SHROUDED BY TIMEAND TILE: A STRUCTURAL INVESTIGATION FOR PRESERVATION OF CUBA’S HISTORIC SCHOOL OF BALLET CLASSROOM AND THEATRE DOMES

Vittorio Garatti’s School of Ballet in Havana, Cuba, is internationally acknowledged as a significant architectural and cultural icon whose survival is even now jeopardized by degradation such as moisture encroachment and corrosion, excessive deflections, and cracking of primary elements. While Garatti’s vaulted forms symbolize the idealistic egalitarianism and free expression of their time of origin (1961- 1964), their current state bears the story of the ensuing decades, in which practical, social, and environmental mechanisms have each played a part. This work comprised a multi-stage structural investigation aiming to elucidate the theatre and classroom domes’ authentic structural condition and assess the behaviour and efficiency of these unique structural systems. Archival research and site investigations supplied the domes’ construction techniques, geometry, and properties, which informed geometric and mechanical models. Detailed inspection disclosed their condition and behaviour. Then, non-linear finite element analysis with a concrete damaged-plasticity model simulated structural damage, yielding conclusions about their current condition. These conclusions, particularly that the theatre dome is stable while the classroom domes are significantly damaged and at-risk, informed conservation recommendations for future campaigns, with the goal of securing these irreplaceable icons against continued degradation which could soon become irreversible and even catastrophic