RESPONDING TO THE URBAN REDEVELOPMENT PROPOSAL FOR THE CITY OF PORT OF SPAIN
By Danielle Elefant, Kaleel Kanor-Doublier & Dean Arlen
November/December 2020
DA.DA&Projects — Developing Art and Design Awareness
Da.da&Projects, is a registered non-profit organisation concerned with developing an awareness of how art and design can shape sustainable social, aesthetic and economic development in communities and their shared communal spaces. In this case we write in relation to the city of Port of Spain and the plans for its revitalization. We support the understanding that art and design applied through a social development methodology, can invigorate peoples, communities, landscapes, and communal spaces; and acknowledge the difficulties in facilitating a truly human-centred development. The contributions below are developed by three members and associate members of Da.Da&Projects — Danielle Elefant, interior designer, Kaleel Kanor-Doublier, architectural designer and visual and installation artist, and Dean Arlen who share an interest in human-centered development, through the implementation of social art/design community-based methodologies.
Socially engaged art practice, requires specific investments and interventions from artists, the state, community, and private sector. What is a city without its people? A people who see their history applied in its making, whose hands have worked to make its bricks, creatively develop its economy and inform its politics…a city that through its vernacular art-design expresses the peoples’ reality. In the case of East Port of Spain this would extend from the ecology of the Northern Range as a tropical rain forest where wildlife is abundant to the city with its ocean views. Why have we not applied this experience to the design of the city? The city’s design should draw upon the vibrations of its artistic, environmental and cultural expressions; our reverberations, our gestures, mannerisms, and dialect should be imprinted into the vernacular of Port of Spain’s contemporary architecture.
These are new conversations that require an innovative approach to art and design. New terminologies have emerged for this approach to the practice of incorporating the spirit of the people into design e.g. radical design, vernacularism, place making, socially engaged art and social art-design. We support the intent of making a city that reflects its peoples in all their creativity, a city that reflects our quest for social justice and the beauty of all its inhabitants.
THE GREEN LUNG, by Danielle Elefant
When revitalization of Port of Spain (and not the surrounding areas) is the goal of this ambitious set of projects, does proposing a new “Green Lung” on reclaimed land west of Mucurapo Road make any sense?
Some of the main goals outlined in this proposal are sustainable design, walkability, improvement of quality of life, and culture in Port of Spain. Recreating another Queens Park Savannah, which borders the city, does not consider solutions beyond those which we already have.
While I would never discourage the development of green spaces, these spaces need to be carefully considered to have the desired, and not unintended, impacts. There are many potentially negative environmental effects associated with reclaimed land — namely repercussions for marine life, pollution of water & soil, displacement of marine sediment, loss of essential mangrove habitat, among other issues with which I am sure the city is familiar from previous reclamation exercises.
Taking this approach does nothing to improve the daily quality of life of people living and working within Port of Spain. Why not devote these resources to planting trees along sidewalks — to increase shade, reduce heat island effect, and contribute immensely to the walkability of Port of Spain? Why not focus on our existing squares, in which the city has been cutting down trees for safety, to create easily accessed spots for a beautifully landscaped lunch break, to ease the impact of inhabiting a concrete jungle? Why not beautify retention ponds creating landscaped lakes of water in a concrete jungle? Why not capture vacant lots and turn them into micro parks or community gardens where in residents can learn about agriculture and contribute to growing some of their own food? In these same micro parks, why not also partner with local artists to create public art installations which further engage the populace?
Maybe the “Green Lung” isn’t one large park, but a number of smaller lungs which weave their way through the city. These parks can be complimented with the development/landscaping of the existing 50 acres on the Mucurapo foreshore, creating a more equitable and impactful distribution of green spaces, which would benefit all city residents and mitigate environmental consequences associated with land reclamation.
EAST PORT OF SPAIN DEVELOPMENT, by Kaleel Kanor-Doublier
As visitors to Port of Spain traverse and depart the city, the architecture of buildings on Piccadilly Street serves as a reminder of the once embellished architecture that filled the capital. Piccadilly House, the small gingerbread house that sits at 54 Piccadilly Street, is a prime example of this architecture. The house, which was built in the 1920s, “is a small and extremely tradition structure that reflects the historical legacy of Trinidad and Tobago’s built heritage.” (Azrieli School of Architecture & Urbanism, Carleton University, 2011, p. 46)
Given the above, it would be a travesty if this heritage site is torn down and replaced by a structure that does not reflect or showcase the once glorious and unique mix of Trinidad and Tobago’s architectural style. Destroying this home will be irresponsible and continues to demonstrate the disregard we as a people have for our heritage and our past. Unfortunately, the scant courtesy with which we continue to treat our heritage sites forms part of our culture of ungratefulness and disposability. Recent examples are the destruction of the house on Jerningham Avenue to accommodate the construction of the new headquarters of the Ministry of Health, and the demolition of the house on the corner of Carlos Street and Ariapita Avenue by a private owner.
At the very least, serious consideration should have been given to the digital preservation of these sites before they were destroyed. The publication — A Tale of Two Houses VOL 1: An Historical Record of Boissière and Piccadilly Houses illustrates how these gems can be documented and then further digitized. With developing technology perhaps these buildings can soon be visited by persons though augmented reality in virtual museums.
We conclude by reminding those involved of the proposals by the National Trust of Trinidad and Tobago for the declaration of a Historical District in mid Port of Spain, in the area of The Red House, Trinity Cathedral, The old Public Library etc. and refer all involved to the important work Port of Spain: The Construction of a Caribbean City, 1888–1962, by Stephen Stuempfle.
A CITY SOCIALLY ART-DESIGNED AS HUMAN, by Dean Arlen
I/We have listened intently to the proposals put forward to the national community on the uplift of our dearest city, Port of Spain. Embedded in its bones is a tapestry of history weaved together through blood, sweat, tears and joy, from 1797 when Britain captured Trinidad from Spain who themselves had taken it from the First Peoples through conquest in 1498. From 1797 the city of Port of Spain would evolve into a city stitched together as a modern experiment in competing economic, social and political ideologies; creating an inexplicit cultural explosion felt around the world.
There is the classic notion of what a city means — an amalgam of peoples, structures and administrative powers. Members of this space usually do not normally, engage in agriculture although this is not always the case, but work in administration, industry and services to oil the economic and political engine of the outlying areas of the city.
In recent times cities have been radically re-conceptualized away from their classic moorings, to engage more human innovation, creativity, imagination and even urban agriculture all merging to invigorate the city’s character. Ideas around intersectionality, environmental sustainability, gender equality, social art, radical architecture, human geography, vernacularism, community activism, progressive social work and landscape architecture have shifted the principles of urban planning from a primacy of the economic, political and administrative to a more holistic conceptualization. Unfortunately there is little evidence of this global shift in our cities.
These new definitions are easy mention as it was on Monday 16 November 2020, when “Human Centered Development” was stressed in the consultation. There is a need however to expand on how “Human Centred Development” will create this new city? How does “Human Centred Development” operate? How will “Human Centred Development” emerge and become visible in this renewed city? Will we see a city resilient, where we see each other and which values the many aspects that make us who we are? A city designed in tune with nature? A city that values real learning and its own history? A city that encourages play, with a sense of humour, a healthy city, in its buildings and its people.
For a brave new resilient, innovative city to emerge; a collaborative, participatory methodology must be encouraged. This city fell to ruins through human error and to re-imagine a sustainable city we will need to strengthen its capacity for deep engagement with the people who live there. In the absence of this the city will be back to ruins …
The Eastside of the Brian Lara Promenade, well designed by Colin Laird, fell into ruin as fast as it was unveiled to the people, why? There may be many reasons for its decay, inefficiency of the City Corporation, paucity of investment from the Port of Spain business community or an aloofness from the people who use the space and live in the area. For the people who live in East Port of Spain, the Promenade, (particularly the East End) is an extension of their living space. To build a sustainable, resilient Promenade the relevant agencies will have to engage in a collaborative, participatory exercise that will see people believing in themselves, seeing themselves in the stones that rest there, accepting responsibility for the survival of the space, so that they want to nurture rather than destroy the space. Modern development theory suggests that a city is a precious ecological balance where the human endeavors of exploring the innovative, creative and imaginative spirits are encouraged, a city is as dynamic as the people that inhabit its space, who see themselves etched into the making of the space, Project Learning Methodologies, (PLM), allow for transference, empowerment and development of the human element in coming to a sustainable city scape.
An example of Social Artdesign,
A participatory Learning Methodology (PLM) can be initiated with e.g. the Drag Brothers, a historically significant group, a legacy of the 1970 Black Power revolution, who were removed from the old Independence Square to make way for the new Brian Lara Promenade. They were moved to Diego Martin and East Port of Spain, Besson Street where they are at present. A PLM approach would allow for socially engaged artists, architects, social workers, psychologists, the Town and Country Planning Division and the Drag Brothers to engage in a collaborative reconceptualization of their space. Through a conceptual process that includes analysis, information collected from users and everyone involved. At the end of the process a new collective understanding of how the space could function based on the issues explored, would respond to issues of production, community, family, cooperative economy, workshop design, tourism, innovative development, inclusivity, digital communications and the future.
Social Artdesign and PLM, implemented well in all facets of administrative, business and community involvement, will allow for a city to emerge in the likeness of its people, as city full of:
● Artistic and Cultural Life — designed into the cities would be open spaces for concerts, public discussions, theatre, music, art exhibitions and curated projects of interest to community concerns. City Gate for example could become a gallery connected to the San Andres, the Museum of the City Port of Spain now laying waste, and the National Museum of Trinidad and Tobago. Bringing Woodford Square back as a space for debate and City Hall as a theatre of the people, e.g. The Freddie Kissoon Theatre
● The City as an Innovative Green Space — greening of the city must be a core value of its revitalization. Trees should be part of every aspect of its space, integrated into all spaces.
● Communal Agricultural Spaces — to be a resilient Caribbean city agriculture will have to be part of the design, including construction with urban gardens on roof tops, community allotment gardens etc.
● History — the city as mentioned at the beginning is a tapestry of experiences and influences, a city that has experienced — conquest and colonialism, First Peoples genocide/survival, enslavement, indentureship, other migrations, colonialism, neo-colonialism. It’s a city that has also experienced amazing resilience with the invention of pan, its unique colonial architecture and vibrant cultural expressions. Sadly none of this is adequately represented in the city. This needs to be changed.
On Behalf of DA.DA& Projects
