Place "Kay Alfred" is one the three public spaces built by EVA Studio in the framework of the LAMIKA Program.
Project LAMIKA is an American and Haitian Red Cross programme in Carrefour-Feuilles in Port-au-Prince, aimed at the improvement of the neighbourhood infrastructure. The area sustained extensive damage by the 2010 earthquake and is characterised by extreme poverty and lack of access to basic services.
The three public spaces are intended to respond to the scarcity of communal urban space in the neighbourhood.
The programme of a public space is very specific and, differently from private projects, it is inherently community-oriented. Traditional identity-defining places are “places of identity, of relations and history. A public space is, therefore, an anthropological space, where collectivities place the roots of their identity and relations. The design and the implementation of the public spaces in Carrefour-Feuilles are aimed at providing the local community with a sense of ownership, identity and pride, at fighting poverty, reducing crime, violence and anti-social behaviour through a safer and cleaner environment.
The area of Kay Alfred public space sits above a ravine, which collects water and debris (due to erosion) from two different branches. The space has been previously occupied by the kids from the community as a soccer field.
Therefore, the project is aimed to respond to this existing hydrological issue, through improved infrastructures such as a culvert, a dam, and a retaining wall. The architectural project has transformed a complex and necessary engineering project into a healthy and beautiful recreational ground, mostly occupied as a sports facility, and complete with a basketball court, seating areas and a playground.
The Place Kay Alfred site is located at the bottom of a ravine and was used as a small soccer field previous the project. This site, equipped by a wooden bridge, functioning as the only connection between two areas of neighbourhoods, is prone to flooding during heavy rains.
This public space is aimed at transforming a much needed site mitigation project (comprising the bridge rehabilitation as well as the stabilisation of the dangerous slope at the south of the site) into the architectural design of a public space with a minimum increase of the project budget.
The project literally consists in bridging the ravine with a gathering place, which will eventually host a basketball court and a playground, seating areas, and green spaces, doubling from the space previously used by the community.
Location: Port-au-Prince, Haiti
Year of construction: 2015
Client: Global Communities
Consultants: Sisul Consulting
Donor: American Red Cross
Credits: Anna Calogero, Mihail Dinu, Samuel Eliodor, Jeannie S. Lee, Andrea Panizzo, Edoardo Paoletti, Etienne Pernot du Breuil, Gianluca Stefani, Radim Tkadlec.
FIND MORE ABOUT PROJECT LAMIKA