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During our final day of the trip, following an exciting and successful school administration presentation, we had a little extra time and headed to downtown Port au Prince to see how things had changed in the two years since our last visit. We drove past the location of the Presidential Palace (still a demolished empty site, wrapped in construction fencing with no view in) and visited the still abandoned Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption, witnessing concrete blocked up entryways and no signs of use or progress to repair or rebuild. The streets near the Cathedral were full with people, merchants, vehicles and bustling activity. While our time was short, we experienced downtown mostly by riding through the streets, seeing the streetscape, hearing the sounds of constantly beeping horns and the incredibly energetic driving. We ended the day with one final visit to ADECA, attending the daily English class being taught from 4 to 6pm. The room was full with people of all ages and not only did we help with speaking English, but the students helped us with our Creole. A fair trade I'd say. :) The final shots show a view up to the school and bakery from the path leading up the hill and the incredible sunset that evening, one from within the first classroom bulking and one from outside. We are so thankful for the time we had in Haiti during this trip - on site with the students and teachers, sharing design sessions with Haiti Partners and Extollo, investigating new master planning ideas and embracing the incredible, vibrant, energetic spirit of this place. The school really is a hub for the vast community of Bawoysa and our ability to stay involved continues to be such a joy. We'll keep you updated as current efforts advance and the revised master plan comes to life.

Thursday night was a long one in prep of our Friday morning meeting. On the last Friday of every month ADECA teachers have an in-session day, so school administrators can bring in guest speakers, have training sessions and provide continued learning for the teachers. Lisa and Thomas, with the translation help of John, Alex and Benaja presented the updated site plan and 3D studies prepared in Sketchup of the revised prototype classroom buildings for the everyone's response. The meeting went incredibly well and we got great feedback. Haiti Partners' process since the beginning of this process over 4 years ago has always been one of inclusion. When we began, many of the initial designers presented at community meetings, ensuring the school design would target the community's interests and today's meeting helps show that continued commitment, where now the voices are those leading the school and teaching the students. Our late night of work and limited sleep (what architects aren't always noodling with the drawings until the last minute?!) really paid off!

Thursday morning was an incredibly productive visit to the site, confirming our many conversations throughout the week. We brought our site plan sketches, many ideas and wide eye visions to make sure the new moves we are proposing make great sense for the school's functions, site conditions and administration's wishes. Sharing here a few more pictures of the architecture. Lisa arranged with a San Francisco friend who works in theater to donate about 25 hand puppets for the students at ADECA. We had the chance to open and share the puppets with Alex and the children. They were a hit! The kids were laughing, running and the joy in their laughter was evident. So many thanks to Lisa and her friend Arturo for making this happen! :)

The last few days have been spent mostly at the house where we are staying, Lisa diligently working on revised hand drawn site plan schemes and Thomas wading through the plans, building sections and site sections. We continue to chat about the big running list of design updates ( site grading and water storage and latrines, oh my! :D ) and are really enjoying our time in Haiti. The view from our new office (pictures 1 and 3 above) is rough, right? ;) Amidst our focused work sessions we were able to enjoy a nice dinner out at the Karibé Hotel on Tuesday night with our client and his family. The hotels and resorts in Port au Prince rival most peoples expectations of the city landscape here. Tonight Thomas was able to pop out (taking a motorcycle taxi for the first time) and catch up with his friend Nancy from Architecture for Humanity AND see Chans, her dog. Those who knew the AfH house from 2011 will surely remember these two characters, both fixtures in the fun and mixed up world of volunteers many of us came to know and love during our stays here.

Following up from our pre-departure Bakery 'teaser photo', the second floor level of this building has been poured and finish work continues on the level below. As we've mentioned, the bakery is named Babou and what a fun process to see this social business' home continue to take shape. This BAR designed facility is already serving it's surrounding community...and hungry architects. ;)

We (Lisa and Thomas) spent the morning working on-site with John (our client) and Sherman (the contractor) walking the ADECA campus really digging back in to the design of the school. A huge part of our time here is to re-connect with Haiti Partners after having lived with the first classroom building and the site for the past two years. They have learned SO much about their own operation, the way the classroom building could better function and how the site is really used by the community. Great conversations were had about campus arrival, public space, site circulation and how to update the overall campus site plan so this great place will function best. The projected number of students continues to grow and it's a welcome challenge for Haiti Partners. Visiting the construction of the Training Center, Lisa was able to help with the crepissage (the fine finish plaster work done here in Haiti) and Thomas was able to have a bit of the delicious bread directly from the bakery. :) After a productive morning and early afternoon work session on the site with our client John and the project contractor, we took some time out to attend John's kid's soccer practice. It's an amazing thing, being on a trip like this. Not only are we immersed in the work, but we're also very lucky to be connected to part of the daily life in Port au Prince. The last image is from the drive home and a recent graffiti message popping up around Haiti: 'Kite Peyim Marche'. The translation means 'Let my country move forward', related to the presidency and chances for new jobs in Haiti.

The best way to spend Day Two of any trip includes seeing the painted handprints of the 117 school students attending the school you worked on, being surrounded by nearly 3,000 community members celebrating the 2nd anniversary of said school, knowing that the teachers are guiding the little ones about smart landfill diversion practices (!!!!!!!) and watching the sunset over this interesting, magical, incredibly captivating place. Oh yeah...and a splash of rhum punch following a Team work session - Haiti Partners (client), Extollo International (contractor) and BAR - revising the classroom prototype drawings to end the evening. I mean...it's just natural. :)

#haiti #adeca #childrensacademy #ayiti

Day One...we're off!

Day one was action packed! It's been a great day of catching up with friends, spending time with our client's family and children (there may or may not have been some soccer time...and Twister of course) and a great night of prepping for tomorrow's ADECA (the Children's Academy) 2nd anniversary celebration. Over 2,000 people from the community are excited to attend!

The BAR designed Bakery, now named 'Babou' (derived from Baocia, the neighborhhod where the school is and Boulanje, the Creole word for bakery), baked over 6,000 rolls for sharing with the community at the celebration. Our client John brought the rolls to the house and we (Lisa and Thomas) helped cut, fill with meat and wrap each roll. Such an incredibly cool thing, to see a place we have designed now not only built but also directly serving the community it is a part of.

Alo Ayiti! (Hello Haiti!)

We have arrived in Haiti and are SO excited to be back. Our flights from San Francisco were easy and being greeted by the 82 degree warm air and incredible sounds of Creole everywhere were the perfect start to the trip. :)

#bararch haiti portauprince batibyen thismagicalplace

BAR returns to Haiti!

BAR Architects is excited to share we are heading back to Port au Prince to continue our work on the Haiti Partners Children's Academy! We will be participating in a community celebration of the Academy's anniversary, meeting with the local community, teachers, school administration and team constructing the school for an action packed week, taking the project in to it's next phases of development. Wow! Exciting times ahead!

Included is a teaser photo of recent progress made on the Phase II construction at the on-site BAR designed Bakery (Photo credit: Extollo International). A view to downtown Port au Prince can be seen in the distance.

More photos and updates to come soon! Thanks for being a part of our journey in Haiti!

#Haiti buildbackbetter bararchitects

Breaking Ground to Bake Bread

Sending well wishes to Haiti Partner's, Extollo International, and to the people of the Bawoysa, Haiti community, as they break ground on Sunday, April 7, for the new bakery building at the Children's Academy and learning center outside Port-au-Prince.

This new building will have multiple purposes: A bakery is located on the first floor, and will create jobs for locals who will work there, as well as a means of income through enabling community members to buy the bread as well as to take bread to other nearby villages to sell for profit. The second floor will be a multi-use classroom training space for the school and community, and the third floor will be a dormitory.

Construction of this new building will involve training of the local tradespeople in safe construction techniques, and in using materials and systems readily available in Haiti. This newly trained construction team will then go on to build the rest of the school buildings for the Children’s Academy and learning center.

Special thanks go to Yunis Social Business, co-founded by Nobel Peace winner Muhammad Yunis, who provided the loan/funding for construction.

The Haiti Partners Children's Academy (ADECA - Academie Des Enfants et Centre Apprentissage) dedication on February 24th represented the culmination of efforts by so many people. People from all around the globe gathered in Bawoysa, Haiti (southeast of the Port au Prince city center) to recognize the beginning of a new future for this community and the educational system throughout Haiti. BAR is so fortunate to be involved with Haiti Partners by way of Architecture for Humanity and the joy this project has brought to our lives is almost indescribable. Many have thanked us for our help and efforts and most times those thanks are met with OUR thanks for the opportunity to be involved. There is a running joke amongst those of us who worked and lived in Haiti that a piece of our hearts will always be there.

BAR had the chance to meet many members of the community over the weekend prior to the ceremony as we helped clean, decorate and even finish painting parts of the building, such as newly installed handrails in prep for the big event. "Getting our hands dirty" couldn't have been more fun!

Haiti Partners' commitment to the community served by the school has been one of inclusion all along and that continued up to the day of the ceremony when the final accent paint color for the building was chosen by vote. Additional photos of the ceremony and freshly painted school can be seen at http://haitipartners.org/2013/03/the-color-of-democracy-at-the-childrens-academy-dedication/. Additional information about the school can be found at www.adeca.org.

Thanks for joining us so far on this journey!

Following our siteseeing parts of downtown we headed to John's house to settle in. John lives southeast of Petionville in a more remote part of the City. Our journey up the hillside ended with a warm greeting by his lovely family- wife Merline, son Daniel and daughter Leila. We all commented on how at home we were made to feel right away! In the evening we headed back to Petionville to attend an open office meet and greet session at Architecture for Humanity's office (http://architectureforhumanity.org/programs/haiti-rebuilding-center) where BAR employees worked on-site while in Haiti during 2011. Many of the same amazing staff remain, continuining their efforts in Haiti to rebuild following the earthquake. Such a treat to see old friends! We concluded the evening with a stop at the Hotel Montana for dinner and views overlooking the City's nightsky.

Thank you all for your patience in our posting of photos following the Dedication Ceremony trip! To catch up, our group arrived on February 22nd to a quick day of sightseeing. We met John Engle (our client and friend) in Petionville and headed off downtown to take in some of the wonders of downtown Port au Prince. We made our way past the Cathedral (still sitting in ruins from the earthquake), the site of the former President's Palace and then to see the Iron Market, a bustling open air market where many Haitian crafts people sell their goods. We had the assistance of John's colleagues (Benaja, Robinson and Harold) in traveling around the City from site to site and with their connections had the chance to see the view of downtown from the rooftop of the Market. Such an amazing view! All around us the streets were bustling and travel from place to place was filled with vibrant colors, close calls with nearby vehicles and pedestrians filling the streets. An active arrival and whirlwind tour for many of us who had never been to this part of the downtown. We ended our first afternoon before heading up to John's house (where we stayed during this trip) with a pitstop at Harold's restaurant, La Reserve, a beautiful venue in Petionville with outdoor seating and some amazing traditional Haitiian Rhum Punch. Delicious!

Dedicated!

The attendance at the ceremony today was incredible! So many people from the community came out to support the school and hear the beautiful words shared by so many great people. Our client, John Engle led most of the ceremony with the help of his brother-in-law Alex and fellow Haiti Partner Benaja. He recognized the long list of groups involved in making the project possible, including BAR Architects and Architecture for Humanity. We all joined John on stage when recognized with a plaque and were so thankful to be a part of the ceremony. There aren't words to express how moving it was to see the families, the children, the community and all who had traveled from far places to be together in honor of the opening. We ended our evening at the Engle home with a celebration dinner...and just a little more dancing. Lucky isn't even a big enough word to say in sharing how we feel to be here, seeing and helping with this great and exciting event.

A quick image from our drive on Friday of the typical transit method for many people in Haiti.

Children's Academy Dedication!

The day has arrived and we are soon headed to the site to celebrate the dedication of the school. We spent the morning at the site delivering more art supplies, sweeping, decorating and making last minute touches to the painting of building elements such as the newly installed handrails. The site looks amazing and the community has really stepped in to help make the space clean and fresh for the ceremony. Our Internet connection is not excited about uploading photos but they are soon to follow. Bati Byen! Congratulations to the many, many people who had a hand in making today a success.

#haiti haitipartners childrensacademy adeca dedication

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