Part of the interior facade of the Higher Institute of Design in Havana collapses.

Part of the interior facade of the Higher Institute of Design (ISDi) in Havana, which had been shored up and closed since 2022, collapsed this Tuesday, as reported by the digital newspaper CubaNet.

The authorities of the university center, located in Central Havana, communicated the incident in the morning, through WhatsApp groups of students and professors, said a source who requested anonymity to the independent media.

As many already know, we had a partial detachment of a section of the damaged facade of the building," the text distributed through digital channels states.

The direction of ISDi prohibited access to the building "until further notice" due to the collapse of the structure. It also informed that "the two remaining weeks of classes, from now until July 19, will be held in a non-face-to-face manner."

The communication also pointed out that "during the afternoon today [July 9] and tomorrow morning [day 10], students will receive information on how this process will unfold."

Another one of the messages sent to the students and staff of ISDi warns them of the need to have "a lot of discipline and zero sensationalism" and assures: "It is a complex, dangerous problem, but we will look for a solution. (...) ISDI will continue to be alive." The authorities of the educational institution urged them to stay informed about upcoming messages.

In March 2022, the ISDi headquarters was closed due to structural and architectural failures that indicated the possibility of an imminent collapse, which could endanger the lives of its occupants.

"The property presents a complicated architectural flaw," the authorities explained on their social media.

The lack of a physical location should not overshadow our creative will and pursuit of excellence. "A new headquarters is not an easy task, but we are confident that we will have it," they added. The institute's faculties were temporarily relocated to other facilities at the University of Havana.

However, a civil engineer stated that the failure in the construction was not architectural but rather structural and very dangerous.

"What's happening at ISDi? For several months now, there has been an attempt to fix a serious collapse problem in one of the walls of the theater wing on the 4th floor. Of course, with no positive results. At the end of last year, in November, this wing was closed due to the risk of collapse," the expert revealed.

It warned that the situation could be the result of "little maintenance to the structure of the lower floors, which is originally made of wood." It could also be due to the "increase in load" caused by the construction of the theater on the top level of the building, which in his opinion was causing the bulging of the wall.

It is clear that reinforcements were never built in the structure to support the new, very heavy loads: 500 kg/m2, he said.

Testimonials and images published by students and teachers, following the announcement of the closure, evidenced the high degree of deterioration of the colonial building, constructed in 1860 with originally two floors. The third floor was erected in the 1930s.

In over a century and a half of existence, the building has had multiple uses and housed various institutions. On May 28, 1984, the Higher Institute of Industrial Design was founded there, which later took on its current name.

Up to the time of publishing this note, the university institution's public platforms have not reported on the incident that occurred this Tuesday, which adds to a series of building collapses in recent weeks that seems to have no end.