Cuba's National Dramatic School of Arts: Structurally Analyzing its Peculiar Ties

Abstract

Cuba, while a small island in the middle of the Caribbean, has managed to attract attention globally. Nationally, it possesses heritage sites withstanding six decades of oblivion. The National Schools of Art have sparked scholarly conversations in the social, political, and architectural sectors. While the peculiarity of the terracotta tiles and the medieval sentiment emitted have sparked curiosity for UNESCO, among others, the Dramatic School of Arts, individually, has been left in the dark. From photo and video graphic documentation gathered by Princeton faculty and alumni in 2016, this theatrical unfinished masterpiece deviates from the other four artistical units because atypical rods/ties span across the vaulted ceiling. Intercalating assumptions and educated guesses for materials, behaviors, and dimensions, a structural analysis was conducted for one of the typical classrooms in the Dramatic School of Arts. The room was modelled as a one-way slab, with a vaulted ceiling, imposing its self-weight, assumed to have reinforced concrete based on previous study conducted by Isabella Douglas, on masonry walls. To determine whether the ties served a structural purpose, graphic statics was implemented to discretize the wall’s effect on the thrust line.

The future of the Cuban National Art Schools is as uncertain as its past. Efforts for preservation have not seen a substantial development. The convoluted history of the island has obligated every one of its spheres to be politicized; engineering and architecture were not the exception. Shining light on the ingenuity of said structures, the mystery behind its construction, and an awaited future of neglect demands archival and systematized catalogue for information before preservation strategies succeed. This undergraduate thesis catapults curiosity for the Dramatic School of Arts and provides space for replication and extrapolation of findings. Before the Art Schools surrender to the Quibú stream and Cuba’s flora, it is this generation’s responsibility to safeguard history before it is irremediably lost.