Vittorio Garatti, architect of Fidel Castro's Cuba, dies at 95

Vittorio Garatti, an Italian architect celebrated for his contributions to post-revolutionary Cuba, passed away at the age of 95. He was born in Milan in 1927 and graduated from the Politecnico di Milano. In 1957, he relocated to Venezuela to teach at the University of Caracas. Following the Cuban Revolution, he worked alongside Ricardo Porro and Roberto Gottardi on the Escuelas Nacionales de Arte, a project commissioned by Fidel Castro and Che Guevara. While only Porro's schools were completed and later restored, the complex was designated a National Monument in 2010. Garatti taught at the University of Havana until his arrest on espionage charges in 1974, after which he returned to Italy, earning the Vittorio De Sica Prize in 2012 and an honorary degree in 2019.