Reflection & Next Steps

Traveling to Haiti gave us a whole new perspective on life, culture, construction, climate, and all kinds of other local conditions. It was a truly humbling and life changing experience. We could go on and on about key issues we were able to identify, but we've chosen the ones that are most relevant to our project:

Local Materials / Construction Technologies:

When designing in any unfamiliar context, it is always important to look at local construction practices, available materials, and feasibility of access/transportation. Being wise about your material palate is mandatory when designing in these conditions. Concrete and masonry were pretty much the norm.. Concrete block are often cast on site, making transportation to remote locations much easier. There was hardly any glass on the structures we saw. Rather, vent blocks were used. These allow cross ventilation, and cooperate well with the wall assembly module. Like blocks, they can be cast on site as well.

Vent blocks: the local standard for ventilation and openings in Haitian construction. Photo by Zach Smith

Shade, Light, and Ventilation:

Lack of air-conditioning is the standard in almost all of Haiti. This makes solar orientation, aperture sizing, shading methods extremely important. Haitian construction utilizes vent block, or hollow cmu shapes, for window construction. If planned well and placed correctly, these may also contribute to cross ventilation. Shade is another thing to strive for. Haiti is very hot almost all year round. Planning using solar orientation is an important part of construction. Deep overhangs are also a way to provide shade to openings in the structure.

Open air vent block in Haitian classroom. Photo by Zach Smith

Porch and Community

We quickly became aware that the porch of a Haitian house is usually the most important "room" of any residence. Our clients mentioned that almost all gatherings at one's house took place on their porch. Through our design, we must look for a way to give hierarchy to this important space in Haitian culture.

Porch area in Fond-des-Blancs home. Photo by Cassidy Barnett

Privacy

While the Haitian People had a strong sense of community, privacy was also a significant thing. The idea of having one's own property was very important to people there. Almost all the property lines in Fond des Blancs we marked off with rows of cacti. In a country were everyone has very little, the people are very proud of the things they do possess.

Local privacy fence with wooden gate entrance. The actual fences are cacti. Photo by Cassidy Barnett

Pragmatic, Sustainable Construction Practices

What we American's know as "style" is not as high of a priority in a country like Haiti. We must find ways to create architecture with a sustainable material palate, without being wasteful or inefficient. We must find ways to building sustainably in a country that often doesn't have the luxury to use green technologies.

Concrete blocks cast on site. Photo by Zach Smith

Design Proposal

Precedent Analysis

Butterfly Houses

Analysis of Butterfly Houses

Located in a small village of Noh Bo, Tak on the Thai-Burmese border, the Butterfly Houses were designed by TYIN Tegnestue, a non profit organization specializing in humanitarian architecture. This community of dormitories was designed to work in collaboration with the existing orphanage. The goal was to create a space where children could have a normal living experience, with room to climb, swing, interact, or be alone. Our analysis focused primarily on the functionality of the units and how we might glean principles out of their design to utilize in our design of Haitian residences.

SITE PLAN

 

Site Plan and Driving ConceptsPrivate Courtyard DiagramStreet ViewPedestrian Walkway

Street View Looking Into CourtyardFloor Plan

When designing this proposal for a housing development in Fonds Des Blancs, Haiti, we decided to shape our program around four major, driving concepts. In order to optimize views and maintain a strong edge along the street, porches were designed to fit the house and act as a buffer between the irregularly placed houses and the rigid street. Most of the porches used are considered private and semi-private, so that they can better serve the inward-focused courtyard or take full advantage of interactions that would occurr along the street edge.

Throughout the site, a pedestrian path has been created to guide both visitors and residents through the site, serving as the main connection between the commercial zone along the main street and the large communal space located near the intersection of the streams. This path follows the natural topography of the site within a rigid, paved framework, while also interweaving various landscape features. Running the full length of the path is a colonade of trees designed to optimize certain views and shield other views into the private courtyard. These trees serve as a guide to lead pedestrians to the communal pavilion or the commercial space. Views have dictated much of what was designed on the site, from the orientation of the homes, to the location of the pavilion and communal space.

Every house on the site has been designed in such a way that it acts as one part of group of homes that create several pods across the site. This layout allowed us to utilize the private courtyards and create an inward focusing space that can be used as a gathering place for cooking, socializing or recreation. While each home is allotted to their own lot, the private courtyard acts as  backyard to each home within the pod.

Team 3 Design Proposal Gallery

Sources:

http://www.archdaily.com/25748/soe-ker-tie-house-tyin-tegnestue/

http://cvs-thailand.com/house/index.html

http://www.archidir.com/sustainable-design/small-timber-prefab-houses-design-in-thailand-by-tyin-tegnestue/

Comprehending the misunderstood

One can never fully understand a foreign nation.  There are too many intricate nuances to ever fully investigate.  There is too little time to hear enough stories.  We are born with too few eyes to perceive everything around us… and our visit was merely five awe-inspiring days. 

Upon arrival to Haiti our senses were overwhelmed.  There was a distinct smell, few lights, and an abundance of new noises.  As we exited Port au Prince and neared Fond-des-Blanc, it was as if we were stepping back in time to a land more pure and in tune with itself.  The region held modern people with modern ideas in an ancient landscape.  The juxtaposition was poignant.  Women with the reigns to a donkey in one hand and child in the other spoke to men on motorcycles with cell phones.  It certainly was not what many of us expected.  The people seemingly tolerated us, but without the benefit of mutual language it was difficult to discern their spoken feelings.  We relied on body language and noticed many of the most beautiful smiles and welcoming gestures we’ve ever encountered.  The Haitians of Fond-des-Blanc evidently understood our mission.

Fond-des-Blanc is an agricultural region draped with the most breathtaking mountain scenery in the Caribbean and is a mere sixty miles from the capital city of Port-au-Prince.  After traversing the dusty rugged roads we arrived at our destination and were met by Haitian native Jean Thomas and his American wife Joy.  From the beginning, our team extracted the most information we could in the allowable time from our like-languaged guides.  Upon arrival on the site, our hearts sank.  This was not the site we expected to see based on our rudimentary 2D plans.  The grading was steeper, the forests thicker, and the proportions much different than we had expected.  Our proposal, we soon realized, was not going to cut it. 

Dani and Pete presenting the initial site plan

After putting aside our apparent inability to fully understand the site through plan, we were charged with cataloging a series of panoramic views from eight distinct areas of the site.  Although the setting was serene, hiking to each location was far from a walk in the park.  Each area differed vastly from the others, even when the separation was only a few dozen yards.  The panoramas offer a rich montage of views.  These views will become increasingly important as we design the individual homes to populate our community.  While many were fully blocked or partially obstructed by thick Haitian vegetation, others offered sweeping vistas to the mountains beyond the mountains.  At the crest of our site, the tilled soil is shown in panorama as a sweeping plane uninterrupted except for the distant forest and a lone palm tree.  Approaching the confluence of the small stream (what we were told was a river), the ground could not be more different.  It is not only divided by water, but abruptly punctuated by cliff sides and steep rocky slopes.  In between the two are panoramas of thick forest, grown cactus fences, and rocky topsoil.