This work reporting the results of research done by its author during the last 10 years contain valuable contributions to the solution of social, economic and scientific problems in the field of construction, to an adequate valuable heritage and to the historic knowledge about our cultural identity.

The sample subject to study is representative of more than 22 000 houses registered in the historic section of Old Havana. The historic evolution of construction materials and typological and other features of the building systems used in floors and roofs known as wooden frame, beam and planking and slab for plank developed during the above menioned period because these were considered the most deteriorated parts of such buildings. It contains the methods and procedures for the typological, constructive and pathological study of the group of these buildings used as houses. In the work, developed with technical and scientific rigor and of great methodological value, valuable knowledge and experiences are presented which may be applied to the problem of the necessary preservation and rehabilitation of the habitational fund of the historic section, which can also be applied to the buildings of that period in other cities of the country.

The work, whose results have been applied for several years, presents recommendations for its introduction by the Technical Advisory Concil Ministryof Construction (MICONS), of the Design and Engineering Group of the Historian Office, of Community Architects and of the City Historian Eusebio Leal Spengler. The thesis for the doctors’ degree associated to this work was awarded with the prize of the National Commision for Scientific Degrees for the best defense of year 2000. It has been presented in three national and seven international events and it has been published in 4 electronic articles of international character.