May 13, 2010
COMMENTARY: Haiti Needs U.S. Housing Design and Systems Now
By Rene A. Henry
Seattle, WA (HNN) – Since the disastrous 7.0 magnitude earthquake on January 12 that devastated Haiti and killed more than 230,000 people, millions of dollars have poured into the country for food, medicine, medical help, and relief.
Today more than two million people are homeless and hundreds of thousands of Haitians are living in 75 tent camps in and around Port-au-Prince. Scores of relief organizations and charity agencies have helped in many ways, but the homeless need safe, basic shelter and especially now with the on-coming rainy season.
What Haiti needs most now is U.S. housing design, technology and building systems. For years the U.S. has been exporting its housing and construction knowledge to countries throughout the world.
“Haiti needs to be rebuilt from the ground up,” wrote Eric Farnsworth in National Journal Online one week after the earthquake. “Even in good times, Haiti is an economic wreck.… The government is weak and untrusted, corrupt and unable in many ways to provide the basic services for its citizens that many others across the Caribbean take for granted.”
Barry A. Berkus, architect, designer and planner from Santa Barbara, California, agrees with Farnsworth. “The homeless should be relocated in areas outside of Port-au-Prince and given basic, sound, temporary shelter,” he said. “Then the capital city should be cleared and redesigned with a new one built in its place with state-of-the-art design, planning, infrastructure and seismic codes. The process needs to start now."
“The new city will reflect a new economy, a new environment and give all Haitians a new sense of pride,” Berkus added. “From day one, starting with erecting temporary shelter, the project will create employment. Soon this will lead to a self sufficient economy."
“Throughout history, when cities have been devastated by major catastrophes – whether by earthquakes, flooding, fires or military battles – there have been positive opportunities created by the crises," Berkus added. "Unfortunately, New Orleans missed this with Katrina. Just look at the cities in Europe and Japan that were ravaged by World War II and how they were rebuilt. Even San Francisco after the disastrous 1906 earthquake and fire. Or Paris following the Battle of Paris during the Napoleonic Wars in 1814."
People are living in more than 600,000 Berkus-designed houses in the U.S., Europe and Asia, where he also has designed new towns and introduced innovative building systems and technology.
“Mobile homes are not the answer,” adds Berkus, founder and president of B3 Architects and Berkus Design Studio. “Just look at Katrina. They didn’t work and now have created yet another problem. The tent cities in Port-au- Prince can be replaced by small structures that can be shipped to Haiti in panelized, pre-cut kits that people can easily assemble on site, just like the mail-order houses from the Sears Roebuck catalog during the 1920s. The temporary shelters can be manufactured of wood, lightweight concrete or a polymer material. The shipping container itself can be part of the structure.”
Few architects in the world today have been in the forefront of modular and manufactured housing as has Berkus. His innovations have been in design as well as technology and systems.
“If the U.S. government and charity and relief organizations around the world want to avoid another calamity in Haiti, they should act now to find a solution to house the homeless,” says Berkus. “Pre-cut, easy-to-assemble manufactured houses are a simple solution. Relocate the people and then start planning to make Port-au-Prince the most modern and futuristic city in the world. This will be a long-term project. Unfortunately, bureaucrats are too often afraid to take on complex issues and end up spending more time talking about rather than solving problems.”
He added that with a simple design, there are more than a score of U.S. housing manufacturers that could start turning out ready-to-ship, pre-cut kits of shelter in a matter of days, not months.
In the early 1900s, migrant farmers in Barbados had simple and movable shelter -– a knockdown panelized house that could be put on a horse-drawn cart and moved from one farm to another. In the 1970s, Jim Price, founder of National Homes Corp., and one of the pioneers of manufactured housing, retained the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation to design the Petalform House that could be easily assembled by peasant farmers in Mexico. Unfortunately, it was never built or marketed
The U.S. has the people, technology, systems and manufacturers to start rebuilding Haiti. The people and organizations that have and control the money can make it happen and need to make it happen now. By directing how the money is spent and even delivering it in product, the two greatest obstacles can be overcome – bureaucracy and corruption.
Charleston, WV native Rene A. Henry lives in Seattle, Washington and is the author of seven books. He was president and CEO of the National Institute of Building Sciences, Washington, D.C., from 1986-1988, and has written about manufactured housing and, land use and development. Many of his commentaries are posted on his website at www.renehenry.com.
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COMMENTARY: Haiti Needs U.S. Housing Design and Systems Now
By Rene A. Henry
Seattle, WA (HNN) – Since the disastrous 7.0 magnitude earthquake on January 12 that devastated Haiti and killed more than 230,000 people, millions of dollars have poured into the country for food, medicine, medical help, and relief.
Today more than two million people are homeless and hundreds of thousands of Haitians are living in 75 tent camps in and around Port-au-Prince. Scores of relief organizations and charity agencies have helped in many ways, but the homeless need safe, basic shelter and especially now with the on-coming rainy season.
What Haiti needs most now is U.S. housing design, technology and building systems. For years the U.S. has been exporting its housing and construction knowledge to countries throughout the world.
“Haiti needs to be rebuilt from the ground up,” wrote Eric Farnsworth in National Journal Online one week after the earthquake. “Even in good times, Haiti is an economic wreck.… The government is weak and untrusted, corrupt and unable in many ways to provide the basic services for its citizens that many others across the Caribbean take for granted.”
Barry A. Berkus, architect, designer and planner from Santa Barbara, California, agrees with Farnsworth. “The homeless should be relocated in areas outside of Port-au-Prince and given basic, sound, temporary shelter,” he said. “Then the capital city should be cleared and redesigned with a new one built in its place with state-of-the-art design, planning, infrastructure and seismic codes. The process needs to start now."
“The new city will reflect a new economy, a new environment and give all Haitians a new sense of pride,” Berkus added. “From day one, starting with erecting temporary shelter, the project will create employment. Soon this will lead to a self sufficient economy."
“Throughout history, when cities have been devastated by major catastrophes – whether by earthquakes, flooding, fires or military battles – there have been positive opportunities created by the crises," Berkus added. "Unfortunately, New Orleans missed this with Katrina. Just look at the cities in Europe and Japan that were ravaged by World War II and how they were rebuilt. Even San Francisco after the disastrous 1906 earthquake and fire. Or Paris following the Battle of Paris during the Napoleonic Wars in 1814."
People are living in more than 600,000 Berkus-designed houses in the U.S., Europe and Asia, where he also has designed new towns and introduced innovative building systems and technology.
“Mobile homes are not the answer,” adds Berkus, founder and president of B3 Architects and Berkus Design Studio. “Just look at Katrina. They didn’t work and now have created yet another problem. The tent cities in Port-au- Prince can be replaced by small structures that can be shipped to Haiti in panelized, pre-cut kits that people can easily assemble on site, just like the mail-order houses from the Sears Roebuck catalog during the 1920s. The temporary shelters can be manufactured of wood, lightweight concrete or a polymer material. The shipping container itself can be part of the structure.”
Few architects in the world today have been in the forefront of modular and manufactured housing as has Berkus. His innovations have been in design as well as technology and systems.
“If the U.S. government and charity and relief organizations around the world want to avoid another calamity in Haiti, they should act now to find a solution to house the homeless,” says Berkus. “Pre-cut, easy-to-assemble manufactured houses are a simple solution. Relocate the people and then start planning to make Port-au-Prince the most modern and futuristic city in the world. This will be a long-term project. Unfortunately, bureaucrats are too often afraid to take on complex issues and end up spending more time talking about rather than solving problems.”
He added that with a simple design, there are more than a score of U.S. housing manufacturers that could start turning out ready-to-ship, pre-cut kits of shelter in a matter of days, not months.
In the early 1900s, migrant farmers in Barbados had simple and movable shelter -– a knockdown panelized house that could be put on a horse-drawn cart and moved from one farm to another. In the 1970s, Jim Price, founder of National Homes Corp., and one of the pioneers of manufactured housing, retained the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation to design the Petalform House that could be easily assembled by peasant farmers in Mexico. Unfortunately, it was never built or marketed
The U.S. has the people, technology, systems and manufacturers to start rebuilding Haiti. The people and organizations that have and control the money can make it happen and need to make it happen now. By directing how the money is spent and even delivering it in product, the two greatest obstacles can be overcome – bureaucracy and corruption.
Charleston, WV native Rene A. Henry lives in Seattle, Washington and is the author of seven books. He was president and CEO of the National Institute of Building Sciences, Washington, D.C., from 1986-1988, and has written about manufactured housing and, land use and development. Many of his commentaries are posted on his website at www.renehenry.com.
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