Architectural Thesis

[ the money shot ]

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[ the money shot ] sasha judith dalla costa

| m. arch

“An entity, that is to say, which nothing that has come into existence will have passed away and all the earlier phases of development continue to exist alongside the latest one… in we want to represent historical sequence in spatial terms we can only do it by juxtaposition of space: the same space cannot have two different contents.”

Sigmund Freud

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... to my father ... to my mother ... to my sisters (the wind beneath my wings)

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Sasha Judith Dalla Costa

Masters of Architecture School of Architecture + Community Design College of the Arts University of South Florida

Steven A. Cooke | M. Arch | chair

University of South Florida | School of Architecture Associate Professor

Michael Halflants | M. Arch

University of South Florida | School of Architecture Associate Professor Halflant + Pichette Design Build Principle

Stanley Russell | M. Arch

University of South Florida | School of Architecture Associate Professor Director of Design | Build

Jan Wampler | FAIA | M. Arch Distinguished Professor, ASCA

University of South Florida | School of Architecture Markborough Endowed Professor Massachusetts Institute of Technology Professor of Architecture

Acknowledgments

My deepest gratitude to my chair Steven Cooke, who constantly inspired me from my first semester in architecture school, he has been a driving force through this Master’s Project. Professor Cooke’s passion for architecture was so infectious and allowed me to believe in, and get lost in my thoughts and dreams. To Stanley Russell, who literally taught me how to create and build. To Jan Wampler, who constantly challenged me in our semester together, but was the gentle father figure I needed in some of the lowest points of my education. To Michael Halflants, for always being so straightforward, and truly helping me find myself through design. To all my professors, thank you for always teaching me where to look, but never what to see.

To my father, Garry Dalla Costa, because of him, none of this could have ever been dreamed of without his constant love and support, for the times he pulled up my socks and listened to me ramble, for believing in me so much so that he did everything to make my dreams reality. To my mother, Jennifer Dalla Costa, who is my protector, my best friend, my light and whatever I need, whenever I need her. To my sisters, Sonia and Sarah, my world would be a lesser place without them both; words cannot describe my love and gratitude for them, thank you for always believing in me. To my family, thank you for forgiving me, for missing so many special moments in persuit of my education.

To Nathan Boyd, architecture school could have been so much smaller without his friendship, thank you, for always giving great advice, for our coffee walks, sleep deprived laughs and constant friendship, both in and out of studio. To Kendall Alhberg, who’s friendship and beautiful mind made me smile, even at my lowest moments. To my classmates, for all our good times, hard times and millions of laughs in-between. Thank you to, Christopher Podes, for always believing in me, for listening to my crazy mind for hours on end, for his pep talks and reassuring words when the light seemed too far away, his constant support and help through this Master’s Project has been invaluable. I could not have done this without you.

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Contents Abstract

111

St. Finbar R.C. Church

2

Introduction

6

Architecture and Culture

12

Evolution of Architecture

20

Globalization and Architecture

28

Case Studies

Trinidadian Architecture

34

50

Trinidadian Culture

38

Trinidadian Archetypes

56

Studies

64

Light Study

Open-Space Study Printmaking

64 76 84

Design Problem

90

Design Solution

106

Conclusion

126

Reference List

128

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Abstract

In order for a society to become capable of keeping up with an advancing world, a certain amount of modernization is expected.

With advancements in technology, there is now the ability to communicate with, and be knowledgeable of, what is happening on the other side of the planet within a moments notice, bringing with it, the feeling that the world is becoming a single civilization. This fusing of cultures can be seen as positive, however, it has triggered confusion in cultural identity, primarily in developing countries, countries now trying to find their places on the world stage.

The importance of architecture and architectural identity in many countries have fallen to the waist side, but architecture’s importance in society goes far beyond merely shelter, it helps to show the unique qualities of the culture and environment that it exists in. Architecture is constantly being shaped by human interaction and perception. Not only does the culture shape it, but architecture helps shape the culture, it starts talking about the climatic, economical, social, and religious atmosphere of a place. In many facets of modern civilization, architecture has lost its deeper sense of purpose.

This project seeks to ask why and how did these needs; architectural styles and elements come about, then the really important question, why did they start changing? This project is to bring awareness to the problems affecting architecture and cultures across the world, to make the reader conscious of the relationships of architecture to culture, a places impact on architecture and globalizations affect it. It then attempts to demonstrate what to look for in order to understand, and be able to identify what a site and culture need, Though the research itself is global, the project is based in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and attempts to reinterpret the vernacular architecture of Trinidad into a more modern version, that upholds not only the esthetic elements, but plays into the social aspect of the society.

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[ St. Finbar R.C. Church | Trinidad ]

I went home to Trinidad, for Christmas, at the end of my first semester of thesis. It is an annual tradition in my family to attend Christmas Eve Mass at our community church, a church I have attended for most of my life. The night before mass my mother said, “Oh! Tomorrow night will be the first night the air conditioning will be on at the church!”

“What!?!” I exclaimed.

My father joined in, “Yes, they air conditioned the church. I think it’s a great idea!”

In order to understand my reaction, you must first understand the type of church in which I grew up. Located in Diego Martin, and standing three stories tall, St. Finbar’s parish was not the most beautiful or elaborate church ever seen, but it was beautiful in its simplicity, and worked perfectly in our tropical environment. It featured elegant wrought-iron-laced openings, in place of the traditional stained glass. The roof hovered above an open-air clerestory that, during the day, allowed the sun to glow on the ceiling, and, in the night, allowed the lights from inside to glow out into the darkness. There was always a sense of airiness in the church as the breeze moved through all of the openings. One of the church’s most unique characteristics was the great number of wooden French doors, eleven feet in height, that flanked the entire perimeter of the church, and all of which were kept wide open during mass. In addition to these appropriate features, St. Finbar’s was fortunate enough to be one of the wealthier parishes in Trinidad.

And as such, all of the charity money from the church events and collections would typically be given to less fortunate churches every year. However, this year, the newly appointed parish priest decided that the church was to keep the money to pay for the renovations required to air condition the church building.

So when my parents told me about the church being air conditioned, I could not help but blurt out what a horrible idea I thought it was. I could not fathom how, or why, this should, or could, be done. I then proceeded to tell my father what I feared we 2|

might witness the night of Christmas Eve Mass.

First, I stated that we would walk out of the front door of our house, and would be unable to hear the voices of the choir. In the past, because the church was completely open to the outside, you could always hear the choir singing from our home. “When we approach the church, it will be standing in silence,” I continued.

Second, I explained that all of the French doors would be shut closed. Previously, because the doors were left completely open to the outside during mass, the congregation would filter in and out, unceremoniously. And, over the years, everyone had chosen the door through which they preferred to enter and exit.

So, I went on to describe how self-conscious everyone would be about entering and exiting the church.

Last, I reminded my father that because of the time at which the sun sets in Trinidad, all of the lights and candles lit in the church would always cast a glow into the darkness from all of the doors, wrought iron windows, and clerestory openings. There was a beautiful scene that you would approach that still burns so vividly in my mind: hearing the choir, seeing the glow from the church, seeing everyone filtering into the church through all its openings and the visibility of the congregation inside preparing for mass. There was calmness and awareness that settled over you as you approached. All of these physical and emotional senses would be no more.

Now, my family is notorious for being late to Christmas Eve Mass, which makes no sense, as we live right next door to the church. I don’t know how it happens, but it happens every year.

Nevertheless, my father always shouts the same thing, “Can we try to be on time this year?!” This particular Christmas Eve being no different, we are, of course, running late. And as he calls his usual request, we file down the stairs, and out the door, into the evening air.

[ St. Finbar Roman Catholic Church ] Megan Pinard ______________________________________________

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Then, I turn to him and ask, “Are you hearing the choir?”

He looks at me, “no,” okay!

We, next, walk down the hill that our house sits on. At the bottom of the hill, I turn to him and ask, “Are you hearing the choir yet?” “…No.”

We continue walking, and are almost to the church yard, yet, there is an eerie layer of silence. The only sound to be heard is the sound of cars passing by. As we reach the church yard, the whole church is standing in dark silence, lit only by exterior lights.

You cannot see the glowing light. You cannot see through to the inside. The only thing you can see is everyone trying to get into the church and failing because all of the doors are locked. The old, wooden French doors that once stood open and welcoming are now locked, sealed plywood doors, and no one can figure out how to get into the church. “Do you still think this is a good idea?” I asked my dad. He stops replying to my questions now. As we go to the door through which we normally enter, we discover it is locked.

I think to myself, “Just imagine that! They locked you out of your own church!” Finally, though, we did get in: we had to go through the main door at the back of the building.

Christmas Eve night at our church has always been so special. The church is usually so full that the congregation spills out from all of the doors of the church. The young children play outside in the church yard, and it is okay, because you can see them from inside, through the open doors. Tonight, however, the church is completely sealed. When I look up, what used to be the openair clerestory, that daylight would spill through, and from which the lights inside the church used to escape, is now lines of industrial air conditioning units. The church is completely sealed. It is obvious how uncomfortable the congregation feels, and the once open, airy space seems claustrophobic and cold.

I have never been brought to tears easily, but at that moment, as I stood looking around at this place, of which I held such found memories, including architectural memories, I started to cry.

Despite everything that I had understood and foreseen, that could have happened, the reality was far worse. The church felt so sterile and disconnected from the outside. Whereas, before the renova4|

tion, you could stand and overflow out through the doors, the new vibe of the church was this weird feeling, as if we were all sitting on top of each other. The acoustics were gone as well, which made it difficult for the congregation to participate, because it was more difficult to hear and understand the mass. Even the choir did not sound as if they sang as sweetly. Funny enough, in spite of all the alterations that were made to the church for the renovation, the space was not very cool. I do not think anyone really considered the type of power it took to cool a space of that scale.

Moreover, not only had the surrounding grounds and environment been cut off from the parishioners of the church, but the parish had cut itself off from the surrounding community.

On a regular Sunday night, if you were driving or walking past, you would hear the choir and see the lights, and everyone knew church was going on, whether or not you were inside. With awareness that mass was taking place, the surrounding neighborhood would be quieter with respect. Even if they were not attending mass, the entire community could sense that church service was taking place, and that it was a time to be respectful and peaceful.

Consequently, my elder sister, her husband and son never showed up to Christmas Eve mass that night, even though she was supposed to meet us. When we got home, they were sitting in the living room, and my father asked, “Why didn’t you show up to Christmas Eve Mass?”

“We did! We could not get in! We were locked out, no one could figure out how to get in, and it was so full that the only entrance we could get in from, no one could enter,” she said, “They locked us out!”

This action killed something that was so beautiful about a community just to have a space air conditioned for an hour, in my opinion is you go to church for an hour, you can take the penance of no air conditioning for an hour.

The point to be made is that this idea that we can modernize, that ‘this is going to be better, think of how wonderful this is going to be’, often ends up destroying everything special and unique that really relates to that particular place. This is something that is happening all over the world. What the church did in relation to the place, how the buildings function, how they work, how people live with architecture. Somehow these elements have to be supportive to the community in which they exist.

[ St. Finbar’s Roman Catholic Church ] Megan Pinard

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[ Introduction ] This project started with a growing awareness of globalization’s effect on cultures and architecture. The most prominent instance that bothered me was observing the major development that has been taking place in Port-of- Spain, Trinidad within the last five years. One of the most influential aspects in my architectural education was my Trinbagonian heritage. Trinidad and Tobago’s society is rich with its multitude of cultures from across the globe that co-exists and bleeds together to make our ‘one people.’ There is a range of cultures that overlap and meld together to make unique varieties of ethnicities, foods, religions, rituals, celebrations and, of course, architecture. Trinidad, with its wealth of knowledge of people and cultures should not fall victim to the mediocrity of the international style of architecture.

There is a problem affecting developing countries across the globe. In order to become a society capable of keeping up with a world that is developing at a rate never seen before, a certain amount of modernization has to happen. The only constant in life is change. The problem with this is that with advancements in technology, and the ability to communicate and know what is happening on the other side of the planet within a moments notice, there is the feeling that the world is becoming a single civilization.

This amalgamating of cultures, though positive in some sense, has caused confusion in cultural identity. This has happened primarily in developing countries, countries now trying to find their places on the world stage. point;

In Paul Rioceur’s book, ‘History and Truth’ he raises the

“Thus we come to the crucial problem confronting nations just rising from development. In order to get on the road toward modernization, is it necessary to jettison the old cultural past, which has been the raison d’etre of a nation? Whence the paradox: on the one hand, it has to root itself in the soil of its past, forge a national spirit, and unfurl this spiritual and cultural re-vindication before the colonialist’s personality” (Paul Ricoeur)1.

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The ‘raison d’etre’ - the reason for existence. This Master’s Project asks the reason of existence of a nation, of a culture, and how it relates to its architecture. Thomas Berry, an eco-theologian and cultural historian states, “the universe is a communion of subjects and not a collection of objects”2. Architecture is far more than a record or image of who we are. The purpose of architecture is a method of creating our cultures and ourselves. When there is clarity of who we want to be, only then can we think of what kind of culture we are, what story and social rituals are dear enough to support a vision of where we are heading, and how architects can design accordingly. ‘Architecture is the synthesis of various art forms organized in a way to give comfort, enjoyment and pleasure to the people who inhabit man-made spaces.’3

Traditionally, architects and architecture have been associated with the rich and the powerful. This association did not always assure the architects as favored standing in a society, but it did set them apart from the laboring classes. Architects came to be known as, “the ruler of the workmen.”

The primary reason for the architectural profession has grown from the mediation of architecture and the culture in which they practice. Architects are governed by the history of their profession and their historical conditions of practice. Inspiration and the ability to think in three-dimensional form, “have been considered a supernatural requirement for architectural production, and displaced by social forces, like economics and politics” (Cuff). The organization of architectural practice and the relationships among the building trades, such as engineers, builders, craftsmen etc, the nature of architectural education, and one’s professional status have an undeniable impact on the architect, not simply as a professional, but as a person. Architecture is not merely a profession, but a life choice.

Architects have assumed varying positions in the social hierarchy of cultures throughout history; this status has been determined by the unique culture and history of the place. Architect’s technical expertise, building safety or structure, and emphasis on aesthetics helped establish their high social standing, which can be seen in many ancient cultures. For example, “in a culture such as Egypt where the building of monuments had an extraordinary social and economic impact, the post of chief state architect clearly belongs at the very peak of the governing hierarchy” (Kostof 1972).

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[ fig. Samburu Woman ] tumblr - How I view Africa | eric lafforgue

[ fig. Aboriginese Man ] My Australia

[ fig. Tribal Amazonian Hunter Beyond the Gates of Slendor

{ fig. Women in Indian ] Roots of Wealth

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The architectural profession has a responsibility and the ability to affect the socio-standing and the image of a society on the world stage. But, it must understand the importance of the exclusivity of the components it has to work with: location, environment, necessity, climate, religion are only a few. This need for architecture goes beyond man’s necessity of shelter.

This project seeks to ask why, and how, did these needs; architectural styles and elements come about, then the really important question, why did they start changing? The purpose of this project is to bring awareness to the problems affecting architecture across the world, to make the reader conscious, then shows the reader what they should be looking for through the example of the study of Trinidadian and tropical architecture.

1. Paul Ricoeur, “Universal Civilization and National Cultures” (1961), History and Truth, trans Chas. A. Kelbley (Evanston: Northwestern University Press, 1965), pp.

276-7 2. Thomas Friedman, “ Our Carbon Copies”(2008), Hot, Flat and Crowded- Why We Need a Revolution and How it Can Renew America. (Picador: New York, 2008).

3. Anthony Lewis, “Introduction”(2009), Manikin, The Art of Architecture of Anthony C. Lewis. (Geoffrey Maclean and Brian Lewis: ACLA Works, Trinidad, 2009). Pp13

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[ Elements of Culture ] ______________________________________________

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[ Architecture and Culture ] Architecture is the physical manifestation of culture and society, and, through architecture, we are provided with information about historic societies. Research from the fields of architecture, history, and anthropology indicate that architecture is the physical demonstration of human behavior. Architecture that expresses human behavior will undoubtedly be shaped by it, using the built form of architecture as the physical representation of social and economic organization, and the changes produced in a society.

This meeting of architecture and social standing usually exposes socio-economic complexity within the built society. “Where socio-economic reorganization is found, it will be noted, a concurrent architectural re-organization is found” (Steadman 1999). Architectural structure and the concepts used in the construction of space are basic in knowing the development of society, because social complexity determines the organization of constructed space.1 The architectural varieties of buildings provide information about historic cities, and the relationship to the people that built them, as well as the society’s social structure. Builders through the millennia have left evidence of construction techniques, material, structural organization, investment of labor, and geometric order, both through technique and symbolically.2 Architectural similarities can be used to distinguish architectural characteristics and identify shared cultural backgrounds among groups.3 Such distinguishing features of a society include their architectural designs, given that variety and change correlate with, “social shifts, diversity among societies, human activities, social structure, etc., and the identification of casual factors that influence design” (Esquivel 2011). These changes in architecture allow us not just to understand the evolution of the architecture, but show changes in social structure and cultural changes throughout the years. Architectural design is shaped by human action and perception (Van Dyke 1999). Thus Architecture acts as a time capsule, which not only tells the story of the social, functional, and demographic knowledge, but also stands as a reminder of what our cultural story is.

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So not only does the culture shape the architecture, but ar-

“Constant change has been the backdrop of our lives. But now the nature of change has changed. Instead of, or besides, being subject to the forward propulsion of ‘progress,’ we are in the throes of comprehensive systemic collapse. Along with other potent forces for change, this suggests these are times of a major transition–times in which to rethink almost everything, including architecture and design and the larger environment it is part of.”

Peter Buchanan, “The Big Rethink: Towards a Complete Architecture” (Architectural Review, January 2012)

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[ Musicans Infront of Church | Ecuador ]

chitecture helps shape the society. It begins informing us about the climatic, economic, social, and religious atmosphere of a place, and it helps us understand how the emergence of mathematical thought came to be.

In many facets of modern civilization, architecture has lost its deeper sense of purpose as a fully qualitative and quantifiable form of sustainable art; as its most fundamental requirement of fulfilling humanity’s basic need for shelter from the extremities of the world; and as a physical benchmark for a society and the understanding of the third space, ‘a site of fading, of appearance and disappearance’4 referring to the social surroundings different from the two social environments of home and the workplace. The ignorance of these three elements leads to the decay of architecture as it was once known. This master’s project seeks to reinstate architecture’s rightful place as it pertains to culture. Architecture is not a regular topic in the conversations of modern-day art, though it is not purely an art form, but rather the manifestation of a multitude of fields combined into one. Not only does society forget architecture’s importance, but so, too, do many architects.

In his essay, ‘The Big Rethink: The Purposes of Architecture,” Peter Buchanan states, “The inherent difficulties of knowing the purpose of architecture arising from its ubiquity, have been compounded by the reductive and unbalanced views of reality, and so also of architecture, characteristic of modernity and post modernity.

In the confusing aftermath of these, any useful vision of a more complete architecture needs to be underpinned by a re-assessment of its very purposes” (Buchanan 2012).

Of course, the field of architecture is not the only thing that has lost its sense of purpose. Many trades still needed to uphold a greater standard of living seem to have lost their way. It is becoming more and more difficult to simply find a trade that is done the ‘old way,’ that is, the method that has tested time. With this loss of trade professions, we see the loss of quality of product. The idea that more is more seems to be running through every aspect of our lives, from the food we eat, to the clothes we wear, to the houses we call a home.

Architects alone do not stand at fault in the loss of architecture’s enriching sense of purpose, but a lot of blame can be given to modern society. One of the clearest forms of this distortion of purpose that can be seen is societies’ shift from agriculture to agri14 |

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business. Agriculture was not only a way to produce wholesome food for a society, but it was a lifestyle that understood living on, and with, the land. Agriculture went beyond merely tending the land, but acted to enhance it for future generations. Now, agriculture has become a business to maximize short-term profits that produce a mediocre product, tainted by toxins, which not only kills the once wholesome quality of food, but also contaminates the land, leaving nothing but damage in its wake.

No matter the society we live in, there needs to be an understanding of what type of people we want to be, and what type of lives we would like to live. Almost everything in our present world is about making money, rather than providing. It focuses on the quantitative aspects to supporting day-to-day life, providing an efficient means to sustain good mental, physical, architecture is intimate. Its need is so fundamental to our lives, and has become such a constant that we no longer register our daily interactions with it.

Like driving to, and from, work everyday, the process and related surroundings become so engrained in our being that they become the back drop to our life, often without notice, but it still has an impact on our subconscious, so, too, do the spaces that we occupy on a daily basis. Architecture, in some sense, seems to be a dying art. Methods and technique of understanding site, and how native architecture is created and implemented, disappear with every new generation of architects. Even architects underestimate the true power and influence of the built form.

This indifference to the importance of architecture is the product of imbalanced views of the built reality. The difference between what people want, and what they actually need, has changed drastically through the centuries. This change in the basic need of a space is the product of the modern and postmodern styles of architecture. These periods in architecture, though positively influential in many aspects, have also confused the everyday-man’s concept of built reality.

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Much of modern thought assumes the simplest form; it ignores the fact that there is a web of relationships that establishes what context is. This neglect of the context and culture of a site, with its environment, site conditions and purpose, lead to stand alone objects. Jan Wampler, professor of urban design at the University of South Florida and M.I.T. describes them as “perfume bottles:� buildings designed as objects that struggle to settle into the urban fabric. There are systems of thinking that accumulate the entire

Individual

4

Interior

Exterior

Personal experience and psychology

Behaviour (function) anatomy and form

Upper Right (UR)

Collective

Lower Right (LR)

Culture and meaning

Systems: Social Ecological Economic

[ Four Quadrants of Architectural Design ] Peter Buchanan

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context, and help us to understand the design problem better. But the acknowledgement of only the building as nothing more than an object cannot result in effective solutions.

The essential purpose of modern architecture is limited to concerns of shelter, security and function. While these are all important, they are not enough to form a truly sustainable architecture.

This is because they cannot connect to our humanity: the human need to connect to a space psychologically and culturally. Postmodernity in contrast, overemphasizes the image of the building tending to be stuck at a superficial level, thinking mainly of the symbolism and meanings.5 Postmodernism tends to see all realities as subjective, and is much more about the need to barely fulfill the duty of the building or focus only on its idea of representation, The Money Shot.

Due to this fact, buildings acting as social construct deal, somewhat grudgingly, with issues of function. Both modern and postmodern architecture hold elements of a complete architecture, but only elements. As neither focus on the entire picture, they both fall short as a representation of architecture that satisfies all of the contemporary man’s needs.

The role and status of architecture as a manifestation of culture is universal, the way in which architectures’ function or practice is represented or relates to architecture as a product of culture is more often than not, not clear. Architecture’s unique status in relationship with the conventional understanding of art and culture is the result of the complexity that the process of its conception, development and implementation involves. Architecture remains grounded in the realm of culture and occupies a very specific to society that combines need with function, aesthetics with symbolism and cultural objectives. Additionally architecture that exist within the spectrum of culture and society lay in particular relationships between the modern and the vernacular.

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(Endnotes) 1. (Chapman 2000).

2. (Van Dyke 1999; Esquivel Navas 2007).

3. (Carr 1995).

4. The third space 82 5. Buchanan, Peter.

clockwise 1. [ Mille Fleurs ] www.travelpictuWresgallery.com 2. [ Whitehall ] thinkinginsomniac.worldpress.com 3. [ Killarney ] www.izatrini.net 4. [ Roomor ] www.travelpicturesgallery.com 5. [ Hayes Court ] www.travelpicturesgallery.com 6. [ Archbishop’s House ] www.travelpicturesgallery.com 7. [ Queen’s Royal College] www.qrc.edu

[ Hacienda Courtyard | Yucatan | Mexico ]

[ Sisters | Carnival | Trinidad ] www.fb.com/jbphotograohy,com

[ African Tribes Women ] tumblr - How I view Africa | eric lafforgue

[ Peep of Day Bar | Trinidad ] Virtual Museaum of Trinidad and Tobago

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[ Evolution of Architecture ] Architecture is an entity that evolves over time. Though, the exact meaning of evolution, as defined in Merriam- Webster’s dictionary as, “a process of continuous change from lower, simpler, or worse to higher, more complex, or better state,” cannot be solely used to describe the evolution of architecture. There also exists, for example, the ability to trace the source of architectural changes through the work of previous generations of architects. Alex Brown, Architect and professor of Architectural Theory discusses in his research that there is an analogy between the concept of styles in architecture, and that of species in biological systems. Both styles and species are distributed throughout unique ecological and cultural environments; both come to exist, and become extinct, at certain points in time, throughout history.1

Brown further explains, “They have a definite lifespan, after which they cease to exist or ‘become something else’ by being transformed into another species or style” (Brown, 2006). In both biological systems there is a continual transformation that follows a lineage. In the case of this document, continual transformation pertains to an understanding that the evolution of both biological and architectural systems is a product of its particular environments.

This is a concept that must be understood: in order for architecture to be truly successful, it needs to be a product of its environment.

Every place needs to be aware of the society in which it exists, and every designed space needs to understand, and be sensitive to, the site in which it exists. Every site offers its own unique instances of environment, as seen as a “function of demographic, institutional, technological or economic change” (Brown 2006).

The conversation of the ‘theory of evolution’ for architecture has come up a few times through the research for this master’s project, but the theories all seem to fall short when the idea of dominance comes into light. This is because a number of architectural styles may exist at the same time, while, at other times; a single architectural style may dominate a particular environment. Therefore, it is difficult to pinpoint the impartial and systematic mechanism by which the evolution can take place. As this relates to science, the 20 |

[watercolor]

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theory of ‘natural selection’ and ‘survival of the fittest’ comes into play. This is the mechanism for change in the characteristics of the surviving species.2 A possible flaw in the argument of architectural evolution is the identification of personal, or personal cultural, lineages and influences that are inscribed to personal choices and motivations on the part of the architects. Architecture is often influenced by the architect’s personal style; this is how different schools of architecture have come to fruition through the ages. Freedom of thought of the creative mind makes the evolution of architecture less likely to be a systematic process of change by which different styles merge from, or morph. into, others. These changes in styles can either be revolutionary or destructive; these moves are either provoked or resolved by the efforts of concerned architects, unlike the step-bystep process of evolution to its biological counterpart.

The product of human intelligence, architecture is the result of the conscious and unconscious mind; that of practicality and sensual experience paired with human need. Although the biological and architectural aspects of evolution vary greatly, in the same instance, the environmental effect on them both is indisputable.

Organisms, components, and forces of their contextual situation continuously affect both, wherein individual characteristics of the environment come into play.

A lion cannot become a tiger, no matter what environment it exists in. This is something that is often forgotten in architecture of the modern world. In architecture a house can become a tower, an unconditioned space can become conditioned. Evolution can take a different approach through the pushing of social or technological forces on a place. Architecture is not only about styles. It is also about how the building works as a living breathing form, and needs to be designed as such. A building should not solely be seen as an object or image, but as a living system of spaces that reacts to the environment within which it is situated, and in which we, as humans, can respond. The use of technology, and people trying to only appeal to the visual, lose sight of that into which architecture was bred.

In the book ‘Rendering,’ Victor Tsu states: “Consuming renderings [images] as if they were architecture makes real buildings seem more and more disposable. We start by looking at images as if they were buildings and before we know it we are looking at buildings as if they were images.”

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[ Gingerbread House | Trinidad ] Jade Geadon

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Evolution does not mean there is the death of one species in order to make room for another. An architect needs to understand place. There has been a globalization of architecture that has opened doors to bring in the death of the vernacular species. In the affairs of man, architecture’s necessity for life-places is underplayed in modern society. It is imperative for the society-at-large to stronghold their sense of shelter, social function, technology, art, economics, politics, science and more. If the architect and the architecture do not understand their place in the environment, the effects can be socially and environmentally devastating.

tal circumstance. In order to thrive, the brain must be stimulated to make its own unique connections. Neuroscientist and psychologists believe that, in the field of architecture, we design from our subconscious environment.5

To understand the difference between the unconscious biological species and the conscious human-controlled evolution of architectural styles, we must understand the workings of the creative human’s mind.

Scientist Gyorgy Buzsaki’s idea of ‘Representation,’ explains the way that neurons are structured, and how it works in our brains. Neurons are the bricks and mortar of the human brain, and there are hundreds of billions of neurons, otherwise known as brain cells, in the human brain. They represent the computing power of the brain, and are all connectioned. Neurons can be likened to that of a tree: their branches or Dendrites, collect information and make connections to other neurons, while the trunk of the tree or Axon, transfers the information to other neurons. Axons, the trunk, range in size from a millimeter to several feet in length. The longer the axon, the faster information is transferred through the brain.

The human brain differentiates us from all other species on earth, and is thought to be the most incredible phenomenon of evolution. From the time of the homo erectus, our brains have cultivated the ability to think and communicate in a logical frame work, and as stated by Mallgrave, “the gift to view ourselves within the context of the past, present and future” (Mallgrave 2001).

The human brain has attempted, but only scratched the surface of, understanding the physical universe. And for its own ‘biological reasons,’ it has built an elaborate play of the cultural elements, such as music, art and architecture. We are finally beginning to have enough understanding of the workings of the brain to understand the philosophical and psychological questions that man has been thinking and discussing for thousands of years. The search for not just the physical understanding, but the philosophical and psychological aspects of the brain, has been named ‘the scientific search for the soul” by the Nobel laureate, Francis Crick.3 The brain has developed to facilitate the survival of the species: it adapts to exist in, and understand, its specific environment as a goal-oriented organism, and in its most basic function, helps the species to find food, water, mates, and shelter.4 At birth, the human brain is strikingly undeveloped, but it develops the fastest it ever will within the first year of life. Again, the brain is the product of the environment in which it exists. Babies can understand every language in the world until their brains acknowledge the language of their spoken or communicated environment. The controlling factors of the development of a brain are the particulars of the environmen24 |

We can all say that one’s ignorance, or plain ignoring of the beauty, complexity, and simplicity of the built form, at the beginning of one’s education is unquestionable, but as soon as we are surrounded with the knowledge, and like-minded people, our appreciation for beauty automatically increases. So, what influences our architecture?

The brain has an infinite number of connections. And so the transfer of information is constantly moving, with neurons plotting out the fastest possible routes. This efficiency links like groups of neurons to a series of loops and maps, this connection allows the actions of the neurons to coordinate and enhance the level of output of each link of neurons. It is still a mystery to science exactly how, and why, the neurons work in this manner. This understanding of neurons explains that the brain does not simply gather and process information, but each human brain continually generates its own pattern of information. It needs to be pointed out that each person’s ability to be mentally stimulated is very unique. Not only do we respond to our environments, each person responds in their own way. Things such as smells, colors, touch, taste, and form are treated differently in each brain.

When we experience a space, Buzsaki describes it as; “ ‘Representation’ of external reality is therefore a continual adjustment of the brain’s self- generated patterns by the outside influence, a process called ‘experience’ by psychologist.”6 The brain does not merely sense the world; it actively con-

[ Illustration of Human Brain ]

[ Illustration of Neuron in Human Brain ]

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fronts it with its own representational ideals, and constantly challenges, and re-challenges, its hypothesis for what it is experiencing.

The human brain is highly selective and extremely motivated in its subconscious engagement with its surrounding environment. It almost ignores information that it is not seeking, or does not need.

We have all experienced the drive or walk home in which we remember leaving our starting point, and arriving at our final destination, having no memory of the in between. We will never be able to recall the journey unless something out of the ordinary happened, or seemed to our own brain, interesting. Even then it is selective to decide what information it will hold onto.

So many of our neural networks are determined by our experiences, or interactions, with the world, and our brains vary from person to person. Even between identical twins, we are “the specific neural circuits or maps that we build over the course of a lifetime” (Mallgrave 2001).7 This individuality can more simply be called our personalities, or our minds. This distinctiveness of the brain is exaggerated when the individual beings practice and hone a desired skill.

Though it has been attempted, there has not been an exact portion of the brain found that controls architectural thought. This may be because architecture does not happen in just one area; the ability to think in multiple ways at one time is unique to the profession.

Architects need to receive early training of a specific skill, or the engaging of our larger culture to, “stimulate the brain, the more we enrich our cortical maps with knowledge, memories, and the creative associations, the more the brain will continue to grow in its neural complexity” (Mallgrave 2011)8. This development of the neural complexity was labeled the “personalization” of the brain by Susan Greenfield, explaining that it adapts and configures to personal experience. Much of the brain’s synaptic connections are created to adapt to the particular culture which we are born, They develop through the constant surrounding of culture and inspired effects, if the architect’s mind develops and evolves because of its environment and everything that surrounds them, shouldn’t architecture?

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(Endnotes) 1. Alex Brown’s article Evolution and Architecture. (2006) 2. Alex Brown’s article Evolution and Architecture. (2006) 3. The Title of Francis Crick’s book The Astonishing Hypothesis: The Scientifi Search for the Soul (New York: Touchstone, 1994).

4. Alex Brown’s article Evolution and Architecture. (2006) 5. neuroscience and architecture, p.126 6. Buzsaki, Rhythms of the Brain, p.11 7. neuroscience and architecture, p.135 | 8. neuroscience and architecture, p.137

[ Old Versus New | Port-of-Spain | Trinidad ]

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[ Globalization and Architecture ] Shelter, social functions, technology, art, economics, politics, science; architecture can be seen as a mirror of the society in which it exists. Since the beginning of history, architects have tried to link architecture to the political status, direction, and symbolic representation of place. This has often occurred through the use of different forms of technology and architectural forms, but has also reflected the psychological and spiritual characteristics of a place.

However, this can be inverted; a society can instead reflect the nature of its architecture. Rapid increase in urbanism, and the technological advances that follow, have resulted in standardization of built environments. This deprives a society of culture and regional identity, through normalizing materials methods and styles applied, and there becomes a stereotypical form of architecture. However, it is forgotten that a place does not only exist in a physical location, but also within the people that live and/or interact with it. The identity of a place becomes interesting when it brings about experience and evokes associations and memory.

Globalization is present, and not to be ignored. We must understand what it is, and how we can control its effect on societies and cultures worldwide. Once thought to only be the dominance of big business corperations, ‘globalization’ is a phenomenon that now covers social, political, economical and, notably, architectural aspects of a society. Jürgen Habermas, a German sociologist and philosopher explains that globalization is the parasite that is becoming the new world order, and is bringing with it the death of culture and vernacular architecture to societies without the means, want, understanding, or any combination thereof, to protect such cultural identities. Globalization is the collective progressions of the global expansion of trade, production, and commodity.1 Some consider globalization to be ‘high modernity’2 and the realization of ideals of enlightenment, while others believe it to be a new phenomenon of equal but different significance from the enlightenment.3

“Imperialism, internationalism and other forms of interchange between cultures and economies have been taking place for millennia, but globalization is different in effect, depth, and breadth” 28 |

(Adam 2008).

Globalization stems from the western North American way of life. Western culture descends to the farthest corners of the world, bringing with it ‘development,’ and with this development comes movies, satellite television, tourists and commercial industry, which leave cultures trembling in their path. “This access to the west show images and give the impression that the west is rich, beautiful and brave and leads a life filled with excitement and glamor” (Adam 2008). Under the false impression that the western world is better than that of their developing culture, societies are trying to fit into the rest of the world, so much so, that once beautifully diverse, unique societies begin bleeding together.

Historically, development of globalization in architecture paralleled the domination of modernism. In 1919, one of the founders of the modernist theories of idealism, Walter Gropius wrote, “one day there will be a world-view, and then there will also be its sign, its crystal-architecture.”4 This ‘crystal-architecture’ was defined and identified as “International Style” by 1932. This was really a development of the “parallel experiments” that existed between nations.5 By 1948 the seeds of globalization had been planted, and International Style was presented as, “contemporary style, which exists throughout the world ... unified and inclusive.”6 This new style was simply labeled “Modern.”

Modernism is believed to have been the starting point of the destruction of vernacular architecture, grounded on the ideals of Western Enlightenment, considers the rational, scientific innovation, progress and the end of tradition. However, it remained mainly a northern-Atlantic cultural phenomenon.7 To countries involved in the major global economy, modernism was considered the progressive and rational move for their societies, with early modernist building types including: the airport, the mall, and the corporate office tower.

These buildings stand as objects on the landscape, their similarities serving as the symbolic link between the dominant economies of the world. However, the problem starts to arise that, without signage or a previous knowledge of a location, a person will be unable to tell if they

[ Towers at International Waterfront Center | Port-of-Spain | Trinidad ]

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are in Trinidad, Shanghai or Moscow.

The globalization of commercial architecture has formed an interdependent relationship with the class of the ‘star architects,’ such architects as Frank Gehry, Jean Nouvel, Rem Koolhaus, who’s seductive architecture designs have made them famous and desirable around the world. Cities, more so than entire countries, now try to attract world attention, investment and tourism by making their cities desirable. Using architecture as an attraction, they often call upon global architectural firms, and famous architects, to design buildings that either help their cities appear to be part of the world economic environment, or extra-ordinary buildings that attract international attention. The buildings may be viewed as iconic and become an image of the society, though oftentimes, this may not be the image that shows the cultural richness of the place, and becomes only an image, not a place. The often-conceptual nature of the iconic building allows commercial global firms to clone trademark design characteristics; the firms then have the ability to reproduce iconic forms.8

The trickle-down effect of the high status architects are believed to have influenced architecture more generally than the iconic product itself. Dutch critic Hans Ibelings has approvingly named this new form of present-day architecture, “super-modern.” He states, “For this architecture the surroundings constitute neither legitimation nor inspiration for these are derived from what goes on inside the building, from the programme. This autonomy is in many cases reinforced by the fact that the building has an inscrutable exterior that betrays nothing of what happens inside. … In many instances these buildings look as if they might house just about anything: an office or a school, bank or a research center, a hotel or apartments, a shopping mall or an airport terminal.” (Ibelings 1998)9 However, it should not be thought that globalization is as simple as the expansion of western values or the spread of products, culture and style. Localization is the other side of the globalization coin, when a nation has become too small to solve global problems and it is too large to deal with local ones.10 Localization is the rising of power in the regional, and ethnic identities, and the loss of power of nation states. Localization is closely linked to identity, 30 |

identity being the community and place related as it relates to the community.11 The effect of technological communication for those people that exist within a particular community can be a hindrance in its loss of pure identity, and a benefit in the ability to connect to ones communal identity if they live away from it.

A globalized world is strongly impacted by the sociological, political and economic influence on a region and its identity.

Displaced identity can lead to fundamentalism; strict adherence, or fragmentation of a society. However, there is an independent thread of studies that place a renewed concern for localization. Within the last ten years, there has been a major increase in the desire to promote urban tourism. This demands tourism for “cultural authentic” places, in other words, places that look authentic to a tourist.12 Richard Florida wrote a follow up piece to his book, ‘The Rise of the Creative Class’ in which he discusses, “the quality of a place, a city or region, has replaced access as the pivotal point of competitive advantage. Quality- of- place features attractive to talented workers of a region have thus become central to regional strategies for developing high- tech industries” (Florida 2005).

Though many urban designers are architects, the concern and identity of place is far more evident in urbanism and urban design than in architecture. There has been a growing movement of urbanism in the past few years, which specifically focuses its concerns on the identity and individuality of a place. The American Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU) sought to reconfigure the sprawling suburbs into their own separate communities and districts to encourage diversity of place and individuality, and they encouraged towns and cities to be respectful of historical ordering patterns.

“The diversity of urban neighborhoods means that different places will respond to the pressure for change in different ways.…

This diversity reflects the full richness of the English urban tradition” (Rogers 1999).

The interest in contextual and cultural identities run in conflicting interest to the homogeneous international architecture of ‘star architects’ and their followers; there is a continuing clash between the two. The polar ends of to modern architecture, supermodernism and the specificities of a place, seem to stand as clear representations of globalization: homogenization and localization. It must be understood that they are both products of globalization and are not totally different. The extreme challenge of globalization:

[ The Guggenheim Museum has played a key role in the urban revtal- [ it was a part of a plan for redevelopment in Beijing, China, which was to focus on ization and transformation of the area, in addition to becoming the innovative architecture and function, while at the same time, keeping historic buildsymbol of the city of Bilbao, Spain ] ings’ values ] Architect | Frank Gehry Architects | Rem Koolhaus | OMA Wen.wikiarquitectura.com/ www.arcspace.com

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the cause and effect and their resolution, are and will continue to be local and global. It is understood that globalization will affect all aspects of society: social, political and economic, and it will undoubtedly have a profound effect on architecture.

Architects and developers often become fascinated with the latest, impressive trending forms to create an image, and disregard the local influences. There are many negative influences from the technologically globalized world that lead to the production of either overdone or, more often, boring architecture that ignores and deprives the society of cultural, regional and national identity, to create buildings that could really exist anywhere.

Study and understand vernacular styles, understanding the heritage and history behind them and how they are used in the vernacular architecture. Historical styles should be respected.

(Endnotes)

1. Jurgen Habermas, The Divided West, Polity Press, 2006 p175 2. Meaning of high modernity 3. see Martin Albrow and Immanuel Wallerstien.

4. Leaftlet at Arbeitsrat fur Kunst, April 1919.

5. Henry-Russell Hitchcock and Philip Johnson, The International Style, Norton, 1995, orig. publ. 1932, p36 6. Henry-Russell Hitchcock and Philip Johnson, The International Style, Norton, 1995, orig. publ. 1932, p36 7. Adam, pp2 8. Adam, pp2 9. See also Adam’s essay pp.4 10. Daniel Bell, The End of Ideology: On the Exhaustion of Political Ideas in the Fifties, Harvard University Press, 1962 (expression much used subsequently) 11. adams 12. City Tourism and Culture, European Travel Commission (Research Group, 2005.)

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[ New Jersey, USA ] www.northjersey.com

[ San Fransisco, USA ] www.wikipedia.com

[ Shanghai, China ] article, Architecture and Globalization

[ Port-of-Spain, Trinidad ]

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[ Case Studies ] [ King’s Harbor, Liverpool, U.K. ]

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King’s Harbor has been a major port, in Liverpool, in the United Kingdom, the port has always been a very central point of the Europe and European trade since the 1860’s. It became a place that was not only economically rich for the country, but also, for the citizens of the town and the society thrived because of the port.

So many major shipments would come into the port, and would take days to unload the ships cargo, and preparing the ships to go back to sea. During these days, the people on the ships interacted with the people in the community. This interaction, helped boost the towns economy, restaurants were used, hotels were used, and other available services we all used by the sailors.

Liverpool was a richly cultural place; everyone did well because the all got a piece of the economy. What then happened was that Government of Liverpool decided to industrialize the site, because so many different forms of cargo transportation moved through the port, there was the thought that if the turn over could be faster, the port would be able to make more financially. Something that once took at least a full day to happen, now only took a few hours.

There was no need for the inns and restaurants or supporting stores, the economy of the town died, and then, the town died. Though Liverpool is still considered a wealthy maritime town, a majority of its citizens, no longer able to sustain themselves had to leave to find work elsewhere, leaving the town as a ghost town of empty buildings.

The problem that Liverpool is now facing, is the need to bring people back, there are many different plans in the works, for how to attract people back into the town, and what to do with all the buildings that have stood empty for so long.

The buildings are a powerful expression of the crucial role that Liverpool had played in the ‘Atlantic’ economy and old international division of labour, a hub linking the English industrial regions to international markets and materials supplies.

It was a genuine gateway port with port-related industries and services and a corresponding occupational structure (manual,

relatively low-skilled operatives and a large clerical workforce).

It also had then marked social-spatial differences with the poverty of the ‘North End’ of the city contrasting with the more prosperous ‘South End’.

With hindsight, it is clear, however, that at the time the Three Graces were being built that the world was changing and the interwar years saw a key turning point in the economic history of the city.

The buildings are a powerful expression of the crucial role that Liverpool had played in the ‘Atlantic’ economy and old international division of labour, a hub linking the English industrial regions to international markets and materials supplies.

It was a genuine gateway port with port-related industries and services and a corresponding occupational structure (manual, relatively low-skilled operatives and a large clerical workforce).

It also had then marked social-spatial differences with the poverty of the ‘North End’ of the city contrasting with the more prosperous ‘South End’.

[ Liverpool ] Virtual Museaum of Trinidad and Tobago

[ Liverpool ] http://www.liverpoolpicturebook.com

• • • • • •

• • [ Liverpool ] http://www.liverpoolpicturebook.com

• • • • • • • • • •

[ Modern Liverpool ] www.liverpoolecho.co.uk

spatial divisions of labour layering of rounds of investment over time evolutionary approach ‘path dependency’ not just structure also agency – from ‘government’ to ‘governance’ & institutional searching “… create an inclusive European Renaissance City by 2010”_Liverpool First. Prospectus of Liverpool Partnership Group, 2002 key role in the ‘Atlantic’ economy hub linking English industrial regions to international economy gateway port port-related industries & services distinct occupational structure social-spatial difference late 1970s recession – ‘deindustrialisation’ global restructuring – city on the receiving end massive job loss, ‘jobless growth’ & ‘jobs gap’ widening population collapse out-migration and ‘middle class flight’ no longer a magnet for economic migration

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[ St. Finbar R.C. Church, Trinidad ]

Located in Diego Martin, and standing three stories tall, St. Finbar’s parish was not the most beautiful or elaborate church ever seen, but it was beautiful in its simplicity, and worked perfectly in our tropical environment. It featured elegant wrought-iron-laced openings, in place of the traditional stained glass. The roof hovered above an open-air clerestory that, during the day, allowed the sun to glow on the ceiling, and, in the night, allowed the lights from inside to glow out into the darkness. There was always a sense of airiness in the church as the breeze moved through all of the openings. One of the church’s most unique characteristics was the great number of wooden French doors, eleven feet in height, that flanked the entire perimeter of the church, and all of which were kept wide open during mass. In addition to these appropriate features, St. Finbar’s was fortunate enough to be one of the wealthier parishes in Trinidad.

And as such, all of the charity money from the church events and collections would typically be given to less fortunate churches every year. However, this year, the newly appointed parish priest decided that the church was to keep the money to pay for the renovations required to air condition the church building.

Less than a month after the renovation of the church, the unforeseen expenses of conditioning a building of this scale in the tropics came in to play. An emergency meeting was called to inform parishioners that a majority of the community organizations the church supported, could no longer be a part of the churches budget. Rumors of the cost of the first electricity bill had spread through the church community, and parishioners stopped emptying their pockets, refusing to give offerings so that it could go towards electricity bills and air-conditioning maintenance instead of supporting the community.

One of the main organizations that have suffered from this, is a youth group, where teachers and mothers of the church community get together to tutor less-fortunate children of the community, children that have disabilities, or who’s schools or parents are unable to help them. The organization also helps to make sure these children stay out of trouble, paying for summer camps, extracur36 |

ricular activities, and even help there families when they cannot afford food, or rent. This is a very important and integral part of the church community that will be lost, on account of finances going elsewhere.

[ St. Finbar Roman Catholic Church ] Megan Pinard ______________________________________________

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[ Trinidadian Architecture ] The most southern archipelagic state in the Lesser Antilles, Trinidad was discovered in 1498 by Christopher Columbus but was not highly developed by the Spanish until the large-scale migration of French Plantation owners and their slaves in the late eighteenth century. Trinidad was then claimed by the British, who brought with them indentured laborers from throughout the Commonwealth.

Later, the British joined Trinidad and Tobago, to form one colony in 1898. The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, a country consisting of two islands gained its independence from the United Kingdom in August 1962. The modern dogma and vision with its clear and focus on the future, sought to reject the country’s colonial past, in search of an identity of its own. The lowering of Union Jack and rising of the Trinbagonian colors began the process of transformation of the institutions, values and behaviors to establish a new identity.1 It was understood that a new cultural identity needed to be established, but it would be a challenge to find its footing.

Culture played a central role in the evolution of the developing Trinidadian society, and was actively engaged to promote the progress of the country’s national ideals. Cultural expression took on a very critical role in the policies and social aspirations of this new, developing country. The local culture reacted to the repressive limitations of the colonial past and instead addressed the local identity. Having achieved political independence, creating its own identity was the main focus, with this cultural influences needed to be played upon.

Modernity guided the hand of the Trinidadian architects of this time, such as Anthony C. Lewis and Colin Laird, Lewis having been educated under Mies van der Rohe at the Illinois Institute of Technology. Though the formal parameters of modes, mores and manners, of the colonially planned cities still existed. 2 However the loaded history of the country added a complexity to the urban context brought about the ability to creates completely new approaches. The political, social aspirations and values of newly independent society were inspired by the cultural focus on the visual arts, the performing arts, literature and storytelling. The architecture 38 |

[ Broadway, Port-of-Spain, Circa 1925 ] Virtual Museaum of Trinidad and Tobago

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40 |

[ Evolution of Trinidadian Architecture Through Heritage ]

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of Trinidad began to follow suit.

After World War II, the implementation of two primary movements that informed the architecture of the time – ‘tropical modernism.’ Tropical modernism came about from the functional, formal and programmatic principles of mid century European modernism, modified to accommodate the climate conditions in the tropical climates.3 With its society trying to find its place, Trinidadian cultural evolution searched for the country’s post-colonial architectural hunt for identity and authenticity. As brought up in earlier chapters, Paul Ricoeur’s essay History and Truth quoted by Kenneth Frampton his his essay on critical regionalism: “Thus we come to the crucial problem confronting nations just rising from underdevelopment. In order to get on the road toward modernization, is it necessary to jettison the old cultural past which has been the raison d’être of a nation?”4

A society needs to root itself in its past, to forge a national spirit, and develop its local spirit and cultural claim. In Trinidad, Ricoeur’s paradox is additionally compounded by the absence of any authentic cultural past.5 Most of the Amerindian, the indigenous people had been wiped out by the Spanish settlers. The vast diversity of the country did not come until the arrival of the French, and then British, who brought slave and indentured laborers to populate the country, and work its fertile lands. These laborers herald from Africa, India, China and Madeira, but hearing of work opportunity, immigrants from other countries such as Syria and Portugal came in search of a new life as well.

In the 1950’s Trinidad started to reject the colonial stronghold, the British political, social and cultural structure that had helped shape the society and its surroundings. With independence gained in the 1960’s, the cultural framework was unavoidably retained, but the North American culture brought with it a substantial influence.

At this time the society’s artist, writers and musicians focused their efforts on establishing a cultural identity and language all influenced by modernism.6 Mark Raymond, Trinidadian architect and chair of Communications of the Commonwealth Association of Architects explains, Architecture other than domestic architecture, whilst part of this enquiry, was still pursued in a highly universal manner mediated only by a preoccupation with and scientific attention to climate.

The social, economic, political and cultural initia42 |

[ The Steel Pan has become an icon of the Trinidadian music scene, invented in the 1930’s, the first steelpans was made of old oil drums and crix [buiscuit] tins] www.bbc.co.uk

[ Moko Jumbies: The dancing spirits of Trinidad, while now they are beloved carnival characters, African slaves believed that they protected their village ] stefanfalke-archive.photoshelter.com

[ Paul Keens-Douglas, Trinidadian story teller and poet. Story telling has been a major part in keeping the spirit of the country and its heritage alive] www.aestheticamagazine.com

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tives that informed the physical reconstruction of the post war European and North American landscape were thus mirrored in the gradual reconfiguration of the nineteenth century city of the Port of Spain underscored by a quintessentially modern and universal agenda. This scenario was subtly informed by the cosmopolitan influences of the racially diverse populace.7 The British influence can still be very much seen in Trinidadian architecture, and the inspirations of many commonwealth countries successfully created a form of tropical architecture that was both esthetically pleasing and climatically successful. Two British architects Maxwell Fry and Jane Drew led the Tropical Architecture movement throughout the commonwealth, with their book Tropical Architecture in the Humid Zone, published in 1956.8 The book brought together modern planning with the particular need of the tropics. The book’s focus on Tropical Modernism gave modern architecture within the Commonwealth weight, through climatically-adaption in response to specifics of geo-climatic locations. This architecture became synonymous with subsequent movements of colonial independence in the 1960’s.

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Between the 1960’s to present, there has been a haphazard approach to city planning; it has brought the disintegration between the disciplines of urban planning and architecture. With the unsympathetic and unplanned expansion of the city center, Port-of-Spain, the city has lost its integrity; its life dies with the sunset, and becomes a place for only the unfavorable in the nighttime. This same absent-mindedness has allowed the death of many landmark buildings throughout the country, such as members of what is known as the ‘Magnificent Seven’ situated along the Queen Park Savannah, the Trinidadian equivalent of Central Park in New York City. These buildings range in use, from a prominent boys secondary school, to the Archbishop’s residence, to the office of the Prime Minister to the residences of old, affluent families. The Public Works Department of the Government’s blatant disregard for the well being of these buildings shows their desire for the death of the architecture that makes the country look like it is not moving forward; it is the symbolic death of the old society. Running parallel to the allowed decay of old buildings, we can see new, flashy buildings being constructed around the capital, or the renovation of architecturally successful

[ The Magnificent Seven ] clockwise 1. [ Mille Fleurs ] www.travelpictuWresgallery.com 2. [ Whitehall ] thinkinginsomniac.worldpress.com 3. [ Killarney ] www.izatrini.net 4. [ Roomor ] www.travelpicturesgallery.com 5. [ Hayes Court ] www.travelpicturesgallery.com 6. [ Archbishop’s House ] www.travelpicturesgallery.com 7. [ Queen’s Royal College] www.qrc.edu

[ Mille Fleur ]

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Tropical Modern buildings, designed by local architects, converted into sealed spaces.

Colin Laird, Trinidadian architect, has been responsible for many public buildings in Port-of-Spain, such as the National Public Library and the local theater, ‘Queen’s Hall.’ Queen’s Hall was the result of a competition Laird won in the early 1950’s. The competition called for a multipurpose community center, built on a prominent site adjacent to the President’s House. At the time it was built, it was a dominant, open air, modern form that stood out among the highly colonial, Victorian architectural landscape. However, a recent remodeling of the entrance, and sealing the interior of the building, without the courtesy of consultation with Laird, has weakened the integrity of the original design. To add insult to injury, a new theater with grand gestures was built not a half a mile away.

Though the country has many positive examples of modern planning and architecture still clearly evident in the Trinidadian landscape, the failure of planning and the lacking numbers of knowledgeable architects in the society undermine the architectural quality, and qualitative architectural production. The architecture of the city can now boast of international style buildings that say nothing about the beauty and essence of the place, but even more important, does not add to the socio-integrity of the society. From the early 1990’s , there has been a deterioration of public buildings and areas designed by local architects. Many Caribbean governments, Trinidad included, have increasingly outsourced architectural design, its consequence is the reduced role for professional architects in the culture. The role of architecture and architects in the society has been marginalized in comparison to the active engagement to develop the country, just after independence. This new form of development can possibly be blamed on the community’s silence, and the country’s lack of demonstration of the value of architecture in society. Architecture in Trinidad has become commoditized, and its importance as a functional form is very much downplayed, and seen, rather, as an image of the country’s wealth. This neglect of the country’s architecture and public spaces has caused the deterioration of the quality of the countries physical landscape and social spaces.9 The relationships between the architecture, culture and society in Trinidad have become a problem for the population, giving places that do not make its citizens proud enough to take care of. What is needed is a stronger backing and representation of the potential of architecture in Trinidad’s geographical and cultural 46 |

[ Queen’s Hall, before renovation ] www.travelpicturesgallery.com

[ Queen’s Hall, post renovation ] www.discover-tt.net

[ Academy for the Performing Arts ] www.facebook.com/pages/Acad emy-for-the-performing-arts

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climate, and the promotion of good/sensitive architectural design as both functional and visually pleasing.

Le Corbusier stated, “in unison with the fundamental laws of nature.” However, maybe “twentieth century architects have willfully neglected or wholly misunderstood these things. They have forgotten that great architecture is at the very origins of humanity and that it is the immediate product of instinct.”10 Great architecture is designed by instinct and in unison with nature, the high technological and complicated materialism is just a cover up.

(Endnotes) 1. See Mark Raymond’s essay “Architecture, Independence, and Identitiy in the Commonwealth Caribbean” Fiction of Independence, 2013 2. See Mark Raymond’s essay “Architecture, Independence, and Identitiy in the Commonwealth Caribbean” Fiction of Independence, 2013 3. Alexander Tzonis and Liane Lefaivre in The Suppression and Rethinking of Regionalism and Tropicalism after 1945, Tropical Architecture: Critical Regionalism in the Age of Globalisation (Wiley-Academy, 2001).

4. Kenneth Frampton, Towards a Critical Regionalism: Six Points for an Architecture of Resistance, the Anti-Aesthetic (Seattle and Washington: ed. Hal Foster, The Bay Press, 1984), 16.

5. See Mark Raymond, “Modern Trinidad Outlined and the Works of Colin Laird and Anthony Lewis,” Docomomo Journal, no. 33 (September 2005): 64-70 6. See Mark Raymond’s essay “Architecture, Independence, and Identitiy in the Commonwealth Caribbean” Fiction of Independence, 2013 7. See Mark Raymond, “Modern Trinidad Outlined and the Works of Colin Laird and Anthony Lewis,” Docomomo Journal, no. 33 (September 2005): 64-70 8. See Maxwell Fry and Jane Drew, Tropical Architecture in the Humid Zone (New York: Reinhold Publishing Corporation, 1956).

9. See Mark Raymond’s essay “Architecture, Independence, and Identitiy in the Commonwealth Caribbean” Fiction of Independence, 2013

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[ Picton Hill, Port-of-Spain |- Trinidad ] Chris Anderson

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[ Trinidadian Culture ]

[ Oyster Vendor | Port-of-Spain | Trinidad ] Chris Anderson

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[ Pagwa | Hindu Festival | Trinidad ] Chris Anderson

[ Tanty | Talking to a neighbor | Trinidad ] Chris Anderson

[ Cranival Reveler | Trinidad ] Gerald Hart

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[ Hindu Prayer Flags | Trinidad ] Chris Anderson

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[ Midnight Robber | Storyteller | Trinidad ] Virtual Museaum of Trinidad and Tobago

[ Jab Jab | represnations of the devil | Carnival | Trinidad ] Dwaine Thomas www.flickr.com

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[ Music | Teaching Steelpan | Trinidad ] Pablo Delano www.pablodelano.com

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[ Fashion | Caribbean Fashion Week | Trinidad ] Simon Duncan www.trinidadfashionweek.com

[ Divali | Festival of Lights | Trinidad ] www.nydailynews.com

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[ Trinidadian Archetypes ]

A major part of culture is how it is passed down from generation to generation; the culture of a place is shown through its assortment of arts, beliefs, traditions and individuality. It is the mixture of interactions between these elements that makes a place form its own, a ‘sense of place.’ The rich traditions of Trinidadian culture have been created through the blending of different cultural traditions, ranging from the early settlers, the Spanish, to the East Indian, African and French, brought to the island in the colonial period of its history. This mix of ethnicities in the country brought with them, their own customs, food, music and living conditions, and these many cultures came together to make what Trinidadians affectionately call, ‘one people.’

A lot of emphasis in Trinidadian cultural Architecture was placed on public spaces and private-public spaces, these spaces are used to observe and partake in many activities, celebrations, art, music, dance, story telling food, and an overall sense of community.

Trinidadians love to be outside, surrounded by people, with good music and better food, they love the colors of the outdoors and appreciate each individual culture’s differences. In order to understand how to design architecture in Trinidad, this research needs to go beyond the typical understanding of Tropical architecture, instead it must break down and translate cultural activity into built form.

In order to promote cultural-social interaction, local identity and pride the major elements of architecture and open spaces that are successful in the country, they were analyzed, interpreted and diagramed. There are eight archetypes that reflect Trinidadian architecture and culture; The Balcony, The Street and Balcony relationship, the relationship between Residential and Commercial, Food, The Porch, The Plaza and Street Vendors.

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[ The Plaza ]

[ The Porch ]

The plaza, historically is generally located in the heart of every city, and exists at smaller scales within each city. The plaza represents a central gathering point, lined with offices, commercial, civic and religious function. Plaza’s offer the opportunity for daily interactions of gathering and socializing, it is a place that a multitude of social classes can interact. In some parts of Trinidad, plaza’s uses can change on a day-to-day basis, such as dancing, open-microphone nights and musical performances.

In many Trinidadian homes and buildings, the porch provides a space to look out and relate to the outside world, the porch is understood as the relationship between the individual and the street. The porch offers the opportunity to communicate with the people and activities that pass in front of your house or establishment.

[ The Balcony ]

[ The Street Vendors ]

While the porch is the relationship between the individual and the street, the balcony is an exterior interaction between the neighbors of a building. Balcony’s become a way for communication, but also as a gathering space for many. Balconies promote interaction between neighbors on a day-to-day basis.

Street foods are a very important part of Trinidadian society, foods known as ‘doubles’ and ‘alloo pies’ are common breakfast street foods, people from all walks of life gather in front of these vendors every morning and discuss daily news and evens happening in the country while they eat a humble breakfast. Street vendors sell everything from fresh fruit, to meats, and fish. They are a highly accepted in Trinidadian society, they become gathering places at different times of day, at different places, but also act as a major source of commerce. Street vendors are a vital tradition to carry on, to carry on business and good rapport among citizens.

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[ Food ]

[ The Residential and Commercial Relationship ]

While similar to that of the street vendor, food in Trinidadian society endorses the idea of gathering, a gathering around food is understood when invited to someone’WWs home, when celebrating an event, and when meeting outside the home, food will always be involved. Gathering around food encourages gathering and socializing, it is a moment to stop, sit and share time and a meal.

Downtown Port-of-Spain, and many districts in Trinidad is largely made up of two and three story buildings, with commercial on the ground floor and residential above, however, in the city center, a lot of the above residential has been converted to offices, moving residents out of the heart of the city. This common moment needs to be understood, it is the representation of the vertical connection of the typical building typology, and the connection to the different levels of interaction with the street or plaza.

[ The Street and Balcony Relationship ] The relationship to the street and the balcony again discusses the vertical relationship of commercial on the ground floor and residential above. However these cases talk about the difference in prominence depending on the cultural heritage that inspired it. The French and English influence of the city buildings called for a larger upper level, to make a more breathable open space. While the Spanish

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[ The Bossiere House | Decaying Architecture | Trinidad ] Jade Geadon

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[ Frederick Street | Relationship Between Street + Balcony | Trinidad ] Virtual Museaum of Trinidad and Tobago

[ Maillard’s Store | Commercial + Street Relationship | Trinidad ] Virtual Museaum of Trinidad and Tobago

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[ Light Study: Rasterized Copper ]

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[ Light Studies ]

“Architects in planning rooms today have forgotten their faith in natural light. Depending on the touch of a finger to a switch, they are satisfied with static light and forget the endlessly changing qualities of natural light, in which a room is a different room every second of the day.”--- Louis Kahn “Also marvelous in a room is the light that comes through the windows of a room and that belongs to the room. The sun does not realize how beautiful it is until after a room is made. A man’s creation, the making of a room, is nothing short of a miracle. Just think, that a man can claim a slice of the sun.”--- Louis Kahn “I sense Light as the giver of all presences, and material as spent Light. What is made by Light casts a shadow, and the shadow belongs to Light.”

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[ Light Study: Rasterized Copper ]

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[ Light Study: Rasterized Copper ]

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[ Light Study: Rasterized Copper ]

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[ Light Study: Rasterized Copper ]

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“I sense a Threshold: Light to Silence, Silence to Light – an ambiance of inspiration, in which the desire to be, to express, crosses with the possible … Light to Silence, Silence to Light crosses in the sanctuary of art.”

Louis Khan

[ Light Study: Rasterized Copper ]

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[ Studies of Open Space ]

[ Piazza Petratca, Pavia, Italy, Open Space ]

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[ Piazza Petratca, Pavia, Italy, Buildings ]

[ Piazza San Domenico, Modena, Italy, Open Space ]

[ Piazza San Domenico, Modena, Italy, Buildings ]

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[ Salbourg, Germany, Open Space ]

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[ Salbourg, Germany, Buildings ]

[ Brunswick, Belgium, Open Space ]

[ Brunswick, Belgium, Buildings ]

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WW[ Piazza Del Duomo, Florence, Italy, Open SpaceW ]

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[ Piazza Del Duomo, Florence, Italy, Buildings ]

[ Piazza San Lorenzo, Perouse, Italy, Open Space ]

[ Piazza San Lorenzo, Perouse, Italy, Buildings ]

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[ Printmaking ]

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[ Ink ready to be applied ]

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[ Intaglio Prints ]

[ Intaglio Prints }

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[ Printing Press ]

[ Laser Etched Woodcut Plate ]

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[ Roll on Inking Process ]

[ Inked Wood Cut ]

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[ Inked Wood Cut Prints ]

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[ Design Problem ]

At the beginning of the new millennium, the United Nations put out a challenge to developing countries called the ‘Millennium Project,’ this was an action plan for the world to achieve the Millennium Development Goals to reverse the grinding poverty, hungry and disease affecting people and countries around the world. The government of Trinidad and Tobago stated that the country was to become a ‘developed country’ by the year 2020, this is known as the ‘2020 Vision’. The government wanted to deal with issues in the human development of the nation, such as: housing, health, education, training and bettering amenities of water, electricity, employment, personal safety and security. However, since the implementation of the 2020 plan, the way in which the government has gone about the actually development is more like band aids to cover the years of neglect given to the countries built environment.

With the hosting of large international events in recent years, such as The Summit of the Americas and The Commonwealth Heads of Government, the product of these events was the worldwide media coverage. Works done on the city center were to hold the illusion that the 2020 Vision was making progress. Instead the development has caused a chain reaction of problems, rather than viable solution. The capital of Trinidad, Port-of-Spain, has gained multiple twenty-five plus story towers, which stand almost completely empty, and are showing signs of decay less than five years after construction. In order to satisfy the illusion of grandeur, there seems to be a conscious disregard of the already neglected areas of Trinidadian society, have not only taken large sums of money away from the country as a whole, but has not created a downtown district for Trinidadians to be proud of, these towers, instead memorialize the government’s failure to the country, leaving dark spaces, on prime property with no real function of reason for existence given.

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[ Decaying Vernacular Architecture | Trinidad ] Chris Anderson

[ The International Waterfront Center ]

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It is understood that this project will never be feasible because of the existence of the towers already on the site. This project, however, attempts to find what was needed in the heart of Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, and along with the waters edge, to create a place that the citizens can become a part of and make it their own. It stands as an example of elements of design in Trinidadian architecture and society to help move the country move forward.

[ Problems Observed ] •

Empty expensive building

•

No real public space in Port-of-Spain

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No activities to draw the people

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City is disconnected from the water

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People are disconnected from the city

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Site becomes dangerous in the night

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Drainage

[ Design Intent ]

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•

To create a sense of place

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To create a place for cultural activity

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To understand vernacular architecture

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To create a sense of place

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To bring people to the city

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To create as esthetically pleasing place for citizens

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WSomewhere to have pride in

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To help bring national pride

[ Overview of the Port-of-Spain Area ]

[ Zoom in on Site Allocation ]

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[ Existing Site ]

The Port of Spain International Waterfront Centre is a construction project aimed at revitalizing and transforming the waterfront of the capital-city Port of Spain located in Trinidad and Tobago.

The project is a part of the overall Vision 2020, a government policy attempting to take Trinidad and Tobago to developed country status by 2020. The master plan involves constructing two 26-story office towers, a 22-story Hyatt Regency Hotel, and the Caribbean region’s largest conference centre. It was completed in 2009.

Though pictures were taken on a Saturday afternoon, there is close to no one else presnt in the ourdoor space, while two hundred meters away there was a lot of activety. Many Caution signs are posted, Warning to be careful, because there is so little activety, the site has become not well used or safe.

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[ Rendering of The International Waterfront Center ] www.wikipedia.com

[ Existing Site Conditions ]

[ Existing Site Conditions ]

[ Existing Site Conditions ]

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trinidad architecture

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[ A Study of the Energy and Activety Surrounding the Site ]

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“We comfort ourselves by reliving memories of protection. Something closed must retain our memories, while leaving them their original value as images. Memories of the outsideworld will never have the ame tonality as those of home and, by recalling these memories, we add to our store of dreams; we are never real historians, but always near poets, and our emotion is perhaps nothing but an expression of a poetry that was lost.�

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- Gaston Bachelard

[ A Study of the Energy and Activety Surrounding the Site ]

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[ A Three Dimensional Deconstruction of Major Elements of the Site ]

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[ Understanding The Specificities of The Site ]

There are overlapping elements of the site that make it very important to the Port-of-Spain area. The site marks the major entrance to the city, people from around the country come into the city to go to work or to school, because of this, and there is a high level of vehicular and foot traffic. The site also stands as the gateway to the west or to the east, there is an important pivot point of the city versus the water like that acts as a natural entrance point.

The connection to the water is currently not very accessible; the site has been to move down from the street to the water, this creates an unsafe feeling as people occupying the riverfront cannot easily be seen from the bustling street if something were to happen. However, this connection to the water is important., though Trinidad is an island, there is not necessarily easy access to the water, because of the countries topography, at the sea wall the depth can be up to 100ft deep, the ability to be so close to the water is not emphasized at all, in fact, it seems disregarded.

The shown model is a visual breakdown to the different levels of activety and characteristics that are unique to the site.

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“Understanding how sense of place develops and changes is relevant to understanding how people interact with their environment in general and considering how this interaction may become more sustainable. For these reasons, human geographers and social psychologists have studied how a sense of place develops, including the importance of comparisons between places, learning from elders and observing natural disasters and other events. Of particular note is the importance of childhood experiences.”1 To help us understand place, we must also understand: •

What is needed.

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Understanding architectural forms that express regional and local cultural identities.

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Understanding the sense of place. What makes the site completely unique? Every site is unique.

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Distinctiveness, global and local characteristic that make the design site specific.

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Have an understanding of the vernacular architecture, then incorporating architectural language drawn from the vernacular.

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Interaction with technology and vernacular technologies

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Address the project to the sites’ identity and in interaction with the ground.

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Homogenization architectural design, design to sympathize with site, rather than shock

1. Measham, T.G (2006). Learning about environments: The significance of primal landscapes, Environmental Management 38(3), pp. 426–434

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[ Detail View of Three Dimensional Deconstruction of Major Elements of The Site ]

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[ Design Solution ]

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[ The Evolutionary Process of Designing the Master Plan ]

[ Chosen Master Plan ]

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[ Model of Master Plan ]

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•

Because of the amount activity around the site and its location, a conceptual attempt of urban design was thought of to create a sense of place, this included, but was not limited to;

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Bringing one of the universities, and student living on to the site

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A cultural center—Suggested was a Museum of Trinidadian Maritime or a Museum of Carnival History

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A hub for the ferry systems- from north to the south of the country, and from Trinidad to Tobago, this will also include a cruise ship terminal.

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A Boardwalk-- Along the waters edge, and open to the public

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A courtyard—It will be surrounded by a variety of commercia and residential systems.

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[ Process Plan ]

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[ Process Plan ]

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[ Process Plan ]

[ Process Plan ]

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[ Process Plan ]

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[ Process Plan ]

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[ Ground Floor | Master Plan ]

Through the designing of this building, the main focus was to create a sense of openness, so that the public can move through the public spaces, that open up to the sky and the to water. There was a necessity to be able to have multiple views, to allow the public to see everything that is happening around them and to encourage people to participate in whatever activity was happening on the site.

The building is to blend into its surroundings, rather than to be a start factor, it is to encourage the public to come out to the site and to initiate the activity in the community.

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[ View of Interior Courtyard ]

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[ View from Boardwalk ]

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[ Conclusion ] I believe that is there is a clear enemy to fight today, it is represented by the idea of an economic/technical space indifferent in all directions. This is now such a wide spread idea that it seems almost objective.

It seems almost objective. It seems to have gone a long way beyond the logic of profit to the point where it casts its ideological shadow even over the best intentions of public development in an exemplary alliance made up of bureaucratic thought, the power system and petit-bourgeois culture… it is a question of shrewd, modernistic enemy capable of accepting the latest most fashionable proposal, especially any proposal capable of selling every vain formalistic disguise, favorable only to myth, redundancy or uproar, as a genuine difference. -- Gregotti

A year of research and designing for a culturally and socially aware space; has not brought this project to a point of termination, but rather; a place to start. When I first thought of what my final year in architecture school would be like, I thought it was to be my ‘last hooray,’ that it was suppose to be a compilation of many, many, years of learning. Instead I realized that it was in fact it was merely the beginning. The subjects of Architecture, Culture and Globalization are far more substantial than I had originally thought, and it has been disheariting to see the direction that architecture is heading.

In my final presentation, the word, ‘naïve’ came into play; this is something I wish to address now. There is the unquestionable truth that the world is constantly changing, it is the one thing we can, in fact, be sure of, and but that is not necessarily the problem, the problem is that societies are forgetting how important their cultures are, and for those in the architectural profession, it should be our responsibility to help withhold the importance of individuality. I do not believe that is it naïve to think the world can actually get better, this generation, full of understanding and technology that can help us do positive rather than negative action, that can impact 126 |

the world population. The profession of architecture has been shaping the lives of billions of people around the globe for as long as we can recall, known as one of the oldest professions, architects have sculpted the landscape, and they are the dreamers and visionaries, so why should I stop dreaming?

One does not go into architecture if they are pessimistic, you do not do architecture if you do not believe the world can be better. My hope is to whoever reads this document, that they come away believing that I, the author is an informed dreamer. It is the responsibility to those in the profession to try harder to make sure that the worlds built form does not blur, the way that this can happen, is to understand what one is looking for before starting a design.

It is my conclusion, that I have barely scratched the surface of the information presented in this document, and that there is enough to consume a lifetime of work. I conclude that trying to achieve the type of design that I hope to achieve in my professional life, is harder to do than first thought, and that the design solution at the end of this document did not fully achieve everything that the project hopes to seek, but there is a lifetime to rectify that. The richest architecture hold a series of senses, and layering of time and history, some layers are understood, but not necessarily seen, but they are all inspired and the interweaving of architecture acts as a backdrop for life, we create space, moments, places for life, ritual and customs to happen, and to thrive. However, because of all the influences of globalization, architecture is no longer a natural act, it falls victim to the uncertainties of societies and architects alike, so it is my hope to those who read this, to look for more, to aim for more, to want more… and to demand it.

[ Construct Showing The Overlapping Aspects of Sensory Architecture ]

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[ alis volat propriis ]