Friday, 11 April 2014

The Author's Reflection


This blog highlights the architecture of Port-of-Spain which ties culture and history to this space. It is quite interesting to read other blogs and link all the concepts and perception together. Port-of-Spain was seen as a religious center at one point in time, which contributed to the traditional church architecture of the city. The rising importance of economic activities has encouraged modern, high rise architecture to assert its dominance in the city. There are still however, much unutilized public spaces in the core which shows that a lot more can be done to improve the design of the CBD and to address the needs of the public. Everything is therefore related in the city and its multi-functionality and interconnectedness is reflected here in how history, an evolving economy and abandoned public space have all affected architecture and design in Port-of-Spain.

A Cross-section of Port-of-Spain


 

View of Port-of-Spain from West to East




 
When the architecture of Port-of-Spain is analysed from a West to East perspective starting from One Woodbrook Place through the CBD to the Beetham Gardens (urban slum) as this blog does, a general trend is observed in the architecture and design. One Woodbrook place represents the Global North's perception of 21st century, sustainable architecture. The historical urban neighbourhood of Woodbrook transitions to traditional architecture by the abundance of colonial houses and businesses seen. Port-of-Spain's CBD has a combination of traditional, modern and vernacular architecture since this area reflects the vibrancy and rich culture of the city, where a bit of everything is found. The east and eastern boundary of the CBD houses mainly lower class housing schemes and oppressed areas so vernacular architecture is dominant in those areas.
One common feature throughout this cross-section is that all of the aforementioned spaces contain green or recreational areas. This shows that the aesthetics and ambiance of Port-of-Spain is important and tremendous effort is being made to foster social integration in this way. Port-of-Spain's architecture is certainly a must see for tourists interested in structural design and it certainly reflects the politics, economy and culture of Trinidad. 

One Woodbrook Place: New Urbanism


One Woodbrook Place




IMAX Cinema located at One Woodbrook Place



 
One Woodbrook Place is located at the western boundary of Woodbrook where St. James begins. One Woodbrook Place offers 2 and 3 bedroom apartments with security, either for rent or sale. Its modern, state of the art design incorporates leisure, dining, shopping, banking and entertainment for the convenience of residents in this built community. Real estate websites convince the consumer that they enjoy the best of two worlds by living above the excitement of a city that never sleeps while still being in the midst of it.
While this contemporary structure adds a different element to Woodbrook and St. James since it is the only strikingly modern feature, I question the relevance of it to this urban area. This alludes to Lara (2011) where he pointed out that cities in Brazil that incorporate New Urbanism, already have high density, mixed uses and reduced automobile dependency and so this concept is irrelevant to their urban space. Woodbrook and St. James are both multifunctional, have high densities and are easily accessible so living in these areas already makes access to everything easy. The concept of New Urbanism in this area in my opinion is redundant and unnecessary as it seems to be an imitation of the ideas from the Global North without assessing the real housing needs of the area.


Reference List

  • Lara, Fernando. 2011. "New (Sub) Urbanism and Old Inequities in Brazilian Gated Communities." Journal of Urban Design 16 (3): 369-380.
 

Woodbrook


Woodbrook is considered to be middle to upper-middle class residential area situated west of Port-of-Spain’s CBD. The Port-of-Spain City Corporation classifies this area as an urban neighbourhood. As one exits the CBD heading west along Park Street, the historic, colonial architecture of houses and businesses is a telling sign that you have entered Woodbrook. The traditional architecture of these buildings has been maintained since the houses were built in the early 1900s. Woodbrook was a large sugarcane estate owned by the Siegert family and then sold to the Town Board in 1911 where land was leased thereafter to be developed into a residential area.
Something that has captivated me since I first visited Woodbrook is that businesses, bars and restaurants which are continuously growing in that neighbourhood have maintained the colonial architecture of the buildings as seen below. A resident has confirmed that bars and restaurants along the famous commercial strip, Ariapita Avenue has only taken place within the last decade. This is a sign of gentrification occurring because businesses are being established in the midst of this residential area which raises the value of the properties even higher than it is already worth. According to Hall and Barrett (2012, 145) certain businesses that occupy conserved buildings can outperform more ordinary modern schemes in terms of rental income. Old buildings and historic urban quarters are revitalized in order to attract new business investment or to encourage urban tourism and leisure pursuits. This is the case with Ariapita Avenue since the recent establishment of upscale restaurants, casinos and bars have made it into a ‘mini Las Vegas Strip’ and possibly the most popular nightlife area in Port-of-Spain. 
Stir Fry King Chinese Restaurant (left) and Melange Restaurant (right) on Ariapita Avenue



Coco Lounge Bar on Ariapita Avenue


 
Issues associated with gentrification however, such as displacement and exclusion of residents from the area have not yet surfaced. Perhaps property tax has not been an issue because residents have not been paying any taxes since the political parties changed government office. Even prior to this, property taxes were very low because the tax was based on the original evaluation of the land, which was a significantly lower value than now. Therefore, residents are not affected by the increasing number of businesses occupying colonial houses in this area.
 
 
Reference List:
  • Hall, Tim, and Heather Barrett. 2012. Urban Geography. New York: Routledge.
  • Port-of-Spain City Corporation. Final Draft Development Plan: A Strategic Planning Framework For Metropolitan Port-of-Spain. Volume 2 Implementation Plan, Port-of-Spain.

The National Academy for the Performing Arts (NAPA)


A gigantic, modern structure situated across the southern end of the Queen’s Park Savannah, adds contemporary architecture to this otherwise historical area. This majestic structure embodies the art and cultural expression of the people. According to Urban Development Corporation of Trinidad and Tobago (2006) the architectural design is reminiscent of Trinidad and Tobago’s national flower, the Chaconia. This facility offers modern classrooms, practice halls, teaching rooms, a performance hall, state of the art lighting and acoustics, a hotel for visiting performers and parking. The location of this majestic facility around the largest traffic round-about allows easy vehicular and pedestrian access, which is in sync with the design and layout of Port-of-Spain.
The National Academy for Performing Arts (NAPA)



Reference List
 
 
 

The Magnificent Seven


The Magnificent Seven adds to Port-of-Spain’s rich architecture by portraying robust traditional architecture with their late Victorian and Edwardian designs. These structures, located on the western end of the Queen’s Park Savannah are major tourist attractions now and many are astonished by the intricacies in these buildings designs. They were built mostly by elite French and British families who owned plantations in this area when Trinidad was still a British colony. Whitehall, Stollmeyer’s Castle and Mille Fleurs are under restorative work by the government in an effort to preserve these historical landmarks.
Queen’s Royal College has been restored and is a prestigious all boys secondary school.
Queen's Royal College
 
Hayes Court is the home of the Anglican Archbishop and has very intricate stone and glass work.
Hayes Court
 
Mille Fleurs or Salvatori House was once a private residence but was sold to the government in 1979. It is now undergoing full restoration as a public museum and headquarters for the National Heritage Trust.
Mille Fleurs
 
Ambard’s House, also known as Roomor is a black and white chateau-like house which is still a private residence. It was built by a French architect in 1904 and all of the building materials were brought from France and Italy.
Ambard's House
 
The Archbishop’s Palace was built by an Irish architect and its design seems more modern in comparison to the other structures.
The Archbishop's Palace
 
Whitehall was built by a merchant called Joseph Leon Agostini, a cocoa plantation owner and its design is that of the Moorish Mediterranean style. This building once housed the British Council Cultural Center, the Trinidad and Tobago Central Library and was the Prime Minister’s office from 1963 to 2010.
Whitehall
 
The last of the magnificent seven is actually a castle. The Stollmeyer’s Castle was modeled after the Balmoral Castle in Scotland and was built by Charles Fourier Stollmeyer as a wedding present to his son. It is now government owned and is under restorative works.
Stollmeyer's Castle



Reference List
 
  • Unknown, 2008. "The rich history of Whitehall and Stollmeyer's Castle." Trinidad Newsday, August 26.
 

Green and Recreational Areas


Woodford Square

Green areas are my favourite contribution to cities since they are such visually pleasing pockets and foster social integration. Sandstrom (2009) found that green spaces are important for sustainable development and for human well-being. There are a few green areas within the CBD of Port-of-Spain. Photographed and shown are Woodford Square above and Queen’s Park Savannah below.
Queen's Park Savannah


 

Benches around the Queen's Park Savannah


The Queens Park Savannah is one of the most pleasurable green areas to visit as one can enjoy fresh coconuts from coconut vendors, local foods and snow cones. The large circular design allows vendors to be comfortably spread out and also allows people to play various sports across the field. A truly aesthetically pleasing place to be while playing the very important role of connecting Port-of-Spain to St. Clair, Maraval, Belmont and St. Ann’s since its design is that of a round-about.
The last photograph of Brian Lara Promenade below, while not a green area is certainly a popular recreational stretch in downtown Port-of-Spain. Men gather around a table playing the local board game draft, while some people stroll casually and others relax on the benches. A perfect spot to be in the center of the capital and allows one to enjoy the ambience. These green areas, interspersed within the hub of commercial areas allow a similar experience especially since the design of Port-of-Spain is pedestrian oriented.
The Brian Lara Promenade


Reference List
 
 
  • Sandstrom, Ulf. 2009. "Urban Green Spaces for Human Well-being." In Impact Assessment and Human Well-Being 29th Annual Conference of the International Association for Impact Assessment 16-22 May, 2009. Accra International Conference Center, Accra, Ghana: IAIA09