Cuban Architect Mario Coyula Dies at 79

HAVANA TIMES — Prominent Cuban architect and urban designer Mario Coyula died early Monday in Havana at 79, a victim of cancer, reported the official media.

Coyula designed homes and cityscapes projections, but perhaps his greatest contribution was thinking of architecture and the city in the context of changes in the country after 1959.

He was one of the most prominent professionals in the field and a strong advocate of Cuban heritage and urban settings. Coyula denounced publicly on more than one occasion thoughtless initiatives approved by the government, which have affected and destroyed the landscape of the island.

He earned, among many awards, the National Architecture Prize in 2001 and the National Cultural Heritage Award in 2013, both for his life’s work.