Public Spaces

A community garden proposal in the garden of a Gingerbread. Public Spaces. The lack of adequate gathering spaces for leisure within the study area means that most outdoor social interaction occurs on sidewalks. These sidewalks are narrow, in poor condition, and are frequently overtaken by cars or vendors. The following set of proposals offers strategies that, through simple interventions, introduce new activities and create spaces for social interaction. These strategies draw from the vibrant street life of Port-au-Prince, and from FOKAL’s capacity to engage the community, bringing people together in underutilized places and creating enjoyable public spaces.

A. Community Gardens. The lack of publicly accessible space stands in sharp contrast to the large, often underutilized lots found throughout the study area. However, these spaces provide an opportunity to meaningfully engage with different members of the community. Building off of similar work at Parc de Martissant, the strategic introduction of community gardens into the private yards of large Gingerbreads would create a new set of stakeholders with a sense of ownership of these places. Gardeners would have access to fresh produce and have the opportunity to sell their goods to passersby. A prime location for this is at Rue 2, where a large Gingerbread with an absentee owner sits on a huge expanse of property looking out over the city. Working on the property, neighbors will be given the chance to intimately engage with a Gingerbread while providing the landlord with an additional set of hands to take care of the space.

B. Outdoor Cinemas. The same types of space that lend themselves to community garden activities can also easily be adapted to other programs that engage diverse users at different times of day. Sloped terrain, for instance, is not ideal for garden plots but well-suited for use as an outdoor cinema. On the aforementioned property at Rue 2, a gentle hill with views looking out over the city can host a projection screen and space for seating. This typically quiet portion of the neighborhood will take on a new vibrancy at night as residents now have reason to leave their walled-off properties. Gardeners may sell their produce to moviegoers and start conversations with new visitors. All of this activity takes place in the shadow of a dignified Gingerbread, ascribing meaning and value to a structure previously inaccessible to the public.

C. Lookouts. This proposal taps into the dramatic tropical landscape of Port-au-Prince and the aesthetic value of the Gingerbreads to create spaces for social interaction, by making small gathering spots centered on outstanding views of the built or natural landscape. Besides raising awareness of the beauty of these landscapes, the Lookouts also provide much-needed public spaces that improve the livability of the neighborhood through simple elements like seating and lighting.

These temporary interventions could serve as experiments that help determine possible locations and characteristics that permanent public spaces should have once funds become available. For this reason they are meant to be easily implemented and made with creatively used affordable materials. The process of building and designing these Lookouts can be used as an opportunity to engage the community in the creation of their own public space, generating a sense of ownership in the built environment, and contributing to the project’s purpose of raising awareness on the importance of social spaces, and the uniqueness of Port-au-Prince’s landscape and architecture.