Reflecting on the Haiti experience

Looking back over the semester-long project, we realize what a great experience it has been! We knew from the beginning that we would be stepping outside of our normal realm of thought into another culture, another land, and another world. 

Our visit to Haiti was invaluable. It played a key element in understanding the culture and life of Haitian people. Surveying the site, visiting market, and interacting with community members gave us a more clear understanding of who we were designing for. Our greatest challenge was proposing schematic design to Joy and Jean Thomas before having been to Haiti to see the site first hand. None-the-less, we worked hard to create a holistic design and presented it to them in Haiti. Having them as a constant contact for the project was extremely helpful in our design process.

We felt humbled after our visit to Fond-des-Blancs and were even more eager to begin designing for the Haitian people. We wanted to connect with their thoughts, their fears, and use that to drive our design.  

One of the best parts about this project was the diversity in scale. We started off designing the entire site, including public gathering spaces, roadways, walk ways, etc. Once a site plan was finally worked out, we began designing individual houses. This led us to the smallest of details, including millwork drawings and material finishes. This range of scales allowed us to think on multiple levels of design. We had previously not thought holistically about site design.

Overall, the "Urban Alternative" Haiti experience was priceless to our education. It challenged us to immerse ourselves in a very unfamiliar culture and design for what they would see as attractive and valuable. As much of a challenge as it was, it was also a blessing. While we still have many years to continue learning design, this experience has aided in our education and overall wellbeing to become better designers and better people.

Haiti_UTK: A Reflection of the Semester

This semester has been one full of growth and learning. This course has stretched us as students and designers and given us a better understanding of the various cultures around us. Working in groups with students from both interior design and architecture has forced us to learn to speak the same language. We have learned to listen to each other and respect each other's design abilities. 

 

Traveling to Haiti added a level of richness to our semester and projects. The ability to survey the site in person and interact with the community gave us a sense of what would be appropriate for the development. It would have been much more difficult to design a successful proposal without having seen the site for ourselves. Also, the ability to work closely with Jean and Joy Thomas was a blessing. They were able to cast a vision for us to follow. Our skype interviews and conversations ensured that we stayed on track with both the overall site development and individual house design. 

 

This studio has been an incredible opportunity that is rare in the educational environment. Not only did we learn about site development and house design, but we will have the chance to see our houses being built over the next several years. Our success as a class would not have been possible with the help of our professors John McRae, Chris King, and David Matthews. They put in countless hours of critique and structural explanations, for which we are very grateful. 

A Semester's Journey

This semester was a great experience for all of us. The trip to Haiti, of course, was an immense eye opener.  We were able to see, for ourselves, the Haitian culture, beautiful landscape, and the effects of natural disaster. The class challenged us in new ways, brought us together as classmates and teams, and allowed us to have a different sense of pride in our work.  

  

The challenges presented were unlike anything in previous studios. We had a very limited material palette to work with, but we strived to use materials in new and innovative ways, such as wicker doors and iron kitchen cabinet doors.  Another challenge we worked hard to overcome was the provision of ventilation and lighting.  To minimize the usage of electricity, we established designs that would allow for passive cross ventilation and, in some areas, stack ventilation.  In addition, the strategic placement of windows, made of vent block and wicker, gives the house passive lighting.

 

Normally our studio projects are completed individually.  This was probably everyone’s first experience working in a group setting.  It was challenging at times, agreeing and dividing up the work evenly, but it gave us a sense of what it will be like to work in a firm.  It also seemed to bring us closer together, working with Interior Design students and Graduate students.

 

The end result, we feel, gives us a different sense of pride than our normal final projects.  This one is a gift to other people to enrich the lives of those who need it most.  We also feel accomplished, designing a house that will suit Haiti very well, as far as function and aesthetics.  To see the houses built and possibly meet those living in them would give a sense of accomplishment like no other.

Designing For Haiti

During this short time we spent designing a community for Fond-Des-Blancs, we soon discovered that this was no ordinary project we were undertaking. Design began to take a completely new meaning, as we were forced to consider the reality that these homes and this community would eventually be built and inhabited. We were influenced so greatly by the people of Haiti and Jean and Joy Thomas, and were truly stretched in order to yield the greatest possible design. Learning to design in a new culture has benefitted us tremendously, and it is our hope that it will have benefitted the people of Haiti just as much.

Home for an Expatriate Retiree

 

Specifications

• 2 bedrooms
• 2 full bath
• carport
• 1,650 sq. ft.

Driving concepts

• openness (visual, ventilation and diffuse light)
• multifunctioning (year round porch)
• water collection

 

 

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