The earthquake of 2010 that took so many lives also brought much attention to the island nation of Haiti. Much of it in the form of non-profit organizations focused on the wide variety of deficiencies exposed in the country’s infrastructure, medical system, education and building culture. 1.5 million Haitians were displaced by the quake, creating a humanitarian disaster in country with poor resources to rebuild. Among the many factors contributed the country’s vulnerability and inability to rebuild are corruption and lack of innovation in the construction trades.
Most construction in the densely populated regions of Port-Au-Prince, and the highest perceived quality, is cinder-block structure with heavy neo-classical precast concrete columns, capitals, cornices and ornamentation. Concrete construction is also expensive, time consuming, and as negative environmental effects, but Haitians view it as a secure symbol of status. Even though it can be structurally safe, the heavy material is actually very dangerous during seismic events, especially when not reinforced properly for shear from lateral forces.
Heavy construction traditions, with rebar corner cages reaching up to the sky to stacking of deadly concrete overhead
The main method of reinforcement, rebar corner cages can be seen everywhere extending like antennae out can be seen waiving in the breeze, rusting in the humid, salty climate. These structural receptacles are signs of intentions to stack additional floors on top of second and third story roofs, when families or businesses can afford the construction. Many are weakened significantly by the time they are used, but even worse, most structures often are filled in without any intermediate shear resistance, creating a system where the cages can’t provide lateral support for the building, most critical earthquakes.
When I was approached by a friend to try to build with bamboo in Haiti, I was excited. Bamboo is a strong, lightweight, and naturally produced structural material. It’s comfortable and breathes in hot climates. Dubbed “Green Steel” by renewable building material enthusiasts, bamboo stalks can grow to a 15 meter structural column or beam in only five years - five times as fast as wood. It’s also easy to grow, treat for insects and weatherproof, making it a democratic building material.
Vietnamese bamboo construction techniques, and Architect Tuan Nguyen
The light weight of bamboo makes it seismically safe. Pound-for-pound, it’s stronger than steel, it grows in the ground and treating it for insects and fire has a minimal impact on the environment. Tuan and I imagined plantations of structural bamboo liberating Haitians from the strangling corruption in the current building industry, with a sustainable construction alternative for schools, hospitals and homes. The main barrier is knowledge. Bamboo already grows in Haiti, but its is rarely used for building.
Men harvest mature bamboo to build a fence near Saut Mathurin river, where beautiful examples of Haitian stonework line athe shores of a breathtaking waterfall.
The project we were approached to design was going to be a medical campus focusing on maternity care, including a library, school, guest houses for visiting medical educators, automotive facilities for mobile clinic programs, and medical clinic. The Haitian-American doctor who’s family owned the land in Saint Jean Du Su envisioned the change that a project like this could spark. We call this process of empowering people with the technology and planning to build what they need Social Impact Architecture.
Campus Master Plan
The Campus Plan is organized by a Haitian land measurement, called the Centieme, 10 meters squared. The Centiemes form a green grid of plantings and water features to keep the Campus shaded and breathing naturally. The Centieme grid makes its way up the hill and into the Guest House. Wriggling out of its rigid march, it unfurls into the landscape as programs of Education and Hospitality dot the incline.
Site Development Sequence
Needing to be developed with infrastructure for vehicles and water, a bridge and wells would be the first adjustments to the site. The organization’s initial program is a Mobile Clinic that shuttles caregivers to villages around the region to provide maternity medical services, so a mechanical garage will be the first structure to be built. Next, large multi-purpose sheds will frame the educational portion of the site, being used for temporary clinic and administration programs. Solar panels will power the entire facility, giving caregivers and students autonomy from a corrupt electrical industry that dominates the country. The educational campus is crowned with a Library and Guest Houses for visiting educators. Bamboo fields and treating facilities will provide sustainable raw building material for the final phase of the campus, a full service Medical Clinic.
Physical Study of Guest Houses
The Clinic Terrace
The program of the Clinic will focus on providing Maternity and Birthing Care, but will also give a full range of services to the region. Typical of much of Haiti, the closest hospital is a four hour drive away, making this location a potential gathering place for hundreds of patients a day. The architecture of the Clinic integrates nature into the care giving spaces, improving patient outlooks and breathing for the facility. Each Centieme grounds a medical program to the earth, taking up space for contemplation and appreciation of life. Crossing a peaceful bridge, patients will discover a winding clinic terrace that dips into the creek, becoming a waiting room and pool where families cool off and enjoy nature.
Clinic Program Plan
Section through Clinic and River
Clinic Lobby
Bamboo trusses fold like wings above the adjustable, conditioned Clinic program units, shading and sheltering patients and clinicians where care is given. From anywhere in the Clinic, nature can be seen in the open, through glass windows, or light bamboo screening, melding worlds of health and nature.
Overlooking the Clinic, the Guest House Campus program welcomes students and educators with a library, food preparation facilities, classrooms, and an open air amphitheater carved into the landscape. The central walkways and amphitheater are sheltered by a solar panel canopies that provide electricity for reading at night and conditioning the air. The heart of the campus, the Guest House is where the learning necessary for care giving originates and will replenish the Campus for generations to come. It is also where knowledge and skill from outside is welcomed, and the Campus’s connection to the rest of the world is nurtured.
Guest House Campus
Library Section
The Library steps down the hill, expanding into a terraced lecture hall lined with books. Its roof is organized around large windows where indirect light floods in all day. Terraces and balconies wrap the interior space, sheltered from sun and rain by sweeping overhangs.
The Library Plan, Elevation, and Interior
Building with bamboo in Haiti accesses the potential of people to build their shelter and infrastructure free of the constraints of social violence and neglect, with bars and beams grown from their land. It’s an opportunity to create a culture of empowered construction that’s strong, light, and breathes with the beautiful climate of this too forgotten island.
workshopLicht Team: Michael Licht | Tuan Nyugen | Lillian Agutu | James Victorio