Amphitheatre in Haiti

On a site in Haiti that used to be a tent camp for displaced people after the earthquake, EVA – Emergent Vernacular Architecture – designed a public space that is community-oriented and understands its anthropological meaning. 

  The design itself is inherently community-oriented and understands public space as an anthropological ground from which identity and social relations grow. Through a participatory approach and community engament at the core of the design process, this public space aims to give transformative power to a local community and to provide the residents with a sense of ownership, identity and pride. The goal was to create a safer and cleaner environment, which would help reduce crime, violence and anti-social behaviour in the area.

The centre of the area is marked by an open-air amphitheatre for community gathering, dotted around the edges of the seating steps with several Flamboyants that, when fully grown, will shelter the users from the sun. The concentric rings beyond define areas within the plaza. One area is populated by outdoor exercise equipment and seating, while the other one, near the wall, hosts terraces of greenery, each with different plants. 

Above it, by the top end, a row of palm trees conceals storage tanks for the adjacent water distribution station. The well that feeds the tanks and station brings water from 100m below ground. The Tapis Rouge is one of several public spaces in Carrefour-Feuilles, Haiti, built under the LAMIKA program, whose acronym stands for “A better life in my neighbourhood” in Haitian Creole. The program, funded by the American Red Cross and implemented by Global Communities, aims to construct multifunctional spaces that facilitate and promote social cohesion through an inclusive approach.

Place Tapis Rouge, Port-au-Prince, Haiti
Program: public square
Architecture: EVA Studio, Emergent Vernacular Architecture
Team: Andrea Panizzo, Jeannie S. Lee, Gianluca Stefani, Anna Calogero, Etienne Pernot du Breuil, Edoardo Paoletti, Samuel Eliodor, Berrousse Exius, Faudia Pierre, Radim Tkadlec, Clément Davy
Artists involved: Bault, Pascal Monnin, Le Centre d’­­­art
Engineering: Sisul Consultant
Area: 1,300 smq
Client: Global Communities
Donor: American Red Cross
Contractor: FICCAS, Arcod, Ginkgo Landscape
Completion: 2016