Where The Moon Touches The Street: Reclaiming Muralla Street In Havana By Transforming Urban Fragments Into Spaces Led By And For Women | Masters Design Project On Urban Regeneration

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Where The Moon Touches The Street: Reclaiming Muralla Street In Havana By Transforming Urban Fragments Into Spaces Led By And For Women | Masters Design Project On Urban Regeneration

Information

  • Project Name: Where the Moon Touches the Street
  • Student Name: Karolina Hejduk
  • Softwares/Plugins: Rhinoceros 3D , Grasshopper , Adobe Photoshop , Lumion , Adobe Illustrator
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Excerpt: ‘Where the Moon Touches the Street’ is a Masters Design Project by Karolina Hejduk from the ‘School of Architecture and Cities – University of Westminster’ that seeks to challenge gendered divisions in urban space by reclaiming overlooked areas of Muralla Street as a space of empowerment, visibility, and shared ownership. By weaving ancestral wisdom with urban regeneration, the project reimagines the street not just as a path through the city but as a journey toward equality and inclusive opportunity.

Introduction: In Havana—a city often seen as one where boundaries blur—the divide between masculine and feminine spaces remains distinctly defined. This project confronts the gendered division of public space and time, challenging the idea that men dominate the streets during the day while women appear only at night. It advocates for women’s right to the city and economic opportunity at all hours. Drawing inspiration from the moon’s symbolism in Taíno and Afro-Cuban cultures, the project connects ancient wisdom with contemporary urban challenges to highlight the often-invisible realities of women’s lives.

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Site Context

Where The Moon Touches The Street: Reclaiming Muralla Street In Havana By Transforming Urban Fragments Into Spaces Led By And For Women | Masters Design Project On Urban Regeneration
Site Strategy: Overlooked urban fragments are transformed into spaces led by and for women, shifting ownership of the city. Each part of the Collective corresponds to a moon phase, which informs its design and function.

Muralla Street, nestled in Old Havana, is a lively and narrow thoroughfare shaped by centuries of transformation. Lined with decaying colonial buildings and crowded informal housing, it pulses with the rhythms of daily life. Stretching from the iconic Capitol building to the sea edge, the street runs atop the historic Zanja Real aqueduct, symbolically and physically connecting civic power, water infrastructure, and everyday survival.

Design Process

Where The Moon Touches The Street: Reclaiming Muralla Street In Havana By Transforming Urban Fragments Into Spaces Led By And For Women | Masters Design Project On Urban Regeneration
Breaking Into The Existing Typology – Reclaiming Ruins Through Deconstruction And Reconstruction Of Havana’s Solares
Where The Moon Touches The Street: Reclaiming Muralla Street In Havana By Transforming Urban Fragments Into Spaces Led By And For Women | Masters Design Project On Urban Regeneration
Analysis Of Shadow Placement On Site At Key Seasonal Solar Events – Solstices And Equinoxes
Where The Moon Touches The Street: Reclaiming Muralla Street In Havana By Transforming Urban Fragments Into Spaces Led By And For Women | Masters Design Project On Urban Regeneration
New Moon Configuration: Why the Moon Is Not Visible
New moon is positioned between the Earth and the Sun, causing its illuminated side to face away from Earth. As a result, the moon is not visible in the sky. Therefore the New Moon Performance Space focuses on the movement and angles of the sun rather than the moon – using solar light and shadow as primary design drivers.

The idea is to revitalize neglected urban spaces by disrupting conventional architectural typologies. Guided by both the sun and the moon, the design will shape spatial experiences across four distinct sites, each aligned with a phase of the moon.

Where The Moon Touches The Street: Reclaiming Muralla Street In Havana By Transforming Urban Fragments Into Spaces Led By And For Women | Masters Design Project On Urban Regeneration
Solar Altitude Angles At Key Solar Events – Maximum Solar Altitudes Throughout The Year
Where The Moon Touches The Street: Reclaiming Muralla Street In Havana By Transforming Urban Fragments Into Spaces Led By And For Women | Masters Design Project On Urban Regeneration
Shadow Geometry – Translating Shadows Into Form
Where The Moon Touches The Street: Reclaiming Muralla Street In Havana By Transforming Urban Fragments Into Spaces Led By And For Women | Masters Design Project On Urban Regeneration
Concept On Site

The play of shadows and projected moonlight directly influence the spatial arrangement, using celestial bodies as transient yet integral elements of the architecture.

Final Outcome

Where The Moon Touches The Street: Reclaiming Muralla Street In Havana By Transforming Urban Fragments Into Spaces Led By And For Women | Masters Design Project On Urban Regeneration
New Moon Performance Space Upper Floor Plan
Where The Moon Touches The Street: Reclaiming Muralla Street In Havana By Transforming Urban Fragments Into Spaces Led By And For Women | Masters Design Project On Urban Regeneration
Perspective Section Through New Moon Performance Space
Where The Moon Touches The Street: Reclaiming Muralla Street In Havana By Transforming Urban Fragments Into Spaces Led By And For Women | Masters Design Project On Urban Regeneration
Bathhouse Moon Plan Extracted From Lunar Projections

Drawing inspiration from the moon’s symbolism in Taíno and Afro-Cuban cultures, the project connects ancient wisdom with contemporary urban challenges to highlight the often-invisible realities of women’s lives. Each element of the Collective reflects a specific moon phase, influencing both its design and function. 

Where The Moon Touches The Street: Reclaiming Muralla Street In Havana By Transforming Urban Fragments Into Spaces Led By And For Women | Masters Design Project On Urban Regeneration
Urban Living Room – Aerial Perspective | A Journey Through Muralla Street Collective | Moments In Time Documented Through Light And Shadow
Where The Moon Touches The Street: Reclaiming Muralla Street In Havana By Transforming Urban Fragments Into Spaces Led By And For Women | Masters Design Project On Urban Regeneration
Full Moon Collective – Bedroom
Where The Moon Touches The Street: Reclaiming Muralla Street In Havana By Transforming Urban Fragments Into Spaces Led By And For Women | Masters Design Project On Urban Regeneration
Full Moon Collective – Communal Living Room

By reclaiming Muralla Street, neglected parts of the city are reimagined as places shaped by and for women, shifting urban control from isolation to collective empowerment. Extending the Collective toward the Capitol enables women to engage with tourism’s economic potential, disrupting entrenched gender roles and redefining the street as a space of shared opportunity and collective growth.

Where The Moon Touches The Street: Reclaiming Muralla Street In Havana By Transforming Urban Fragments Into Spaces Led By And For Women | Masters Design Project On Urban Regeneration
Full Moon Collective – Reclaimed Courtyard Garden
Where The Moon Touches The Street: Reclaiming Muralla Street In Havana By Transforming Urban Fragments Into Spaces Led By And For Women | Masters Design Project On Urban Regeneration
Internal Moments At Night
Where The Moon Touches The Street: Reclaiming Muralla Street In Havana By Transforming Urban Fragments Into Spaces Led By And For Women | Masters Design Project On Urban Regeneration
Internal Moments At Night

The journey through Muralla Street starts at the Lunar Gate—an entryway and observatory marking the threshold of the journey. Passing through the Full Moon Collective and the Urban Living Room, one arrives at the New Moon Performance Space, which serves as the Collective’s primary hub for opportunity. Strategically positioned, it enables women to engage with and benefit from the tourism economy in a space typically dominated by men. Drawing inspiration from the new moon—often unseen due to its alignment with the sun—the design is closely informed by solar orientation and shadow analysis.

Where The Moon Touches The Street: Reclaiming Muralla Street In Havana By Transforming Urban Fragments Into Spaces Led By And For Women | Masters Design Project On Urban Regeneration
External Moments Of New Moon Site
Where The Moon Touches The Street: Reclaiming Muralla Street In Havana By Transforming Urban Fragments Into Spaces Led By And For Women | Masters Design Project On Urban Regeneration
External Moments Of New Moon Site

Conclusion: Through lunar phases and celestial rhythms, the architecture becomes a living reflection of collective strength and resilience—reclaiming the street not just as a path through the city, but as a journey toward equality and inclusive opportunity.

[This Academic Project has been published with text and images submitted by the student]

Site Context

Where The Moon Touches The Street: Reclaiming Muralla Street In Havana By Transforming Urban Fragments Into Spaces Led By And For Women | Masters Design Project On Urban Regeneration

Design Process

Where The Moon Touches The Street: Reclaiming Muralla Street In Havana By Transforming Urban Fragments Into Spaces Led By And For Women | Masters Design Project On Urban Regeneration
Where The Moon Touches The Street: Reclaiming Muralla Street In Havana By Transforming Urban Fragments Into Spaces Led By And For Women | Masters Design Project On Urban Regeneration
Where The Moon Touches The Street: Reclaiming Muralla Street In Havana By Transforming Urban Fragments Into Spaces Led By And For Women | Masters Design Project On Urban Regeneration
Where The Moon Touches The Street: Reclaiming Muralla Street In Havana By Transforming Urban Fragments Into Spaces Led By And For Women | Masters Design Project On Urban Regeneration
Where The Moon Touches The Street: Reclaiming Muralla Street In Havana By Transforming Urban Fragments Into Spaces Led By And For Women | Masters Design Project On Urban Regeneration
Where The Moon Touches The Street: Reclaiming Muralla Street In Havana By Transforming Urban Fragments Into Spaces Led By And For Women | Masters Design Project On Urban Regeneration
Where The Moon Touches The Street: Reclaiming Muralla Street In Havana By Transforming Urban Fragments Into Spaces Led By And For Women | Masters Design Project On Urban Regeneration
Where The Moon Touches The Street: Reclaiming Muralla Street In Havana By Transforming Urban Fragments Into Spaces Led By And For Women | Masters Design Project On Urban Regeneration
Where The Moon Touches The Street: Reclaiming Muralla Street In Havana By Transforming Urban Fragments Into Spaces Led By And For Women | Masters Design Project On Urban Regeneration
Where The Moon Touches The Street: Reclaiming Muralla Street In Havana By Transforming Urban Fragments Into Spaces Led By And For Women | Masters Design Project On Urban Regeneration

Final Outcome

Where The Moon Touches The Street: Reclaiming Muralla Street In Havana By Transforming Urban Fragments Into Spaces Led By And For Women | Masters Design Project On Urban Regeneration
Where The Moon Touches The Street: Reclaiming Muralla Street In Havana By Transforming Urban Fragments Into Spaces Led By And For Women | Masters Design Project On Urban Regeneration
Where The Moon Touches The Street: Reclaiming Muralla Street In Havana By Transforming Urban Fragments Into Spaces Led By And For Women | Masters Design Project On Urban Regeneration
Where The Moon Touches The Street: Reclaiming Muralla Street In Havana By Transforming Urban Fragments Into Spaces Led By And For Women | Masters Design Project On Urban Regeneration
Where The Moon Touches The Street: Reclaiming Muralla Street In Havana By Transforming Urban Fragments Into Spaces Led By And For Women | Masters Design Project On Urban Regeneration
Where The Moon Touches The Street: Reclaiming Muralla Street In Havana By Transforming Urban Fragments Into Spaces Led By And For Women | Masters Design Project On Urban Regeneration
Where The Moon Touches The Street: Reclaiming Muralla Street In Havana By Transforming Urban Fragments Into Spaces Led By And For Women | Masters Design Project On Urban Regeneration
Where The Moon Touches The Street: Reclaiming Muralla Street In Havana By Transforming Urban Fragments Into Spaces Led By And For Women | Masters Design Project On Urban Regeneration
Where The Moon Touches The Street: Reclaiming Muralla Street In Havana By Transforming Urban Fragments Into Spaces Led By And For Women | Masters Design Project On Urban Regeneration
Where The Moon Touches The Street: Reclaiming Muralla Street In Havana By Transforming Urban Fragments Into Spaces Led By And For Women | Masters Design Project On Urban Regeneration
Where The Moon Touches The Street: Reclaiming Muralla Street In Havana By Transforming Urban Fragments Into Spaces Led By And For Women | Masters Design Project On Urban Regeneration
Where The Moon Touches The Street: Reclaiming Muralla Street In Havana By Transforming Urban Fragments Into Spaces Led By And For Women | Masters Design Project On Urban Regeneration
Where The Moon Touches The Street: Reclaiming Muralla Street In Havana By Transforming Urban Fragments Into Spaces Led By And For Women | Masters Design Project On Urban Regeneration
Where The Moon Touches The Street: Reclaiming Muralla Street In Havana By Transforming Urban Fragments Into Spaces Led By And For Women | Masters Design Project On Urban Regeneration
Where The Moon Touches The Street: Reclaiming Muralla Street In Havana By Transforming Urban Fragments Into Spaces Led By And For Women | Masters Design Project On Urban Regeneration
Where The Moon Touches The Street: Reclaiming Muralla Street In Havana By Transforming Urban Fragments Into Spaces Led By And For Women | Masters Design Project On Urban Regeneration
Where The Moon Touches The Street: Reclaiming Muralla Street In Havana By Transforming Urban Fragments Into Spaces Led By And For Women | Masters Design Project On Urban Regeneration

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