Daniel Taboada, the architect who spent six decades restoring Cuba's historic buildings, dies at 95

October 15, 2026

Cuban architect Daniel Taboada Espiniella, one of the most influential figures in preserving the island's architectural heritage, died on Tuesday, October 13, in Havana at age 95. His death was announced by Cuba's National Cultural Heritage Council and by the Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (UNEAC), of which he was a member, as reported by Prensa Latina and Diario de Cuba.

Born in Regla on June 8, 1931, he graduated in architecture from the University of Havana in 1955 and from 1964 on focused on restoring historic buildings. His work shaped landmarks of Old Havana such as the Convent of Santa Clara, the Basilica of San Francisco de Asís, the Casa de la Obrapía and the Aldama Palace, and, outside the capital, the Sauto Theater, the Junco Palace and Fort El Morrillo in Matanzas and Jagua Castle in Cienfuegos.

He founded the National Center for Conservation, Restoration and Museology (Cencrem), advised the Office of the Historian of the City of Havana and, in his later years, held the Gonzalo de Cárdenas Chair of Vernacular Architecture, where he championed the study of traditional rural and urban Cuban houses. He also taught for decades and trained several generations of restorers.

His honors included the Distinction for National Culture (1983), the National Architecture Prize (1998), the National Cultural Heritage Prize for Lifetime Achievement (2015) and an honorary doctorate from Spain's University of Alicante in 2022. UNEAC said his work "will live on in the cities he helped save."