Team LLBen's Design proposal for Fonds-des-Blanc

As a studio we are designing a housing community in Fond-des-Blanc, Haiti. Last year a studio designed a secondary school in the same area, which is now being constructed and will be completed in September 2012. The community we are designing has a close connection to the school, as it will become the home of many current and future schoolteachers. Our clients, Jean and Joy Thomas, have a vision for this community to be an urban alternative, a place where people currently living in the city of Port-au-Prince and ex-patriates would be pleased to relocate.

 Our studio split up into teams to try to come up with the best solution for this project. We began with research and precedent studies. The first precedent study was focused on places that we love and what makes a place enjoyable to be in. The second precedent was focused on observing a community whose condition may be similar to ours in Fond-des-Blanc. We studied ways that these design projects were good, as well as, bad. Both precedent studies are post in earlier entries.

After these precedent studies we moved into the beginning phase of conceptual design and development. Our team tried to find the best design solution for this community while keeping in mind issues of site topography, trying to reasonably maximize occupancy, accessibility to the proposed footbridge and community pavilion, as well as various floor plans and lot sizes. The main concepts of our design proposal are:

1. Communal spaces: these include both small scale(near each pod of houses) and large scale(the community pavilion space)
2. Promenade: creating a walking space for pedestrians that is easily accessible to the main communal spaces as well as the main road
3. Encouraging social interaction between persons by orientation of unit porches and house placement
4. Minimizing roads while still accommodating for people who will be driving in the neighborhood

All of these designs were created prior to traveling to Haiti and visiting our site. After experiencing the culture of Haiti and better understanding the site, our team plans to develop these initial concepts into a fitting final design solution. 

Next steps

Sketch of the "Urban Alternative" site

Our team has honed in on several key issues that are necessary for a successful and fulfilling project.  Each issue will hopefully guide us to a total design.  Each issue was forged from different sources.  As a group, we seek to apply our knowledge gleaned from Jean and Joy Thomas, our observations of the Haitian people, and the work and insights of our fellow classmates.

Sketches completed throughout trip

It is imperative that we bend our designs to suit the Thomas’s desires.  Their insights are really the only insights we have into the nuances of Fond-de-Blanc.  Without them we would not be in Haiti.  They are also the leaders of that community.  What they see fit should be staunchly acknowledged.  The community of Fond-le-Blanc is already seen throughout Haiti as the destination.  It has successfully led a program to plant millions of trees where other regions have failed.  It has accommodated many earthquake refugees without interference.  It has been and will continue to lead Haiti so long as John and Joy are at the leadership helm.  While our design must satisfy our own exacting standards, it is perhaps more important that the design cater to our guide’s initiatives.

We saw how the Haitian community at Fond-de-Blanc lived through a visitor’s lens.  We cannot and will not claim to understand everything we saw.  And we only saw a portion of Fond-des-Blanc.  Learning and interpreting from the best of our observations is really the activity of paramount importance.  Everything we saw was important, but there is a hierarchy that we must ascertain as we sift through all the new and exciting sights.  “Should we consider safety, or running water more of a priority?” we may have asked before departing from America.  The answer is still up to contention but we should continue to challenge our preconceived notions against actual observations.  These observations will be the driver of a total design.

Home in Fond-des-Blancs

Our fellow classmates all made compelling arguments regarding their group’s designs.  Our group needs to learn from them.  Furthermore, our group should collaborate with the others in an effort to cut the fat and maintain the strengths.  When combined they will surely compose a mutual design much stronger than an individual effort.  Each group will surely attempt to incorporate their observations, and who knows, maybe they were looking at something else than we were.  Using one another will be of increasing benefit as we seek to pare down this project into one sleek venture.

We cannot wait to return to Fond-des-Blancs!

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.  

Reflections and Next Steps

Key Issues:

1. Variation in size of housing
2. Indoor cooking and eating area
3. Car access to houses
4. Consideration of the ridge in relation to house placement

Traveling to Haiti had a huge influence on our perceptions of the country and it’s people. While it was helpful to complete precedent studies and have skype interviews with Jean and Joy Thomas, nothing can compare to actually interacting with the landscape and people. Due to the fact that Forrest had been to Haiti before, our team was able to have initial conversations about the culture and building styles that gave us a stronger framework to begin with. As a result, the majority of our design ideas and concepts could become successful with some tweaking.

Our perception of the site has changed significantly since traveling to Fond-des-Blancs. What we perceived as a gradual slope in some areas is much more significant and will force changes in positioning and design of some structures on our site. Having the opportunity to walk the site and document existing vegetation as well as views will make our ideas stronger. One of the main considerations that we took away from our visit is the placement of the road throughout the site. We will need to be sure to have vehicular access to each house, while maximizing the number of houses to be included. Each house will need ample yard space as well.

Another change in perception was the issue of outdoor cooking. While it is true that the vast majority of Haitians do their cooking outside using charcoal, this will not be the main form of cooking in the houses that we will be designing. In dialogue with Jean and Joy during our presentations, Joy emphasized the desire for a formal kitchen in each house. The use of charcoal is not a sustainable practice and is killing the majority of native hardwoods on the island. Jean and Joy want to encourage the use of gas for cooking and will be providing propane to do so. In addition, a majority of the target audience for this housing development is ex-patriots who will be relocating to Haiti. These individuals will be used to more modern methods of cooking and will need traditional kitchens as well as space to eat their meals indoors. While not eliminating a way to cook with charcoal entirely, the design of our housing will shift to provide more dining accommodations indoors. 

Visit to Fond des Blancs

Culture:

Our group’s cultural experience of Haiti was life changing. Coming from a country where everything is handed to you, then going to a country that doesn’t have much was a huge cultural shock. No running water to take showers daily, or even electricity to watch your favorite tv show, was a huge change. Time in Haiti was slow, where days in Haiti started and ended early, forcing you to manage your time wisely.  We ventured out every morning to walk and observe how the Haitians spent their days. The people of Haiti labor daily to collect water, tend livestock, and farm lands. We also took part in some of the Haitians daily rituals like bathing in the river, eating typical meals, and hiking the countryside. The aroma of Haiti was the smell of burnt charcoal. It filled the breezes on the mountaintop permeated the valleys. Haitians also take pride in the way they dress. Colorful ribbons and dresses, creased shirts and jeans, as well as name brand clothing. They carried themselves with self worth even though they had less than us.

Site Overview:

Observing our site in person was a necessity in order to fully understand the typography and scale. We were able to reconfirm that the front stretch of the site is ideal for commercial structures and multi-story dwellings. The land was already cleared for farming, which fits directly into our design proposal. We realized that the ridge had a much steeper slope than we had initially perceived and that some of our houses will need to be pulled back from the steep edge condition. The area that we proposed for the pavilion is already cleared out and is oriented perfectly for a communal space. We discussed the potential for developing split-level housing on the west portion of the site. This would allow for minimal terracing while taking advantage of the current views. This side will also be contingent on the ability to use part of phase two to allow for a road to access the site, providing a way for residents to bring their cars directly to their houses.

Site Analysis:

Our group was given the task of documenting the types of trees on the site. We noted the placement of significant trees that should be kept. Our main assignment was to take photographs of the leaves and bark of the trees that we did not know so that we can determine their species. The goal of this documentation of vegetation is to compile a palate of plants and trees that are native to the area that we can use for landscaping throughout our site. We were able to identify several palm trees, mango trees, and even an almond tree.