During Fidel Castro's decades-long control of Cuba, development in Havana was largely stalled, leaving a historic city intact but in disrepair. Rosa Lowinger talks about its astounding architectural legacy, the famed Arts Schools, the Russian footprint, and the challenges ahead for preservation as construction of hotels and tourist businesses booms.
Another legacy of Castro is the absence of billboards and commercial signs in the urban fabric of Havana. The only signage tended to be political posters. Al Nodal, founder of the LUMENS Project, is behind an effort to restore Havana's commercial neon signs and revive the Havana of the post-war years -- when the city was America's playground.