reGrowth  December 2010

On February 12th, 2010, a 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck the country of Haiti, causing massive amounts destruction and upsetting the lives of millions of Haitians. The impact of the catastrophe was magnified due to the existing levels of poverty and environmental degradation. reGrowth set out to address these issues by generating a form that could assist in the rebuilding of communities and the landscape.

The population of Haiti is concentrated around a few particular areas [above]. Port au Prince, the capital and largest city of Haiti, was severely affected by the earthquake. The event forced many residents to abandon their crumbling structures, with very few of those evacuated residents finding proper shelter [above right]. The displacement was an invitation for us to look into different possibilities of changing the social fabric of Haiti.

In addition to the social disaster, a preexisting condition created by the extreme poverty was the destruction of the environment. The challenge of living on an impoverished island had forced the residents to take any possible resource that could be sold. One such resource was the forest. The Haitian half of Hispaniola has been nearly obliterated [right]. Flooding, landslides, and further environmental depreciation have resulted from this action.