Amazing work on this board. You successfully tackle the complex world of Micro-financing and break it down for the viewer. You also identify the centrality of the role of the architect as a potential contribution.

For the next board I would suggest focusing on the role of the architect. What are the potential programs that exist that service residents who receive micro-loans? What are their categories? Upgrade? Tenure regularization? Home additions? combinations of physical upgrade with land tenure? Improvements of public space? also, where are these programs located? The core of cities? its peripheries? And lastly what are their associations with Micro-lending institutions? Are there third parties involved? Do architects work with the Micro-lending institutions?

We have talked about Cuba, Venezuela and Brazil as comparative cases in the Wester hemisphere. How can we start articulating the questions above through this analysis?

Thinking ahead we could consider the identification of donor and benefiting communities in Miami. What are donor communities in Miami and their sisters in other locations? How do we link them?

As always, great work, leads to even greater questions. Keep on doing a great job!

Hector

You are truly engaging a complicated challenge. How do you articulate the importance of this project within the larger scope of all the challenges that Haiti faces?

To begin you need to clarify what is going to be the specific contribution that your project will bring. The key topic of re-forestation offers this path, as you point out, since it is the linkage between the larger challenge of environmental sustainability and the center’s construction, educational and economic development components.

The factor that binds these components is the use of bamboo as a construction material, as a reforestation/agricultural crop and as a manufacturing product which could be use as a resource.

For the next couple of week focus on developing this logic in a set of boards that would help you articulate the how the the larger scale/problem can be tackled through to specific techniques of bamboo construction.

For example the graphic that you have created could become part of a first board which establishes the context: problem statement, choice of Location and some statistics which exemplify the urgency of the problem.

Board two could focus specifically on the issue of re-forestation and use the site plan of the environmental center as a way to explore how the planting of bamboo could be used in the site. This would have to be sited and we could also consider the edges of the site. Similarly there has been a discussion about the center as a hub for bamboo production. This could be explored in this board too.

Board three could focus specifically on the Bungalow typology and the application of bamboo as a construction material through building sections wall sections and floor – plans.

The last board could bring us to the question of who benefits from this project? by developing a simple Bamboo construction manual as you have proposed. This manual would be focused on the users of the material.

Lets continue the conversation and keep up the good work

Best.

H.

When we speak about the future expansion, it’s more about the possibility of future development that will be generated by the project. Which means it isn’t so much of a master-plan dictating what programs should be introduced as time and money is accumulated; but rather how or where the Environmental Center could potentially originate further opportunities for development. The edges of the plan even call out specific areas to extend. A small introduction to expansion is entirely beneficial because it’s a reminder that this project is limitless and can change as much as needed. We should keep in mind though, that this expansion may inevitably happen unconsciously; thus, instead of outlining a specific master plan, we should offer plans and sections for residential modules to be built with locally produced bamboo and specific guidelines on how to deal with property, land, and roads. In this way, ensuring a quality of life that could foment a shift in mentality, from a surviving community to a basic emergent economy.

The master plan should not dictate specific buildings or roads, but rather defragment a large piece of land into smaller communities that can be self-sustainable, meaning that these communities will produce their own product and have their own commerce. With the drawings for the residential modules, and the guidelines for the properties and roads, these communities will evolve into organized towns by the decisions of the locals, rather than by the intervention of outsiders. We will provide them with the knowledge and preparation to develop a sense of identity and individuality so that Haiti can later become a productive country within the Caribbean and the Americas.

Jill+Jose
AEC Team

Indeed this puzzle has many parts. First the definition of the problem. Second, defining the role of the architect. Third how to connect the donor with the client and then figuring out where the architect’s contribution lies.

The case of Brazil is particular, but the challenge of urban informality is present throughout Latin America and the so called Global South. I would suggest to choosing a case that is close to you, what are you familiar with and or have first hand experience with, and then use these cases to untangle the more difficult questions.

One key factor to understand is how this practice involves several institutions with different “jurisdictions”/ powers. There are large “best practice” institutions such as the World Bank that encompass a role in international development actors. There are also smaller institutions, more “bottom up”, such as the Grameen Bank which are the precursors of this practice. There also organizations like Kiva and Terranova which provide the network of support and recipients for this practice. In a sense what you need to do is map all of them so that you can understand what this is about.

Also, I suggest you check this this publication by the UN Habitat. Its from 2003, a bit old by publication standards but it still provides some basic Knowledge to understand the magnitude of this problem. (www.unhabitat.org/pmss/getElectronicVersion.aspx?nr=1156&alt=1)

Remember, you don’t need to solve the challenge of slums. But consider how can you contribute, from where you are and what you are doing to particular cases and specific questions that define this conditions.

One simple question that I have for you guys regards the consideration of expansion. First, does this call for expansion require the implementation of a master-plan vision for the future? If so what are the benefits and hindrances that such a mode of envisioning would provide to the notion of urban development.

Let me clarify. I think you touch upon a very important issues regarding growth. Indeed this project can serve as trigger for more growth around it. But what kind of architectural intervention does that growth require. Is it new streets? Plots? building types. Or could we imagine growth as set of more flexible interventions geared by a particular flow of activity already in place?

For example. Rather than imposing the totalizing vision of the master-plan, what if we were to consider local economies or current transportation modes? How do we make the master-plan less masterly and more about planning for the unplanned?

I think you start well by looking at some of the decisions that have already been made in, but indeed these are contained within the controlled environment of the site. Perhaps, a way to engage this particular inquiry, is to start simple and focus on the edges. Or rather, consider growth, first and foremost within the site as you are pointing out.

Great work, we are starting to find out some really interesting data. If the statistic of the EPA is right (26% of solid was could be use for compost), how could we apply this measure to Miami? What is the percentage of solid waste stream in the city that could be salvaged for compost? How does it break down? And what are the spatial characteristics for this condition? For example are there municipalities or unincorporated areas with more organic waste?

Following your observations, it seems like a composting system would have be activated in both the private and public realms to function.

Lastly, you bring forth the value of education/outreach. This could develop as a potential scope. Where do you start? Through a demonstration? Through fliers? By making an ordinance? By building public support or by developing a prototype that everybody wants to imitate? what do you guys think?

The project Jill was a part of previously was geared toward creating sustainable solutions for the intertwining and growing issues in Haiti. However, it was an ‘ideas’ competition. Being impractical was welcomed, as the judges were to choose a project and have it built and funded by multiple organizations. The design was expected to be desaturated during the construction process by a lack of time or funds. On the other hand, the projects that Jose worked on previously were a house for a woman that lived in extreme poverty with her nine children – her previous house had been slanted on a 30 degree angle (not demolished) from the Earthquake – as well as a Church and Community Center for the rural village of Dan-Dan. Being a part of the construction team, Jose was able to get a real idea of how things are planned and improvised on the construction spot, barely even following the construction/design plans. The way the Environmental Center that we are tackling now in UP-Lab differs is that this is going to be built. The issues that arise in building this project will inevitably add reiterations to the design thus proving this to be a sustainable project. Opposite from an idea, this project uses the word ‘sustainable’ in a concrete manner. Being a prototype idea, it also means that it will have to be tested in Miami, and will have to be followed more precisely by the construction workers in Haiti, since many of the workers will probably be working with our system for the first time in their lives.

In terms of sustainability, it is important for the architect to know what tools and resources are on site to be utilized. This extends the notion of sustainability by making it cheaper to build and generating business within the project’s area. The architect can detect these practices by researching built projects within that area, as well as local resources found in Haiti, or even the DR. Sustainable materials can also be detected by researching how well specific materials that we may desire to use can be implemented on site – Jennifer, for example, mentioned that bamboo can grow very well in a climatic condition similar to Haiti’s. This would mean we could plant our own materials (bamboo) and use them as they grow. It is also beneficial and maybe even more efficient for the architect to thoroughly communicate with architects or contractors who live in that location. This not only allows the architect to learn of experiences involved in sustainable practices, but how they are different from what we know to be sustainable and more importantly, their flaws. The communication between an architect and a transplanted architect brings forth different solutions to both parties.

We cannot physically go to Haiti, but we can test the prototype here, in Miami. It is absolutely necessary to build the questionable aspects of this project to witness their complications and re-work them before the final draft in Haiti. With the help of organizations involved in Haiti and companies who are willing to donate a short supply of material, the prototype can be tested and built. The prototype can be a really attractive incentive for such companies, as it may bring them business, and the possibility of a relationship for the actual construction may be established during the process.

I would be interested in asking your more about your previous projects in Haiti and how they handled the notion of sustainability? You mention that this is something singular about this project, so what were those other projects about?

In exploring the notion of sustainability an important question to understand is not just only how a sustainable solution can be brought to these contexts but perhaps what are the sustainable practices which may already exist there which the architect is unaware about? How does the architect detect these practices? And what do you think about their integration into the work of the transplanted architect?

Your suggestion that we should think about implementation is key. It has made us consider that we should think about this projects as a prototype, beyond the work of the plans sections and elevations.

How can we conceive the implementation of this project as a lesson or test, ie. the prototype? We many not have the resources to go to Haiti currently, or we may not be able to because of scheduling and logistics, but what can we do in Miami to test the building techniques of the environmental center in Arcahaie? Who should be involved and how do we fund this?

I think this is a fascinating question that you ask, one which could involve the development of a “offsite” prototype next semester, perhaps an intervention of some sort (built wall system or demonstration of the use of the bamboo) which may bring attention and support to this site and its people. Lets keep on thinking.

Will definitely check it out for further development on our investigation. Thanks!

Jose

The first is a quote on problems and solutions:
– “I don’t have any solution, but I certainly admire the problem.”
Ashleigh Brilliant quotes (English Author and Cartoonist, b.1933)

The second one is a post by Hector in the Miami Urban Think Tank website: http://www.miamiurbanthinktank.com/
The post is called Haiti Rebuilds- What Will Happen Next, and offers a refreshing perspective of a Haitian-American Architect on the matter.

I think an insight on these two elements might help you get further ideas on how to get started on evaluating possible methods and solutions.
I am looking forward to read more from you.