REVIEW - 1/18/13 This review was a first look at preliminary design concepts. Below you will find photos of the presentation, as well as written text explanations.

Thesis: Restavecs (Haitian slave children that are abused and uneducated) often escape their captors by the time they are teenagers, and this often results in them living on the streets in squalid conditions. A system needs to be put in place to feed, educate, house and heal these children so that they can assimilate back into society.

Narrative: It seems that only I know the simultaneous feelings of hatred and the want to please. I am known only as a Restavec, a Haitian slave child. I cook, clean, and fetch water all day, while other children my age are lucky enough to go to school. I am abused in every form of the word, physically, emotionally, and sexually. I am also neglected. I wear rags and eat barely enough to stay alive. When I got pregnant last year, my captive family kicked me out, and because they cut off all communication with my real family years ago, I was left to live on the streets of Port Au Prince. Then one day a nice car drove into the ditch between the road and an abandonned, half-crumbling from the earthquake, building that I called home. I thought the nicely dressed woman who climbed out must have been lost, but I soon found out that she was exactly where she needed to be. “Is that your child?” she asked me in Creole, pointing to my son who was sleeping on a piece of cardboard I had found in a trash pile less than 100 yards away. “Yes,” I replied, stepping back towards him out of protection. She proceeded to ask me questions about who I was and why I was on the street.Once I revealed to her that I was a former restavec she said, “I thought so. Bring your son and come with me.”Not knowing what else to do, I gathered my son and got into her car. The last time I could remember being in a car, I was three and my uncle was driving me from the countryside into Port-Au-Prince to live with a new family “because your mom and dad can’t feed you and you will have a better life.” Here I was again, after being abused for nine years in that “better life” hoping for another chance at an improved situation for me and my newborn son. As we pulled up to an open fortress in the middle of a field the woman said, “This is your new home. It is a place for former restavecs like yourself.” The large colorful development of security, was a building of concrete. When I stepped inside I discovered that the breeze blew freely throughout the space, magically, despite the presence of protective walls. I was ushered into another room where they bathed me and helped me into new clothes. I was able to relax for the first time I could remember and I suddenly felt better. Maybe it is the playfulness of the brightly-colored walls. But maybe it is the fact that when I stop and talk to the other kids, they too say that they are former Restavecs. I am no longer alone. And now I have a place to learn, a place to sleep, a place to eat. The classrooms are somehow done just right so that I can hear my teacher talking without her having to yell. At the same time, it is not too loud when we have free time and all the kids are talking at once. There is a rooftop garden and an inner courtyard that allows me to experience the outdoors within the safety of the building. Overall, I now feel safe and protected, happy and understood, educated and fed. I am no longer alone. I am no longer alone.

Project Statement: The primary objective in the design of a school is to create an ideal environment for learning. The primary objective in the design of a community center is to create an ideal environment for people to interact with each other and gather together. The primary objective in the design of a home, especially one for those who have been abused, is to create maximum comfort and livability. Therefore, my primary objective in the design of this combination school, community center, and home for former Restavecs is to create a comfortable environment where adults and children can interact and learn. Large gathering spaces, classrooms, and bedrooms will be the core elements of this building. The main concept of Restavec Refuge is individualized growth. This covers the growth of building on landscape, the growth of the landscape (sugar cane plants) around it, the growth of the bodies and minds of the people using the building, and the growth of the community around it. Because Restavec Refuge contains a combination of programs, it presents a series of unique challenges. The need for safety verses openness varies throughout the different programmatic elements. Because there are essentially three programs in one building (complex), there will be three main wings or parts. This building will be very prominent in the outskirts of Leogane. Not only will it be one of less than a dozen buildings in total in the area, it will be by far the largest. To lessen this effect, the visually dynamic (undulating) massing will appear to be partially underground, partially above ground, as though it is growing from the ground. It’s height will be no higher than two stories. None of the building will actually be built underground because of the high water table in Haiti. The context of the site for this building consists mainly of sugar cane. Therefore, the project will need to ease the transition between the rural landscape and the built environment. In addition, it will relate to the old church ruins that will eventually be rebuilt. Since the building needs to provide safety for the former Restavecs at all times and safety for the community during extreme weather conditions, it needs to act as a fortress. However, in order to welcome people into the environment the entrance also needs to be open and inviting. This poses a great problem, but can be solved by having an operable entry that acts as both a closed haven of safety and an open space of vibrance.

1 lobby, 1 receiving room, 1 resident’s lounge, 6 classrooms, 12 bedrooms (to accommodate 20 homeless children and 2 supervisors), 8 bathrooms, 2 counseling rooms, 1 nurse's office, 1 library, 1 teacher's lounge, 1 administrative office, 2 conference rooms, 1 large multi-purpose room, 1 cafeteria, 1 storage room, 1 electric generator room, 1 outdoor cooking area, 1 outdoor laundry space, and 1 rooftop vegetable/fruit garden