HAITI VISITING SCHOOL: Experimental BambooProfile by John Naylor (AADipl2013) AA Haiti Visiting School Director 20 November 2013 Port-au-Prince, Haiti “Can I take some photos of your building site?” I say in mediocre French, “I’m from the Architectural Association in London.” With enormous pride, the site foreman points to two concrete columns which have just been poured. The rusting steel rebar sticks half a metre skywards penetrating into the blue cloudless sky, exposed to all the extreme elements of the Haitian climate. It is Christmas Day 2012 and I am standing in the baking Caribbean sun, surrounded by the sounds, smells and oppressive heat of Rue de Delmas, the busiest street in Port au Prince. Notre Dame Cathedral, Port au Prince, December 2012 “Can I go here?” I say as I edge towards an already completed part of the building. “Okay!” The problems of the Haitian construction industry are widely accepted. However, Haiti has a perfect storm scenario which makes her urban landscape extremely unforgiving. Haiti has suffered from immense deforestation over the latter half of the twentieth century, which has resulted in a lack of timber in the construction industry. The full extent of this, along with an unregulated construction sector, was seen in the earthquake of 2010 when, in a matter of minutes, half the building stock collapsed killing 316,000 people. Bamboo forest in Marmelade, L’Artibonite Back on Delmas, I feel the cave-like effect as I walk into a newly completed part of the building. The cool of the shade is met with the smell of the moisture given off by newly poured concrete. In fact, there is nothing but concrete. Concrete wall, concrete columns, concrete floor, and to my horror as I look up, breeze blocks. A horizontal wall sits levitating above my head. The plywood used to set the blocks is still visible as ripped pieces, embedded into the beams, waiting to act as skis the next time the roof attempts to shake itself free. conversations.aaschool.ac.uk/haiti-visiting-school-experimental-bamboo/
Posted on: Mon, 16 Jun 2014 11:52:55 +0000
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