Tesis sobre el tema "Caribbean architecture"

Thesis (M. Arch.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 1986.
MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ROTCH.
Bibliography: p. 177-180.
The purpose of this thesis is to document, through observation and research, architectural elements of a culture that have contributed to the development of another. As such it represents a way of thinking about the impact of architecture on culture and of culture on architecture. The len~ for this focus is the contributions of African people brought to the Caribbean during the European Slave Trade (1520's--1860's). As it essentially was a world region where the influence of indigenous people was negligible due to their early demise and general lack of an extensively developed architecture, it may almost be regarded as a 'clean slate' upon which the Europeans and Africans devised an architecture based on climate, materials, and tradition modified by colonization/enslavement. As climate and materials were generally similar to those found in Africa, tradition may be considered the most important aspect of this process and is the basis for this thesis and for the exploration of the following questions: What did Africans do to contribute to the architecture of the Caribbean; how did they say, "We are here?" What may have been present in the physical landscape, built and natural, that gave Africans brought to the New World any sense of familiarity of place in an otherwise alien environment? What are some of their contributions that have survived, either through transferal or transformation, physically tangible or attitudinal, that are present in the Caribbean today? In general, what do people do to affect the physical environment when they are in positions of social and economic powerlessness?
by Patricia Elaine Harris.
M.Arch.

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 1989.
Title as it appeared in M.I.T. Graduate List, June 1989: The use of daylighting in the design of a controlled environment for food reduction in the Caribbean and other equatorial climates.
Includes bibliographical references (leaves 219-224).
This thesis addresses the use of daylight in the design of a controlled environment for food production in the Caribbean and other Equatorial climates. An expanding population has put a tremendous burden on the food production industry in these climates. The increasing population in these climates means that existing fertile land is being taken-over for housing and infrastructure. Furthermore, the fishing industry is also a victim of over-fishing due to a need for alternative foods. This design proposes a technological solution to this social problem. Presented is one answer to improve the fishing industry, through a controlled environment for intensive aquaculture production. To improve crop production due to depleting fertile land and flooding, this thesis proposes hydroponic cultures in multi-stories. In addition, the success of this farming complex is dependent on appropriate research by staffed scientists, seeking to continually improve the end products of this facility. Within this ecosystem, far greater yields will be attained than traditional forms of agriculture, and, aquaculture. The challenge here is to present the most economic solution. As a result, the design of this facility is based on a three-level hydroponic (crops growing in a nutrient solution) facility, a fish hatchery, indoor fish ponds, and, research laboratories within the aquaculture and hydroponic facilities. This thesis presents two design solutions :one on land, that addresses the issues of flooding and a depletion of available fertile land, and one at sea, that addresses a time in which the population has grown to such a degree that food production at sea becomes an economic reality. There are many ways to introduce natural daylight into this proposed farming complex. Intensive research has indicated that these methods can often range from the very simplistic to the very intricate, as displayed in new emerging technologies such as the Himawari system developed by La Foret Engineering, of Japan. However, the following are techniques that will be applied in this thesis to bring daylight into the buildings of this proposed farming complex : 1. Optical lighting Himawari system); 2. Perimeter lighting; 3. Reflective lighting; 4. Top/Core lighting. Research has indicated that even during the rainy season (July to December)- in some of these equatorial climates there is adequate available diffused sunlight to reach the crops and aquatic life within this proposed controlled environment. This thesis also addresses the energy and cooling load requirements that result from the use of daylighting. Once again the most economic design is presented in this case study. However, the resulting economic solution ( to meet the cooling loads ) that is presented for the proposed site in Trinidad, may not be the most desirable solution for other equatorial climates. Consequently, wind energy, solar energy, co-generation, and traditional electricity, are all analyzed.
by Curtis B. Charles.
M.S.

In the Caribbean, the eighteenth century symbolized a period of shifting powers in the region. Spain abandoned control of many of the smaller islands in the Caribbean, which were quickly taken over and subsequently controlled by the three major European competitors: England, France, and the Netherlands. These islands would be traded as prizes during various European conflicts that would always spread into the region. Unfortunately, most of the archaeological work that has occurred within the Caribbean has tended to largely focus on the micro-scale analysis. While development of a macro-scale analysis to assist an understanding of the past in the Caribbean is called for, not much has been done yet. This study examines the Caribbean in the eighteenth century to develop a model for inter-site comparison. I shall argue that consumptive patterns are knowable and testable through the archaeological record and may be seen through the development of a model for inter-site comparison. Finally, the connections developed from the importation of various goods, such as ceramics, provide opportunities to test ideas about contested peripheries which can be seen by means of historical data and statistical inference to understand the past relationship between global events and local acts of consumption within the Caribbean.

The sixteenth-century port of Nombre de Dios in Panama played a crucial role in the colonization of America. From 1519 to 1597, Nombre de Dios was the Atlantic port connecting Spain with the southern Pacific colonies in America. Even though its importance to Spain's New World colonial settlement has been widely recognized, there has never been systematic historical or archaeological research undertaken to document this colonial town and describe its establishment and subsequent development and abandonment.;This study employs a comparative approach to early Spanish urban settlement in Latin America, and combines archaeological and archival data to explain the unique history of Nombre de Dios. Archaeological examination and documentary analysis has revealed the town's physical layout, its location and geographical features, and the settlement's place within the region's trade network. Findings relating to Nombre de Dios are compared to evidence from Cartagena and Veracruz, two of Spain's other sixteenth-century ports-of-call, providing important information regarding the factors responsible for the slow development of Nombre de Dios, and its abandonment before the end of the century.

Presently, my practice is multi-disciplinary and includes ceramics, sculpture, metals, design, and social practice — the work explores cultural identity, immigration, and cultural imagery using found objects and vernacular architectural references. Many of which are rooted in a post-colonial Anglo Caribbean history, but have grown to include new environments, narratives, and histories that parallel the latter.

This study delineates the domestic architecture of the early colonial period in the American tropics in the first group of British colonies that survived. In 1624, the English made their first permanent settlement on St. Christopher in the Caribbean, then expanded to the neighboring islands of Nevis, Antigua and Montserrat. Of particular interest to this research was what the architecture would reveal regarding how the first settlers adapted to the new island environment, its geography, resources, climate, and people, in the first 100 years. The research involved the examination of manuscripts of the period in archives and collections in the UK, USA and Caribbean. The historical data accumulated was primarily inventories and brief descriptions of houses, business correspondence and a small number of official maps. A key resource was a document listing the losses of buildings and possessions suffered as a result of French raids in 1705-1706. The study views the recorded items not as losses, but instead as proof of what once existed, almost as newly found "treasure", and analyzes the items both qualitatively and quantitatively in order to reveal a clearer picture of daily life for the settlers, from modest farmers to wealthier land owners. The study identified house types, stylistic trends in the houses and their furnishing, patterns of use, and construction methods. The architecture recorded the British colonists' process of adaptation to the unfamiliar environment. The study found that Leeward Islands, in the settler period of English colonization (1624-1726) there was a significant degree of interaction and exchange between the Amerindian and British peoples. In addition, it found correlations with rural houses in the wider American tropical region.

Thesis (Ph.D)--Architecture, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2008.
Committee Chair: Lewcock, Ronald; Committee Member: Bafna, Sonit; Committee Member: Dowling, Elizabeth; Committee Member: Edwards, Jay D.; Committee Member: Nelson, Louis. Part of the SMARTech Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Collection.

I use W.E.B. Du Bois' reference to the worlds 'within and without the veil' as the narrative setting for presenting the case of an African-Bahamian urban cemetery in use from the early eighteenth century to the early twentieth century. I argue that people of African descent lived what Du Bois termed a 'double consciousness.' Thus, the ways in which they shaped and changed this cemetery landscape reflect the complexities of their lives. Since the material expressions of this cemetery landscape represent the cultural perspectives of the affiliated communities so changes in its maintenance constitute archaeologically visible evidence of this process. Evidence in this study includes analysis of human remains; the cultural preference for cemetery space near water; certain trees planted as a living grave site memorial; butchered animal remains as evidence of food offerings; and placement of personal dishes on top of graves.;Based on the manufacture dates for ceramic and glass containers African-derived cultural behavior was no longer practiced after the mid-nineteenth century even though the cemetery remained in use until the early twentieth century. I interpret this change as evidence of a conscious cultural decision by an African-Bahamian population in Nassau to move away from obviously African-derived expressions of cultural identity. I argue that the desire for social mobility motivated this change. Full emancipation was granted in the British Empire by 1838. People of African descent who wanted to take advantage of social opportunities had to give up public expressions of African-derived cultural identity in order to participate more fully and successfully in the dominant society.

Hurricanes Irma and Maria have recently demonstrated once again the susceptibility of contemporary populations across the Caribbean to climate-driven events. For islands such as Antigua in the eastern Caribbean, this vulnerability is partly a legacy of prior land use. As such, the actions of pre-Contact and historic period inhabitants are intertwined with contemporary socio-ecological challenges faced by Antiguans today. This research sought to understand the relationship between land use and land degradation from ca. AD 100 to the present in eastern Antigua utilizing two markers of anthropic activity: soil stability and soil quality. Specifically, this research sought to examine how past anthropogenic actions have shaped landscape dynamics across two regions (Ayer’s Creek Basin and Indian Creek Basin), where archaeological research has revealed a long-term, continuous sequence of occupation dating back 2,000 years. Prior research suggests that contemporary environmental challenges in both regions may be linked to prior land management practices. However, it is unknown to what extent historical land use and its interactions with local geomorphology account for these challenges. The main research question was: In what ways and to what extent has past land use (as recorded archaeologically) impacted the landscape (as recorded by soil stability and soil quality) in the Ayer’s Creek and Indian Creek Basins in eastern Antigua? This research determined that contemporary soil erosion and soil quality loss may be attributed to historic land management practices, but mitigating these challenges is impeded by local perceptions of soil health.

Haïti est située sur la partie occidentale de l'île d'Hispaniola, qu'il partage avec la République dominicaine à l'est. Haïti est située en limite septentrionale des Caraïbes, où le mouvement relatif entre les plaques Caraïbes et Amérique du Nord est accommodé par un système complexe de microplaques de failles et de blocs tectoniques. Deux failles décrochantes sismogènes liées à ce système se trouvent en Haïti ; la zone de faille d'Enriquillo – Plantain Garden (EGPFZ) sur la partie sud d'Haïti et la zone de faille Septentrionale (SFZ) au large de la partie nord d'Haïti, tandis que la chaîne trans-haïtienne, composée de chevauchements d’unités tectoniques haïtiennes se propage vers le sud-ouest. La géologie et le contexte géodynamique d'Haïti font l'objet d'un regain d'intérêt scientifique à cause du séisme très destructeur de Mw 7.0, survenu le 12 janvier 2010, qui s’est produit au sud d'Haïti à Leogâne, près de la capitale Port-au-Prince. Cette étude, qui est une collaboration entre Sorbonne Université, IFP Energies nouvelles (IFPEn), l’Université d’Etat d’Haïti (UEH), URGéo, et le Bureau des Mines et de l’Energie d’Haïti (BME), participe à l'accroissement des connaissances géologiques de la zone méridionale d'Haïti. Elle comporte trois objectifs principaux ; 1) identifier le nombre et la chronologie des phases de déformation de la péninsule sud d'Haïti, leur impact régional, leur style structural, et l'évolution des paléo-contraintes, 2) contraindre l'histoire de la déformation de la zone frontale de la chaîne trans-haïtienne (la chaîne des Matheux), et (3) caractériser l'interaction entre les fluides et la déformation en examinant la circulation des paléo‐fluides associée à la déformation dans les deux régions. Pour atteindre ces objectifs, cette étude intègre des données géologiques et des observations à terre sur Haïti acquises lors de deux campagnes de terrain en 2015 et 2017. Les données stratigraphiques et structurales sont combinées avec l’étude des images satellitaires pour établir quatre cartes géologiques à petite échelle (~1:50.000) et des coupes transversales, qui permettent de mieux comprendre et de contraindre la déformation dans la région. Des échantillons de roches et de veines sont analysés à l'aide d'une série de techniques analytiques, incluant la microscopie optique, la cathodoluminescence, la micro‐thermométrie des inclusions fluides et la spectroscopie Raman sur ces inclusions, la diffraction des rayons X, la géochimie des isotopes stables, et la géochimie sur roche totale. L'ensemble des analyses est intégré afin de documenter et comprendre la circulation des paléo‐fluides. Les résultats de cette étude indiquent que la Péninsule du Sud s’est développée sur une large zone d’inversion bordée par des chevauchements impliquant le socle, tandis que la déformation dans la Chaîne des Matheux est principalement à l’origine d'une tectonique contrôlée par des niveaux de décollement peu profonds, suivie tardivement par des inversions de socle. L'histoire de déformation de la Péninsule du Sud est polyphasée et caractérisée par trois phases tectoniques majeures; 1) Compression et soulèvement durant le Maastrichtien et le Paléocène inférieur, 2) compression et soulèvement du Miocène inférieur qui affectaient principalement la partie sud‐ ouest de la Péninsule du Sud, et 3) déformation transpressive du Miocène supérieur à l’actuel. Cette dernière phase est caractérisée par une concentration progressive d'activité décrochante le long de l'EPGFZ, qui enregistre un maximum de 15 km de déplacement sénestre depuis la fin du Messinien [...]
Haiti is located on the western part of the island of Hispaniola, shared with the Dominican Republic in the east. Haiti is situated within the northern Caribbean plate boundary region where relative motion between the Caribbean and North American plates is accommodated by a complex system of fault-bounded microplates and tectonic blocks. Two seismogenic strike-slip faults related to this system are found in Haiti; the Enriquillo – Plantain Garden Fault Zone (EGPFZ) onshore southern Haiti, and the Septentrional Fault Zone (SFZ) offshore northern Haiti, with the southwest-verging, forward-propagating Haitian Fold-and-Thrust Belt situated in between them. The geology and geodynamic setting of Haiti became the focus of increased scientific interest following the January 12th 2010 Mw 7.0 Leogâne earthquake, which struck southern Haiti close to its capital Port-au-Prince. This study, which is a collaboration between Sorbonne Université, IFP Energies nouvelles (IFPEn), Université d’Etat d’Haïti (UEH), URGéo, and Bureau des Mines et de l’Energie d’Haïti (BME), is dedicated to increase our knowledge of the onshore geology of southern Haiti. There are three main objectives to this study; 1) identify the number and timing of deformation phases on the Southern Peninsula of Haiti, their regional impact, and the associated structural style of deformation and paleo-stress evolution, 2) constrain the deformation history of the southernmost onshore part of the Haitian Fold-and-Thrust Belt (the Chaîne des Matheux), the structural style of deformation and the associated paleo-stress evolution, and 3) characterize the interaction between fluids and deformation by examining the paleo-fluid circulation related to deformation in both regions. To fulfill these objectives this study integrates geological data and observations onshore Haiti from field campaigns in 2015 and 2017. Stratigraphic and structural data are combined with satellite imagery and digital elevation models to create four small-scale (~1:50.000) geological maps and associated cross sections. These are used to better understand and constraining the style of deformation in the region. Samples of host rocks and veins from fault zones and fractures are analyzed using a suite of analytical techniques, which include optical and cathodoluminescence microscopy, fluid inclusion microthermometry and Raman spectroscopy on fluid inclusions, x-ray diffraction, stable oxygen and carbon isotope geochemistry, and whole-rock geochemistry, all of which are integrated to constrain the paleofluid circulation. The results of this study indicate that 1) the Southern Peninsula evolved by basement-involved inversion, thrusting, and strike-slip, while 2) the style of deformation in the Chaîne des Matheux is predominantly thin-skinned controlled by shallow dipping decollement levels, although a component of thick-skinned basement-involved deformation is probable. The polyphase deformation history of the Southern Peninsula is characterized by three major tectonic events; 1) Deformation and uplift during the Maastrichtian and early Paleocene, 2) early Miocene compression and uplift that mainly affected the southwestern part of the Southern Peninsula, and 3) transpressive deformation from the late Miocene to recent. This last phase is characterized by a progressive focus of strike-slip activity along the EPGFZ, which accommodated a maximum of 15 km of left-lateral displacement since the late Messinian [...]

The thesis deals with the design of the architectural study of the Caribbean pavilion in Brno Zoo. The building will be located in the area of Mniší hora on the site of today's greenhouse pavilion from the 1960s which is ending its life expectancy I designed a comprehensive pavilion presenting the tropics ecosystem, fauna and flora from the Caribbean, Central America and Amazon. The building also includes a restaurant, a view point and a sanitary facility. The study also deals with the urban design of the entire section of Caribbean in the Brno Zoo and the design of exterior furniture. The designed solution creates space for animal breeding in harmony with current zoological trends like being as close as possible to their natural environment in which man and animal are equal. It also offers other zoo features such as visitor education, a meeting place, rest and relaxation.

Thesis (M.A.)--Florida State University, 2004.
Advisor: Dr. Rochelle A. Marrinan, Florida State University, College of Arts and Sciences, Dept. of Anthropology. Title and description from dissertation home page (6/16/04). Includes bibliographical references.

The identity of the Caribbean as a territory is a veritable bricolage of cultural forms. Since Columbus’ mistaken arrival in the West Indies, these islands have become home to Spanish, French, Dutch, British, African, Indian and Chinese immigrants, alongside its Aboriginal inhabitants. Despite the massive diversity that can be seen in these islands, there exists one common cultural expression that has persisted for the past 200 years throughout the Caribbean and Latin America. This celebration is Carnival. Trinidad is the southernmost island in the archipelago that composes the Caribbean. Carnival is celebrated in many of Trinidad’s towns, the biggest celebration being held in its capital city, Port-of-Spain. This research thesis looks at Carnival in Port-of-Spain as a complex urban entity that ritualistically re-energises and reclaims the city’s streets. Through ecstatic celebration, the festival engenders a strong sense of communitas and collective identity, annually reinventing itself and occupying a liminal space between the Ordinary city of day-to-day living and the Extraordinary city of mythological complexity. As the festival moves through the city along its annual Parade Route, it creates an urban narrative which exists invisibly during the year in the city’s collective memory. Through a combination of descriptive text, scholarly research and experiential mapping, A City with Two Faces outlines the transformative qualities of Carnival in the streets of Port-of-Spain from its largest temporary urban forms to its smallest manifestations in syncretic masquerade archetypes.

In the final quarter of the 18th century, a planter's dwelling overlooking the Caribbean Sea at Little Bay on the northwest coast of Montserrat in the British Leeward Islands was destroyed by fire and never reoccupied. Archaeological excavations in 2010 and 2011 yielded fragments of personal adornment, dress, household furnishings, and the house containing them providing an intimate portrait of an anonymous white male and his domestic arrangements. We do not know much about the planter class, though its members were central to the structure of 18th-century West Indian society. I use this rich archaeological data alongside archival, pictorial, and comparative analyses to particularize a West Indian planter and investigate the construction of colonial Creole identity. Evidence from archaeological, architectural, and ethnographic sources allow a reconstruction of the plantation house as a single-pile, three-cell plan, wood-frame structure with a raised masonry foundation and front gallery. This form, adapted to the Caribbean environment, altered English understanding and use of private and public spaces. Through archival research, I linked Little Bay to the Piper family, documenting its transfer through generations of unmarried male relatives. At the time of the fire the inhabitant was a Montserratian born, third-generation white male of English descent, meaning a white Creole. Ceramic gaming disks and glass beads identical to examples found in enslaved contexts indicate a household comprised of domestic slaves and planter. The head of household was a wealthy male versed in 18th-century British aesthetics as shown by a fob seal, coat buttons, and flintlock pistol. Punch bowls, glassware, tea and tableware reflect refined British cultural sensibilities, but as first-person travelogues recount, such goods were redeployed in distinctive colonial form with Creole open-door sociability and shared domesticity with household enslaved. Taken together, the finds demonstrate how this colonial Creole used English material goods to craft a distinctive form of white masculine identity within the West Indian planter class. In this world of mixed classes, races, and heritages, such formulations required choices. My research highlights how British objects and local practice combined to create new meanings for plantation society in Montserrat and the West Indies.

Slope-channels act as conduits that transport sediments from the shelf staging area to the basin floor. The Pliocene-Pleistocene section of the Columbus Basin in the deep-water slope offshore eastern Trinidad provides an opportunity to study slope-channel morphology and evolution, as well as any association between deep-water deposits, palaeo-seafloor bathymetry, shelf sediment feeder mechanism and changes in sediment supply types and volumes. Approximately 3250 km2 of 3D seismic data allow imaging and interpretation of channels within an interval between two regional surfaces termed P30 and P40. Observations of seismic cross-sections and stratal slices reveal a number of features including channels, mud diapirs, mass transport deposits (MTDs), and faulted anticlinal ridges. Channels appear leveed and unleveed, and alternate with MTDs in a cyclic vertical succession. Nineteen channels were mapped and divided into two groups based on their degree of levee development and stratigraphic position relative to MTDs. Group 1 channels, positioned below MTDs near the base of the interval, are shallowly incised, and show limited levee development. Group 2 channels, situated above MTDs, are relatively deeply incised, and have comparatively larger, well-developed levees throughout their lengths. Morphometric data from these channel groups reveal significant variability in channel width, channel depth, meander belt width, and sinuosity downslope. This variability is associated with influences of temporally equivalent local features and regional sea-floor slope changes. Increased slope gradient causes a marked increase in sinuosity. Diapirs and anticlinal ridges confine channel paths, divert their flow, and cause post-depositional deformation of both levees and channels. Levee height decreases downslope while levee width shows considerable asymmetry, which is related to occurrences of mud diapirism and MTDs. Irregularities on the upper surface of MTDs create accommodation space that confines turbidity flows, enabling ponding of sediments and volumetrically large levee construction. This accounts for dispersion of turbidity flows below the MTD which creates a series of small channels spread over a wide area, and comparatively fewer, confined channels above the MTDs with large levees.
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A written thesis to accompany the M.F.A. Exhibition Heritage Sites, in which vignettes of the artist’s personal and familial narratives become a backdrop for examining themes such as global tourism, the notion of universal heritage, and questioning Puerto Rico as a postcolonial place. A two channel short video layers archival imagery with original material to examine the ways Puerto Rico has been represented and misrepresented personally and globally.