3 YEARS IN HAITI
The people, the projects and the hope for the future
The rooftop studio onto of the CIAT building in Pacot, Port au Prince gave us an impressive backdrop to the evening software tutorials.
Haiti Visiting School PAGE 1
PAGE 2 | Project Bamboo Haiti
Introduction
Unique, dynamic, independent and international, the Architectural Association (AA) was originally set up in 1847 as a public forum and learned society. However the AA is much more than the UK’s oldest school of architecture. What makes the teaching and learning of architecture unique at the AA is found in the demand it places on teachers as well as their students, to clearly communicate the larger cultural agendas relating to where they think architecture is heading. The AA Visiting School is an extension to and embodiment of the AA School’s ‘unit system’ of teaching and learning architecture. The hallmark of this model is the delivery of distinctive, highly focused design agendas delivered to a small collaborative group of students, architects and other creative people in the development of projects. The AA VS is similarly about learning, exploring, collaborating and experimenting in order to reimagine the shape, form and expectations of architectural education. The Haiti Visiting School is one such altruistic incarnation in which the next generation of Haitian architects study alongside students and designers from all over the world in this intensively socialised, collective teaching and learning model. This agenda provides substantive support to those in Haiti trying to propagate bamboo as both an ecological saviour, and response to the disproportionate devastation of the 2010 earthquake. The AA Haiti Visiting School is an annual workshop in experimental architectural design which develops projects contextualised for the climate and culture of Haiti and materiality of bamboo. Students are pushed, immersed, and intensively tutored in a range of new skills to absorb, imagine and create. This agenda aims to propose a vision for a lightweight contemporary Haitian built environment and demonstrate the role and importance of the architect as designer. The long term programme goals are to:
• • • •
Equip local students with the technological capacity to design for climatic and seismic conditions, on par with those in first world architecture schools and offices. Develop a portfolio of work showcasing the aesthetic potential of bamboo architecture. Engage students, design professionals and builders in a construction course using domestically grown bamboo, demonstrating both construction techniques and existing infrastructure so skills can be disseminated. Create a platform linking bamboo growers, land owners, and the construction industry together in Haiti while showcasing skills of those in Haiti internationally.
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PAGE 4 | Project Bamboo Haiti
Contents
3
Introduction
7
Why Haiti?
13
A Global Issue
15
Why bamboo?
21
2012-2013 Research
29
2014 Design Course 1: Experimental Bamboo
47
2015 Design Course 2: UrBanbou
69
Awards
71
Student Life
75
People
87
2016 Construction Course 1: Building Bamboo
91
Sponsors
Haiti Visiting School PAGE 5
Satellite image at the border between Haiti and the Dominican Republic
PAGE 6 | Architectural Association School of Architecture
Why Haiti?
At the local time of 16:53 on 12th January 2010 an earthquake of 7.0 hit one of the most densely populated suburbs of Haiti’s capital, Port au Prince. (1) An estimated three million people were affected by the quake. 250,000 residences, 30,000 commercial buildings collapsed, a million people homeless and up to 316,000 people dead. (2) To put the shear scale of 2010 in context, one month later an earthquake 500 times more powerful, hit central Chile resulting in the deaths of 525. The 12th January 2010 was a disaster of Haiti’s lack of lightweight building materials, working practices, and construction, not nature. Recovery efforts resulted in an immediate global outpouring of aid and financial support for Haiti, a nation so embroiled in debt and widespread poverty that an internal response to the disaster was virtually impossible. While the aid response haphazardly attempted to address the immediate circumstances of the situation in Haiti, it failed to assess the natural disaster as an opportunity to address deep-seeded issues within the country and to safeguard and improve the quality of life in Haiti with long term solutions. (3) The problems of the Haitian construction industry are widely accepted. However, Haiti has a perfect storm scenario which makes her urban landscape extremely unforgiving. The country has suffered from immense deforestation over the latter half of the twentieth century, which has resulted in the eradication of all but 2% of Haiti’s trees (4) due to agriculture and poverty. As a sad twist the nitrogen in the soil has washed into the sea and destroyed coastal fishing economies, (5) whilst the deposits from the deforested hills have filled the coastal areas with loose alluvial soil. These areas are susceptible to liquefaction in any seismic activity (6), with Port au Prince continuing to grown on just such a terrain. In addition to the lack of building quality, the centralised aid effort following the earthquake has increased the capital’s population significantly and therefore, if the earthquake was to strike tomorrow, the death toll would probably be greater than in January 2010. The largest and most deadly effect of deforestation in Haiti has been removal of timber as a material for the local construction industry. The future for the Haitian construction sector has to be lightweight materials. Port au Prince’s timber vernacular ‘gingerbread architecture’ proved this, as ironically, this century old timber framed homes in the capital remained standing. Five years later, post-earthquake Haiti can no longer be considered a disaster relief zone. The country is now faced with the rare opportunity to rebuild better by establishing a culture of sustainable, lightweight, secure building practices.
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
United States Geological Survey data http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eqarchives/year/2010/ Columbia Journalism Review, “Two Years Later, Haitian Earthquake Death Toll in Dispute”, 20 January 2012 New York Times, Rebuilding in Haiti Lags After Billions in Post-Quake Aid http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/24/world/americas/in-aiding-quake-battered-haiti-lofty-hopes-and-hard-truths.html?_r=0 Country Profile: Haiti. Library of Congress Federal Research Division, May 2006 Threats to coral reefs - Endangered Species International www.endangeredspeciesinternational.org/coralreefs7.html The Institution of Structural Engineers: EEFIT Haiti earthquake report published http://www.istructe.org/news-articles/2011/industry-news/eefit-haiti-earthquake-report-published Haiti Visiting School PAGE 7
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The history of Haitian deforestation. The spiral graph shows the increase in population with the red and blue indicating the rural and urban split. This is overlaid with the rate of forestry loss. As you can see as deforestation increases, there is a rural exodus.
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The current concrete building’s of Port au Prince, not designed for the seismic and hurricane threats. This photo was taken 3 years after the earthquake.
PAGE 10 | Project Bamboo Haiti
The disproportionate death toll of the two major earthquakes experienced in the America in 2010. With a much lower magnitude the death toll was devastatingly higher. This was not a disaster of nature, but one of engineering. Pwojè Banbou Ayiti PAGE 11
Bidionvilles (Slums) which cling to the Southern hillsides of Port au Prince Metropolitan Area
A Global Issue
The deforestation that has afflicted Haiti fits into a global trend. In 2010 the World Resources Institute revealed that the planet has lost 85% of its forest coverage as a result of deforestation, (1) and global rates of deforestation are increasing. Countries like Malaysia see water thirsty palm oil plantations replace virgin forest sucking the water table dry and causing drought and soil erosion. (2) The worlds demand for beef is seeing the Amazon rainforest eliminated at an alarming rate. (3) Deforestation in Haiti has local consequences however the accumulative effect of these globally compound themselves to create a world crisis of rising temperatures, atmospheric pollution, lost species, and populations vulnerable to deadly landslides. In Haiti like many developing countries deforestation has removed lightweight materials from the construction sector and this is a pattern being replicated around the world. Where developing countries would often use timber and bamboo, the cement block has taken precedence. Standard methods of construction for the majority of residential, commercial and civic structures in Haiti involve the use of un-reinforced concrete block and are executed by an unskilled labour force. Such building practices are not unique only to Haiti, as a significant percentage of the developing world’s population inhabits buildings of similar attributes; structurally unstable buildings constructed without the oversight of knowledgeable and experienced engineers and architects. According to the UN-HABITAT in a 2012 study (4), around 33% of the urban population in the developing world in 2012, or about 863 million people, lived in slums, many of which are in areas exposed to huge seismic and hurricane risks. This course is very much tailored to the climatic and cultural contexts of Haiti however since inception, the mantra of, ‘Think Global, Act Local’, is embedded into our practices and portfolio of work..
1. 2. 3. 4.
Global Forest Watch World Resources Institute www.wri.org Article 01/02/11: The Telegraph - Malaysia destroying its forests three times faster than all Asia combined http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/earthnews/8295896/Malaysia-destroying-its-forests-three-times-faster-than-all-Asia-combined.html Article 31/05/09: The Guardian - Amazon rainforests pay the price as demand for beef soars Federal Research Division UNHABITAT State of the Worlds Cities Report 2012/2013 https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/745habitat.pdf
Haiti Visiting School PAGE 13
?
?
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Why bamboo?
The issue of deforestation has, in recent years, been tackled with investment in bamboo. The story of bamboo in Haiti started in the 1950s when Victor Wynne began a process of conserving an area of forested land in the midst of widespread deforestation. He looked at ways of improving and repairing the ecology of the island and introduced additional species of bamboo to Haiti. Many of which flourished. Bamboo is a truly remarkable plant and Haiti’s mountainous territory makes it an ideal location for rapid grown and industry development. SPEED OF GROWTH Considered as a grass and as fast growing, bamboo can grow up to one meter per day. The construction grade bamboo Guadua grows 80 percent of her volume in the first 3 months. This can be a quick source of material for charcoal production to take the burden from the slow growing trees currently deforested at an unsustainable rate for that very fuel source. After this initial growth spurt over the next 4-5 years guadua can grow up to 30 metres tall. HAITI’S TOPOGRAPHY 65% of this island nation is over a 7% gradient and bamboo grown on an incline drains faster and becomes stronger than bamboo grown on the flat. With the correct regulation, Haiti has the potential to produce some of the best construction grade bamboo in the world. WATER ABSORPTION One hectare of Guadua Bamboo can absorb up to 30,000 litres of water during the hurricane season and deposit this slowly back into the soil. With landslides being the deadly result of deforestation during these seasons this can be an instant life saver to rural communities in Haiti. CARBON ABSORPTION Bamboo can sequester up to twice as much carbon as trees. Given the worldwide drive to curb carbon emissions through carbon offset schemes, if Haiti were to start growing bamboo for construction, then bamboo could earn money for the grower. This would not only pay for the bamboo cultivation, but also provide livelihoods to those growing bamboo as well. A NEW ECONOMY Bamboo is used worldwide as a hard wearing, carbon friendly material for buildings and products, from bamboo bikes and skateboards to bamboo fashion and flooring. The work of the Bamboo Project explores a design methodology which has applications extending beyond building. The software students learn, deign rigor they follow and the exposure to bamboo gives all who take part the ability to test the limits of this new material and articulate their own vision into drawings, models and images. If the growing values of bamboo products is to be realized in Haiti, it is these skills which will boots the value of the material within the economy.
The bamboo plantation at Marmelade in the North of Haiti.
Haiti Visiting School PAGE 15
3-4 weeks PAGE 16 | Project Bamboo Haiti
The speed of use of bamboo
37
Pwojè Banbou Ayiti PAGE 17
RELEVANCE TO HAITI
This is the diameter of material I am proposing to use in Haiti. 150mm - 200mm guadua bamboo. As I am building more than one story as well the length of one pole is to be greater than 3m, therefore I am proposing to make sure there is a connection at least every 3 m for a piece of bamboo. Otherwise the crushing strength could potentially fall below 3,200 kg/cm2. CONVERTING HURRICANES (m/2) INTO
COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH (Newtons / sqm)
Pressure = 0.5 x C x D x V^2
C= Drag Coefficient = 0.5 (CURVED SURFACE) D = Density of Air (kg ^3) = 0.125 kg^3 V = Sped of Air (m/s) = 82 m/s
THEREFORE Pressure = 0.5 x 1 x 0.125 x 82^2 Pressure = 210.125 Newtons per sqm Pressure =
21.013 kg / m2
40
So if the compressive strength is 3,200 kg/cm2 = 0.32 kg/m2. Therefore it would take
65 poles to withstand a hurricane in Haiti.
This is a major consideration that guadua can only take up to 0.32 kg/m2, this is what I am going to have to work with.
Demonstration of bamboo’s strength against hurricane forces PAGE 18 | Project Bamboo Haiti
COMPRESSION TESTING (SOURCE Building with Bamboo: Design and Technology of a Sustainable Architecture, Gernot Minke, 2012)
BENDING
TENSION
MODULOUS OF ELASTICITY kN/cm2
STEM min=1,69 max=2,31 Average=1,98
TUBE min=1,47 max=2,22 Average=1,67
EARTHQUAKES The elasticity of bamboo makes it very good to be used in seismic zones. The absorbing of pressure which would could split timber is key for building for earthquakes.
SHEARING STRENGTH KN/CM2
38
Diameter of pole =
FLEXURAL (BENDING) STRENGTH KN/CM2
3.05
ELASTICITY, SHEARING, BENDING
100mm
80mm
70mm
1,519 kN/cm2
1,890 kN/cm2
1,650 kN/cm2
HURRICANES The ability again to absorb energy by flexing is another key quality to be used in areas where there can be varying loads applied to the section of the structure. In the event of hurricanes the ability to absorb this through bamboos bending properties makes it a good material to use instead of timber. MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF BAMBOO (SOURCE http://bambus.rwth-aachen.de)
TENSION
The material properties of bamboo, and how they can serve Haiti Pwojè Banbou Ayiti PAGE 19
Proposed urban block interior, Bamboo Lakou, 2013
PAGE 20 | Project Bamboo Haiti
Background
Our work in Haiti began in 2012 with a year long project developed from the final year thesis at the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London. Accepting that the death toll in the Haitian earthquake was a result of bad buildings, this project aimed to look at how light weight materials could start to proliferate the construction industry in Haiti and if grown domestically could improve the Haitian ecology. We worked between: Haiti where we looked at the culture of Haiti from the ground and the current building infrastructure of construction; London where the studio was based and the majority of the work was developed; and Spain where we looked at the current technology available in bamboo construction. The project was ultimately a reforestation plan which both proposed an area of Port au prince to reforest, and a construction infrastructure to allow the material to be used in lightweight construction. This would take over 5 years for the skills, infrastructures and material to mature. Set in the context of Haiti, a country with massive deforestation and threatened by earthquakes, only heavy concrete and cement are the building materials of choice. As an integral part of a wider reforestation strategy, this project merges a sustainable bamboo infrastructure along with the vernacular ‘Lakou’ communal courtyard typology. This aims to encourage the physical use of bamboo in the Haitian construction sector. The material properties of bamboo provide design opportunities to provide resilience to hurricanes and earthquakes, and affords an assembly logic which intends to communicate a parallel understanding of bamboo’s application beyond the building site. This rematerialisation of a construction industry and subsequent demand, aims to engender bamboo growth in Haiti, a material with wider ecological benefits. Introducing any new practice of working is difficult in any field. In a proud culture such as Haiti preaching a new form of building to the construction sector is riddled with problems. Low skills, lack of equipment and illiteracy, not to mention theft from a project, whether political corruption or material theft on site, all cause an environment not in a position to implement quality output which is all the more dangerous in Haiti, a site of huge seismic and natural threat. Materials in this location are defined by skill and natural resources. A lack of timber due to deforestation has resulted in concrete becoming the 21st Century vernacular and as a result any skills associated with construction have been aligned to work with concrete. Initially the ‘Lakou’ courtyard house (as seen in the opposite page) forms the fundamental urban block and this itself is broken into four stages. (1) Occupational Strategy; which aims to determine a means of developing solutions of occupation for the local population grounded in the existing Haitian ‘Lakou’ typology of courtyard living.
Haiti Visiting School PAGE 21
(2) Material Strategy; looks at what is available in Haiti right now and speculates on how what is available can be compounded in the short term with bamboo. The typology and properties of materials will then determine any subsequent strategies. (3) Structural Strategy; looks at how bamboo can be implemented into a structural system which allows for the Haitian vernacular ‘Lakou’ design to be implemented. The structural strategy also looks at the limits of design versus materials in seismic areas and tests compounds of materials as well as seismic building techniques to develop a low cost, easily buildable structural system with proven seismic credentials. (4) Construction and Assembly Strategy; will produce an assembly logic explicit enough to work initially in a workforce mostly illiterate and yet can result in the successful implementation of aspects 1, 2, and 3. It is also designed that this logic has aspects of construction and material awareness which can propagate nationwide. This being either skill or outsourcing construction beyond the proposed new urbanism. This aims to create standards, knowledge, respect for the material and new economic opportunities. This technical strategy forms an integral part of making a new timber and bamboo urbanism
ABOVE: Working with bamboo craftsmen in Cap Haitian in the North of the country, BELOW: Wind test analysis of a indented facade concept.
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1 Hectare Urban Sample
As part of the unit brief, emphasis was put on representing a 100m x 100m section of the proposed urban scale. This would highlight what makes up the project culturally, economically and environmentally, and the relationship between social spaces.
Section of the proposed Urban Block and home for 20 households.
possible in Haiti. Through initially encouraging the physical use of bamboo in the Haitian construction sector at the building scale, the material properties of bamboo provide design opportunities to provide resilience to hurricanes and earthquakes, and affords an assembly logic which intends to communicate a parallel understanding of bamboo’s application beyond the building site. This rematerialisation of a construction industry and subsequent demand, aims to engender bamboo growth in Haiti, a material with wider ecological benefits and lay the foundations of a new biodiverse dynamic Port au Prince. This work won two prizes in 2013, the Foster and Partners Prize for Sustainable Infrastructure and the Holloway Award for Education in Construction. The publicity and prize money paved the way to develop this work further. In the Summer of 2013 we returned to Haiti to get feedback from those who had supported the project in Haiti and see about the feasibility of implementation. Specifically after travelling to the North of the country, an area which has started growing bamboo for the past decade, that the most important way of implementing parts 2-4 of the thesis would have to be through an education curriculum in which Haitian architecture students had their existing education augmented with bamboo material knowledge and the principals of climate and The elongation of the facade of the urban blocks provide resilience to hurricane winds but also space for workshops to be placed. This gives space for the bamboo economy to grow.
Proposed Area of Reforestation in Port au Prince
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Building Scale Design Strategy
seismic design. It was this statement that formed the basis of the next stage of the project which was the design course. After approaching universities all over the country it was Quisqueya University in Port au Prince that supported us in Haiti, and the Architectural Association continued their commitment to the project and funded what became the Architectural Association Haiti Visiting School.
National Scale Reforestation Strategy
Tutors and students visiting the Neg Maron statue in Downtown Port au Prince, AA Haiti Visiting School 2014
PAGE 28 | Project Bamboo Haiti
2014 COURSE
In the mountains above Port au Prince, the flaring glow of the Caribbean sunset has finally turned into night. Tutors and students sit down on a wooden bench whilst out of the darkness a large bonfire crackles away. Looking around the perimeter the illuminated faces of the local community stare into the flames, their hands blurred by vigorous thumping on the drums. The lack of light pollution reveals a kaleidoscope of stars twinkling across the night sky, and all around is blackness. Being 1,000 metres above sea level the air is cold. The breeze rustles through the surrounding bamboo and pine trees with the sound of drums resonating around the valley. The beats make the valley echo to the same rhythms used 200 years ago to secretly communicate vast distances between groups of slaves fighting and earning their freedom. Every so often the rhythm is broken by a splintering sound followed by a bang. This sequential ‘bam-boom!’ comes from the bamboo on the fire as the trapped air inside the internodes expands in the heat. (Some believe this is the source of the name ‘bam-boo’.) It has just turned midnight and all involved in the AA Haiti Visiting School are celebrating New Year’s Eve, the day before the course commences. Our hosts are the Wynne family who, through their estate in Kenscoff, have maintained an oasis in the midst of half a century of Haiti cutting down all but 2% of their forests. In our mountain studio a regular work timetable established itself fast. Every morning began early with software tutorials, afternoons were briefly interrupted by the local cuisine of our resident chef, and the evenings were anchored with a lecture given by either tutors or guests. After an initial site mapping exercise in the mountains, students used this mapped dynamic data as the input for a series of form-finding exercises whilst being tutored on new parametric modelling software. This output as well as a new palette of modelling techniques were absorbed and released in the second part of the course. The later part of the week also exposed students to aerodynamic analysis simulations to test against Haiti’s hurricane exposure; bamboo material studies; and these were punctuated with a cultural tour and a night out at the infamous Oloffson Hotel. Barbancourt hangovers notwithstanding, we all strived in the latter days to articulate the strong design decisions which were emerging in the class. The pace was fast and the dedication of all more than matched this speed. To be a student on the course, there are a few skills that are essential: treating a power outage as no big deal; enjoying riding in the back of a pick-up truck; and being ready to dance to Vodou Roots music. The most important skill, however, is the ability to consider two parallel scales in your design methodology. The brief is to design and test at the building scale, however, students are made aware that this concurrently forms one element of a wider vision. The final design and the process must both be able to instruct and inspire others in Haiti to see the potential of utilising bamboo. Our final jury on the 12 January 2014 took on an added significance, being almost 4 years to the hour that the earthquake happened. It started with speeches by the Haitian students followed by a moment’s silence. This reflection only encouraged our resolve as the rest of the afternoon became a manifesto of how we can make Haiti more resilient to both natural threats and move away from the seismically vulnerable current concrete vernacular. The same concrete urban fabric was responsible for the deaths of over 300,000 souls, and even today 150,000 people are still without a home.
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Lakou Granpa Wynne Mehdi Martel, AnalĂ GuzmĂĄn, Karl Regis
The rooftop studio onto of the CIAT building in Pacot, Port au Prince gave us an impressive backdrop to the evening software tutorials. An interior render shows the spatial qualities of the proposed design and material use.
PAGE 30 | Project PAGE Bamboo 30 | Architectural Haiti Association School of Architecture
This project paid homage to the site of the grave of Victor Wynne who did so much to save the ecology of Haiti in the midst of the era of widespread deforestation. Mapping of the vegetation on the site provided areas which would be free of structure and a light analysis provided areas for the canopy to open. The results of wind testing influenced the directionality of the perforations. A thorough research into the Colombian school of bamboo construction, with the help of our bamboo experts, provided the basis of the structural system.
By taking the ground plane and raising it up as a response to the mapped topography a canopy form was created.
Using parametric modelling techniques the canopy was panelised with the opening of the panels relative to the light intensities which had been mapped on site.
Different iterations of panel systems were explored.
The rooftop studio onto of the CIAT building in Pacot, Port au Prince gave us an impressive backdrop to the evening software tutorials.
As a means not to affect the current vegetation onsite, the locations of trees were mapped and this meant perferations were made in the capopy to allow trees to pertrude.
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Given the concentration of open areas on the canopy it was decided to remove one entire corner of the canopy. This was then taken forward with the initial suggestion of a structural system.
Wind testing was employed to see the effects of the hurricane force winds on the structure and identify panels to amend.
PAGE 32 | Architectural Association School of Architecture
Section drawing of the proposed structure.
Structural proposal showing more clearly the openings of the panels.
To refine the panel openings solar analysis software was employed.
An axo drawings showing all the tiers of the bamboo structural system.
Woven Bamboo Stephanie de la Rosa, Krystel Jeager and Jameson Alexis
Here students looked at using the flexibility of bamboo to weave and therefore create a structural canopy. This would create a covered space in which activities could take place on the Kenscoff site. Mapping of views from the site looking down on Port au Prince became areas to raise up the canopy. Mapping of vegetation on site provided the basis of creating porosity on the canopy itself, creating shade and allowing both recreation and economic activity to take place.
The section drawing showed the directionality of the structure with the height of the interior space suggesting different activities.
By overlaying the information from the light levels on the site this became suggested locations to open up the canopy using the weaving idea referenced in bamboo projects as a possible structural direction.
PAGE 34 | Architectural Association School of Architecture
The final render inside the structure.
Pwojè Banbou Ayiti PAGE 35
Group 1, 2015 at their final presentations
PAGE 36 | Architectural Association School of Architecture
Haiti Visiting School PAGE 37
AnkandrĂŠ Holly Kennedy, Samuel OssĂŠ and Milechka Sterlin
The render showing the proposed building onsite, with a ribbed bamboo facade to reduce wind pressure.
PAGE 38 | Architectural Association School of Architecture
In this project students looked at the view paths over Port au Prince to create four inhabitable spaces which would each project themselves towards these views. Further mapping of deforested tree stumps provided areas to raise up the structure. Wind test analysis showed that the addition of a ribbed facade through using halved bamboo poles actually increased the pressure build up of the wind on the structure. However, using bamboo increased the tension the structure was able to take and therefore showed bamboo as more than capable of responding to the needs of the climate, as well as creating a lightweight structure.
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Pixelating Bamboo Nathalie Jolivert and Jean Eddy Samedi
The method of construction the component and also the stacking logic.
PAGE 40 | Architectural Association School of Architecture
In Pixelating Bamboo the students looked at the use of adobe blocks on site and speculated whether it would be possible to develop a component using bamboo which would work along side. The result was a bamboo brick, which using the symmetry of the pole, allows the creation of a component based system which uses adobe as a foundation material and the lightweight bamboo brick to build the upper structure. Wind testing resulted in a rotation of the vertical organisation which would allow wind to pass through at higher levels.
Views played a crucial role when mapping the site. Each component of the view was dissected and represented through different pixels.
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Elevation of the proposed project onsite.
PAGE 42 | Architectural Association School of Architecture
THE AA HAITI VISITING SCHOOL
Unique, dynamic, independent and international, the Architectural Association (AA) was originally set up in 1847 as a public forum and learned society. However the AA is much more than the UK’s oldest school of architecture. What makes the teaching and learning of architecture unique at the AA is found in the demand it places on teachers as well as their students, to clearly communicate the larger cultural agendas relating to where they think architecture is heading. The AA Visiting School is an extension to and embodiment of the AA School’s ‘unit system’ of teaching and learning architecture. The hallmark of this model is the delivery of distinctive, highly focused design agendas delivered to a small collaborative group of students, architects and other creative people in the development of projects. The AA VS is similarly about learning, exploring, collaborating and experimenting in order to reimagine the shape, form and expectations of architectural education. The Haiti Visiting School is one such altruistic incarnation in which the next generation of Haitian architects study alongside students and designers from all over the world in this intensively socialised, collective teaching and learning model. This agenda provides substantive support to those in Haiti trying to propagate bamboo as both an ecological saviour, and response to the disproportionate devastation of the 2010 earthquake. This annual workshop in speculative experimental architectural design develops projects which are contextualised for the climate, culture and materiality of Haiti. Students are pushed, immersed, and intensively tutored in a range of new skills to absorb, imagine and create. This agenda aims to; propose a vision for a lightweight contemporary Haitian built environment; demonstrate the role and importance of the architect as designer; and provide a portfolio of work and a collaborative forum to embolden those in Haiti already building with bamboo.
To reduce wind pressures the stacking rotated to allow openness at the top. Having bamboo at the top and adobe at the bottom came with structural advantages.
Haiti Visiting School PAGE 43
Students and tutors on the site visit talking with traders at the Iron Market.
PAGE 44 | Project Bamboo Haiti
Students mapping onsite.
Haiti Visiting School PAGE 45
The students on the 2015 course were given the choice of 4 sites in the heart of the downtown of Port au Prince. PAGE 46 | Project Bamboo Haiti
2015 COURSE
For the second year the AA Haiti Visiting School presented 4 unique visions for the material of bamboo in the Haitian built environment. Students were inserted into the downtown of Port au Prince to map 4 sites which have been derelict for years and left ruined by the earthquake. Students were asked to walk around and observe the informal activities, the demographics, the traffic movement as well as other dynamic factors to develop projects which could address localised needs, but could be critiques by its response to the needs of the wider downtown. The long term agenda of this visiting school is to promote bamboo as an alternative to the heavy concrete though highly developed designs which are contextualised for the Haitian culture and climate. Through the teaching of new softwares and structural input from ARUP the goal is to demonstrate the opportunity bamboo presents to contemporary Haiti both in terms of performance and aesthetic qualities. Through a series of lectures over the week we learned the many reasons for the downtown still being in the state it is, paralysed from redevelopment. Issues of land ownership, government conservation zones after the earthquake which made investors scared of planning in the long term and failures of security all played their part. Most importantly however the relocation of businesses to the much more affluent sister city of Port au Prince, Petionville, was devastating. All this has not stopped an informal occupation and utilisation of the area which has added a new layer of needs sometimes at odds with the stakeholders and the government. Students are then also expected through their projects to further address the historic, cultural, climatic and seismic characteristics of this part of the original 1776 Port au Prince grid-plan. With this part of the city at the coastal edge of a plain exposed to annual hurricane force winds as well as lying to the north of a major fault line on alluvial soil which can heavily liquefy in the event of an earthquake. With the support of Arup, we were able to develop projects further with structural advice regarding bamboo. The January timing of the workshop over the past two years has meant that the anniversary of the earthquake occurred the day before the final jury. All tutors and students stopped in the midst of the chaos of a studio of architecture students the day before the final presentations to have a minutes silence and hear the experiences of that day from the Haitian students. Any doubts regarding the responsibility of the designer in Haiti are cast aside as students push to ready presentations to show what role considerate design and the material of bamboo can play in a future lightweight Haitian built environment.
Haiti Visiting School PAGE 47
Bamboo Public Baths and Car Wash Marc-Rochnal Louis Jean, Edward Robertson and Ke Er Zhang
After mapping the public and private access to water on a specific site in the downtown of Port au Prince, group 1 decided to use their proposal to tackle head on the issue of waster access. Students observed members of the public washing openly on a street corner to the South East of the site and this waste was running from the car wash to the western edge of the site. A mapping exercise was conducted to see the where the public and private areas were as well as the locations and cleanliness of the water. The locations of water on the site formed a topography which would define the areas to be used for public bathing. The public/private mapping formed locations to raise and lower a surface to form volumes for activities to occur and locations for columns to emerge connecting at the ground in locations where privacy was mapped, therefore keeping bathing areas column free. The subsequent surface underwent solar analysis to make sure the bathing areas would be covered in shade 365 days of the year. Wind testing analysis identified pressure build ups on structurally important areas and the form was adapted accordingly to deflect these winds. Solar analysis again was used to create perforations on the canopy to allow light to penetrate through different size openings proportional to the solar intensity.
Under the canopy the topography shows locations to be occupied for both car washing as public bathing.
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Wind test analysis showed a build up on pressure on the exposed columns, especially here with wind coming from the East.
By lowering the canopy the column could be protected and the curvature of the canopy could be designed to reduce the wind pressure on the canopy.
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All the site mapping was collapsed into one comprehensive diagram.
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Proposed programme for the project.
The canopy projects a very appealing spatial quality and an asset to the downtown.
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Shade-Reward Scheme Victoria Oshinusi, Samuel Ossé and Jacob Werbin
Site mapping on site 2
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Downtown, Port-au-Prince is Haiti’s original trade intersection. Site 2 sits within the heart of Downtown, diagonal to one of Haiti’s most significant civic landmarks; The Iron Market. As goods are constantly being brought into the centre, it would be advantageous to introduce a recycling collection facility that was in such close proximity to the Iron Market. This would be the beginnings of a recycling infrastructure in Downtown and model for other Haitian cities and their iron markets. Most of Haiti’s economy is built on informal outdoor trade. For this reason we didn’t want to displace the existing markets on and around our site but rather formalise them and provide shade and refuge for the traders whose stalls would still appear as part of the informal street culture. The market stalls and recycling facilities work in tandem. Recycling for the traders would be incentivised and sustained by a shade rewards system, whereby the more you recycle the larger your shade, relaxation area.
The programme suggested by the group was to clean up the litter onsite whilst also engaging the pedestrian usage. A recycling station was suggested.
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Group 1 on the 2015 AA Haiti Visiting School.
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Group 2 students mapping onsite.
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Group 1 presenting at the intermediate jury.
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Group 3 students working in the studio.
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Enlivening Schnight-dy Azilien, Tan Yen Lin and Masha Otello Group 3’s project showed a daring ambition to confront head on the climatic, programmatic, cultural and political context of the site. Students mapped on site the different products being sold by the informal merchants and proposed formalising these activities into program which would form the basis of the project. The observation that the south east corner of the site sold exclusively education related materials formed an anchor program of education facilities and reading areas at ground level, which would be incorporated into the project.
Spatial intention for the upper levels with areas for activity, trade, recreation and views over the city.
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Formally the project proposed a series of pathways which would cross at different heights throughout the site in which people could cross paths and activities would occur. These pedestrianised walkways would emerge from inside the north wing of the Iron Market, (the specific location of the artisans’ stalls) and bridge over the road to the given site. This would bring easy access to artisan skills and augment the education program initially proposed by the group. Both structural input and aerodynamic testing were fully exploited in the design of the helix bridge connections. An ingenious system of convergence and divergence of singular bamboo poles within the structure of the walkways was proposed as a means of the terrain responding to the proposed activities. At the upper levels canopies were created based on a similar helix structural system to that of the bridges. These would frame views of key landmarks of the city. The attention to both the local activities currently adjacent to the site and also the views across Port au Prince showed a consideration of how the project interfaces with the street and also the wider city.
The helix structure would have to be build from bunched bamboo poles of 50mm in a sequence of 3 by 3.
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All the mapped information was collapsed into one diagram.
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The circulation defined the layout of the walkways in plan.
The bamboo would converge and diverge in the walkways to allow for activities to take place.
Wind test analysis was done on the helix bridges. It was decided to make the bridge not have any panels which was the original intention. The structure would be left open. Even though there were large build ups of pressure it was not too much for the structure to deal with.
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Tap Tap Market Jupille Facile, Mercedes Hanche and Clichy Beauvil
The site is located in the heart of Port-au-Prince. To get an impression of the plot and its context, the group mapped the site with three themes: texture, sound and pedestrian flows. The result of the analysis of the site and its context is the basis for the program. On the north-east side of the plot, there is a Tap Tap station (Bus station) substantially affecting the traffic on the road and providing a lot of noise. There is also a market on the north side which is not protected against the weather. Because the Tap Tap station and the market are heavily frequented, an area is created in the form of a cafĂŠ or restaurant where people can relax. The developed design proposal is based on the existing texture. Buildings in good condition are being kept and buildings in bad conditions were being demolished. Keeping the memory and the characteristics of the old ones, the new design elements leave a footprint of the old building type. In the design a former building at this point reflects every solitary element in size and height. Memories of past times have been reinterpreted by modern elements. The roof consists of a grid shell structure with an irregular geometry and is constructed with lightweight glue-laminated bamboo. To realize the construction of these individual elements, it is necessary that they have a round shape with a rising angle of 30 degrees. This structure has then been covered with a translucent waterproof membrane, that allows enough brightness in the interior . The large overhanging roof protects from the weather and provides shade for the visitors.
By collapsing pedestrian data, noise and the locations of vacant plots suggested both programme and where to occupy.
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Proposed situation on site.
The proposed idea of coverings which would fan out at upper levels.
Noise mapping wa also carried out and also suggested areas of intervention.
Interior render showing the local buses using the site and formalising the informal mapped bus (tap-tap) bus terminal on the street.
Proposed elevation onsite.
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Wind test analysis showed the way in which a curved structure would deflect wind. Compared to the adjacent vertical faces of the buildings you can see the difference.
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Tutors and students mapping onsite.
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Group 4 working in the studio.
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Schnight-dy Azilien presenting with her group at the final jury.
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Awards The Gardiner and Theobald Award for Determination is an award given to an enrolled local student and kindly sponsored by the UK based construction and property consultancy firm, Gardiner and Theobald LLP. The award is decided by vote of the tutors, and presented to a student who has shown dedication, continued enthusiasm for the course, and the wider agenda. The award for the AA Haiti Visiting School 2015 is Awarded to Schnight-dy Azilien. Schnight-dy was one of three members of Group 3 which was given an urban block to the south of the iconic Iron Market, rebuilt after the earthquake. Group 3’s project showed a daring ambition to confront head on the climatic, programmatic, cultural and political context of the site. Students mapped on site the different products being sold by the informal merchants and proposed formalising these activities into programmes which would form the basis of the project. The observation that the south east corner of the site sold exclusively education related materials formed an anchor programme of education facilities and reading areas at ground level, which would be incorporated into the project. For the breadth of the task set by her group, her enthusiasm, hard work and energy in pushing this agenda, the tutors of the AA Haiti Visiting School award the Gardiner and Theobald Award for Determination to Schnight-dy Azilien.
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Clockwise: students during software tutorials, 2015 students working in the studio, students on the 2014 course at the Oloffson Hotel, students on the 2015 course visiting Haiti’s first bamboo house.
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Student Life
Students on the AA Haiti Visiting School come from all over Haiti and the world. In this extremely intense studio environment students work in groups of three for the duration of the course. The social and historic context of the location in which students are working is extremely important to be embedded into the students and therefore a series of cultural activities are arranged. In 2014 this took the form of a tour into the downtown of Port of Prince to see some of the sites which still lay in ruins as well as those which had been rebuilt. This gave a sense of the rebuilding effort as well as a chance to hear Haiti’s history surrounded by her historic landmarks. In 2015 we all went to Croix des Bouquets to see Haiti’s first bamboo structure, as well as visiting the metal workshops there. During both years, and which has become quite the AA Haiti Visiting School tradition, we have visited the famous Oloffson Hotel. This building has had prominent roles in literature such as Graham Greene’s, ‘The Comedians’ and we spend our middle Thursday night tasting and listening to what Haiti has to offer, whilst dancing the night away to resident Vodou Roots band RAM.
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Staff and students on the social night out at the Oloffson Hotel to see the resident band, RAM. AA Haiti Visiting School 2014. PAGE 72 | Project Bamboo Haiti
Staff and students on the class trip to Croix des Bouquets, on the 2015 course. Pwojè Banbou Ayiti PAGE 73
Sunset software tutorials on the 2015 visiting school.
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The People The teaching staff on the AA Haiti Visiting School comprises of working architects and graduates of all levels of the AA School. The tutor student ratio of 5:1 allows the opportunity for students to closely engage with professionals from all over the world whom have worked for some of the largest and most sought after architectural practices. To supplement the workshop, a wide array of architectural and cultural lectures are offered and delivered by local professionals and tutors. This aims to embolden the student work with an architectural knowledge of bamboo and the local climatic and cultural vernacular, as well as the history of this uniquely vibrant location and culture.
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The Tutors Diego Perez Espitia PerezReiter Architects Bogota, Colombia Diego Perez-Espitia is a registered Colombian architect. He graduated with honours from University of Los Andes (2000) and obtained his Masters degree in Architecture and Urbanism with a thesis on Parametric Urbanism at the Architectural Association’s Design Research Lab (2008). For the last seven years his work has focused on the application of algorithmic design techniques at a wide range of urban and architecture design projects. Diego has worked for Zaha Hadid Architects and MAD Architects, where he founded and lead the Parametric Design Team. He is now founding partner at PerezReiter Architects, based in Colombia and Austria, where he currently explores the potentials and constraints of generative design and digital fabrication through architecture and interior design commissions. Diego has taught at University of Los Andes (Bogota), Tsinghua University (Beijing) and the Architectural Association (London), and has lectured at universities and design institutes in Colombia, Wales, England, Turkey and China. He is Director of the AA Bogota Visiting School.
Diego Perez Espitia PerezReiter Architects Bogota, Colombia
Rose Di Sarno Gensler Los Angels, USA Rose graduated from the University of Southern California in 2008 with a Bachelor of Architecture degree. During her time at USC, Rose travelled extensively through Southeast Asia, observing and studying the adaptive modernization of densely populated countries in which the extremes of the economic spectrum are visible. Paired with a team of students from the University of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur, Rose worked to develop sensitive, site specific architectural solutions for overcrowded, under-funded schools in Siem Reap, Cambodia. Professionally, Rose has worked in Beijing, China, where her projects ranged in scale from single family residential projects, to urban art installations, cultural centres and large scale commercial developments. She currently lives and works in Los Angles, California.
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Rose Di Sarno Gensler Los Angels, USA
The Tutors John Osmond Naylor (Programme Director) Architectural Association John, originally from South Shields in the North of England, graduated from the Architectural Association, London in 2013. His interest lays in architecture as a tool for social development. The amount of resource both intellectual and material used in a project offers many opportunities to disseminate skills, fortify communities, mitigate climatic threats and regenerate often depleted bio-systems. The material of bamboo with its lightweight, seismic and regenerative properties, as well as the ability of design to mitigate the effects of hurricanes and earthquakes, have been of particular interest and has seen him travelling widely in South East Asia and Haiti researching and teaching in this field. In 2013 this work won him both the AA Holloway Prize and the Fosters Prize for Sustainable Development. John has worked in London, Paris, Singapore and Beijing for firms including MAD, Farshid Moussavi Architecture, and rare architects. He has taught at the Architectural Association (London); Tsinghua University (Beijing); Singapore Polytechnic (Singapore); the Leeds School of Architecture (UK); and continues to direct the AA Visiting Program in Haiti.
Aditya Aachi Cullinan Studio London, UK
John Osmond Naylor (Program Director) Architectural Association
Aditya Aachi Cullinan Studio London, UK
Aditya is currently a Part II Architect at Cullinan Studio in London. He gained his undergraduate degree at the Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL and his Diploma at the Architectural Association School of Architecture. While at the Architectural Association he was awarded the Foster+Partners and AA prize for Infrastructure. Aditya is interested in exploring the role of the architect in humanitarian and socio-politically complex situations. He has worked with various NGO’s and charities as well as the UN to deliver and develop both architectural projects and consultation tools. While working internationally for architecture practices such as Grimshaw Architects and Foster+ Partners, Aditya pursued his interests in infrastructure and political lobbying. He was part of the design team for the Lubetkin Prize winning Casa Kike at Gianni Botsford Architects.
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Specialists
Sebastian Kaminski ARUP Sebastian is a Chartered Senior Structural Engineer working for Arup in London, and a Director of Engage for Development, a charity that supports projects in the developing world. He has extensive experience in the design of buildings, with particular interest in seismic design. He currently focuses on developing appropriate and sustainable low-cost housing in the developing world, in particular using traditional technologies and materials. Sebastian also advises on the structural use of bamboo within Arup, recently co-authoring internal guidance notes for Arup, which covered preservative treatment, member design and connection detailing. He has been involved in designs and reviews of projects using bamboo in Latin America and SouthEast Asia, and has published several peer-reviewed papers on the topic. As part of his long term aim to help improve the standards of engineering in developing countries, he is currently on Sabbatical in Latin America working with local NGOs in the development sector.
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Sebastian Kaminski
Collaborators
Jane Wynne Wynne Farm and Foundation, Kenscoff, Haiti Jane Wynne has worked tirelessly her whole life to preserve the ecology of Haiti, and is really the most prominent advocate for the conservation and restoration of Haiti’s forests. The Wynne Farm was founded in 1956 by her father Victor Wynne, a civil engineer. He noticed the ongoing misuse of the land and the inevitable threats of erosion and deforestation in the country and purchased various plots of land from local landowners and created the Wynne Farm which he terraced with a crew of 40 men. There, he propagated indigenous species to conserve Haiti’s rich biodiversity and introduced various fruits, vegetables and trees from numerous parts of the world, including bamboos. Victor Wynne emphasized the need for soil conservation, composting, reforestation, and experimented with agricultural techniques such as terracing. Today, due to its terraces and forest, Wynne Farm Ecological Reserve is a model for agro-forestry. The ground water naturally stored under the earth feeds the springs of the village of Kenscoff to the south of Port au Prince, providing water to the community.
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Assistant Tutors
Nathalie Jolivert Architectural Designer, Port au Prince
Karl Regis Architectural Designer, Port au Prince
Nathalie graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2012 with a Bachelor of Architecture and a Bachelor of Fine Arts. During her years at RISD she won the Gensler National Diversity Award in 2011 which featured her eco-touristic project for the indigenous Wayuu tribe of La Guajira in Colombia. Professionally, Nathalie worked on various projects with Architecture For Humanity and Studio Drum Collaborative in Haiti. As a painter, she also won a travel art residency to Bangladesh and Malawi with the USAID towards an exhibition at the Frontiers in Development Forum in Washington, DC (2014). Nathalie currently lives and works in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
Karl Régis is an architect whom graduated at University of Quisqueya (uniQ), in Port au Prince. Over the past seven years, he has worked in different positions in the construction and architecture field. After the 2010’s earthquake, he has been a Construction Supervisor and also worked for ISPAN, (the Haitian Institute for the Protection of National Heritage), as a Field Engineer as part of the National Palace Reconstruction Project. He is also very interested in alternative and sustainable construction, which drove him to attend the AA Visiting School in 2014 and subsequently became an assistant tutor on the 2015 course. Currently he works as an architect and construction supervisor and is planning on partaking in a Masters Program in Construction Project Management to further help in Haiti’s Reconstruction.
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Franck Vendryes Head and senior designer, Kalabam Port au Prince, Haiti Franck Vendryes is a local bamboo expert in craft, furniture and is currently building a large bamboo structure in Port au Prince. He has been working with bamboo for many years and gave a lecture to students during the 2014 AA Haiti Visiting School.
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Rose May Guignard Senior Urban Planner, CIAT Ms Guignard from CIAT (Comité Interministériel d’Aménagement du Territoire, Interministerial Committee for Territorial Development) lectured students on the history and the challenges of trying to rebuild and redevelop the downtown of Port au Prince. Issues of land ownership, differing interests, lack of security, the theft of building materials from the ruins following the earthquake, were all issues which were raised and posed challenges for the students.
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Ms Farah Hyppolite Project coordinator of the Gingerbread House Preservation Project, FOKAL Ms Hyppolite from FOKAL (Fondasyon Konesans ak Libete, Knowledge and Freedom Foundation) lecturing students on the vernacular occupation style and material history of buildings in downtown Port au Prince. This movement was later known as the Gingerbread movement and provides us even today with a blueprint regarding a vernacular occupational typology as well as design considerations for building in the Caribbean climate.
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Gary Pierre Charles Architect Port au Prince An architect working with bamboo in Haiti, Gary generously offered his support to the 2014 workshop visiting us and talking about his project in Port au Prince, the first structure in Haiti to be built from bamboo. On the 2015 course Gary took us to see the house and explain the design, construction and talked about the difficulties facing any bamboo project in Haiti.
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Tutors and students during the intermediate jury on the 2015 course.
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In a bid to gain knowledge, raise awareness and make contacts. Staff and collaborators engage with those working in the field all over the world. Here staff have been involved with bamboo construction projects in Sumatra, Indonesia.
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The Next Step
If bamboo is going to proliferate the Haitian construction industry then it is on the building site that it is going to prove most potent. Following the success of the previous three years we have the man power, knowledge and interest to get the construction process moving and physically install a structure which will demonstrate not just the merits of strength and durability, but also its aesthetic qualities through the synergy of material and design. DESIGN SKILLS Our work in Haiti has been successful in introducing a design methodology that is sensitive to the climatic and cultural context of the country. One of the biggest challenges is the culturally embedded notion that bamboo is a “poor man’s material”. Through the use of skills they have learned, design solutions and material knowledge we have seen emerge from student’s work the potential to convince the populous of the merits and aesthetic beauty of bamboo in construction. As students push their imaginations in the realm of design, we believe we can reverse this mentality. This is only the start, however. The development of design skills and software knowledge into the architectural and engineering system in Haiti still has a long way to go. Each year we have found ourselves able to exponentially widen the scope of the design course as the students become more receptive to the intriguing complexities of the challenge that lies ahead. CONSTRUCTION Through ongoing research and design courses with students our list of collaborators has grown, therefore deepening our potential to build in Haiti. We are now in a position to evolve the course beyond speculative design to built form. Now, through the process of building student work we can teach essential construction skills. Currently this skill set lies waiting to be deployed. Our team has evolved to include two of Haiti’s most prominent bamboo craftsmen and architects. They have a network already established in Marmelade, in the North of Haiti, where a bamboo plantation and treatment plant was has been developed over the past decade by a Taiwanese initiative. This area has laid dormant in recent years, however we have visited and are confident it can produce the material we need to build domestically. THE FIRST BUILDING FROM DOMESTICALLY GROWN BAMBOO Currently any bamboo used in construction in Haiti is imported from Colombia with great cost and inefficiency. Though difficult, with the necessary funding we can activate existing infrastructure to implement the use of domestically grown bamboo. With bamboo grown, cut and treated from the plantation in Marmelade we are able to connect the domestic bamboo stock to areas most in need. Our goal is to build a prototype in Port au Prince. Both a long and short term solution emerges from the education and building process. Through explicit construction techniques, a feasible strategy can be established to implement bamboo into the Haitian construction sector nationwide. In the short term this can take the form of roof beams to replace the current standard heavy concrete beams, or canopy supports to replace endangered timber that is currently being used. This not only serves to protect the population in this seismic zone, but it also protects the ecology, replacing slow growing hard woods with rapidly growing bamboo. This serves to enhance the ability of natural systems to regenerate. In the long term as techniques become more advance, more can be achieved. Absorbed skills can penetrate sectors beyond architecture, increasing the demand for bamboo and supporting the local economy.
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Locations of our work in Haiti and our scope for the future
To develop the curriculum for the construction phase of the project, we have also visited model makers and engineers at the Green School in Bali, Indonesia. This allowed us to see their process and inspire our approach to building in Haiti.
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Sponsors
The Haiti Visiting School would not be able to exist without the support of our many gracious sponsors. We are overwhelmed not just by the initial support offered, but also by the continuing interest shown in what the programme and the students are achieving in Haiti. There are also private individuals who have offered many different types of support to the school, the staff and the students. We would equally like to thank them for their generous and deeply valued contributions. We welcome any collaborations, potential lecturers who wish to present relevant projects, and financial support. If you can offer any support, or would like more information, please contact haiti@aaschool.ac.uk to be a part of our community.
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