Port-of-Spain's Central Business District





Approaching Port-of-Spain's CBD

Approaching Port-of-Spain, a view of majestic structures await as this capital asserts its power with its towering multi-storey buildings. Immediately, one can see that the CBD entails an administrative and commercial center. The twin towers (first 2 buildings from the left) are part of the Eric Williams Financial Complex where the Central Bank and Ministry of Finance are housed. To the right is the recently completed Nicholas Tower, a commercial office building. The other structures are also government buildings and all of them are classified as modern architecture. According to Heynen (1999, p. 25) modernity involves the concerted struggle for progress, uniting workers, industrialists, and artists around a common goal. Here, the bourgeois modernity of capitalist civilization takes flight and politics, economics and culture fall under the same umbrella, which according to Le Corbusier, causes the collapse of an integrated experience of life. Modern architecture evolved from the industrial revolution where an abundance of steel, glass and other building materials were mass produced. It is perceived as a rejection of traditional architecture and a way of capturing the space of the present generation. The above photograph highlights the dominance of politics and economics in our capital and the culture of imitating the designs of the Global North in our high rise buildings. These high rise government and commercial buildings however are located mostly on Abercromby and Edward Streets (seen below), west of Fredrick Street, which is the division between retail and administrative parts of the CBD.

 

One of the high rise twin towers
 

High rise buildings on the Western end of the CBD

The photograph below captures Charlotte Street which is one of the main commercial and retail streets in the CBD. Architecturally, the buildings in this part of the CBD are 2–3 storeys high and are multi-functional. They are planned to accommodate the pedestrians by their walk-through design to connect one street to the other. Bradford City Mall in this photograph for example connects Charlotte Street to Henry Street, another commercial hub. In addition, the second photograph below shows Plaza Espermaria which has the same walk-through design. Shoe Avenue is also highlighted on Henry Street where many different varieties of shoes can be bought in this area bustling with commercial activity.

 





Charlotte Street


 





Shoe Avenue, Henry Street



 

The division of the CBD into a commercial and administrative part can be compared to that of New Orleans where Brooks and Young (1993) described that Poydras Street housed offices mainly of the petrochemical industry and Canal Street was the retail core. It is also worth mentioning that the Hyatt Regency Hotel (seen in the photograph below) is the main commercial building at the waterfront and it also forms part of the high rise buildings on the western end of the CBD. This waterfront design is classified as modern architecture and can also be compared to New Orleans’s riverfront which over time developed into a main tourist attraction.

 



The Hyatt Regency Hotel at the Waterfront

Reference List

 

 

• Brooks, Jane S., and Alma H. Young.1993. "Revitalising the central business district in the face of decline: The case of New Orleans, 1973-1993." The Town and Planning Review 64 (3): 251-271

• Heynen, Hilde. 1999. Architecture and Modernity A Critique. USA: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Accessed April 07, 2014. http://www.mom.arq.ufmg.br/mom/arq_interface/1a_aula/Architecture_and_Modernity_A_Critique.pdf