is a wide path along the ocean and a deep wall used as a bench or ‘couch’. Very animated in the evening, it is often deserted during the day because of the lack of shade. The path sits a few meters above the water level, and, in Vedado, does not provide any access to the ocean.

As previously outlined, a proposal for an EU embassy should imply the provision of a common: an infrastructure for Havana and its inhabitants which offers necessary provisions and desired conditions. The site is therefore situated by the Malecon in order to reconsider this border and its connection to the city. A key part of the architectural intent is to develop, through a proposal for an EU embassy, a publicly accessible infrastructure which creates access to that which is currently inaccessible: the malecon and the ocean beyond.

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Diplomacy in Havana

A site for proposition

Above The site - a void within the dense urban fabric of Vedado. The site opens towards a corner which is currently its primary access point, and connection to the urban.

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Diplomacy in Havana

A site for proposition

Above The site - an abandoned terrain vague. Just behind the wall is the Malecon, the site sits between the city and the ocean. A new access point to the malecon from the city could form through the site.

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Left The edge of the site facing a 1920s Art-deco apartment building. The terrain drops by a few meters, which disconnects it from the continuous urban surface of Vedado.

People walk around it, but never through the site.

Although it is not closed off or guarded, the space is left unclaimed.

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Diplomacy in Havana

A site for proposition

Extended borders Unlike most blocks in Vedado strictly defined by a rigid 100x100m square grid, this parcel has mixed conditions: two of its sides are framed by the grid and two others dictated by the curve of the ocean. This creates an elastic boundary which could be extended to integrate a portion of the ocean to the north-west and a fragment of the parcel to the south-east (see map on the next page). Indeed, as previously explored, the project aims to deal with extended borders as opportunities to establish connections between different territories, and position a proposed EU embassy in conversation with its context, with the ability to affect and be affected by it. The two political institutions in immediate proximity to the site are the Cuban ministry of Foreign affairs and the US embassy. Other elements of the context which the site aims to converse with are described and analysed on the next page.

Cuban institution The site is in walking distance of the Cuban ministry of foreign affairs and the Cuban university of international relations. This proximity provides a possibility for a clear diplomatic connection between European and Cuban civic institutions through the public urban realm as a mediating space of negotiation.

Left The edge of the site facing a 1920s Art-deco apartment building. The terrain drops by a few meters, which disconnects it from the continuous urban surface of Vedado.

People walk around it, but never through the site.

Although it is not closed off or guarded, the space is left unclaimed.

The US embassy The site and the US embassy have a duality which is critical to the project. As previously analysed (<click for page 61 - the US embassy>), an alienating landscape of architectural devices confronts the US embassy and the Cuban context, and this intended proximity could unable a productive friction. At the US embassy, the urban and the architectural play an active role in US - Cuba relations, a role presumably detrimental to diplomacy, but nevertheless an operative role.

The current relation between the context and the embassy is unproductive and undiplomatic - the proposed EU embassy aims challenge this. The site should seek, through architectural and urban strategies, to be a space of diplomatic confrontation and productive negotiation. Rather than stifling dialogue, The proposed EU embassy should deploy an architecture and urban strategy at the service of diplomacy, negotiation and peace making.

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Snack vendor

1. US embassy 2. Lamentation park 3. Playground 4. One storey indoor garages 5. 1920s Art-deco apartment building 6. Refugee section of the US embassy Proposed physical connection to Cuban civic infrastructure: the Cuban ministry of foreign affairs.

Existing small Cuban businesses, proposing passport photo services and sandwiches targeted at people visiting /waiting to visit the US embassy.

The site and its boundary spread across three blocks.

Proposal : Continuation of the grid to include a portion of the ocean and of the south-east parcel within the active border/ local context of the site.

7. Recently renovated playground 8. Malecon 9. Ocean 10. Outdoor sports complex 11. Cuban ministry of foreign affairs

Dead-end

Proposed physical connection to the Malecon and the ocean.

Existing snack vendor Proposal: to develop the capacity to affect and to be affect by stimulating businesses around the site to emerge in connection with the program of the EU embassy, such as kiosks.

Pkayground

Proposed activation of the corner as space of cross-over, negotiation and mediation between Cuban public space and EU public space

Existing dead-end Proposal: possible continuation of the street into a pedestrian path through the site, which connects to the opposite â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;corner of negotiationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;.

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Part three explores how the thematics introduced in the two previous parts can coalesce through the programmatic composition and architectural design of a proposed EU embassy, and begins to outline the forthcoming thesis project and its architectural intent.

This part critiques the existing EU embassy in Havana (its inflexible premises and limited program can only accommodate bilateral diplomatic relations), and instead looks towards an assemblage of multilateral diplomatic relations, enabled by versatile premises, a comprehensive program and an integrated urban strategy - a new form of embassy building for the evolving project of the European Union.

PA RT T H R E E AN EMBASSY FOR THE EUROPEAN UNION

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An embassy for the European Union

Embassy of Spain

Island

Representing: Malta

Proposed Embassy for the European Union

Map of all EU Member States and EU ‘satellite’ embassies in Havana, the existing EU embassy in Miramar and proposed EU embassy in Vedado.

Archipelago Vedado Embassy of Norway Embassy of Poland Embassy of Hungary Representing: Latvia Lithuania

Embassy of Germany Ambassador’s residence of the United Kingdom

Continent Miramar

Embassy of Czech Republic

Embassy of Italy Embassy of Belgium Representing: Luxembourg

Existing EU Embassy

Embassy of Switzerland

Embassy of France Embassy of the Netherlands Embassy of Portugal

Embassy of the United Kingdom Embassy of Sweden

Representing: Denmark Estonia Finland Norway Iceland

Embassy of Slovakia Embassy of Austria Embassy of Greece Embassy of Cyprus

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An embassy for the European Union

From existing to proposed relations

Island

Embassy of Spain Representing: Malta

Right Map of all EU Member States and EU ‘satellite’ embassies in Havana, the existing EU embassy in Miramar and proposed EU embassy in Vedado.

Preoccupied by the debt crisis, the fragility of its financial institutions, the fight its constant struggle for growth and employment, and the rise of populism, the European Union is hyper-aware of itself and the challenges it is facing. In recent years, questioning of its purpose, and even existence, has put the Union in movement. This internal existential crisis is challenging the EU to act, evolve and rethink its ways.

As stated in the Lisbon Treaty of 2011, an EU embassy can represent EU Member States, ‘instead of’ a national embassy. Although there is no example of this being enforced yet, this is an opportunity for an EU embassy to extend its role. The project proposes for the EU embassy to embody, address and facilitate the different aggregations that exist within and across the EU. It aims to be a space to coordinate, mediate and negotiate among EU Member States, by establishing a versatile relationality between the Union and its members, consistent with the idea of multi-lateral diplomacy explored previously.

Currently the EU plays a minor role as a mediator in Cuba. Most EU Member States collaborate directly with Cuba through their own embassies in Havana.

Above Diagram of the different partnerships formed within and across the EU, such as the Euro-zone, the Shengen area, the Nordic region, the Benelux and the Inner 6.

‘The European Union shall promote solidarity among Member States.’

Lisbon Treat, Article 3. 2011 Article 27 TEU emphasizes that the EEAS will work in cooperation with the diplomatic services of the Member States, and not replace them.

Several EU Member states (such as Germany, Spain and France) have large delegations, active diplomatic buildings, and strong ties with Cuba, while other Member States do not even have a permanent diplomatic delegation present in Havana.

The European Union’s territorial presence in Cuba is also varied and spreads across the three different configurations previously outlined (<click for page 50 - Atlas of diplomacy> or <page 141 Appendix A>). Here we consider the Spanish embassy as an island, the German embassy as part of the archipelago of Vedado and the Swedish embassy as within the continent of Miramar. EU Member States’ embassies have a wide range of political and urban impact on Havana.

While the proposal (and the EU) does not intend to be homogeneous and lose the specificity of different EU members, these members would nevertheless benefit from a well defined common ground of diplomatic relations in order to collaborate and negotiate, in the context of Cuba, via an active diplomatic platform.

Proposed Embassy for the European Union

Archipelago Vedado Embassy of Norway Embassy of Poland Embassy of Hungary Representing: Latvia Lithuania

Embassy of Germany Ambassador’s residence of the United Kingdom

Continent Miramar

Embassy of Czech Republic

Embassy of Italy Embassy of Belgium Representing: Luxembourg

Exiting EU Embassy

Embassy of Switzerland

Embassy of France Embassy of the Netherlands Embassy of Portugal

Embassy of the United Kingdom Embassy of Sweden

Representing: Denmark Estonia Finland Norway Iceland

Embassy of Slovakia Embassy of Austria Embassy of Greece Embassy of Cyprus

7

An embassy for the European Union

From existing to proposed relations

Government of Cuba

Existing EU Member Statesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; embassies and the EU embassy in a series of bilateral relations with Cuba

109

An embassy for the European Union

From existing to proposed relations

‘Together we will be able to achieve more than Member States acting alone or in an uncoordinated manner.’

The EU Global Strategy, 2016

Government of Cuba

Proposed EU Member States’ embassies and a new EU embassy Connecting EU embassies among each other - as a mediator for cooperation and multilateral relations.

111

An embassy for the European Union

From existing to proposed premises

The overall aim of the EU today is to strengthen its internal ties and shared vision, in order to bolster its common actions and role in the world.23 This shared vision of the Union is currently not enacted in the organisation and relation of the existing EU embassy and EU Member State’s embassies in Havana.

Above Existing EU embassy in Miramar

“Apart from being an actor that represent the Union as a whole, the EU embassy is an arena for local partners to reach all Member States: representatives of partner countries use coordination meetings as an effective way to communicate with the 28 at one go.”

AALED, june 2017

‘The consular function has gained in visibility and salience in the recent years, as well as public diplomacy related tasks.

Some of these were either undervalued in the past or did not exist for the simple reason that diplomatic systems like much of the government were not accustomed to viewing users of their services as customers.’

Kishan S. Rana

Indeed, the EU has been present in Havana since 2003 in the same building, a small colonial villa in Miramar. However within it the EU institution has changed from representation office, to delegation office, and now EU embassy since 2011. (<Click for page 41 - EUCuba timeline>) The facility used by 16 staff members has become inadequate and cannot accommodate for an increase in personnel.

The EU’s ambition to strengthen its role of mediator between EU Member States, as well as an increase in collaboration between the EU and Cuba, as intented by the Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement (PDCA) of November 2017, requires a rethinking of the existing EU embassy organisation and could potentially lead to an increase in EU diplomatic premises and staff.

Considering the limiting facilities of the current EU embassy, the ‘shared vision’ ambition of the EU, and the PDCA signed between Cuba and the EU, the project proposes a new site and new functions for an EU embassy in Vedado. The embassy would seek, through its program, architecture and urban strategy, to participate in the EU’s ambition to strengthen its internal ties abroad and the implementation of the PDCA between the EU and Cuba.

The program of new EU embassy should develop through three branches: - Coordination among EU Member States -The deployment of press and public diplomacy -The creation of a Shengen consulate The project also proposes to expand the branch of the EU-Cuba Cooperation to integrate the different goals of the PDCA between the EU and Cuba.

113

An embassy for the European Union

From existing to proposed program

Existing Organogram of the current EU embassy in Havana composed of 16 embassy staff members and including 7 officials.

Officials (diplomatic privileges) Embassy staff (no/limited diplomatic privileges)

The overall aim of the EU today is to strengthen its internal ties and shared vision, in order to bolster its common actions and role in the world.24 This shared vision of the Union is currently not enacted in the organisation and relation of the existing EU embassy and EU Member State’s embassies in Havana.

Chancellery Ambassador Assistant Press and Information Officer

Political-Economic

Analysis, trade, Human rights, coordination with EU Member States,

EU-Cuba Cooperation Head of Cooperation

Head of Section

Assistant

Assistant

Rural development Political and economic analysis, trade, coordination with EU Member States, Human rights

National Expert Young Expert

Sustainable development/ Renewable energies, public administration, link with the exchange of experts Participation and inclusive development, link with the support to civil society, local authorities and regional programs (in the process of hiring)

Administration

Above Existing EU embassy in Miramar

and Consular coordination (Shengen) Head of Section Accountant Informatics support Drivers

“Apart from being an actor that represent the Union as a whole, the EU embassy is an arena for local partners to reach all Member States: representatives of partner countries use coordination meetings as an effective way to communicate with the 28 at one go.”

AALED, june 2017

‘The consular function has gained in visibility and salience in the recent years, as well as public diplomacy related tasks.

Some of these were either undervalued in the past or did not exist for the simple reason that diplomatic systems like much of the government were not accustomed to viewing users of their services as customers.’

Kishan S. Rana

Indeed, the EU has been present in Havana since 2003 in the same building, a small colonial villa in Miramar. However within it the EU institution has changed from representation office, to delegation office, and now EU embassy since 2011. (<Click for page 41 - EUCuba timeline>) The facility used by 16 staff members has become inadequate and cannot accommodate for an increase in personnel.

The EU’s ambition to strengthen its role of mediator between EU Member States, as well as an increase in collaboration between the EU and Cuba, as intented by the Political Dialogue and Cooperation Agreement (PDCA) of November 2017, requires a rethinking of the existing EU embassy organisation and could potentially lead to an increase in EU diplomatic premises and staff.

Considering the limiting facilities of the current EU embassy, the ‘shared vision’ ambition of the EU, and the PDCA signed between Cuba and the EU, the project proposes a new site and new functions for an EU embassy in Vedado. The embassy would seek, through its program, architecture and urban strategy, to participate in the EU’s ambition to strengthen its internal ties abroad and the implementation of the PDCA between the EU and Cuba.

The program of new EU embassy should develop through three branches: - Coordination among EU Member States -The deployment of press and public diplomacy -The creation of a Shengen consulate The project also proposes to expand the branch of the EU-Cuba Cooperation to integrate the different goals of the PDCA between the EU and Cuba.

115

Press and public diplomacy Produce and provide information

Proposed Organogram of the proposed new EU embassy in Havana composed of 43 embassy staff, three deployed branches - Public diplomacy, Coordination and Shengen consulate and the expansion of the EU-Cuba Cooperation.

Contact with Cuban media, universities, think tanks, NGOs Deal with public inquiries, website Organise cultural events

Chancellery Ambassador Assistant Press and Information Officer

Political-Economic

Analysis, trade, Human rights, coordination with EU Member States,

EU-Cuba Cooperation

Administration

Implementation of the PDCA

and Consular coordination (Shengen)

Head of Cooperation

Head of Section

Assistant

Accountant

National Expert

Humanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Right -promotion of Democracy

Informatics support

Young Expert

Fight against Criminality

Head of Section Assistant

Drivers

Rural development Political and economic analysis, trade, Agriculture Human rights

Coordination Organise meetings with EU Member States Provide in-depth analysis and information through reporting to EU Member States Provides translation services, mailing lists, organisational support, venue for organising events, and involve local actors

Cultural Heritage and social development, social modernization Sustainable development/ Renewable energies, transport public administration, link with the exchange of experts Help make the island less vulnerable to droughts and storm Participation and inclusive development, link with the support to civil society, local authorities and regional programs (in the process of hiring)

Shengen consulate Provide consulate Information Process visa applications to the Shengen zone Elections Local Shengen coordination among Shengen EU Member States Storage of blank visa and applications

117

Commons

Information centre Exhibition space Library/Internet access EU Members flag square Ground for public protest, film screenings or informal gatherings

Embassy pavilion Reception event space Offices meeting room

Press and public diplomacy Chancellery Political-Economic

EU-Cuba Cooperation

EU Member States Coordination

Administration

Shengen consulate

Urban Public square Bridge over the Malecon Pier to the ocean

Proposed Expansion of the EU embassy program to address its borders through different strategies - volatility and adaptability (embassy pavilion) - relation to the urban context (urban) - political and social diplomacy (commons)

119

An embassy for the European Union

Commons

Information centre Exhibition space Library/Internet access EU Members flag square Ground for public protest, film screenings or informal gatherings

Embassy pavilion Reception event space Offices meeting room

Press and public diplomacy Chancellery Political-Economic

From existing to proposed program

EU-Cuba Cooperation

EU Member States Coordination

Administration

Shengen consulate

Urban Public square Bridge over the Malecon Pier to the ocean

‘Negotiation, in a broad sense, is at the core of diplomacy.’

Kishan S. Rana

The program of the Embassy further expands to address its “borders”: the limits between the EU embassy, EU Member Sates’ embassies and the wider Cuban context. The EU embassy therefore integrates three new functions:

“I know very well that right now some are trying to isolate Cuba. We Europeans want, on the contrary, to build bridges and open doors through cooperation and dialogue."

Frederica Mogherini, EU High Representative, at the University of La Havana on January 4th 2018.

An embassy pavilion: To address the border of the coordination role of the EU embassy, the program proposes a building for the temporary representation of an EU Member States. This addresses the versatile relation between the Union and its members by accommodating for changes within the Union and facilitating evolving relations between Cuban and EU Members. The pavilion could for example be: a temporal Portuguese embassy to facilitate dialogue with Cuba (opening the possibility of a permanent diplomatic mission); a Georgian embassy if/when it joins the EU; A British “memorial” when Brexit is implemented; a festival pavilion associated with the Danish culture week...

“The US State department has moved towards realizing that there's more to being a diplomatic facility than being a bunker.”

Jane C. Loeffler, 2014

The urban: To manifest and implement the EU-Cuba cooperation, the embassy establishes of a public infrastructure which integrates the building in an urban context and creates an urban context by making the ocean accessible. The proposal is to regenerates the abandoned plot of the site into a public space and connect it to the ocean through a bridge/pier over the Malecon and to the ocean.

Proposed

The commons: These expand the Public diplomacy branch of the EU embassy to include public, social and civic functions which connect Cuban citizens to an EU context. These common spaces, accessible to all, establish a ground of otherness where the European laws supersedes Cuban laws (in accordance with the Vienna convention). They open opportunities such as the possibility to screen movies censored in Cuba, organise protests, promote art performances or provide uncensored internet. These common spaces could engage in negotiation with the Cuban political, social and urban context through diplomatic friction.

Expansion of the EU embassy program to address its borders through different strategies - volatility and adaptability (embassy pavilion) - relation to the urban context (urban) - political and social diplomacy (commons)

121

An embassy for the European Union

Proposed program

Multi-lateral Diplomacy

Individual EU member State

Individual sovereign representation of EU member States

Above Proposed programmatic diagram of the enfilade relation between national positions, common stance and context.

Participation of external stakeholders

Multiplicity of EU States engaging and negotiating

Cuban urban realm

The commons/ singular stance of the EU

Representation and communication of the commons and singularities in/ to the urban realm

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Among those who may be included in a major interstate negotiation are the media, think tanks, political parties, civil society actors, businesses, opinion shapers, and other stakeholders that can influence a negotiation and shape its outcome.â&#x20AC;&#x2122; Kishan S. Rana 123

An embassy for the European Union

Proposed program

Commons

Ex h sp ibiti ac on e

Information centre

event

n

space

Office

s

meetin

EU embassy

Dip l me oma eti tic roo ng m Re cep Off ic tio mi es (3 n x 5 an of d o sin m² p pe gle .pe n p , d rso lan oub n, Me off le eti ice ng s) Co r o om nfe ren s ce roo m

ting Mee

oom ing r Wait s room view Inter es Offic s room

Public space

Recep tio

Above Proposed programmatic diagram of public space as a connector between the different programs of the EU embassy complex.

rar y ac /Int ce ern ss et

Flag square

Schengen consulate

Temporary embassy pavilion

Lib

g room

“Today we use our embassy as a platform for collaboration, dialogue and encounters.”

Benedikt Wechsler, Swiss Ambassador in Copenhagen. Interview 5/12/2017 125

Architectural intent The project intends to carry through the thematics introduced in this programme – political, architectural and programmatic - through architectural design. A critical response to Havana’s current diplomatic materiality will be developed further not through generalised rule for an architecture of diplomacy, but rather express an intentional field of possibilities through a specific architectural and urban composition for an EU embassy. The programmatic arrangement (associated with an EU embassy) will be tested against the political and theoretical thematics (modified Vienna convention, expanded ‘possibility space’ of the diplomatic assemblage), and resolved against the specific context (site in Vedado) in an iterative design process, which draws from analysed diplomatic materialities in Havana (political embassies, architectural devices).

The intention of the project is not only to explore architecture’s role in the representation of a pre-existing ideology, but more importantly to investigate architecture’s active capacity to affect political and social relations between institutions and individuals. Can an inclusive, integrated and negotiable architecture lead to improved diplomatic political relations between the EU and Cuba, and positively affect the material presence of other embassies in Havana? To approach those thematics, the architectural development of the project will address an array of interconnected problematics: Border condition - How can a border, through a modification of its parameters, be a space of mediation and negotiation between different political, legal, social, and ideological entities?

Public/urban agency - How can an embassy establish a diplomatic relation with Havana’s urban context through the provision of a public infrastructure?

Volatility - How does the architecture of an EU embassy address the internal volatility of the entity it represents - the EU - an entity always under construction? How can the architecture of an EU embassy adapt to changing circumstances, the Union’s movement, and facilitate its evolution?

Representation - How can the EU, its ambitions and evolving character, be represented in Havana through an embassy building?

Representation of representation - How can the indissociable construct between the Union and its members - the diverse and heterogeneous entities which through their multi-lateral engagement tend toward a whole - be facilitated and represented?

Sensitivity - How can an EU embassy develop the capacity to productively affect and to be productively affected by its urban, architectural and political context? Can multilateral diplomacy (inherent to the EU construct) and urban diplomacy (essential to the ambition of the proposed EU embassy) stretch beyond the EU embassy premises and affect other diplomatic entities in Havana?

127

An embassy for the European Union

Architectural explorations

129

An embassy for the European Union

Architectural explorations

The architectural project intends to explore interconnections between spaces, frame transitions between different public and private areas and respond to the climatic intensity of Havana through architectural devices. The following precedent studies analyse examples of these three intentions.

1. Uffizi Galleri, Florence, Italy. Giorgio Vasari, 1581.

2.Westminster parliament, London, UK. Charles Barry, 1850s.

3

3. Kyungdong Church, Seoul, South Korea.

1980, Kim Swoo-Geun.

1

1

3

4.National School of Arts, School of dramatic arts, Havana, Cuba. Roberto Gottardi, 1962.

5. National School of Arts, School of Ballet, Havana, Cuba. Vittorio Garatti, 1962.

2

6. Church of St Peter, Klippan, Sweden. Sigurd Lewerentz, 1963-66

4

5

6

Interconnections The West, South and East Corridors of the Uffizi in Florence is a continuous shared space. Visitors can weave in and out of this large gathering space to explore the museum. It connects all of the different exhibition rooms and unites them together. It creates an alternative access route for a group, different from the individual’s route which moves from one room to the next through an enfilade.

Westminster parliament in London is formed of rooms within rooms. Most spaces are directed connected to one another without the use of corridors.

This co-dependence of spaces integrates many of the different functions of the parliament through various enfilades.

Transitions How might visitors move from Cuban public space to EU public space?

Kyungdong church in Seoul is a relevant example of continuous common space. A brick path circulates around and up the building to an ‘open church’ on the roof top. The steps flanked by high brick walls creates a fluid connection between the public street and the site, and frame an intimate common relation between visitors and the building.

The School of Arts in Havana connects individual studio spaces through external narrow corridors. A continuous change in direction offer new views every few steps and form a dynamic public path which in some places widens to form large gathering spaces. The transition between private studio space and shared maze-like circulation is dynamic and intimate.

Climatic intensity Havana’s School of Arts is also a pertinent example of harvesting the intense Cuban climate (strong sun and heavy rain) through architectural devices. Sheltered by fragments of bricks vaults, a wide external corridor sinks through the ground and progressively darkens as the gaps between the vaults become smaller. The sinuous gathering space allows for the eyes of students and visitors to progressively adapt to the change from bright outdoor to dark internal spaces.

In the courtyard of the Church of St Peter in Klippan, one wall of dark brick glows in the sun in the late afternoon. Due to a slight inclination in plan, the wall is illuminated when the evening sun aligns with the entrance route, inviting visitors in the courtyard. This subtle orientation forms an architectural device which makes use of natural light to signal, draw, and welcome visitors.

131

Submission

The architecture of diplomacy is the object and concern of this thesis a question and a statement in one.

The submission will take the form of a full set of architectural drawings and models for a proposed European Union Embassy in Havana. The specificity of the material will be determined by the theoretical development and further materialisation of the architectural proposal through the semester.

To practice the co-evolutionary method, written material will also be submitted to further elaborate on the possibilities of an architecture of diplomacy through writing.

133

APPENDICES

135

A

Appendix A

Cuban Atlas of diplomacy C

33

21 11 4

12 5 6

10

9

B

8 32

18 13

15

7

3 2

31

19

14

1

29

20

22

16

17

30

28 27

D 26 25

24

23

CUBANACAN - CONTINENT Ambassadorsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Residences

1. Spain 2. Sri Lanka 3. Yemen.

4. Brezil 5. Sweden 6. Saudi Arabia 7. Kuwait 8. United States 9. Iraq 10. Germany

11. Barbados 12. Canada 13. The Netherlands 14. Peru 15. San Vincent and Grenades 16. India 17. Iran 18. South Africa 19. North Korea

20. Pays Basque 21. Indonesia 22. Turquie 23. Venezuela 24. Nambia 25. Panama 26. Portugal 27. Russia 28. Argentina 30. Dominican Republic

31. North Korea 32. Switzerland 33. United Arab Emirates __ A - Convention palace B- Lagito C- National School of Arts D- National Center of scientifique investigation

137

Appendix A

1. Italy

FINCIMEX manage remittances of family assistance from abroad to Cuba

Cuban Atlas of diplomacy

MIRAMAR - CONTINENT Embassies and foreign offices headquarters

2. Peru 3.Belgium 4. Angola 5. Congo 6. Apostalic Nunciature 7. Mexico

West Delegation of the Gaviota Tourist Group International legal consulting International School of Havana United Nations Group Sol-Melia Hotel Headquaters ACOREC - contracting agency of labor force to foreign companie

Domingo Alonso INternational SL PALCO inmobiliaria Datys CEADAN nuclear development center

TPM industries - Bosh

8. France 7. Colombia 9. Chile 10. Venezuela 11. Vietnam 12. Granada 13. Switzerland 14. The Netherlands 15. European Union 16. Jamaica 17. Djibouti 18. Kazakstan 19. Panama 20. Portugal

21. Laos 22. Iran 23. Canada 24. Sri Lanka 25. Bahamas 26. South Africa 27. Paraguay 28. Sweden 29. United Kingdom 30. Ghana 31. Argentina 32. Uruguay 33. Mozambique 34. Turquie 35. Ecuador

36. South Africa BBVA 37. Ukraine 38. Bulgaria 39. Saudi Arabia 39. Italy

40. Russia 41. Mongolia 42. Bulgaria 43. Slovakia 43. Rep. Trinidad y Tobago 44. Ethiopia 45. Dominican Republic 46. Costa Rica 47. Malaysia 48. Kuwait 49. Embassy of Austria 50. Residence of Nigeria 51. Cambodia 52. Vietnam

139

Cuban Atlas of diplomacy

Appendix A MIRAMAR - CONTINENT Embassies and foreign offices headquarters

The area of Cubanacan can be described as a continent which hosts primarily ambassador’s residences. Cubanacan is an exclusive and luxurious part of Havana, master planned as a garden city in the 1920s. The scale of roads, pavements, gardens and residences is considerably larger than in the rest of the city. The two main aspects of this continent are the adjacency of its parts (diplomatic buildings representing States), and its separation or isolation from the ‘sea’: the context it is in (Havana).

1. Italy

FINCIMEX manage remittances of family assistance from abroad to Cuba

2. Peru 3.Belgium 4. Angola 5. Congo 6. Apostalic Nunciature 7. Mexico

West Delegation of the Gaviota Tourist Group International legal consulting International School of Havana United Nations Group Sol-Melia Hotel Headquaters ACOREC - contracting agency of labor force to foreign companie

Domingo Alonso INternational SL PALCO inmobiliaria Datys CEADAN nuclear development center

TPM industries - Bosh

8. France 7. Colombia 9. Chile 10. Venezuela 11. Vietnam 12. Granada 13. Switzerland 14. The Netherlands 15. European Union 16. Jamaica 17. Djibouti 18. Kazakstan 19. Panama 20. Portugal

21. Laos 22. Iran 23. Canada 24. Sri Lanka 25. Bahamas 26. South Africa 27. Paraguay 28. Sweden 29. United Kingdom 30. Ghana 31. Argentina 32. Uruguay 33. Mozambique 34. Turquie 35. Ecuador

<click to go back to page 52 - Diplomacy in Havana>

36. South Africa BBVA 37. Ukraine 38. Bulgaria 39. Saudi Arabia 39. Italy

40. Russia 41. Mongolia 42. Bulgaria 43. Slovakia 43. Rep. Trinidad y Tobago 44. Ethiopia 45. Dominican Republic 46. Costa Rica 47. Malaysia 48. Kuwait 49. Embassy of Austria 50. Residence of Nigeria 51. Cambodia 52. Vietnam

<click to go back to page 91 - Diplomacy in Havana, a site for proposition> <click to go back to page 106 - An embassy for the European Union>

In Miramar, embassy buildings also form a continent. This quiet residential area accommodates most of the embassies present in Cuba in an arguably corporate environment. Secretary of the embassy of Sweden, Elisabeth Hasselbomn says of the Swedish embassy in Miramar ‘If you are looking for architecture representing Scandinavian policies in terms of diplomacy you should look at the Nordic pavilions in Berlin or the House of Sweden in Washington D.C., however here, in Cuba, and in other countries, we are just looking for a place to have a little office. ’ This condition is further highlighted in a three-storey former apartment building currently accommodating three different diplomatic missions: the embassy of Costa Rica, the consulate of Dominican Republic and the embassy of Ethiopia. Despite the utmost proximity, embassy staff did not express particular interaction between each other: “We are good neighbours, but we are work neighbours” . The different embassies do not share lunch, or cleaning staff, and even less collaborate on political issues. Rather than a conscious decision not to interact, a routine seems to have settled, where each embassy or consulate operates separately and without considering its neighbours as particular. The arrangement of embassy buildings in this continent, sometimes in dense physical aggregations, has not given rise to particular interaction, collaboration or exchange beyond sporadic and informal social contacts. On the contrary, it seems to have created an a-political, frictionless proximity.

Vedado (<click for map page 90>) is a vibrant area with a mix of residential buildings, institutions and social programs. There, a few embassies form an archipelago: a scattered but relatively close group of individual buildings. These embassies have various degrees of tentative conversation with their context. An example of such is the previously mentioned Norwegian embassy which established a collaboration with several of its neighbours by organising art exhibitions and performances across different locations, including in the embassy.

The Norwegian embassy also uses its diplomatic premises for public performances such as to screen censored Cuban movies and organise free uncensored internet gathering. The typology of the archipelago seems to emerge, for some embassies, as a conscious decision to be ‘in’ the city, by allowing it to flow in-between embassies.

141

Appendix B

Diplomacy in Copenhagen

‘This embassy building represents Russia because it has history, mystery and outstanding beauty.

The role of the ambassador and diplomatic staff is to feel the atmosphere, you cannot do that if you are not there. People in embassies are experts who know the specificity of the country they work in. All communication is processed through the embassy. We are here to defend rather than promote Russian interests, there is a lot of fake news going around you know.’

Vasily Ryabov

Russian embassy compound in Osterbro, Copenhagen Vasily Ryabov, Russian Embassy Attaché in Copenhagen. Visit and interview 06/12/2017

143

Appendix B

Diplomacy in Copenhagen

‘I decided to open up this embassy, to promote Swiss interests in the area of business, culture, tourism but also research and eduction. We developed big public events and started opening for exhibitions, we also refurbished the whole embassy with Swiss design, kind of like a showroom. One thing was to bring people out here, the other was to go to the people by organising a ‘pop-up embassy’ in a cafe every second week, where anyone can come to meet me.

The idea of being the eye and the ears of a government has a little bit diminished today because everything is available in the social media and there is direct contact between ministers and also between high officials. Therefore an embassy has to redefine its role, especially in Denmark or in general in the European Union context.’

Benedikt Wechsler

Swiss embassy residence in Hellerup, Copenhagen Benedikt Wechsler, Swiss Ambassador in Copenhagen. Visit and interview 5/12/2017

145

Appendix C

Vienna Convention - extract

<click to go back to page 25 - Diplomatic framework>

â&#x20AC;&#x153;[...] Having in mind the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations concerning the sovereign equality of States, the maintenance of international peace and security, and the promotion of friendly relations among nations sovereignty of States, the maintenance of international peace and security, and the promotion of friendly relations.

Article 3

1. The functions of a diplomatic mission consist inter alia in: (a) representing the sending State in the receiving State; (b) protecting in the receiving State the interests of the sending State and of its nationals, within the limits permitted by international law; (c) negotiating with the Government of the receiving State; (d) ascertaining by all lawful means conditions and developments in the receiving State, and reporting thereon to the Government of the sending State; (e) promoting friendly relations between the sending State and the receiving State, and developing their economic, cultural and scientific relations.

Article 22 1. The premises of the mission shall be inviolable. The agents of the receiving State may not enter them, except with the consent of the head of the mission.

2. The receiving State is under a special duty to take all appropriate steps to protect the premises of the mission against any intrusion or damage and to prevent any disturbance of the peace of the mission or impairment of its dignity.

Article 45 If diplomatic relations are broken off between two States, or if a mission is permanently or temporarily recalled:

(a) the receiving State must, even in case of armed conflict, respect and protect the premises of the mission, together with its property and archives;

(b) the sending State may entrust the custody of the premises of the mission, together with its property and archives, to a third State acceptable to the receiving State;

(c) the sending State may entrust the protection of its interests and those of its nationals to a third State acceptable to the receiving State.

Article 47 1. In the application of the provisions of the present Convention, the receiving State shall not discriminate as between States.â&#x20AC;?

147

Security architecture

Appendix D

Security measures as driving architectural principle “Our embassies must be safe, secure and functional places to work, but our nation”s interests depend in large part on our diplomats’ ability to do their jobs effectively - and that means facilitation interaction with host nations.”

The Center for Strategic and International Studies, Embassy of the future, 2017.

8

1. Embassy building 2. Annexe building 3. Marine Security guard quarters 4. Warehouse 5. Utility building 6. Main compound access control 7. Consular service access control 8. Service compound access control

5 4

Limited Access Highway

Right US Standard Embassy Design adopted in 2002 - from which 50 embassy compounds were designed and built, including the largest existing one: the US embassy in Baghdad.

3

1 7

2 6

9

10

9. Employee parking 10. Visitor parking Security border

149

Appendix E

The EU embassy in Washington DC

The EU Embassy in Washington is formed of different sections.

Economic & Financial Affairs - Monitors and assesses U.S. economic performance, Liaises with U.S. authorities dealing with economic, financial, and monetary issues, Corresponds with the International Monetary Fund, World Bank and Multilateral Development Banks in areas of interest to the EU Food Safety, Health & Consumer Affairs - Facilitates relations with the U.S. administration, U.S. Congress, industry and consumers in the above-mentioned areas EU Embassy in Washington - 80 permanent staff member, including 30 officials

French Embassy in Cuba 29 permanent staff members

EU Embassy in Cuba 16 permanent staff members 7 officials

Political, Security & Development - Maintains contact with the U.S. administration and Congress on foreign, security, and development policy, counter-terrorism, justice and home affairs, and issues relating to human rights Press & Public Diplomacy - Maintains contact with U.S. media outlets and provides them with information and analyses of EU developments, positions, and statistics, Offers outreach grants for universities, think tanks, and NGOs, Produces and distributes information materials, maintains the Delegation's website, and deals with public inquiries, Organizes speaking tours and cultural events Science, Technology & Education - Maintains relations with U.S. authorities at the Federal and State levels, research universities, national laboratories and the high tech industry, Processes information for the European Commission in Brussels and Luxembourg pertaining to trends in science, technology, and education Trade & Agriculture - Monitors trade and regulatory developments in the U.S., Maintains relations with the U.S. administration, Congress, and NGOs

Proposed EU Embassy in Cuba - 43 permanent staff members

Transport, Energy, Environment & Nuclear Matters - Analyses U.S. political, economic and regulatory developments in the areas of transportation, energy, and environment.

151

References

1. KADK, 2018 2. Guillermo Corral, cultural advisor of the embassy of Spain in Havana. Visit and interview at the Embassy of Spain October 2017. He said about the process of building a new consulate: «It’s very complicated to build here, everything takes a lot of time. It’s especially hard to get a foreign firm to come and do a buildign job. We have been in the process of trying for six years.»

3. Kuebalifa. J. Kappler, D. Sys, C. Evolution of Diplomatic Provileges and Immunities. Diplo www. diplomacy.edu 2018 lass accessed November 2017 4. Latour, B. On actor-network theory. A few clarifications plus more than a few complications 1990 5. Deleuze. G, Parnet. C. Dialogues II, Colombia University Press, 2007. Page 69.

6. Delanda, M Assemblage Theory, Edinburgh University Press, 2016. “A further modification to the original concept is that the parts matched together to form an ensemble are themselves treated as assemblages, equipped with their own parameters, so that at all times we are dealing with assemblages of assemblages.”

7. Ibid.

8. The term broader and smaller should not be considered as absolute sizes but rather relative scales (Delanda). They do not mean less complexity, less entities within them or less connections between entities. Rather, they refer to their embeddedness, the face that an assemblage is within another assemblage. “All entities mus be thought of as existing at the same ontological level differing only in scale.” Delanda. M. 9. Latour, B. On actor-network theory. A few clarifications plus more than a few complications 1990. Page 7.

10. Latour B. Reassembling the Social: An Introduction to Actor-Network Theory. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2005. Latour rejects the notion of society and proposes to call it instead the collective.

11. DeLanda, M. A New Philosophy of Society: Assemblage Theory and Social Complexity, Continuum, September 2006 12. Delanda, M. Assemblage Theory, Edinburgh University Press, 2016 13. Ibid.

14. Law, J. Materialisties, Spatialities, Globalities. Center for Science Studies, Lancaster University, 1999. “The historic baroque insists on a strong phenomenological realness, a sensuous materiality... This materiality is not confined to, or licked within, a simple individual but flows out in many directs, blurring the distinction between individual and environment.”

15. European Union Global Strategy, Shared Vision, Common Action: A Stronger Europe, 2016.

16. European Union External Action, EU-Cuba relations, factsheet. 2017 https://eeas.europa.eu/ headquarters/headquarters-homepage_en/16558/EU-Cuba%20relations,%20factsheet last accessed February 2018 17. Cosgrove, D. Geography and Vision, seeing imagining and representing the world I.B. Tourist & Co Ltd 2008 18. U.S. Department of State, General Report of Inspection of the U.S. Interests Section Havana, Cuba. July 2007.

19. Guillermo Corral, cultural advisor of the embassy of Spain in Havana. Visit and interview at the Embassy of Spain October 2017.

20. Cohen, JL. Architecture and Diplomacy: Transatlantic Approaches - September 9, 2014, Colombia University, New York. https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=huTRtYYSvwE&list=PL67E091BF36742AB5&index=33 last accessed November 2017 21. Erick Roman Sanchez, Costa Rican Ambassador to Cuba, Embassy of Costa Rica in Havana, Embassy visit and interview October 2017 22. As observed and analyse at the Lamentation park in Havana, and through conversations with Cuban awaiting for information about their visa application to the US at the park, in October 2017.

23. European Union Global Strategy, Shared Vision, Common Action: A Stronger Europe, 2016.

Bibliography

- Cohen, JL. Architecture and Diplomacy: Transatlantic Approaches - September 9, 2014, Colombia University, New York. https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=huTRtYYSvwE&list=PL67E091BF36742AB5&index=33 last accessed November 2017 - DeLanda, M. A New Philosophy of Society: Assemblage Theory and Social Complexity, Continuum, 2006 - Delanda, M. Assemblage Theory, Edinburgh University Press, 2016 - Deleuze. G, Parnet. C. Dialogues II, Colombia University Press, 2007.

- EEAS Press Team, 2017, EU-Cuba relations, factsheet, last accessed February 2018 https://eeas.europa.eu/delegations/cuba/16558/eu-cuba-relations-factsheet_en - Eneko Landaburu, The Role of the European Union in the World. European Policy Brief, EGMONT, 2014 - European Union Global Strategy, Shared Vision, Common Action: A Stronger Europe, 2016.

- Kuebalifa. J. Kappler, D. Sys, C. Evolution of Diplomatic Provileges and Immunities. Diplo www. diplomacy.edu 2018 last accessed November 2017 - Easterling, K. Extrastatecraft: The power of infrastrucutre Space, Verso. 2014 - Latour, B. On actor-network theory. A few clarifications plus more than a few complications 1990 - Latour B. We Have Never Been Modern. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1993 - Latour B. Reassembling the Social: An Introduction to Actor-Network Theory. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2005 - Law, J. Materialisties, Spatialities, Globalities. Center for Science Studies, Lancaster University, 1999.

- Loeffler, J. The Architecture of Diplomacy, Princeton Architectural Press. 1998 - Rana, S. K. The Contemporary Embassy: Paths to Diplomatic Excellence, Palfrave povot. 2013

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CV Academic qualifications MA (Cand.arch) Political Architecture The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, KADK Copenhagen, Denmark

Sept 2016 - present

Minor House of The Future - Erasmus Exchange Technological University of Delft, TU Delft Delft, The Netherlands

2014-15

BA (Hons) Architecture University of Bath School of Architecture Bath, UK

2012-16

Professional experience ADP Architecten (full time architectural assistant) Amsterdam, The Netherlands

2015

Gresford Architects (full time architectural assistant) London, UK

2014

Bernard Fauroux Architect (internship) Valbonne, France

2009/2013

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