Design New England - March/April 2010

giving back

written by kathleen atkins

LONG-TERM PLAN FOR HAITI • After the earthquake, an MIT architect regroups and revises his design for a sustainable community in Arcahaie

MAIN PHOTO BY DINA RUDICK/BOSTON GLOBE STAFF

a child stands in a makeshift tent in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, following the devastation of the January earthquake. Architect Jan Wampler and Haitian activist Gerthy Lahens (top) review the initial design for sustainable development in Arcahaie, which is laid out in the model above. Wampler plans to redesign the project with input from the Haitian people it will serve.

Jan wampler values people over profit. A practicing architect for 46 years and professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MI T) for 40 years, Wampler has made a resounding impact, not only in the field of architecture but also on the world. At MIT, Wampler teaches a workshop to graduate and undergraduate students that offers, with the backing of university resources, hands-on experience designing sustainable communities around the globe.

Last year, with his students and then MIT research fellow Gerthy Lahens, a Boston-based Haitian-born activist, Wampler began planning a sustainable community in Arcahaie, Haiti, a village an hour outside of Port-au-Prince. Wampler and his team were scheduled to be in Haiti when the earthquake that killed hundreds of thousands

struck on January 12, but he had postponed the trip to finish a project in Hawaii.

Post-earthquake, Wampler is redesigning the project. He believes that it “has to come from the ground up — from the Haitian people. I do not want people to think we are imposing ideas on them, but rather are working together to build something that will help their lifestyle.” His sustainable community includes a school, a cultural community center, a farm, a living area for orphans, and a laboratory for medical learning. With the proper funding, he hopes to fast-track the complex, offering much-needed facilities for the Haitian people.