2011 haiti_utk publication

One to Another

A Downloadable Publication from the 2011 Haiti UTK Studio

 

WBIR Report of the Haiti Studio

Introduction haiti_utk

Welcome to the Haiti UTK site! The work on these pages reflects student engagement in design for both a school and housing for the community of Fonds des Bloncs, Haiti in collaboration with the Haiti Christian Development Fund. The project was initiated in the early fall of 2010 and subsequently a class of 19 students, in the spring of 2011, was given the responsibility of deisgning a secondary school. The school is under constuction. A new group of students is now hard at work developing new housing in Fonds des Blancs. The work of these students can be seen in the pages of this blog. Students of the class will be traveling to Haiti Februay 2-6 to collect addiional data. It is anticipated that this second phase of the project will be completed in late April with construction starting summer 2012. The work of the students is being guided by three primary faculty, John McRae, David Matthews, and Chris King, a local practictioner. The students during their exploration will engage a wide range of issues including context, culture, resources, climate and other outside factors not common to their expereince. 

Students: Cassidy Barnett, Aaron Brown, Sarah Heimermann, Mitzi Coker, Emily Corgan, Ben Cross, Peter Duke, Emily Fike, Sam Funari, Lauren Heile, Kendra McHaney, Lauren Metts, Morgan Oiler, Bernice Paez, Forrest Reynolds, Emily Ryan, James Sawyer, Zachary Smith, Robert Thew, Cory Wikerson Faculty: John McRae, Chris King, David Matthews

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Special Thanks!

The Haiti Studio for spring 2012 is being supported by HaitiServe foundation based in Knoxville Tennessee, that is focused on outreach and engagement in improving conditions in Haiti. 

Entries in mEben-Ezer Medical Clinic (1)

Monday
Mar112013

Eben-Ezer Medical Clinic Addition

analysis of a hibiscus flower

One of the critiques that resonated with our group came from a previous peer, Dani Collins. Dani brought a lot of great perspective to our design because she has previously been in the Haiti studio and had the opportunity to travel there with the college. She complimented our thoughtfulness on our concept of the hibiscus flower that reflects the culture and environment and mentioned how it reminded her of the vibrant personalities of Haitians.

program adjacencies

With concern to the culture, she told us about the need for organization, and that even without much the Haitians display a keen knowledge and need for a system organization. Moving to our two design options, she directed us to stick with our original plan because of the symmetry and systematic approach. She said it mirrored our original diagram better and that we should push for furthering this idea with the greater opportunity for obvious circulation, a clinic register system, ventilation, and other elements that went along with our heuristics.

original floor plan

Overall, the critiques were beneficial in helping us to focus on one plan and to further our concept as well as design. Moving forward, our next steps are to take the preferred plan and diagram in greater depth by adding finer details. The diagrams will help us understand the hierarchy of spaces and in turn tighten up the plan and add tertiary elements like storage and utilities. We will also put more of a focus on the construction details with ventilation, daylight, and materials.

Foundry Presentation Board