Josh fowler here,
Today I
would like to discuss part of my most recent trip to the Dominican Republic and
speak specifically about the architecture and the architectural experiences I
encountered. This alien architectural journey began as soon as the plane landed
and made its way to the terminal. From my window a beautiful thatched roof
rolled into view,
already gracing the
horizon with a Dominican vernacular. Below this magnificent roof was a series
of natural wood and steel columns supporting, seemingly, only the roof itself,
as there where very few walls and most of the building was entirely open giving
the building a sense of airiness and lightness unmatched by almost any other
architecture I have ever seen. As the bus carrying us drew further from the
tarmac and closer to the entrance, the architecture began to reveal its
internal details to me. Once underneath the
grand roof, I could not help but become entranced by the zeitgeist of
the architecture.
Stunning natural wood columns complimented by strong sturdy
steel columns rose up to bifurcate into a glorious lattice of angular supports.
These supports, both metal and wood, rose and married with other supports
creating a splendid framework for the various scales of purlins and woodwork
that support the thatch-work skin. This aesthetic paying homage to the architecture commonly
found in the Dominican Republic at an earlier time. And this was only the very
first building I had encountered in the eye-opening country of the Dominican
Republic. From the airport, my group piled onto a coach bus that would service
us for the rest of the trip. It was roughly a three hour drive through the
country to the city of Santo Domingo. While on this country ride, I was graced
with the wonderful palette of greens and yellows of the landscape and, although
few, the wildly colorful buildings and structures, some almost seeming to have
been lost in time.
We finally made it to Santo Domingo that same night and
experienced the typical night life and urban landscape Santo Domingo had to
offer.
We ate a late dinner at a popular restaurant and then
promptly headed to our hotel through the very narrow and winding streets.
Whether the streets where a byproduct of the transportation mentality or the
other way around, I did not know but traffic was very different and much less
regulated in the country as a whole as compared to in the states. We were woken
the following morning by the wonderful sounds of shouts and car alarms. After
breakfast we were led on a walking tour of Santo Domingo by a proud and
sarcastic Santo Domingo native. The shouts of "Peoples peoples!"
and "Informations
informations!" directing us to where we needed to be. The new world's
first monastery,
the new world's first
building, which became the new world's first hospital,
the new world's first
catholic church.
The use of coral as a construction material was a
fascinating notion and after studying such building techniques in the global
history class I am also currently taking, it was interesting to the see
firsthand the results and the use.
As the traffic in the major cities of the DR was chaotic to
say the least, our group witnessed the DR way of moving pedestrians around in
major cities. They are lofted into the air to walk over many intersections and
roads via grand pedestrian bridges in order to carry on with their daily
activities.
From Santo Domingo,
we traveled on to the location of Jarabacoa in the mountains. The mountains
are, as our tour guide deemed them, the "breadbasket" of the
Dominican Republic. This is where much of the agriculture happens and where we
would be working for most of the trip. This was where I was able to practice my
knowledge of architecture and construction in helping with the construction of
a scenic overlook,
trusses for a new visitors center,
and a French-drain-esk drainage system for part of a trail.
As this is only part uno of this two-part post, I shall
leave you here and pick this back up again later to regale you with the rest of
the architectural experiences I encountered on this trip. Until next time…
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