Jamaica Gleaner

Sustainabl­e luxury residences for Caribbean climate

PEOPLE IN the Caribbean know that from June 1 to November 30 is the Atlantic Hurricane Season. However, no one expected that within the first month of the 2024 season, Hurricane Beryl would turn into a Category 5 storm, barrelling on a westward journey from the Atlantic Ocean across the islands into Central America and upward into North America. It left a trail of destructio­n. I send condolence­s to all who suffered loss through Beryl.

We as Jamaicans rejoiced over the miraculous hand of God turning Beryl away from a direct hit after making landfall on some Caribbean Windward Islands. The movement of this hurricane, more than others, emphasised that in the Caribbean – all a we is one – as declared by Trinidadia­n Paul Keens-Douglas in his ‘Tell Me Again’ poem:

Tell me again bout de big island an de small island, an de rich island an de poor island, how all a we is one, an how Cari - com an Cari - gone, tell me again.

Tell me again how I love you an you love me, an how blood ticker dan water, an how we is brudder an we is sister, an yu won’t cut me t’roat cause we come on de same boat, tell me again ...

I have been intrigued by the trans-Atlantic pathway of these seasonal hurricanes throughout the centuries. Columbus used this pathway and made landfall in the Caribbean in 1492. Then the slave route shipping Africans to the Caribbean followed. Hence the reflection by Paul Keens-Douglas - ‘cause we come on de same boat – brings to mind that Jamaica was the first to import Africans for slave labour when in 1524 the Spanish colonists petitioned King Charles V of Spain for this.

FOREFRONT

Jamaica remained at the forefront of this enterprise after the English captured the island from Spain in 1655 to become the major slave trader shipping Africans on this pathway to Jamaica then trans-shipping them along the hurricane routes to the rest of the Caribbean as well as the Central and North Americas. Interestin­gly, Hurricane Beryl travelled from the Caribbean across Mexico finally offloading in Texas!

These historic trading routes from Africa into the Caribbean islands initially inhabited by the Indigenous peoples such as the Tainos on Jamaica, brought together peoples, which resulted in a significan­t cultural legacy, a syncretism that Jamaican Louise Bennett emphasised through her characteri­sation of Miss Mattie, in her “Back to Africa” poem:

Back to Africa, Miss Mattie?

You no know wha you dah seh? You haf fe come from somewhe fus Before you go back deh!

Me know say dat you great great great Granma was African,

But Mattie, doan you great great great Granpa was Englishman?

Den you great granmader fader

By you fader side was Jew?

An you granpa by you mader side Was Frenchie parlez-vous?

But de balance a you family,

You whole generation,

Oonoo all barn dung a Bun GrungOonoo all is Jamaican!

Den is weh you gwine, Miss Mattie? Oh, you view de countenanc­e, An between you an de Africans Is great resemblanc­e! ...

I find this portrayal of Miss Mattie by Miss Lou fascinatin­g because when I examine Caribbean architectu­re, it, likewise, evolved over the years, amalgamati­ng influences from all elements of African, English, Jewish, French, and others including the Indigenous peoples. Significan­tly, this architectu­re also evolved in response to climatic considerat­ions of the Caribbean, especially to the annual occurrence of hurricanes.

BUILD BACK BETTER

With the passing of Beryl, Prime Minister Andrew Holness has announced that we should ‘build back better’, raising much discussion over what this really means. My historic research shows that

nd this has been the same call across the centuries. In fact, there is much evidence of the Caribbean architectu­re evolving into better building solutions to mitigate climatic effects and resist disasters from hurricanes and earthquake­s.

I recommend that we should be revisiting and reappropri­ating some of these time-tested and time-honoured Caribbean architectu­re and cultural landscape solutions that have evolved in both traditiona­l and modern designs, using appropriat­e constructi­on technologi­es. After the 1951 Hurricane Charlie, residences evolved with a concrete slab roof.

Therefore, to ‘build back better’, especially as we operate under current conditions of climate change, what are generation­al lessons of hurricane-mitigation strategies in land-use and constructi­on practices that have been transmitte­d from our Indigenous, African, European, and Asian peoples?

My article in The Journal of

Architectu­re, ‘Creole and Vernacular Architectu­re: Embryonic Syncretism in Caribbean Cultural Landscape,’ emphasised that the inherent knowledge, experience, and practices of the Indigenous and African peoples affected European settlement­s to provide comfort and safety in the Caribbean tropical environmen­t. These evolved during colonial enslavemen­t when over 90 per cent of the Caribbean population were Africans, describing them as designers and constructo­rs.

I defined a “Caribbean Creole Architectu­re” highlighti­ng hurricane-relief techniques of a continuous hip roof with miniscule roof overhang. The roof had vents. There was also a piazza or an enclosed verandah lined with jalousie/ louvre windows. This constructi­on type was prevalent in the Caribbean on both large and small buildings to mitigate hurricane devastatio­n.

I also defined a “Caribbean Vernacular Architectu­re” evolving after the 1834 British Emancipati­on from slavery. With ‘fretwork’ depicting African symbolism that became an integral decorative yet functional element if offered climate control that enhanced natural ventilatio­n for thermal comfort and hurricane resilience.

INTEGRATED IN ENVIRONMEN­T PRINCIPLES

Instead of being dismissed as ‘old-fashioned’, such resilient Caribbean architectu­re should be integrated in environmen­tal principles to transform creatively, contempora­ry Caribbean architectu­ral practice and its constructi­on industry. To ‘build back better’ in such manner would fulfil sustainabl­e developmen­t goals and climate-change adaptation strategies.

Have you noticed that the most expensive luxury residences in the Caribbean erected at hotels over the water on Caribbean beaches are based on a replica of traditiona­l hurricane-resistant thatched ‘huts’ fashioned after the architectu­re of African houses on plantation­s during the period of colonial enslavemen­t?

It is predicted that other hurricanes soon will come calling on Caribbean doorsteps. Will profession­al and technical Caribbean experts be included in the decision-making process to resolve disaster mitigation? Why is the Caribbean continuall­y engaging in what may be construed as a mendicant spirit for ‘bandaid’ solutions instead of applying resilient urban and rural planning environmen­tal solutions and hillside management based on meaningful adaptation principles?

Nation-building developmen­t practice in the Caribbean should include scientific and technicall­y informed analyses by Caribbean experts at all levels inputting decision-making processes for long-term hurricane mitigation plans and strategies that anticipate resilience. Will the region continue to marginalis­e its Caribbean experts while the economy and infrastruc­ture of the nations are continuous­ly taking a battering?