A Haitian Home for Learning - Competition
Haiti

The design proposal seeks to create an effective environment for learning that allows students and teachers to strive for an education and the life improvements that can accompany it. The environment must be a place in which a child feels safe, secure and comfortable. It must be a place where students’ worries and distractions are eliminated. It should be a place that is familiar and real.

The proposal attempts to create this environment by providing a school shelter that recalls characteristics of the Haitian home and cultural lifestyle. Drawing from research into this cultural lifestyle, we have constructed an environment that can enhance the learning experience of each and every student.

Vernacular conditions structure the space and provide a meaningful place for teaching and learning

The primary planning strategy for the school is the creation of a central courtyard that is established by marking the boundaries of the site and arranging the new school components to enhance the experience of the outdoor community space. The central space is treated as a “yard” which is shared by the entire school community.

Structuring the yard, the classroom blocks are designed to seek a balance between shared space of the courtyard and the more private space of the individual classroom. This experience is heightened by providing a transitional in-between space that acts as the traditional front porch for each classroom.

Cuisine and the acts of cooking, serving, and eating are important cultural aspects of life in Haiti. No matter their means, Haitians tend to “…..use food to connect with, educate, and soothe themselves as well as others. The majority of Haitians are skillful cooks, who often will utilize food as an opportunity to connect with and provide comfort to those in need.” (See Guerda Nicolas, Billie Schwartz, and Elizabeth Pierre - “Weathering The Storms Like Bamboo”).

This importance of the act of cooking, serving and eating is exhibited in the design by the prominence of the outdoor kitchen in relation to the communal courtyard space. This hierarchy elevates mealtime into an important event in each school day and provides meaningful structure to life at the school.

The use of color, so prevalent in Haitian culture, is used to enliven the environment, provide separate classroom identities and provide familiarity and comfort for the students.

With this specific proposal for this particular site, we have assembled the classrooms and other components in a meaningful manner that enhances the life of the student. For other possible projects, groupings of these classrooms may be assembled in any fashion, however of utmost importance is the appropriate layout that supports the cultural lifestyle of the students of the school.