{"id":6048,"date":"2015-01-12T10:49:23","date_gmt":"2015-01-12T15:49:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/archdesign.utk.edu\/?p=6048"},"modified":"2015-01-12T10:49:23","modified_gmt":"2015-01-12T15:49:23","slug":"faculty-students-continue-haiti-post-earthquake-rebuilding-efforts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archdesign.utk.edu\/faculty-students-continue-haiti-post-earthquake-rebuilding-efforts\/","title":{"rendered":"Faculty, Students Continue Haiti Post-Earthquake Rebuilding Efforts"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the five years since a massive earthquake rocked the island nation of Haiti, UT faculty and students have helped the country\u2019s rebuilding efforts by designing a secondary school, housing, and a clinic that are now in various stages of construction.<\/p>\n

Next up: the design of preschools to address the education needs of the country\u2019s youngest citizens.<\/p>\n

Since 2010, UT\u2019s Haiti projects have given students hands-on experience in creating designs for real spaces and real people that bring about change, said Ali Alsaleh, a fifth-year architecture major who took part in a fall 2014 Haiti studio class. Today marks the fifth anniversary of the earthquake.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn architecture and design studios, our clients are usually hypothetical,\u201d said Alsaleh, who helped design one of the preschools that will be built.<\/p>\n

He traveled to Haiti in the fall with a UT team to learn more about the country and its needs.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur involvement in Haiti has actually had real outcomes. We got to speak to the actual people who will be using our buildings. It made me realize that architecture can help rebuild a community and refocused my passion for architecture as a humanitarian field.\u201d<\/p>\n

The UT Haiti Project<\/a><\/strong>, led by the College of Architecture and Design and a collaboration between various UT programs, has made students more sensitive to cross-cultural differences, how to respond to the needs of others, and how to work well across disciplines, said Architecture Professor John McRae<\/a><\/strong>, who helped launch the project.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s important in their overall professional development,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

UT has partnered with the Haiti Development Fund and its executive director, Jean Thomas, on all its projects. The organization pays for the construction of the buildings, and members of the UT Haiti Project provide some oversight, McRae said.<\/p>\n

快活视频 nonprofit HaitiServe helped defray the cost of travel for UT faculty and students.<\/p>\n

A look at the UT-designed Haiti projects and their status:<\/p>\n